Concerned Citizens for Honest & Open Government placed an ad in this past week's New Hartford edition of the Pennysaver to make sure that Town of New Hartford residents had information regarding the $4.6+ million bond referendum that was to take place on January 16, 2007.
As you recall, in October 2006, several of our members collected signatures to "force" the bond spending to a vote. Our group believes that all town residents deserve a chance to have a say in any spending that requires bonding and although town officials were quoted as saying they would "educate" the public on their plan, no information was forthcoming. We also were the ones to bring to light the fact that no absentee ballots would be allowed; a detail that our town councilmen and town attorney claim they did not think about prior to receiving numerous calls from residents who read our website and blog. We also sent information to the Observer Dispatch and as a result they did an article regarding the "no absentee ballots" decision.
On Wednesday, January 10, 2007, just 6 days before the vote was to take place and one day before our ad was to run in the Pennysaver, the town board cancelled the vote. They will vote on new bond resolutions at the next town board meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2007. That meeting will be at Butler Memorial Hall at 6:00 p.m. We urge you to attend--meetings usually only last 35-40 minutes at most.
According to a statement made by Town Supervisor Earle Reed, the new bond resolution vote will be a mandatory referendum, meaning that we will not have to collect signatures--the vote will take place and absentee ballots will be allowed this time.
In the meantime, we have posted our Pennysaver ad for anyone who has not already had a chance to view it in the New Hartford edition of the Pennysaver that was mailed to homes on Thursday, January 11, 2007. We removed the information regarding the January 16th vote so as to not confuse anyone.
At this time, we do not know if there will be any changes to the bond resolutions, but we will keep you informed as details become available. For more complete information regarding all eight(8) bond resolutions be sure to visit our website.
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2 comments:
Is it true that residents residing in New York Mills who pay New Hartford Town taxes will NOT benefit at all from these 8 Bond Resolutions to be voted on March 29, 2007?
The total households who would be forced to pay taxes to the Town, if approved would be approximately 2,500 households? Is the above figure correct or are there more impacted Town Residents who too, will not benefit.
Lastly, is it not true that the Town's Sidewalk Committee consists of political appointees and is NOT representative of Town residents.
Perhaps, one member Hans Arnold should take a lesson from the Europeans who took their trash and turned it into mortar and/or other forms of building material.
Hans Arnold's article in the Observer Dispatch is [yet] another example of personal bias towards programs, especially, when his actions do not exemplify the wishes of the Town's taxpaying residents. If Hans Arnold wants sidewalks, then he should pay for them like so many other town residents have done over the years.
I would encourage any Town resident to "knock" down the doors of Butler Hall and demand that Earle Reed resign, if for no other reason than his on-going secrecy within Town Government. Mr. Reed, "can we plan a party for your resignation?"
The total number of assessed parcels in the Town of New Hartford as of May 2006 was 9,313. Of that, the Village of New York Mills has 617 parcels, the Village of New Hartford has 783 parcels and the town proper has 7,913 parcels.
So depending on how far you want to stretch the benefit village property owners will receive, if you combine both the Village of New York Mills and Village of New Hartford there are a total of 1,400 property owners who will see little or no benefit from these bonds. The Town Highway Dept. to the best of my knowledge (someone please correct me if I am wrong) does not provide snowplowing or trash pick-up to either village. The stormwater management will not affect either village, nor will the sidewalks. The energy efficient lighting in the Rec. Center as well as the new town building at 1 Oxford Crossing could be argued to have some benefit to village residents.
Contrary to the slide presentation made at the November 1, 2006 town budget hearing, the Sidewalk Committee is made up of town employees and town-appointed committee members and one of them is a mason contractor. While they are town residents, they are certainly not representative of your "average" town resident. The complete list of Sidewalk Committee members is available on our website in the bond resolution information pages. Hans Arnold lives on Paris Road and he wants sidewalks from his house to the Sherrillbrook Park. By the way, he is on the Sidewalk Committee.
Also, keep in mind the 87.5 acres on Tibbitts Road is still on the table. Whether the school or town persues the purchase of the property, all taxpayers in the Town of New Hartford including the villages, will pay any costs associated with the development. If the school puts the land purchase back on their bond vote, New York Mills residents, as well as town residents in the Sauquoit and Clinton school districts won't even get a say in the purchase because only residents in the New Hartford Central School district are allowed to vote on school bond issues. My sources are telling me that the school and town are in this land deal together even though Mr. Gilligan and members of the town board deny it.
And let’s not forget that somehow the residents of the Town of New Hartford who live in the Village of New York Mills saw a 251% increase in their town taxes that are due on January 31, 2007. We still haven’t figured that one out!
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