(Feb. 6, 2012)  Congressman Bill Owens announced a new section of his website dedicated to promoting free tax filing services for New Yorkers.  Owens has added outreach to his website, located at http://owens.house.gov.  New features of the website include information on how to file taxes both electronically and by mail, and can be found directly at http://owens.house.gov/ConstituentServices/taxhelp.htm.

“Correctly filing one’s taxes can be a confusing and stressful process, and very few people know that there are free services available that can help them through these procedures,” said Owens. “During tough economic times, every penny counts and it is important that qualified tax specialists are available to the general public to help them receive the largest refund possible.”

The IRS Free File program is open to all taxpayers who made $57,000 or less in 2011.  Eligible taxpayers can visit http://www.irs.gov/freefile to prepare and e-file their federal tax returns.

AARP offers free services, run by certified tax preparers, for low-to-moderate income taxpayers of all ages every year. New Yorkers can find the nearest tax aide site by visiting Owens’ website.

A number of organizations in New York also partner with the IRS to run a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA).  This free service, staffed by IRS certified tax preparers, is open to taxpayers making $51,000 or less.  A full list of VITA sites in New York can be found by calling 800-906-9887.

(Wampsville, NY – Feb. 2012) A Public Hearing was held Monday, Feb. 6, in the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the Madison County Office Building in Wampsville to discuss the proposed Agriculture and Renewable Energy Business Park in the town of Lincoln.

The public hearing was held to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the completed State Environmental Quality Review and the draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the project.

The dGEIS describes the project and potential impacts this project may have on the environment and proposed measures to mitigate potential impacts. The dGEIS and all of its appendices are available online for review and comment at madisoncounty.org.

Written comments regarding issues to be addressed in the dGEIS will be accepted until 1 p.m. March 14. Submit written comments to the Madison County Planning Department, 38 N. Court St., P.O. Box 606, Wampsville, N.Y. 13163, Attention: Proposed ARE Business Park.

Comments may also be emailed to planning@madisoncounty.ny.gov; indicate “Proposed ARE Business Park” in the subject line of the e-mail message.

AGENDA

CITY OF ONEIDA COMMON COUNCIL

MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 109 N. MAIN STREET, ONEIDA NY

COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

6:00 PM

_____________________________________________________________________________________

*Call to Order / Pledge of Allegiance / Roll Call

 NEW BUSINESS

• Recognition of public safety members and citizens involved in rendering aid (Meeker)

Approval of minutes – regular meeting 01/17/2012 and special meeting 01/31/2012

Approval of Warrant No. 3

1. 1.         CAPITAL PROJECT 12-11:  Authorize the Fire Chief to proceed with Capital Project 12-11 – Oxygen Fill Station and expend funds up to the programmed amount of $5,600.  (Myers)

1. 2.         AGREEMENT:  Authorize the Mayor to sign an agreement with Team Health East, Woodbury NJ appointing a Medical Director to comply with regulations concerning rescue services provided by the City Fire Dept. (Myers)

1. 3.         COMMITTEES:   Authorize the creation of a City Charter Committee, City Nuisance Committee and City Manager Committee and authorize appointments to said committees. (Mayor)

1. 4.         WAIVER OF CHARGE:   Authorize the remaining balance of $8.00 for invoice 2011/50/0013400 be removed from the books as uncollectable.  (Smolinski)

1. 5.         ADVERTISE FOR BIDS:  Authorize the Purchasing Agent to advertise for bids for Capital Projects for the Municipal Building Roof Replacement, a heavy duty Class 8 dump truck with plow, and a heavy duty Class 8 dump truck.   (Bacher)

1. 6.         GLADWELL AVENUE PROJECT: Receive and place on file the Short Environmental Assessment Form Part I and pursuant to SEQR declare lead agency for the Gladwell Avenue Storm Water Collection System Project. (Bacher)

1. 7.         GLADWELL AVENUE SEQR:   Declare the Gladwell Avenue Storm Water Collection System Project to be an Unlisted Action, complete the Short Environmental Assessment Form Part II for the project, and authorize the Mayor to sign a negative declaration of environmental significance in Part III of the Short Environmental Assessment Form.  (Bacher)

1. 8.         CAPITAL BUDGET AMENDMENT:  Authorize a Capital Budget Amendment in the amount of $6,988.42 to the Oneida Justice Center Project and authorize the City Engineer to expend said funds relating the Settlement Agreement in the matter of Maximum Security Products vs. City of Oneida.  (Bacher)

1. 9.         LAND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:  Receive and place on file a purchase offer letter from Christopher J. Baker, 209 E. Railroad St. dated June 29, 2011 for vacant land located on Lexington Ave. (30.73-1-7) adjacent to his property and authorize the sale of said property for $250 plus all closing costs and filing fees as per the recommendation of the Land Committee.  (Stedman)

1. 10.     LAND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:  Receive and place on file a purchase offer letter from Daniel J. Miller, dba Affordable Storage, 320 Verona St. Oneida dated October 15, 2011 for vacant land on Monahan Place (30.46-1-6) and authorize the sale of a portion of said property for $2,000 plus the cost of a survey, which shall be reviewed and approved by the Water Superintendent before filing, plus all closing costs and filing fees as per the recommendation of the Land Committee. (Stedman)

1. 11.     LAND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:  Receive and place on file a purchase offer letter from Frederick Edick, PO Box 206 Oneida dated November 28, 2011 for vacant land located at 202 N. Main Street (former Chinese Restaurant), authorize the placing of a “For Sale” sign on the property, and further authorize “No Parking” signs to be placed on said parcel per the recommendation of the Land Committee.  (Stedman)

1. 12.     LAND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:  Receive and place on file a letter from Randy Jones, 521 W. Elm Street, Oneida NY expressing interest in purchasing vacant property located on W. Elm Street (20.69-1-10.25) and as per the recommendation of the Land Committee, authorize the City Attorney to send a letter to NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to determine if this property when donated to the City, was done so as dedicated parkland.  (Stedman)

1. 13.     BUDGET TRANSFER:   Authorize a budget transfer in the amount of $8,043 from Contingency to Fire – Equipment Repair & Maintenance to cover the cost of emergency repairs to Engine 2.  (Cukierski/Myers)

1. 14.     LOCAL LAW NO. 1 OF 2012:  Receive and place on file Local Law No. 1 of 2012 to establish a Special Events Policy in the City of Oneida and schedule a Public Hearing for February 21, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers, 109 N. Main St. Oneida.  (Bell)

1. 15.     2011 ANNUAL REPORT:  Receive and place on file the 2011 Parks and Recreation Annual Report. (Lovett)

1. 16.     TENTATIVE AGREEMENT: Authorize the Mayor to sign the tentative Agreement with the Oneida Paid Firefighters Association, Local 2692.  (Hudson)

OLD BUSINESS

Tuesday, February 7

9:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.: Town of Sullivan Board Meeting of February 1

9:14 a.m. 2:14 p.m. and 7:14 p.m.: Madison County Renewable Energy & the A.R.E. Park

9:25 a.m. 2:25 p.m. and 7:25 p.m.: CMS and You: Children’s Health

9:54 a.m. 2:54 p.m. and 7:54 p.m.: Oswego County Legislature Meeting of January 4

Wednesday, February 8

9:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.: Oneida Common Council Special Meeting of January 31

11:01a.m. 4:01 p.m. and 9:01 p.m.: Assembly Update with Bill Magee

Thursday, February 9

9:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.: Tomorrow’s World

9:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.: Tomorrow’s World

11:00 p.m.:  Ear to the Streets

(Oneida, NY) Sen. David J. Valesky (D-Oneida) was named to a newly-created bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Libraries.

“Libraries are an integral resource in our communities, providing access to books, technology and education to people of all ages,” Valesky said. “I am pleased to serve on this committee, to focus on the specific needs of libraries in Central New York and across the state.”

The 19-member Select Committee may conduct meetings, conferences and public hearings, gather information and make recommendations on library-related legislative proposals.

New York has 750 public libraries, and that total rises to 7,000 when academic, school and special libraries are included.  There are dozens of libraries and several library systems within the 49th Senate District.

Valesky has been a supporter of libraries throughout his service in the Senate. In 2011, he earned an “A” rating from New Yorkers for Better Libraries for his legislative work with respect to libraries.

Feb. 6, 2012, 7 p.m.: Village Board meeting to include Clark Street bridge bid document review, Carpenter’s Barn bid document review (if available), update on Riverside Drive project and schedule 2012-13 budget work session(s).

Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m.: Planning Board meeting to include an addition to National Grid building on Clark Street and Jim Griffin at 5 Ledyard Ave. addition of east side entry roof – portico.

Feb. 27, 7 p.m.: Historic Preservation/Architectural Advisory Review Committee meeting.

(Washington, DC – Feb. 1, 2012)  Congressman Bill Owens joined with Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) to bolster small businesses and ensure the federal government makes good on its promise to foster an environment in which entrepreneurs can hire and expand.

Owens and Graves introduced H.R. 3850, the Government Efficiency through Small Business Contract Act of 2012, legislation that holds agencies accountable if they do not reach congressionally mandated goals to award federal contracts to small businesses.

“This legislation will ensure that Washington lives up to its promise to give local small businesses the opportunity to put the unemployed back to work,” said Owens. “I am glad to see a bipartisan effort that builds on my previous efforts to hold federal agencies accountable for failing to meet their obligations to local small business owners.”

H.R. 3850 increases the current government-wide small business contracting goal from 23 percent to 25 percent and introduces penalties on agencies and their executives if these goals are not met.  For example, agencies that fail to report their contract awards 120 days after the end of the prior fiscal year would be barred from carrying out any pilot programs in the subsequent year.  Additionally, senior executives at federal agencies that fail to achieve their small business procurement goal would be barred from taking sabbaticals the following year or receive any incentive awards.

H.R. 3850 builds on a similar effort from Owens, who introduced H.R. 3779, the Small Business Growth and Federal Accountability Act, on January 19th.  Owens’ legislation would decrease an agency’s procurement budget by 10 percent each year it fails to meet its small business contracting goals.

Congress set a goal in 1997 that 23 percent of all federal contracts would be awarded to small businesses.  While each federal agency is permitted to set its own small business procurement goals in consultation with the Small Business Administration (SBA), the sum of all agencies’ goals must add up to 23 percent.  However, federal agencies typically fail to meet their small business contracting goals and there are currently no penalties for these shortfalls.

(Madison County, NY – Jan. 27, 2012) On Jan. 24, 2012, the Albany County Supreme Court issued a decision granting in part a motion to dismiss an Oneida Nation (OIN)-funded lawsuit filed against Comptroller DiNapoli and Madison County Attorney John Campanie. The lawsuit takes issue with legal fees paid to the Oneida and Madison County attorneys’ private law offices for work done in support of the repeatedly successful land claim litigation defense against the OIN.

The complaint, brought as a “taxpayer action” by two OIN employees, could not have been initiated by the OIN in its own right because it is neither a citizen nor a taxpaying entity. The Court determined that the Comptroller, who refused a demand by the OIN to take action against Campanie, could not be forced to commence legal action against him.

The Court also severely limited the other OIN-backed claims against Campanie, limiting the scope of the action to claims accruing after April 11, 2010.

The Court noted that in deciding the preliminary motion, it was bound to “give the complaint a liberal construction, accept the allegations as true and provide plaintiffs with the benefit of every favorable inference” and stating that “the question of ‘[w]hether a plaintiff can ultimately establish its allegations is not part of the calculus in determining a motion to dismiss.”

The OIN has hired a prominent national law firm to sue DiNapoli and Campanie, bringing the suit some 12 years after New York State agreed to pay the private firms of the county attorneys of Oneida and Madison County in the defense of the OIN’s various legal actions, including its attempt to join 20,000 individual landowners as defendants seeking title to and ejectment from their lands. The arrangement, long public and disclosed for the entire period on Campanie’s County ethics disclosure forms, involved more than a decade of intensive legal work resulting in numerous and substantial legal victories, including the recent dismissal of the OIN’s 1974 Land Claim by the Supreme Court in October 2011.

That decision protected title to over 250,000 acres of public and privately held lands in Central New York and denied the OIN claim for hundreds of millions of dollars. The OIN continues in its attempts to take 13,000 acres into federal trust and out of taxable status, and continues to pursue federal action to have 307,000 acres determined to be a present Indian reservation.

By Margo Frink

(Canastota, NY – Jan. 18, 2012) Mayor Todd Rouse received a letter of resignation from acting village Justice Keith Haas who is relocating. A motion was made to accept his resignation and appoint town Justice Grace Rapasadi. The motion passed 4-0-1, with Scott Rapasadi abstaining.

Village Administrator Larry Carpenter reported he and DPW Foreman TJ Tornatore researched an opportunity for an outside company to provide paving of village streets if the cost is favorable to taxpayers.

Based on a particular process, the company makes suggestions on what can be done to extend the life of a road, whether it be sealing cracks or using a slurry seal.

Six streets were selected for a survey and cost analysis.

Carpenter said he would arrange for the company to come speak to the board.

The new dump truck and plow has arrived. Carpenter said it has a stainless steel box, is undercoated and should serve the village for a very long time.

The village’s three-year contract with its trash haulers is up this year. Bids will go out now to be returned and opened mid-February.

Rouse, who is also the budget officer, plans to budget $30,000 for two-way radios for police and fire personnel. The police department is receiving funds from Madison County, which helps lower costs for village taxpayers.

A resolution was passed to authorize the mayor to sign the amendment of owner engineer agreement with CDM, engineers for the waste water treatment project. Contractor delays pushes out completion of the project to Aug. 31.

Rouse said he wanted to dispel rumors that the project is over budget.

“It’s not over budget. It’s under budget,” Rouse said. The debt rate has held at $95 a year and will not change, he added.

The village participated in a lighting efficiency program and according to numbers provided by Carpenter, the village has seen savings in its electric bills.

The boiler in the municipal was converted from electric to gas. With the efficiency co-pay, the savings for July, August and September of last year was more than $300 per month and as much as $900 compared to 2010 costs.

Electric costs at the fire station, the DPW building, the waste water treatment plant and the pool also showed savings.

In 2009, Carpenter switched automobile insurance providers for DPW and police vehicles. In 2008, 25 vehicles under the former plan cost taxpayers more than $17,000. In 2011, 24 vehicles under the new plan was $10,697.

Insurance for fire trucks increased about $50 from 2010 to 2011. Very few companies insure fire trucks, according to Carpenter.

Coming at no surprise is the increase in worker’s compensation costs. In 2008, the total premium for village employees was $24,409. The proposed premium for 2012 is $37,977.

The premium for the fire department in 2008 was $16,569 and showed an increase each year of more than $5,000. The proposed premium for 2012 is $36,173.

Margo Frink is managing editor of the Madison County Courier. She can be reached at 315-481-8732 or at Margo@m3pmedia.com. 

(Jan. 20, 2012) Congressman Bill Owens and the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation announced they are now accepting nominations for Citizen Service Before Self Honors.  The award recognizes citizen heroes who have a willingness to sacrifice for others whether through a single act of extraordinary heroism at risk to one’s own life or through a prolonged series of selfless acts.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.CitizenServiceBeforeSelfHonors.org before Feb. 10, 2012.

“In New York, we see selfless acts of heroism that go unnoticed every day,” said Owens. “The Citizen Service Before Self Honor from the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation aims to change that by recognizing uncommon sacrifice in our area. I urge all New Yorkers to take a moment to think of someone deserving of this recognition and submit their name before the deadline.”

The Citizen Service Before Self Honors award is unique because it is presented to unsung heroes by America’s Medal of Honor recipients.  A panel will consider all nominations and select 20 national finalists.  From those finalists, a group of Medal of Honor recipients will select three individuals to receive Citizen Service Before Self Honors at a ceremony on Friday, March 23rd at Arlington Cemetery near the Tomb of the Unknowns.  March 23 is National Medal of Honor Day.

Finalists for the honor will be announced Monday, Feb. 27. The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation will provide travel and lodging expenses for those chosen for the award and one guest.

ABOUT THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR FOUNDATION:

The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to perpetuate the Medal of Honor’s legacy of courage, sacrifice and patriotism.  The Foundation supports the objectives, activities and programs of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and raises funds for initiatives such as Above & Beyond Citizen Honors, that promote awareness of what the Medal of Honor represents.  For more information, visit www.cmohfoundation.org.