OWASCO - Streamlining was the buzzword at the Owasco town board meeting on Thursday night. The board moved to eliminate some of the red tape in administering its fire codes and sewer rates by replacing and amending former laws.
It is also in the process of updating its zoning code.
A public hearing to adopt Local Law No. 2 of 2008 to repeal the existing Chapter 50: Building Construction and Fire Prevention of the Owasco Town Code was intended to facilitate the administration of new state codes.
The old fire code had been in effect since 1984, while the state had just updated its code in January.
A new Chapter 50 was enacted allowing the code enforcement officer to enforce the New York State Building and Fire Code.
The amendments in Local Law No. 3 of 2008 were made to facilitate the inclusion of sewer and water fees in the budget.
Under the previous local law, water fees could be changed by resolution, but sewer fees needed a public hearing to actually change the law including the rates. This created a 60-day delay before rates could be included in a new budget. The new local law allows a yearly adoption of new sewer rates by resolution if needed.
Local Law No. 3 was adopted to amend Chapter 116: Sewers, Article VIII entitled Sewer District No.1 to rename it Sewer Districts; amend Section 116-80 to include Sewer District No. 2 and any future Sewer Districts; and amend Section 116-82 to include future sewer districts and allow annual adoption of the schedule of charges and rates for sewer service, or at any other time as determined by resolution.
Because the town changed the law related to building construction and fire prevention, it had to reiterate the schedule of fees which essentially remain the same as in the old law. However, they can now be changed yearly depending on the budget. The advantage of doing this is to make it easier to review the fees on a yearly basis.
An increase in the sewer rates in Sewer Districts 1 and 2 was from $13.50 for 0 to 1,000 cubic feet and $1.30 per 100 cubic feet for more than 1,000 cubic feet for the 2007-2008 fiscal year to $15.50 and $1.55 per 100 cubic feet, respectively, for charges effective June 1, or an increase of about $2 per cubic foot.
“What happens when Auburn raises the rates?” a resident asked.
“We will change our rates,” said town supervisor John Klink.
He noted that Auburn hadn't changed its rates for the town since 2001 and he hadn't received a response for numbers.
“We'll have our own and we don't know what their rates will be,” he said, although he said that by September 2009, he expects the city to come up with new rates that could go into effect in January 2010.
The town also amended its budget to include a second person at the refuse collection center and reduced the garbage manager's salary by the amount added to the second overseer's salary - $3,500.
In other news:
* A public hearing to revise the town code on solid waste will be held in the town hall at 7 p.m., June 12.
* Assemblyman Brian Kolb found $6,000 that the town never received for playground equipment and can now be reimbursed for after it's purchased. He also found another $4,000 that the town will use for new water meters.
* Councilman Ed Wagner reported that the Water Quality Management Agency received a $15,000 grant and Cayuga County will provide $7,000 worth of in-kind services for the Owasco Flats project. So far no progress has been made with the DEC about phosphates being deposited in the lake, but the Health Department is pursuing the issue with lawyers in Tompkins County.
* Klink was actively involved in the Upstate Truck Traffic Safety Coalition and expressed disappointment in the town hall meeting Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton recently held in Ithaca.
“She wants another blue ribbon panel,” he said. “We've been paneled and studied to death. She needed to know how angry people were.”
The town sent letters to U.S. Sen. Schumer and Gov. Paterson. This summer, the Skaneateles truck project will hire law enforcement officers to check trucks hauling waste through the village and use meters to measure any nuclear medical waste to report to the DEC.
“Paterson could fix this simply by a stroke of the pen,” Klink said. “He could create a truck routing authority.”
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
A public hearing to adopt Local Law No. 2 of 2008 to repeal the existing Chapter 50: Building Construction and Fire Prevention of the Owasco Town Code was intended to facilitate the administration of new state codes.
The old fire code had been in effect since 1984, while the state had just updated its code in January.
A new Chapter 50 was enacted allowing the code enforcement officer to enforce the New York State Building and Fire Code.
The amendments in Local Law No. 3 of 2008 were made to facilitate the inclusion of sewer and water fees in the budget.
Under the previous local law, water fees could be changed by resolution, but sewer fees needed a public hearing to actually change the law including the rates. This created a 60-day delay before rates could be included in a new budget. The new local law allows a yearly adoption of new sewer rates by resolution if needed.
Local Law No. 3 was adopted to amend Chapter 116: Sewers, Article VIII entitled Sewer District No.1 to rename it Sewer Districts; amend Section 116-80 to include Sewer District No. 2 and any future Sewer Districts; and amend Section 116-82 to include future sewer districts and allow annual adoption of the schedule of charges and rates for sewer service, or at any other time as determined by resolution.
Because the town changed the law related to building construction and fire prevention, it had to reiterate the schedule of fees which essentially remain the same as in the old law. However, they can now be changed yearly depending on the budget. The advantage of doing this is to make it easier to review the fees on a yearly basis.
An increase in the sewer rates in Sewer Districts 1 and 2 was from $13.50 for 0 to 1,000 cubic feet and $1.30 per 100 cubic feet for more than 1,000 cubic feet for the 2007-2008 fiscal year to $15.50 and $1.55 per 100 cubic feet, respectively, for charges effective June 1, or an increase of about $2 per cubic foot.
“What happens when Auburn raises the rates?” a resident asked.
“We will change our rates,” said town supervisor John Klink.
He noted that Auburn hadn't changed its rates for the town since 2001 and he hadn't received a response for numbers.
“We'll have our own and we don't know what their rates will be,” he said, although he said that by September 2009, he expects the city to come up with new rates that could go into effect in January 2010.
The town also amended its budget to include a second person at the refuse collection center and reduced the garbage manager's salary by the amount added to the second overseer's salary - $3,500.
In other news:
* A public hearing to revise the town code on solid waste will be held in the town hall at 7 p.m., June 12.
* Assemblyman Brian Kolb found $6,000 that the town never received for playground equipment and can now be reimbursed for after it's purchased. He also found another $4,000 that the town will use for new water meters.
* Councilman Ed Wagner reported that the Water Quality Management Agency received a $15,000 grant and Cayuga County will provide $7,000 worth of in-kind services for the Owasco Flats project. So far no progress has been made with the DEC about phosphates being deposited in the lake, but the Health Department is pursuing the issue with lawyers in Tompkins County.
* Klink was actively involved in the Upstate Truck Traffic Safety Coalition and expressed disappointment in the town hall meeting Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton recently held in Ithaca.
“She wants another blue ribbon panel,” he said. “We've been paneled and studied to death. She needed to know how angry people were.”
The town sent letters to U.S. Sen. Schumer and Gov. Paterson. This summer, the Skaneateles truck project will hire law enforcement officers to check trucks hauling waste through the village and use meters to measure any nuclear medical waste to report to the DEC.
“Paterson could fix this simply by a stroke of the pen,” Klink said. “He could create a truck routing authority.”
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net