Northampton Town Tidbits
September 2006
By Supervisor Linda Kemper
Visit us at www.townofnorthampton.com
E-MAIL: nhpton1@frontiernet.net
NYS PROPERTY TAX REBATES
In June, Legislation was passed for tax rebates to property owners eligible for a basic or enhanced School Tax Relief (STAR). The rebates differ among school districts with a formula based on the 2004 school district tax rates of each school district. According to officials at the NYS Dept. of Taxation and Finance, property owners will receive tax rebate checks between the middle of September and the end of October. All property owners in a district are to receive the same rebate. According to data from the state, the rebate amount for owners in the NCS school district will be $107.55 for basic and $179.61 for enhanced STAR. The state appropriated $675 million for these tax rebates.
NYS VOLUNTEER CREDIT
Legislation was recently passed to give a $200 NYS Income Tax Credit to volunteer firefighters and EMS. The law will take effect on January 1, 2007. This credit is long overdue and will result in a larger amount to the volunteers than a proposed property tax exemption alternative would have given. Our volunteers deserve more recognition for their essential services and time dedicated to our communities. This is a move in the right direction to provide incentives to the volunteers.
AMBULANCE UPDATE
In July, the town board awarded the bid for a new ambulance to Wheel Coach for the amount of $116,000 including trade-in of the current ambulance. We had planned for this replacement and have the money in reserves; therefore, no additional tax liability will be imposed on taxpayers. The new ambulance is due for delivery in November. Money from fund-raisers and donations will be used to update some equipment as well. We will now have a modern ambulance to serve our community with. We anticipate that it will not need replacement for 10 years.
COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT OFFICER & JUNK ISSUES
The Town is hiring a person to assist our part-time code enforcement officer with addressing the unsightly junk issues and enforcement of our junk laws. We are seeing a large increase in building permits, which requires a great deal of time from the C.O.E. Therefore, the Board determined that we need someone to specifically address and enforce the junk and zoning issues on a part-time, as needed basis. The Town has also been working on a new Property Maintenance Law that will provide clearer definitions than our older laws do. This will enable us with a better ability to address and enforce the many junk issues that plague our town. Every day we hear complaints about the abandoned vehicles and junk and these steps are necessary to start the process of getting violators to “clean-up”. A public hearing will be held in September on the new proposed law. The date will be posted soon and copies of the proposed law will be available for review at the Town Hall.
HUDSON RIVER BLACK RIVER REGULATING DISTRICT-PROSOSED RULES
HRBRRD conducted their first public input session on the recently released proposed draft rules and regulations on August 17th at the Northville School. After viewing the draft definitions, rules and regulations, we are very concerned of the impact that they will have on communities and lake users. The draft rules are much more extensive than the previous ones and potentially very costly to permit holders. Many rules are subject to interpretation. They will dramatically change the way the permit system affects users of the permit areas. The Fulton County Board of Supervisors, Town of Northampton and Town of Edinburg recently passed resolutions asking in part to slow this process down until all interested parties have been allowed ample time for a proper review and comment period. Our State and Local representatives have also been contacted. We expect other local and government agencies to follow suit. Lake users, citizens, organizations and Government agencies need more time to understand, study, evaluate and have questions answered in order to make informed comments. Two more sessions are currently scheduled for August 23rd and September 6th at 6:30 pm. The proposed rules may be picked up at the HRBRRD offices or printed from their site at http://www.hrbrrd.com/draftrules.html. The public is urged to attend the meetings and write letters offering comments and suggested changes to the draft rules.
NEXTEL CELL TOWER UPDATE
The Cell Tower is now up and running. EMS, Fire and Sheriff are working on an application to get whip antennas on the tower in order to bring this essential coverage into our area. Other carriers interested include Verizon and Cingular.
B.A.S.S. TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The Rhode Island B.A.S.S. Federation Nation held their state qualifying tournament on August 18th and 19th on the Sacandage Lake. “Blast Off” and weigh in was held at the Northampton Campsite Boat Launch each day. Numerous clubs from around the state participated in this tournament with approximately 90 “anglers” fishing for small mouth bass. The top 12 winners will participate in the state tournament next year. Anglers were allowed to enter 5 fish per day and all fish caught were released. It is estimated that 600 bass were caught over the 2-day period. The top “lunkers” caught each day was 4.4 and 3.10 pounds. The top winning combined weight for 10 fish for the 2 days was 25.06 pounds. It is estimated that this event brought approximately 200 people into our area, staying at local establishments and supporting our local businesses. Many were here for the entire week and everyone loved the area. The tournament organizers are already talking about having the State Tournament here next year. We were glad to help them out with planning for the event, hope to see them next year.
CONGRATULATIONS to Andrew (A.J.) Abbott and Justin Alexander Frederick of Troop 55 on achieving the rank of Eagle Scout
REMINDER: September 8th will be the last Friday of the summer schedule that the transfer station and hardfill site will be opened until next summer. The transfer station will be closed on Monday, September 4th (Labor Day)
NOTE: The NYS Office of Real Property has set the Town’s final equalization rate at 78%.
Our Town Board minutes are available on the web site.
UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS
-SVAN Sundays in Northville Waterfront Park 5-7 every Sunday
-August 23rd, HRBRRD Rules & Regulations 6:30-8:30 pm at NCS
-August 30th, Town Planning Board 7:00
-September 3rd (Sunday) Sacandaga Lake’s Ring of Fire at dusk
-September 6th, HRBRRD Rules & Regulations continued, 6:30-8:30, at NCS
-September 9th , Sand Island End of Season Boat Bash
-September 12th, Primary Election, Polls open from 12:00 –9:00 pm
-September 13th , Town Planning Board-7:00pm
-September 20th , Regular Town Board Meeting-7:00 pm
-September 27th, Town ZBA-7:00 pm