One Lane Bridge Reconstruction/River Road

Public Information Meeting Invitation

You are invited to participate in a Public Information Meeting for the CR#73 over Tioga River Bridge Reconstruction Project. It will be held on Thusday, December 6, 2007 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Elroy Young Municipal Building located on U.S. 15 in the Town of Lindley, Steuben County, New York. Representatives from the Steuben County Department of Public Works, Fisher Associates (Project Consultants), and the New York State Department of Transportation will be present to accept questions and comments. Aerial photographs and preliminary plans for the project will be available for public viewing.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving card courtesy Catherine Pierce

Mary Jane Semple's Addison Post letter to the Editor

Here is Mary Jane Semple's Addison Post letter to the Editor, for those who don't get the paper. I apologize if the format doesn't hold. It is a scan of the document.

Dear Editor
Elections are once again behind us for another year. As with all elections there are positive results and negative results. On the positive side a group of Lindley residents saw fit to try and put Harold Semple back in as Lindley Town Supervisor with a write-in vote. Harold never threw his hat in the ring nor announced his
candidacy for Supervisor by a write-in vote.

The efforts were of many residents who campaigned for Harold by passing out flyers door to door, allowing signs to be placed in their yards, a letter to the editors and well wishes. These actions did not go unnoticed. The results were not in favor of Harold with the final count of 159-141 with many of the voters in Lindley wanting to see a change for Lindley Town Supervisor.

As with most everything there is a negative side. The negative being that of a person or persons who saw their need to steal two of the signs placed in private yards with the owners permission asking for a write-in vote and dismantling another sign, again placed with permission at the entrance of a private drive-way. The
dismantled sign was then replaced in the yard of the citizen only to be driven over by someone who drove across the yard to knock the sign down. There is not much one can do unless the culprit(s) are caught but law enforcement has been notified on these malicious acts.

Those of you who are not happy with any situation in the town, let your voice be heard. Gentlemen of the Lindley Town Board hold your head high and continue to work for those of Lindley who wanted to see a change in leadership for the town.
Mary Jane Semple

Absentee Ballots Counted

Harold Semple

141

Sally Orr

159

Official Results will be posted on the

Steuben County Board of Elections site

http://www.steubencony.org/boe.html

Why I Challenged Harold to a Debate on the Hawbaker Gravel Pit

I challenged Harold to a public debate specifically to give the public a chance to hear the reasons why Harold and his group for a better Lindley support the Hawbaker gravel pit. Unfortunately, Harold declined my invitation to a public debate.

Had that debate taken place, I’m sure many citizens would have asked Harold why he could support a business that--

1.) Completely violates the Intent of our Master Plan, a plan that was developed and adopted under his administration.
2.) Will not benefit the Town financially whatsoever. It is estimated the Town would receive a minimal amount ($1500) from State Sales Tax disbursement per year, due to the tax exempt status of Hawbaker customers/NYS. And when the 5 structures located on the Hawbaker site on River Road are torn down, the gravel pit will be assessed as “agricultural”. No buildings, no meaningful tax base.
3.) Will de-value all immediate (20) properties surrounding the pit which reduces the Lindley tax base. This reduction is in addition to the removal of 12 structures and approximately 100+ acres that the NYSDOT is taking for the Route 15 Improvement Project. The Town of Lindley will lose over $2 million of property value, reducing our tax base by 3% and our share of State Sales Tax. That $1500/ per year we would expect to receive from Hawbaker will no doubt be reduced as well.
4.) That will put 180 gravel trucks a day on River Road –that’s going to be 30 one-way trips every day, for twelve hours a day, five days a week, that’s one truck every two minutes up and down the entire length of River Road for 15 years! Now, how can anyone say this is a good and safe thing for the residents of Lindley? I would have asked Harold had he agreed to debate to answer that question, but he didn’t and I’m beginning to understand why.
5.) Will create two, count them, two jobs. This attempt at job creation by Hawbaker could not be considered by anyone to be a “boom” for Lindley.

I have heard Harold and his group of concerned citizens for a better Lindley support the Hawbaker gravel pit because it would provide the Town of Lindley Highway Department close access to gravel/sand that would in turn save the taxpayers money. Unless Hawbaker is going to give the Town free gravel/sand NYS is requiring all Towns to get three bids on gravel. Hawbaker may or may not come in as low bidder. So having access to a gravel pit in the middle of Town is not a supportable argument. And if Hawbaker did come in as low bidder, they would make a whole lot more money off the Town of Lindley (tax exempt of course) than the Town stands to gain off them. That’s a fact.

When Hawbakers presented their gravel pit proposal to the Town, I was your Supervisor. A major part of my job and the Town Board is to research developer’s applications to determine whether or not what they propose will serve the “greater good” for the Town or create a land use condition that causes extreme adverse impact, negating the greater good. After pulling all the facts together that were mentioned above, I concluded as your Supervisor, the advent of the Hawbaker gravel pit operating in the Town of Lindley will not serve the Town for the greater good. It is clear from the facts that the only organization that will benefit from a gravel pit operation on River Road is G.O. Hawbaker.

Should the Town Highway Superintendent be appointed?

Some think by changing the highway superintendent from an elected position to an appointed position the Town Board would have more efficient control over highway spending. However, if a Town Board is functioning in accordance with NYS General Municipal Law and has adopted guidelines such as procurement and bid policies, the Town Board has the necessary tools to provide reasonable financial oversight of the highway department without dinging the “elected” Highway Superintendent for nickel and dime purchases that often must be made during a workday.

Procurement and bidding policies were adopted several years ago by Lindley Town Boards. With these policies in place we already have one of the means to provide financial oversight to control large expenditures such as equipment and contracts to insure we get the most competitive price.

The second means we have, and probably the most important, to control highway spending is the development of a budget every year, a primary function of the Town Board. It is at this point in the legislative process where a Town Board can be the most effective at controlling the spending of ANY elected official especially the Highway Superintendent. They are, quite frankly, at our mercy.

At budget time, every line item in the Highway budget is scrutinized for fiscal accuracy and consequences to the taxpayer. Budgeting decisions are based on real spending patterns over the past five years and also with one eye peering into a crystal ball: Are we due for a heavy snow and ice winter? Or will it be a wet spring next year that washes out 20% of our roads? Or will the grader break for good this time? And what about gas prices? Going up or down?

These spending decisions must be made regardless if the Highway Superintendent is elected or appointed. Once the highway budget is adopted it has been fixed in stone by the Town Board and any changes in the budget requires Board approval. That's a lot of control.

So if we have effective budgetary, auditing controls and purchasing policies already in place to provide maximum financial oversight on an elected Highway Superintendent, one must ask why this issue has come before the board four times during the last two years and will be discussed, yet again, at the upcoming November 13th board meeting.

I guess the citizens of Lindley will have to attend the November Board Meeting and listen as certain Board members argue why they don’t believe the voter in Lindley has enough common sense to fill the position of Highway Superintendent with a qualified individual. Or how they can assure the citizens of Lindley that a Town Board/a committee of five is the most efficient way to run the Highway Department.

For the reasons I’ve stated, I am totally opposed to changing the Highway Superintendent’s position from elected to appointed. I am a strong believer in the will of the people, not a committee of five where inside politics and personal agendas will lead to certain abuses and inefficiencies. Elected officials need the autonomy of their position to make managerial decisions effectively and spontaneously without the cumbersome problem of having to get permission from five people before they can buy a box of bolts.

An elected Highway Superintendent serves both the voter and the Town Board. An appointed Highway Superintendent only serves the Board. You should be very concerned over that prospect.