School board challengers win in Mount Morris, lose elsewhere

In Tuesday’s school budget elections, all of the ten districts in Livingston County received approval from their constituents in the form of overwhelmingly supportive “yes” votes.

In contested school board elections, the most watched — in the Mount Morris District – saw challengers David DiPasquale and Peter Privitera scoring an upset, taking seats from incumbents Tad Rowley and Amanda Lonsberry. Third-highest vote getter, incumbent Ann Hunt, will keep her seat.

Other school board elections were less kind to the challengers. Dave Saraceni was nosed out in Caledonia-Mumford, Mark Hoffman did not make the cut in Geneseo, Dan Bassette lost in Honeoye Falls-Lima, and Kristy Peffers was shut out in York.

For our story previewing school budgets, click here.

For a capsule preview of school board elections, click here, and for a closer look at the Mount Morris Board of Education election, click here .

Here’s a district-by-district look at the votes:

Avon Central School

• Proposed budget: $18,557,131.
• Proposed tax levy: $9,272,545.

In Avon the general budget was approved 257-to-70. A bus purchase proposition was approved 238-to-77. A proposition authorizing furniture and equipment purchases with reserve funds was approved 234-to-78.

Incumbent school board member James Colt and Bill LaBine were re-elected to three year terms unopposed, both receiving 224 votes.

Caledonia-Mumford Central School

• Proposed budget: $16,529,630.
• Proposed tax levy: $6,445,775.

In Caledonia-Mumford the general budget proposition was approved 276-to-137. A bus purchase proposition was approved 268-to-132. A proposition to spend from capital reserves was approved 276-to-117.

The four-way school board race for three seats saw incumbents Joseph Geer, Chris Richter and Jay Jones keeping their seats with 283, 278 and 242 respective votes. Challenger David Saraceni received 152 votes.

Dansville Central School

• Proposed budget: $29,949,360.
• Proposed tax levy: $7,575,507.

In Dansville 2013-14 School Budget the general budget proposition was approved by a votes of 239-to-76. A proposition giving permission for the liquidation of about $1.5 million in capital reserve funds passed 213-to-97. A proposition which will reinstate the student resource officer and a drug and alcohol counselor passed 208-to-102.

Two unopposed incumbent board members, Clay Harris and John Leuzzi, received respectively 255 and 235 votes.

Geneseo Central School

• Proposed budget: $17,506,722.
• Proposed tax levy: $9,691,341.

In Geneseo the general budget proposition was approved by a vote of 587-to-164. Elected to the three year term seats were the two school board candidates with the highest vote tallies, incumbent Craig Phelps along with Michael Tenalio with respective 533 and 483 votes.

With the third highest vote total, Jennifer Mehlenbacher took the one year term seat with 472 votes. Lowest vote tally was received by Mark Hoffman, who will not have a seat on the school board

Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School

• Proposed budget: $44,417,354.
• Proposed tax levy: $25,755,070.

In Honeoye Falls-Lima the general budget proposition was approved 592-to-339.

The three incumbent school board members all kept their seats in the face of a single challenger, Dan Bassette, who managed 528 votes. Incumbent members Gary Stottler, Jody Allison and Stephanie Templeton had respectively 647, 639 and 618 votes.

Keshequa Central School

• Proposed budget: $18,774,445.
• Proposed tax levy: $4,545,339.

In Keshequa the general budget proposition was approved with 162 yes votes versus 49 no votes. A proposition for the purchase of school buses was approved 129-to-49.

Four school board candidates vied for four seat with various term length. Receiving the four year term seats were Todd Galton and Ron Duttweiler with 160 and 159 votes. Pat Long took the three years term seat with 143 votes. Monica Morris, with 132 votes, will be receiving the two year term seat.

Livonia Central School

• Proposed budget: $31,320,634.
• Proposed tax levy: $15,789,063.

In Livonia the general budget proposition was approved with 549 yes votes versus 275 no votes. A bus purchase proposition was approved 554-to-241. A proposition to create a building capital reserve fund passed 489-to-241.

Incumbent school board members David Bernacki and Andrew Mattle were re-elected to three year terms.

Mount Morris Central School

• Proposed budget: $13,320,634.
• Proposed tax levy: $3,754,910.

In Mount Morris the general budget proposition was approved by a vote of 243-to-145. A proposition to expend funds from a capital reserve account was approved 233-to-134. A proposition authorizing the transfer of liability reserve funds to the repair reserve was approved 209-to-153. A proposition to increase the annual budgeting for the Mount Morris library was approved 240-to-130.

The challengers for the three open school board seats, David DiPasquale and Pete Privitera, dominated the school board election, receiving 353 and 357 votes. The lone incumbent to keep her seat was Ann Hunt, who received 233 votes. Incumbents Tad Rowley and Amanda Lonsberry lost their seats, receiving 158 and 157 votes.

Wayland-Cohocton Central School

• Proposed budget: $28,678,479.
• Proposed tax levy: $7,115,124.

In Wayland-Cohocton, 359 yes votes approved the general budget proposition versus 62 no votes. A proposition to increase funding for the Cohocton Public Library and Wayland Free Library passed 234-to-109.

John Sick and Phillip Trautman, running unopposed for two seats on the school board tallied 330 and 295 respective votes. 359 of all the votes were machine ballots; 13 were absentee.

York Central School

• Proposed budget: $15,527,913.
• Proposed tax levy: $5,654,313.

In York the general budget proposition was approved with 321 yes votes versus 135 no votes. A school bus purchase proposition received 278 yes votes and 175 no votes. A third proposition to spend capital reserve funds was approved 265-to-166.

In the school board election for two seats, incumbents Thomas Gates and Joseph Graves persisted with 284 and 261 votes. Lone challenger Kristy Peffers was nosed out, but made a respectable showing with 238 votes.

The post Budgets approved in all 10 Livingston school districts appeared first on Livingston County News.

Cafe Shiloh, 120 Main St., Geneseo, has been carrying lines of Fair Trade merchandise since December.

Laurie Lawton, assistant manager at Cafe Shiloh, explained that the items are handmade crafts which are purchased at fair prices from their creators in Third World nations.

“Most of the raw materials are recycled or are renewable resources,” Laurie said.

Laurie Lawton, assistant manager at Cafe Shiloh, stands next to a selection of handmade crafts purchased from their creators in Third World nations.

Laurie was impressed by a display of Fair Trade merchandise she came upon in a store in Corning and was thinking about having a similar display at the cafe when, the very next day, she encountered customers from Syracuse who were fair traders. Through these folks she was able to establish contact with a wholesale distributor who works directly with the artisans in various nations.

Most items are made in South America, India and Africa.

“The process is very green and very into taking care of the environment,” Laurie said. “Everything is made by hand. The distributor is involved in helping the communities develop to meet their basic needs and gain a long term way to work out of poverty.”

Sale of the merchandise provides the producing families with economic stability that they otherwise would lack.

“We’re helping people that really need a lot of help; helping them to help themselves,” Laurie added. “And people feel good when they are helping other people.”

Some of the pieces of note include: figures from Columbia made from orange peals; newspaper mache animals from Africa; aluminum earrings from Guatemala made from pop cans, a seed necklace from Columbia; a metal lizard knickknack from South Africa; a candle holder made from recycled bicycle chain from India; beautifully painted and detailed gourds of various shapes made into containers, purses and chimes from Peru; a banana bark jewelry box from Bolivia; gold metallic door chimes from India; colorful fabric scarves and purses from India; a bobble-head gourd elephant from India; elaborate wooden puzzle boxes from India, and a mudcloth giraffe from Mali. Prices are very reasonable, for example, the orange peal figures are $3; the bicycle chain candle holder $15, and gourds in the vicinity of $16.

Shiloh’s distributor is a member of the Fair Trade Federation which abides by non-exploitive principles for positively transforming the lives of the producing artisans and farmers. Those principles include creating opportunity, developing transparent and accountable relationships, building the capacities of the communities, promoting fair trade, paying promptly and fairly, supporting safe and empowering working conditions, ensuring the rights of children, cultivating environmental stewardship, and respecting cultural identity.

About Cafe Shiloh

Cafe Shiloh, 120 Main St., Geneseo, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

The post Cafe Shiloh offers selection of Fair Trade merchandise appeared first on Livingston County News.

A trio of incumbents elected to the Mount Morris Central School Board three years ago — Tad Rowley, Amanda Lonsberry and Ann Hunt — are touting successful on-track reform as they face two challengers — David DiPasquale and Peter Privitera.

The challengers are claiming administrative overload, lack of transparency, poor student performance, and a need for a student resource officer, and are also bemoaning a newly enacted policy for school voter identification documentation.

In the school budget and board election next Tuesday, May 21, district voters may cast three votes among the five candidates. Victory will go to the three individuals with the highest numbers of votes.

The challengers

David DiPasquale has a background in law enforcement, having served from 1999 to 2003 as the school district’s DARE and student resource officer before accepting a position with the Batavia Police Department. In 2012 he accepted the appointment as Livingston County Democratic Deputy Commissioner of Elections.

DiPasquale has also served an elected four-year term on the Mount Morris Village Board, including two years as deputy mayor. He also served an earlier term on the Mount Morris School Board from 2002-05. He has two children, both of pre-school age.

“There is too much money being spent for four administrators in a school with only 510 students,” DiPasquale said, asking, “When it comes time for cuts, why is it from the bottom? They cut four teacher aids, then hired another principal and gave another administrator a large raise.”

DiPasquale suggest aides are especially needed in the classrooms which have now been integrated to include children with needs. He said he is disappointed at the lack of interaction between the public and board members at the district budget meeting.

“The board needs to be open to its taxpayers,” he said.

As someone who deals with municipal voter registration in his daily work, DiPasquale is adamantly opposed to the school’s new policy requiring voters to show some kind of identification to prove their district residency, typically driver’s license, a utility bill, or a voter registration card. Voters without such proof can be turned away from the polls.

In making the voter certification process more rigorous, the school district is within the power granted in state education law. However, DiPasquale believes the old method of simply supplying one’s address and signature worked perfectly well, and never to his knowledge resulted in any instance of fraud — and did not insult senior citizens or intimidate minority voters. He believes that voting in a school election should be easy: Eighteen years of age and 30 days living in the district should qualify the person.

“Why would you want to turn anyone away who is interested in the school?” DiPasquale asks. “We have a low enough turnout already.”

—–

Peter Privitera, the MMCS Class of ’98 valedictorian, is a physical therapist by profession. He has one child of pre-school age and comes from a family with a strong tradition in education, including his wife, parents and siblings who are teachers.

“My concerns are the students’ performances; where we rank on the state exams,” Privitera said, acknowledging Mount Morris ranking “dead last” in academic adequacy testing among 22 Genesee Valley BOCES districts.

“It really makes me sad, because the school was not always like this,” Privitera said.

“We can’t survive having this small of a school with this many administrators,” Privitera said. “I’m the last person who would want to see Mount Morris closed, but I’m also a realist. If it comes to that, and if its best for our students and best for our taxpayers, consolidation may have to be the answer.”

“I also feel the school is becoming more closed about getting information out in the community. The district should be explaining the common core standards,” Privitera added.

The incumbents

Amanda Lonsberry is a mother of five young children, a native of Nevada, and resident of the school district for the last nine years.

“When my children are at any place other than my home, I want that place to be the best place possible,” is how Lonsberry explains her ardent interest in the school.

With a background in journalism, Lonsberry was aware of a need for better communication when she was elected to the board three years ago. Part of the void is now filled at Lonsberry’s blog, mmschoolboarder.wordpress.com, where, in a comfortable, folksy style, she writes about the goings-on of the school board.

The MMCS school board of 2010, with three new members, found itself with a district in crisis, from which a superintendent had just departed. Consolidation was off the table when it became apparent no neighbor was interested.

During the last three years the board has systematically undertaken a series of steps with the objective of fixing the student achievement problem, and along the way fixing a number of other things wrong with the school, Lonsberry said. Selection of a competent and professional superintendent, supplemented by an able administrative team, is seen as the key element in bringing about the fix.

“These are the first steps towards changes which I think are going to lead our school from being one of the lowest achievers to being one of the best,” Lonsberry predicts.

Lonsberry defends the new policy of requiring voter identification. Since any non-registered voter may participate in school elections, there is nothing preventing anyone from outside the district from just showing up and casting an illegal vote.

Putting the issue in perspective, Lonsberry says the ID procedure was one of many systems at the school which didn’t seem to be working correctly: “Where we are trying to clean up things and put everything above board.”

Building security was another area where a fix was in order, Lonsberry noted. Unsigned visitors may no longer stroll about the building casually speaking with teachers and interrupting classes. Appointments and emails are instead promoted as the more proper mode of parent-teacher communication.

Lonsberry does not support returning the SRO to the school.

“These retread issues from years ago are frustrating to me,” she said. “(DiPasquale and Privitera) are focusing on issues that don’t have anything to do with student achievement. Are we a school or are we a community employment center?”

“The issue at hand is saving the school,” Lonsberry proclaims. “Do we want a school — or do we want to nitpick over one position here and there? The stakes are far higher.”

The far bigger question, Lonsberry suggests, is: “Do we want to get the achievement scores up to muster, or will Mount Morris continue being one of the 200 schools on the governor’s to-close list?’”

“We have made strides.,” Lonsberry said. “Because of APPR, it suddenly matters to teachers that their students progress. Administrative reviews are getting done properly. It’s about how we can help the teachers and how we help the kids — and we’ve hired people who are very competent at doing that.”

“We are turning Mount Morris into a school that I want my kids to go to,” she said. “We have worked hard; our kids have worked hard — and what we’re doing really matters.”

—–

Ann Hunt is completing her first three year term on the board. She and her husband have lived in Mount Morris since 1966. Their four children are all MMCS graduates.

As a former mathematics teacher and income tax preparer, Hunt has taken on the role of school board fiscal watchdog. As a teacher, Hunt subscribed to the mantra, “Let each become all he is capable of being” — which, she believes, is also what the latest changes in educational ideology are meant to realize.

“I feel very good about the health of the school in the past couple of years, with the new superintendent and professional people,” Hunt said. “I think the direction is good and they’re working very hard to do everything they can possibly do for the students. It’s not about them; it’s about the kids. Strides are being made.”

Hunt acknowledges Mount Morris must toe the line in accord with state and federal government demands considering the great dependency the school has for government funds. “Although we pay pretty high taxes, we’re actually paying a fairly low proportion of the total cost,” she notes.

Hunt sees no harm in the voter ID requirements, noting that concern has been raised “that maybe some people are voting that shouldn’t be voting.”

She does not support restoring the SRO, believing that the school’s several police-certified individuals on its staff, including one who does “patrols,” provide good security for the students. “And I’m not anxious about having a gun in the school,” she states.

“I’d like to serve again. I don’t think the time is right for a change on the school board,” Hunt said. “What we are trying to do needs more time.”

—–

Tad Rowley, the third incumbent completing his first three year term on the board, has five children attending MMCS. His wife is a part-time teacher at the school. Tad is owner of a local sign shop. He and his wife have resided in Mount Morris for about 20 years.

“The current board has made a lot of changes for the betterment and success of the students. We’re working well together,” Rowley said.

Regardless of the school’s present low ranking, he believes Mount Morris has potential for becoming one of the best districts in the area. The district’s demographic diversity is a reality — as is its poverty, but the board in no way means to use these factors as excuses for poor performance, he said.

“A child can be successful and do well on the tests regardless if his family is poor or if English is his second language,” Rowley believes.

Rowley said the board is confronting what was a serious problem of nepotism in the district (while acknowledging his wife’s employment, but noting she was turned down on numerous occasions before securing her employment).

“The school is meant to be a place where kids receive an education. It’s not an employment agency,” he said. “Of course, there are local people who are qualified to teach here, but we need to look at hiring in the light of what’s best for the students, not who is related to whom.”

“Our number one priority has been to increase student achievement,” Rowley asserted. “That’s the filter for every decision we make. It’s not about what’s best for adults.”

The decision in the new budget to eliminate teacher aides, as opposed to assistants who are certified as professional teachers, was in accord with this priority, Rowley said.

Rowley believes voter identification for school elections is prudent. “The actual question should be, ‘Why aren’t we checking for voter identification?’ It’s alarming and troublesome for me to think someone is asking that voters not be identified,” Rowley said.

There are instances of the district receiving sincere questions from persons in the south part of the Town of Mount Morris, in the Keshequa School District, wanting to know if they can vote in the Mount Morris School election. The answer is no, but, Rowley said, this person would have easily been able to vote unchecked if they had shown up at MMCS and cast their ballot, rather than made the inquiry first. Conversely, there are persons in sections of other towns — Dansville, Nunda and Groveland — who are in the MMCS district and should vote in MMCS elections.

Furthermore, an intentionally dishonest voter, “can easily sign his name, scribble some random address, and his vote would probably make it through,” Rowley suggests.

Rowley is certain no SRO is needed, where a sheriff’s deputy and two village officers are employed full time in staff positions and are always on hand, albeit without a firearm and uniform.

The post Voter ID policy among election issues in Mount Morris appeared first on Livingston County News.

Persons strolling in the neighborhood of North Street and Frances Way in Livonia will encounter a “Little Library” as they pass the home of Calvin and Joyce Lathan. The miniature barn is indeed a library, mounted adjacent to one of the benches the village obtained through a Noyes Hospital Healthy Heart grant.

A sign on the post invites visitors to “Take a book — Leave a book — Keep a book — Sit and read a book.”

The library was unveiled during an April 12 ceremony at which Judge Richard Wesley reminded everyone of the importance of reading and the value of our public libraries.

The books used to initially stock the little library were by no means castoffs. Each attendee at the ceremony donated a special book from his private collection and signed his name on the title page.

It turns out there is a multitude of “Little Free Libraries” across the United States.

A grandfather reads to his twin grandsons next to the “Little Library” on Frances Way, Livonia.

Lathan was inspired to build the model after reading about a similar miniature in Rochester’s South WedgeLCN – Ben 4/28/13 Rochester’s South Wedge?. A sociology professor and former colleague of Lathan was quoted in the article bemoaning the lack of face-to-face human interaction in modern times — the kind of interaction these little libraries may hopefully revive.

In building the library, Lathan precisely replicated in 1-inch-equals-1-foot scale the full-size barn on his property (although reducing the depth dimension). Lathan had also built the full size barn, so he knew the dimensions well. The same stain was used on both barns.

Materials were donated by friends and included shake shingles and leftover rough-cut “battens” from the construction of the real barn. The little library is thoroughly caulked and waterproofed, so can safely store a small stash of books and music CDs.

The library is mounted on a 4-by-4 inch post which sits upon an old railroad tieplate discovered during a hike along the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville trail The bench and library post rest on a concrete pad.

“It’s a great winter project,” Lathan said. “I know I’m going to build another one next winter.”

The post Livonia’s ‘Little Library’ offers reading respite appeared first on Livingston County News.

And the proper time to disagree and debate

The “keep it positive” attitude in Mount Morris is a nice thing. Courteous discourse is the hallmark of civilization. Kindness to others is the essence of humanity. But the “Positive” mantra can be overplayed to the point where it suppresses honest communication.

While interviewing the candidates in the Mount Morris School Board election story, more than one seemed almost apologetic that the contest had become contentious; that they were on the spot to say something in strong support of their own views, which might also be construed as critical of their opponents’ positions.

Candidates running for office shouldn’t have to feel like they are walking on eggshells for fear of offending. Election campaigns are one time when, in the interests of healthy democracy, it is perfectly okay to speak critically.

None of the five candidates on the school board ballot have any reason to be shy or cautious about saying what they believe. They all are making strong and valid arguments about what they think is the best course to take to repair an institution which all five agree is much in need of repair.

It’s a time for each candidate to shout out what he or she thinks must be done, even if what they are shouting is different or in direct conflict with what another candidate is saying. And it’s a time for the voters to hear all the candidates loud and clear, so they can go to the polling place next Tuesday and make their best decisions.

It’s a race with some real good issues.

The three incumbents feel they are getting some traction on solving an enormous problem which has plagued the district over a period of years; that many children have been failing to acquire fundamental skills appropriate to their grade levels. For the incumbents, the answer is contracting the best possible administrative expertise to address the issue; to concentrate resources and work with teachers towards a very specific goal of student achievement — and along the way to fix up other things in the school which, because of slipshod methods, nepotism or indifference, have become ineffective or corrupt.

The two challengers are skeptical of the administrative solution. They say school resources ought to be concentrated, not on the desktop of some administrators, but at a more basic level of human contact in the classroom, in employing aids who — while they may lack formal certificates of training — will be right there to work with children one-on-one. Likewise, they see no need to formalize a voter certification process which up until now has functioned on friendly familiarity and simple honesty.

I don’t see the choice being that simple. Perhaps the best course lies someplace in the middle. Once the dust has settled on this election and the winners have taken their seats on the board, maybe a middle course is what will be taken. Maybe that’s how democracy is suppose to work.

But it’s only going to work when we can debate and disagree without apology.

— Howard W. Appell, reporter

The post Good race, good issues in Mount Morris school board election appeared first on Livingston County News.

A press conference Thursday afternoon at Livingston County Sheriff’s headquarters announced the arrests of 19 persons who were arraigned and incarcerated that morning on drug-related charges. On display was a table full of samples of narcotics, cash and weapons which had been seized as evidence.

Undersheriff Jim Szczesniak advised that the sampling was a fraction of what had been confiscated; if all the evidence were on display, “It would fill every table in this room.”

Undersheriff Szczesniak noted that a 20th arrest is anticipated and a warrant has been accordingly issued. Arrest number 21 is a person currently in state prison whose warrant will be executed when he is released. Number 22 is a person who was arrested a few weeks ago. This earliest arrest was a class A-2 drug felony, the most serious charge which can be placed. It was against Thomas Ripley for alleged cocaine sales in Lima and Avon.

“We took out a serious drug dealer with this felony arrest,” commented Livingston County District Attorney Greg McCaffrey.

The offenders appear to have been acting independently of one another, with no overseeing organizer.

Forty law enforcement officers representing village, county , state and federal agencies had assembled at 5 a.m. and proceeded with what officers are euphemistically calling the “spring cleanup” of area drug dealers, a sister raid to Sheriff York’s traditional “fall harvest.”

Arrested Thursday on various charges relating to sale or possession of more-than-user quantities of cocaine, marijuana, crack cocaine and hallucinogens were:

• Ryan S. Nerby, 33, of Lakeville, charged with 2 counts criminal sale of a controlled substance (CSCS) in the third degree. Bail is set at $25,000.
• Brian D. Nolan, 27, of Geneseo, charged with 2 counts CSCS in the third degree. Bail is set at $10,000.
• Jesse R. Hernandez, 18, of Piffard, charged with CSCS in the third degree. Bail is set at $40,000.
• Anthony S. Andrews, 18, of Conesus, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, 2 counts CSCS in the third degree, 2 counts criminal possession of a controlled substance (CPCS) in the third degree, criminal sale of marijuana in the fifth degree, and unlawful possession of marijuana (UPM). Bail is set at $25,000.
• Zachery E. Staphany, 20, of Caledonia, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, criminal sale of marijuana in the fifth degree, CPCS in the third degree, CSCS in the third degree, UPM. Bail is set at $10,000.
• Parris H. Macwilliams, 19, of Caledonia, charged with CSCS in the fifth degree, CPCS in the fifth degree. Bail is set at $10,000.
• Colin W. Phillips, 18, of Caledonia, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the third degree, criminal sale of marijuana in the fifth degree, CSCS in the third degree, CPCS in the third degree. Bail is set at $5,000.
• Amanda A. Stewart, 26, of Lakeville, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, UPM. Bail is set at $5,000.
• Jacob A. Shamp, 22, of Lakeville, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, UPM. Bail is set at $5,000.
• Paul M. Primeaux III, 26, of Livonia, charged with 2 counts criminal sale of marijuana in the third degree, criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, 2 counts criminal sale of marijuana in the fifth degree. Bail is set at $10,000.
• Brian M. Vanwuyckhuyse, 27, of Geneseo, charged with 2 counts criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, 2 counts UPM. Bail is set at $5,000.
• Justin J. Jackson, 24, of Mount Morris, charged with 2 counts criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, 2 counts UPM. Plead guilty.
• Jody L. Root, 46, of Mount Morris, is charged with 2 counts CSCS in the third degree, 2 counts CPCS in the third degree. Bail is set at $25,000.
• Alexander N. Montalbano, 19, of Caledonia, charged with sale of an imitation controlled substance. Bail is set at $1,500.
• Jennifer L. Trojanski, 31, of Caledonia, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the fifth degree. CSCS in the fourth degree, 2 counts CPCS in the fifth degree, UPM. Bail is set at $40,000.
• Julian Beard, 19, of Caledonia, charged with 3 criminal sales of marijuana in the fourth degree, UPM, 2 counts CSCS in the fifth degree, CSCS in the third degree, CPCS in the fifth degree. Released on bail.
• Brandon L. Cassada, 19, of Avon, charged with criminal sale of marijuana in the fourth degree, UPM. No bail.
• Christopher A. Partridge, 29, of Groveland, charged with 3 counts CSCS in the third degree, 3 counts CPCS in the third degree, UPM. Bail is set at $2,500.
• Marquis T. Morris, of Rochester, charged with CSCS in the third degree, CPCS in the third degree. Warrant pending.

“The bail that the courts have placed clearly says narcotic trafficking in Livingston County is going to be held accountable,” Szczesniak asserted. “That is a message we put out there each and every day: No matter what level of sale, it affects our community.”

Larcenies, burglaries, and incidents of violent behavior can in almost all cases be linked with drug use, Szczesniak said.

Added McCaffrey, the district attorney, “After several months of investigations, controlled and undercover purchases, some of the most serious drug offenders in our community have been arrested.”

The class B felonies could lead to prison sentences in the range of nine years for some of the offenders, McCaffrey added.

“This is just the beginning of what we hope to do as the Livingston County Drug Task Force,” he said. “The force was very successful in its first roundup.”

Agencies have partnered and the arrests were made under the banner of Livingston County’s New Drug Task Force. Investigations are coordinated through the leadership of Jeffrey Wiedrick of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our resources become less and less, so we need to work together more and more,” said Szczesniak.

Speaking of the appendage “New” on the title of the Task Force, Szczesniak stated, “We have formalized what we do. We’ve sat down through the Livingston County Law Enforcement Council and have made a commitment in a formal agreement. It makes it much easier for the district attorney’s office to deal with a single point of contact, which is Investigator Wiedrick.”

McCaffrey added that, in this first year of serving as district attorney, he has had a front row seat “seeing exactly what drugs do: Very few cases come into my office where drugs don’t play a role.”

“We are going to take a hard line against these offenders; we are going to punish them and seek jail sentences for them,” McCaffrey stated.

“It’s the community input that’s going to bring success,” Szczesniak said. “People know now that we’re working together. We want to be sure the community continues to provide us with the information we need to do the job.”

On-hand participants in the New Drug Task Force also included Chief James Noble, Avon Police Department; Chief Daniel Chapman, Caledonia Police Department; Chief Charles Perkins, Dansville Police Department; Chief Eric Osganian, Geneseo Police Department; Chief Jeffrey Wilcox, Nunda Police Department and Chief Ken Mignemi, Mt. Morris Police Department; and members of the Livingston County Law Enforcement Council, Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, New York State Police and New York State Park Police.

The post 22 arrested in ‘spring cleanup’ of drug dealers appeared first on Livingston County News.

Beginning May 17, the storage tank for the Geneseo public water system will be shut down while interior reconstruction is being performed.

The $225,000 project will reconfigure the tank’s intake and outtake piping so that stored water no longer has a tendency to stagnate, but will flow through the tank and constantly renew itself. The existing plumbing tends to allow water which has most recently entered the tank to also be the first water out. Stagnation of the “old water” in the tank has been blamed for the build-up of hazardous chemical residues, necessitating frequent flushing of parts of the system.

During the estimated four-to-six weeks in which the project will be underway, water conservation measures are being recommended by the village and by the Livingston County Department of Health.

The village’s municipal water customers — in the towns of Geneseo, York and Groveland, and at SUNY Geneseo — are being alerted to the fact that, while the tank is off line, the system will be supplied by direct pumping only, so the previous abundant supply of water may not be available.

The conservation measures include:

• Fill swimming pools before May 17.
• Check faucets, pipes and toilets for leaks and make repairs accordingly. Food coloring in the toilet tank, if it finds its way into the bowl, is indicative of a leak.
• Avoid lawn watering, washing your car and long showers.
• Run your dishwasher and clothes washers only when you have a full load.
• Do not leave tap water running when rising dishes or getting a drink. Cool drinking water in the refrigerator.
• If you’re considering water saving devices and appliances for your home, install them soon.

Commencement of the project has been intentionally delayed until most of the college student population leaves for the summer. The municipalities which purchase water from the village are in full cooperation mode, including the Town of York, which will be pumping only during low-use, nighttime hours.

Besides storing water, the tank, when partially full, also serves as a pressure regulator, accepting excesses of pumped water as backflow. While the tank is off line, the pressure regulation function is being served by hydrants which have been fitted with relief valves, allowing excess pressurized water to be expelled from the system. Persons seeing these spewing hydrants should not be alarmed. Their locations have been selected so that the expelled water can drain away and not cause damage.

As a pre-project trial measure, the tank was taken off line on Monday of this week between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m., after a new connection pipe had been installed. The testing showed that several hydrant relief valves were in need of adjustments.

After sending out notice of the project and conservation requirements, the Geneseo Village Board received a complaint from a Westview Crescent resident concerned about not being able to water the new grass seeded over last year’s gas line excavations. However, the general public response has thus far been cooperative and understanding of the need to have the work done.

The post Geneseo water tank to go offline Friday appeared first on Livingston County News.

Sharing a border with the Livingston County Town of Portage is the Allegany County Town of Granger, population 547, home to this reporter, and possessing a town official of remarkable longevity — in terms of age and years in office.

Loreen Bentley, the Granger town clerk, is 93 years old, and in 2013 she is serving her 50th and final year in office. Since November 1963 she has been voted into her two-year term on every odd-numbered year.

Like many rural town clerks, Loreen’s office is at her home. Until this year, she never kept regular hours. For 49 years, the slogan was, “If the light’s on in the window, you can get a license” — Sundays and holidays included. Most years, Loreen has had 500-to-600 visitors.

Service to her customers has taken precedence over Loreen’s family life. It was not unusual for someone with clerk business to interrupt meals — even on holidays — to the annoyance of family at the table.

“I’d tell my family, ‘Well, this person is here I can do it. Why make them come back?’ “ Loreen related.

In 1963, Loreen and her husband Frank moved into a newly-built house at 5148 County Road 4. Two gentlemen of local political prominence, Councilman Tom Bennett and committeeman Vern Keough, deeming the location “ideal for the clerk’s office,” asked Loreen to fill the recently vacated position. Pay was $600 a year. There would be only four or five town council meetings per year, they said — although the frequency would increase to monthly almost as soon as Loreen came on board.

Very reluctantly, and after being subject to much persuasion, Loreen accepted. She won the caucus and election and took the oath in January, setting up her office in her kitchen and devising her own shorthand method for taking notes for the meeting minutes.

“I got so I liked it,” Loreen admits. The chatting with visitors, hearing their hunting and fishing stories and receiving occasional gifts or letters from appreciative customers were pleasant adjuncts to her duties.

Seven Amish men who showed up regularly to purchase hunting licenses told Loreen, “We prefer to come here because you treat us well.”

“Although I never treated them differently than anyone,” Loreen asserts. “I always tried to treat everyone well, even someone I didn’t like.”

Over the years, Loreen would work with eight different town supervisors: Harold Voss, Tom Bennett, Milton Roof, Ernie Witzel, Richard Rees, Ann Voss, Richard Hollis and Rod Bennett.

As clerk, Loreen logs and presents bills to the town board. She is also charged with dispensing marriage licenses, death certificates, dog licenses, handicap window hangers, building permits, and until recently hunting and fishing licenses, and, on the rare occasion of home births, birth certificates. (Two of the four Loreen has issued in her 50 year career were for this reporter’s daughters, but that’s another story.)

Loreen can sell marriage and hunting licenses to anyone, not just residents of her town.

“They came here from all over,” she observed.

It’s only been during the last three years that she has opted out of selling hunting and fishing licenses, because there got to be too much work and expense for too little return. Loreen took in $30,000 in hunting and fishing licenses the final year, from which the Town of Granger received “not much over $1,000,” and out of which the town had to bear the cost of operating the state license computer.

Until recently, when a new judge took over, Loreen also received court correspondence and citations dropped off by law enforcement officers, accepted fines, and wrote receipts when fines were paid outside of court.

She even fields telephone calls about roads not being plowed and taxes being too high — complaints more properly directed at the highway superintendent and town board.

Separate from her duties as town clerk, Loreen also serves as the appointed town historian. In that capacity she ferrets out death certificates needed by genealogical researchers. She has maintained a large file of obituaries and other articles mentioning folks in and near to the Town of Granger. Loreen expects no payment for her assistance but does ask to be informed of future discoveries which the researcher may make. The Government Appointed Historians of Western New York recently awarded Loreen a certificate of commendation for her years of service.

Today, Loreen’s salary as town clerk is $4,000 per year, with an additional $200 for her job as historian. She still hopes to retain the historian position after she retires in December as town clerk.

Biographical sketch

Loreen’s longevity may well be inherited. Peter Cannon, her maternal grandmother’s grandfather, lived to age 116. In her home Loreen cared for her own mother, Edna Stevens, the final seven years of Edna’s life. Edna died at age 100.

Loreen Stevens was born Aug. 17, 1919, in Kittanning, Pa. Her father, Ralph, an engineer on the Shawmut Railroad, was transferred to Angelica when Loreen was still an infant. The family lived at the corner of Allegany Avenue and Center Street until Loreen was 13, when they moved to a farm on the Angelica-Birdsall Road, and where Loreen continued to attend Angelica Wilsonian High School.

Loreen and her future husband Frank Bentley, a native of the town of Allen, met at the county fairgrounds in Angelica. They married in 1936 and bought a farm for back taxes next to Loreen’s parents’ farm. They would later own a farm on the Old State Road before building the house on County Road 4.

There were four sons: Robert, born in 1938, who died in an auto accident in 1962; Keith, David, and then Brad, born in 1960, 17 years after David, the next-youngest.

Frank would work for the Shawmut in the railroad’s final three years of existence, 1943 to 1946, then for Slawsons Lumber Mill in Hunt for 13 years, and then for Letchworth State Park. Before Brad was born, Loreen worked in a canning factory in Mount Morris for 10 years.

Frank’s family had always kept bees, and eventually Frank and his son Keith got into beekeeping on a commercial scale. The bees would be removed to Florida during the winter months. Over a 19-year period Loreen and her family wintered in Florida — not on vacation, but tending the bees, she points out. Frank passed away in 1992.

The write-in victory

It is an extraordinarily rare election event when a candidate not appearing on a ballot wins by write-in over a candidate who is on the ballot. Google “write-in victory” and you will see Strum Thurmond’s 1954 South Carolina Senate win and Lisa Murkowski’s 2010 Alaska Senate win, but nothing else.

Loreen Bentley has the distinction of a write-in election victory in 1999 against opponent Annette Sherlock.

(It should be noted that in Granger, Democratic candidates are typically absent on the ballot. During Loreen’s early years as clerk, the Republican candidates were often crossed endorsed by the Democrats. In recent times the Democratic party has ceased holding caucuses.)

Earlier that year Loreen had politely refused to sign a candidate ballot petition when she received a request to endorse a second candidate for the same office. Loreen explained that if she were to do so, her signature would not count on either petition. However, the solicitor was angry and so encouraged Annette Sherlock to run against Loreen at the Republican caucus. Annette won the caucus by two votes and thus displaced Loreen on the Republican line — the only line — on the November ballot.

Then-supervisor Rick Hollis and the town board encouraged Loreen to attempt a write-in campaign. Loreen sent a letter to every registered voter in the town, announcing she was a write-in candidate. But in the spirit of fairness, the town board also advised Annette to send letters to the same constituents announcing her candidacy on the ballot. Voting households received letters from both.

There was an exceptionally large turnout on election day. The official tally has 140 votes for Loreen Bentley, 65 for Annette Sherlock.

As a keepsake of the election, assessor Duane Aylor and councilman Ron Richards gave Loreen a step stool which was kept inside the voting booth. Many voters had used the stool that day to stand on and reach the write-in line.

Over the years

Over the years Granger town board meetings have been mostly routine affairs, free of controversy. An exception in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the question of blacktopping the town roads. The debate was won by those, including Loreen, who believed the roads do not have an adequate rock base and that ongoing maintenance would have become a taxpayer burden. All of Granger’s roads remain unpaved.

Zoning was never actually controversial, because the subject appears almost universally disdained whenever it’s brought up. Granger has no zoning code and no zoning or planning boards.

During Loreen’s early terms, the offices of two town judges were reduced to a single person in a single office, and that judge joined the town board as a voting member. Still later, the judge was removed from the board, and the five elected members of the town board thereafter had no judicial connections.

Loreen has had several deputies. Her husband Frank was the first, drafted after Loreen received a reprimand from Albany for not naming a deputy. Later there was Eugene Voss and then Jean Bentley, and most recently Loreen’s daughter-in-law, Brad’s wife Michelle. The deputy was essential during the years Loreen spent her winter months in Florida with her beekeeping husband and sons.

Loreen still finds herself irked by the higher government entities with which the town must deal.

She notes that county government, “doesn’t pay for anything, passes the cost of office supplies on to the town, and bills us for election inspectors, but at their new, higher rate.”

When Loreen performed the drive-around dog census, she was never paid the standard 50 cents per tallied dog. She was told two different messages from different Albany sources: that the dog census was the clerk’s job, and later, that the dog census was no one’s job in particular.

“It bugs me the things that they do,” she said.

While she has greatly enjoyed being town clerk, Loreen realizes the job is one with much inconvenience, lots of work and small pay. Finding her replacement will not be easy.

“But they’re not talking me into running again,” she asserts.

Loreen’s town clerk hours, set for the first time this year, are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at Loreen’s home, 5148 County Road 4.

The post Town clerk marks 50th year appeared first on Livingston County News.

The usual fake ID sting in Geneseo involves DMV personnel partnering with local police officers who stand outside bars and stores, ready to assist the bouncers or clerks as soon as a customer presents a suspect ID.

However, on Friday and Saturday six arrests were made without any DMV assistance, thanks to alert store clerks who took it upon themselves to confiscate suspect IDs, then make a report to police.

“Byrne Dairy got an influx of fake IDs this weekend,” Geneseo Police Chief Eric Osganian reported “They took the IDs; they called us. The kids then bolted, but we chased them down.”

Police answered three separate reports at Byrne Dairy, resulting in six people being ticketed for possession of fraudulent licenses. They were: Matthew Parker, 19, of Amityville; Neal Wagner, 19, Delmar; Matthew Liriano, 18, Belmore; Henry Groos, 19, Flushing; Sean Malone, 20, Geneseo; Jeffrey Florkowski, 20, Goshen. A total of six fake or fraudulent licenses were confiscated, including three from New Jersey, two from Connecticut and one from Pennsylvania.

Osganian pointed out that store clerks are realizing, when a college age person attempts to purchase alcohol using an out-of-state license as his or her ID, there is a good probability the license is a fake, since the majority of SUNY Geneseo students are residents of New York.

The six arrests have been referred to DMV Senior Investigator Ryan Lang, Osganian confirmed. As a new policy, for persons who have a second fraudulent ID offense, Ryan will attempt to enact a 90-day suspension of the offender’s real New York driver’s license.

While taking these latest offensive measures against the fake ID problem, Osganian has become aware of an informally organized college student effort to thwart the ID stings.

Portraying themselves as “Knight Knation,” the group’s mouthpiece is an online magazine of the same name. According to Osganian, “The group claims they are not affiliated with the college. They are anti-government, anti-enforcement.”

In the wake of the Geneseo Police-DMV sting during the first weekend in April, Knight Knation writer “Sweetness” proposed that cohorts contribute to a mutual alarm system, alerting underage students when and where a sting is underway.

“On nights when the sting is on, there are 2 or 3 old dudes in sweatshirts or leather jackets with blacklight flashlights standing next to (the Inn Between bouncers). These guys could not look more out of place if they tried,” Sweetness wrote. Sweetness urges fake ID users and others observing the sting to sound the alert via Twitter @knight_knation, and to not be foolish and attempt to enter on a fake ID.

While smarting somewhat at the “old dudes” description, Osganian acknowledged that Sweetness may be making a valid point that the sting should look a little less obvious.

“Once we’re spotted, they’ll be attaching to their social media Twitter site and advise all the kids to protect themselves,” Osganian realizes. “But now we’re watching them watching us.

“They’re challenging us on enforcing the law — and we’re up for the challenge.”

The post ‘Knight Knation’ takes on ID stings; Chief says police are ready appeared first on Livingston County News.

Editor’s note: Since this story first appeared in print editions of the Livingston County News on May 2, there have been changes to the Mount Morris village budget, including increases in the water and sewer rates. The story has been updated to reflect the changes.

Livingston County’s nine villages have adopted 2013-14 fiscal year budgets, meeting the New York State deadline of May 1. The tax bills will go out — and the budgets will take effect — on June 1.

Eight of the nine villages have stayed within the levy increase limit specified by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, keeping the levy at 2 percent or less. Geneseo raised its levy 3.72 percent, but remains within the governor’s guidelines, which allow higher increases for certain pension expense thresholds. Two villages, Leicester and Mount Morris, have remarkably managed a levy decrease.

In interviews with The County News over the past three weeks, the mayors discussed methods and strategies being used to keep costs in line, to keep revenues healthy and to stay within the governor’s 2 percent recommendation.

Avon puts retirees back to work

• Total appropriations: $1,492,824
• Tax levy: $990,360
• Change in levy: up 0.8 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $6.06
• Change in tax rate: up 6 cents

“In Avon, our goal is that the tax rate will not go up more than 1 percent,” said Mayor Tom Freeman.

Avon has met the challenge of increasing retirement system contributions by re-employing, on a limited basis, experienced workers who have officially retired and are receiving pensions, so the village no longer has to make that contribution to their paychecks.

“We’ve been blessed over some years to have attrition in labor,” Mayor Freeman noted, adding, “We have been successful getting those same quality people coming back and working for us part time.”

In addition to employing several its own former DPW people on a part-time basis, the village has hired a retired member of the Rochester Police Department, James Nobel, to head its police force. Here again, the village is sidestepping the cost of pension payments. Nearly 25 percent of what the village pays to its non-retired police officers goes into the retirement system, but a temporary state waiver requested by the village has allowed Nobel to receive salary of more than $30,000 while also receiving retirement payments.

“But you can’t bank on things like this every year, so you have to look other places for savings as well,” Freeman added.

Salary and benefit increases in negotiated labor contracts are another area where the village has little or no control over increases.

So also seem to be increases in the cost of energy — but there are possibilities for savings, especially in the long term, if the village is willing to make an investment here-and-now. In partnership with the Town of Avon, the village is investigating the possibility of a 20-year lease of a solar panel system in which the leasing firm would lock in a power rate for the term of the lease. A total of 4.5 acres of panels will be required. Freeman feels it is important that at least some of the panels be in a highly trafficked and visible spot, to demonstrate village support for “green” technology and to demonstrate to taxpayers that the village board is pursuing this avenue of cost savings.

Avon’s commitment to green energy will also be evident at this month’s Association of Villages meeting, where the village will be hosting a tour of the town offices’ geothermal system in the Opera Block— where the village is a participant as a partner in the courtroom facilities

“Cooperation between the towns and villages and between villages and villages is a must if we are to manage the costs we both have,” Freeman said. Avon shares a sewer camera with three other villages, a speed trailer co-owned with Caledonia, and a stump grinder co-owned with Lima.

An important place to find cost savings is in the creativity and ideas of employees. Freeman credits DPW Superintendent John Barrett with coming up with ideas which have save hundreds of thousands of dollars, including a method of installing new sewer lines in old lines, avoiding full excavation.

“It’s a like a home management system,” Freeman suggests. “When every one of the trustees and the department heads treat village taxpaying money if it is their own money, you have a sure formula for wise spending.”

Caledonia holds levy increase at 1.5 percent

• Total appropriations: $1,284,288
• Tax levy: $887,627
• Change in levy: up 1.5 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $9.121
• Change in tax rate: up 17.4 cents

Mayor Joseph Caluorie says the budget addresses the pressing issues such as street and sidewalk repair, public park maintenance and water meter replacements while keeping spending in line with a minimal tax increase. Non-employee expenditures are down $26,548. Revenues will increase for 2013-14, in large part due to a $9,000 increase in CHIPS money, which the mayor says will be used to complete sidewalk and street projects. Employee raises range from 2 to 6 percent.

Another project included in next year’s budget will be renovation to the baseball diamonds and tennis courts on East Avenue. The village and school share the cost to repave the tennis courts. The second $65,000 payment of four installments will be made on the downtown street light project. Several water meters will be replaced with new digital meters on village properties because repair parts for the old meters cannot be obtained.

Caluorie says the village will not be replacing the culverts on Mill Street. It simply cannot afford to fund the project, estimated at $400,000. and has not been successful in securing grant money. Consequently, Mill Street will remain closed to through traffic.

The village water budget for next year will be $418,227. The rate will remain $5 per thousand gallons of water used with a flat quarterly fee of $25 per customer.

Dansville avoids tax rate increase

• Total appropriations: $3,007,098
• Tax levy: $2,085,079
• Change in levy: up 1.6 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $12.99
• Change in tax rate: no change

Dansville’s tax rate remains unchanged from last year at $12.99 per $1,000 of assessed value. The total general fund appropriation for the next fiscal year is set at $3,007,098. The tax levy comprises $2,085,079 of that number. The difference between the appropriation and revenue numbers, a total of $174,920.05, is to be made up from this year’s fund balance.

According to Mayor Peter Vogt, the appropriation changes have been generally across the board, though payroll and benefits have been a concern. However, he noted that the tax rate has been kept flat due to increased assessments and the use of the fund balance.

“Our fund balance is projected to be very positive this year, in part because we operated several employees short,” Vogt said. “We’ve been two short in the police department and one in the street department. We also haven’t been operating to capacity in the police department’s clerk position. On top of that, the clerk’s office has been short the clerk since mid-December and was without a deputy clerk from spring of last year until September. That has taken a healthy bite out of our payroll and benefit expenses. However, despite the positive impact that has had on the bottom line, I don’t believe doing without those people over the long term will help the community.”

Vogt added, “Were it not for the projected fund balance, we would be looking at a tax hike in order to maintain the level of services we currently provide. The alternative would be to reduce those services. The fact is, we can’t continue to rely on the fund balance. It’s unpredictable and unsustainable. The real solution is in the development of a broader tax base (more business) and increased property values.”

No increases are anticipated in the water and sewer rates. However, a great deal of infrastructure, in both the general fund highway lines and special water and sewer lines, is in need of repair. The village will be “on track” with these repairs in 2013-14, but a long-term plan which approaches repairs with scheduled regularity is still in the future. In fact, Vogt intends to start such planning for every department this month, before the fiscal year officially begins.

Geneseo affected by pension cost increases

• Total appropriations: $3,038161
• Tax levy: $1,576,659
• Change in levy: up 3.72 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $6.84
• Change in tax rate: up 18 cents

Geneseo takes advantage of provisions in the governor’s tax guidelines which allow for a levy increase larger than 2 percent in cases when there is growth in the overall property valuation which is being taxed and increases in payment into the state retirement system.

Geneseo Mayor Richard Hatheway noted that the formula determining the allowable pension-related increase kicks in only when the increases hit a certain threshold. When the formula was first used last year, a consultant was hired to do the calculation.

Using the allowed increases, the village has a 2013-14 tax levy increase of 3.7 percent while still keeping within the Governor’s “2 percent” guidelines. The rate increase, from $6.66 to $6.84, is spread over a total property valuation which has increased about 1 percent, and so is a lesser 2.7 percent.

Hatheway is critical of what seems to be unnecessarily large local government contributions to the state pension system. He questions the need to continue retirement cost increases when the state pension fund has, for the past two years, restored itself to yielding a rate of investment return of nearly 6 percent.

The mayor likewise is critical of the notion of the state placing any cap on local government spending. The process makes for budgets driven by an available revenue pool, not by actual needs of the community, he said.

Villages are also dealing with increases in just about every commodity they must purchase, not just health care and pensions.

Assisting the 2013-14 budget was the cessation of five year payments on a pumper truck, freeing up an additional $80,000 for general disbursements.

Like Avon, Geneseo make use of a retired employees who are now paid hourly and whose experience and expertise is being taped in economical fashion for building and park projects.

Water and sewer rates will remain unchanged in 2013-14. Some increase in water revenue is anticipated in conjunction with the installation of new master meters. The present water projects entailing storage tank, line and plant improvements are being covered from reserve accounts and by cessation of older water debt service.

While there are no major sewer projects in 2013-14, Geneseo — and other municipalities with water treatment, will need to meet new standards for phosphorus effluent content.

Hatheway takes pride in the high level of service provide to citizens of the village, in particular emergency services, recreation and upkeep.

He is a firm believer in a participatory budget creation process which taps the expertise of the department heads.

“We give them a budget, then tell them to make the specific choices,” Hatheway noted. “They’ve consistently demonstrated a sense of ownership of what they manage and how the money is raised and spent.”

Leicester will enjoy large tax decrease

• Total appropriations: $321,553
• Tax levy: $36,251
• Change in levy: down 40 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $1.89
• Change in tax rate: down $1.24

In a year where some villages struggling to confine tax levy increases to within the governor’s guideline, the small Village of Leicester has decreased its tax levy by 40 percent.

“Generally, you do not decrease taxes,” Mayor Wendy Garagozzo concedes, “but I have done it two years in a row because of the unique situation we are in.”

Garagozzo noted that the rent revenue the village receives from leasing the old school building to the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership is a big factor in alleviating tax pressure for village property owners. A capital improvement project for the school, which the village was anticipating in setting the current year’s tax level, was not realized, freeing money up for 2013-14 expenses.

“We manage what we have. If we can relieve some of the burden for the individual taxpayer then everyone wins,” Garagozzo said. “Maybe next year, based on the revenue we have, we will have to increase taxes, but I’m hoping to do that a little at time, if in fact we need to do it at all. We look at it on a year to year basis.”

When she first came on board as mayor, Garagozzo recalls the village facing a large debt for a fire truck.

“I try to think ahead for things like that and not put that kind of burden on the taxpayer. Now we have a reserve account for the next fire truck,” she noted

“The BOCES revenue has been very beneficial for us and I perceive having that contract at least a few more years, so I build my budget around that,” the mayor advised. “It’s one of the big reasons why we didn’t want to dissolve the village.”

Leicester has no full time employees. Paychecks are received by the clerk, clerk assistant, code officer, historian and village board — as well as a contractor who handles occasional water system repairs. Employees receive retirement benefits, but not health care.

Leicester water rates are determined by the rates of its purveyor, the Village of Mount Morris. There was a water rate increase last year, but there will be none this year.

Lima levy increase at 2 percent

• Total appropriations: $907,555
• Tax levy: $467,900
• Change in levy: up 2 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $5.65
• Change in tax rate: up 8 cents

Lima’s 2 percent levy increase is the product of “being cost conscious,” said Mayor Carl Luft.

“We have frugal members of our village board who try to provide the most services for the smallest cost. My board is very good at holding down costs,” Luft said.

Among categories of spending demanding special scrutiny is health insurance, “always tough to hold down while at the same time trying to provide good coverage for our employees,” Luft said. Lima employs seven full-time workers who receive benefits.

Another area of scrutiny is the general highway fund.

“We try to get the get bang for our buck,” said Luft. “An example is our trucks: We might try to keep them five years rather than four as an economy measure to stretch dollars.”

The village is also conscious of energy efficiency, replacing the light fixtures with low energy bulbs and using electric power during the hours of low demand.

“For a household or a village, these are trying times,” Luft said. “It can be tough to hold costs down.”

In 2013-13, Lima’s water rate is remaining constant. The sewer rate will increase by $4 in the third quarter after being kept constant for the last four years.

Livonia foregoes pay raises

• Total appropriations: $739,820
• Tax levy: $477,000
• Change in levy: up 2 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $7.40
• Change in tax rate: up 1 cent

According to Mayor Calvin Lathan, the village has been carefully managing debt service on its street projects. In 2013-14 a $1.4 million debt service on Street Improvement Project 2012 for West Ave., Ward, Spring and Grove streets begins, but with interest payment only. At the same time, debt service for two old projects will be fully paid off and retired.

Livonia manages with three full-time and five part-time employees. None will see pay raises. Full time employees will continue to receive medical, dental and retirement benefits. The mayor and trustees have not seen a raise since 1996.

The 2013-14 budget does include the purchase of a new street sweeper, paid for with funds from a planned, reserve account.

Lathan noted that not every municipal expenditure line has increased in cost over the years. Two noteworthy categories which have significantly declined in cost since Lathan first was elected 20 years ago are liability insurance and refuse pickup. Market factors appear to be responsible for the insurance decrease while competition among landfill sites has reduced the cost of tipping. The separation of the fire department as district-owned rather than village-owned has also contributed to the decrease in insurance — and resolved any question of village-town apportionment of costs.

Also valuable to the village is water revenue. Although maintenance and billing of the village’s water system is handled by LCWSA, water revenue still comes directly to the village and can be put to use in making physical improvements and modifications to the system. (In contrast, Livonia no longer has any involvement with sewer service, which is now purveyed entirely through LCWSA.)

Mount Morris increases revenue

• Total appropriations: $2,033,838
• Tax levy: $1,203,389
• Change in levy: down 3.14 percent
• Projected tax rate: $14.10
• Change in tax rate: down 10 cents

Close scrutiny of spending lines along with a concerted effort find new revenue — largely from stricter traffic enforcement — has allowed the Village of Mount Morris to decrease its tax levy for 2013-14.

But the budget will still bring about what is the county’s highest village tax rate of $14.10, although it will be down 10 cents from this year.

The budget was formulated under the leadership of now-retired mayor Harold Long. Joel Mike, who was a member of the village board which assembled the budget, is today the elected mayor.

“Our expenses are in check and our revenues are up.” Mike said. “Obviously, it took a team of all of us to make this happen,”

Mike was in the minority last year in voting against allowing an override of the 2 percent cap, but the austerity and creativity within the 2013-14 budget has removed the need of even discussing the question.

Mike credits Clerk Cheryl Cappadonia for “watching the books; keeping members of village government budget conscious and aware of where they are.”

The fact that the two new members of the board are professional people with young families and full time jobs — like Mike himself — will further contribute to a keen budget consciousness, Mike predicted.

“I’m hoping for a private sector mentality on the board,” he said.

Mike promised he will be a promoter of a needs-based rather than a wants-based budget.

“That’s why I’ve always voted against the fireworks,” he explained. “Once we take care of our necessities, then we can look at what we have left to spend, and prioritize among those wants.”

“I call it ‘fact of life budgeting,’ ” he said.

“From a fiduciary standpoint, our biggest challenge is our expense load,” Mike said. “We’ve been doing a little bit at a time to improve our infrastructures, but we’re never going to have every street and system in perfect condition. The money is never going to be there to do it all at once.”

“Little increases in revenue weighed against these expenses have to be applied to the neediest spots first.”

The village continues to look for outside or untapped sources of revenue.

Water and sewer charges in the village win increase. The village has put in place a $5 quarterly water increase and a $2.50 quarterly sewer increase. The increases will be evaluated each quarter to see if they remain necessary, Mike said.

Meanwhile, a plan to charge customers for the installation of new water meters has been scrapped. Rather, meter costs will be seen gradually in the quarterly bills, Mike said.

Mike noted that the village is operating its water system in the red, suggesting that either the price is too low or too much water is being lost. Improved metering is a first attack on the problem.

Nunda holds the line at 2 percent

• Total appropriations: $585,456
• Tax levy: $398,565
• Change in levy: up 2 percent.
• Projected tax rate: $9.8575
• Change in tax rate: up 35.75 cents

Nunda Mayor Jack Morgan said the 2013-14 budget “gives everybody — including water and waste water department — what they need, but gives no one everything they want.”

Morgan said that keeping at the 2 percent tax cap was a challenge because of employee health insurance and retirement expenses. The pending retirement of a long-time employee will occur near the conclusion of the upcoming fiscal year.

Extra revenue was generated from timber harvested on water treatment plant property. Accordingly, these funds went into the waste treatment budget. Rollover funds from the current fiscal year’s budget likewise assisted the effort to stay below 2 percent.

The budget does not allow repair of highways, sidewalks and other infrastructure “to the extent we’d like to do,” Morgan noted. However, Livingston County will be bearing the cost of a one lane bridge in need of major repair.

Water and sewer are experiencing small increases: a 25 cents per quarter sewer increase, and at 30 cents per 1,000 gallons increase for water usage beyond the 5,000 gallon quarterly base. The water budget includes a major project which connects the water plant with the waste water plant, for the disposal of filter backwash and overflow.

Over the past decade Nunda has lost a number of its large, beautiful trees to age and decay. The budget calls for planting 20 replacements of a salt-resistant, flowering, non-invasive species.

The village will be enjoying improvements associated with a Main Street grant, but the application seeking funding to build a composting system for waste water was not awarded. Presently the village’s sewer sludge is disposed of on agriculture land which cannot be used for human consumption crops.

The village continues to cover 55 percent of the expense of operating the joint village-town police department.

The post Spending plans within guidelines appeared first on Livingston County News.