By Gary Will

(Town of Lebanon, NY – Dec. 2011) Recently, the Lebanon Town Board appointed interested residents to develop the Town of Lebanon Comprehensive Plan. Chairing this committee is Judi Clippinger, who lives on Craine Lake.

Other members include Jim McDowall, Susan Galbraith, Thomas Hoe, Penny Hughes, David Loop, Jeff Manley, Patty Matson, Jim Mulligan, Brian Musican, Chadwick Nower, Matt Powrie and Gary Will.

It is estimated it will take a couple of years to complete. The committee is starting with data collection concerning the natural resources of the town, the town’s history, a list of demographics, industry, transportation and road network, climate, water resources and aquifers, gas development, government, public and private land ownership and agricultural preservation.

This planning endeavor, although new to Lebanon, is not new to Madison County or surrounding towns. In order to draft a comprehensive plan, the community will engage in an open, deliberative process, a process which asks who we are, where we have been and where are we going.

The goal of this plan will help to preserve what is valuable to the community, while providing guidance as to how we can encourage the kinds of growth and development, which are vital to preserving the town.

In the coming months, the committee will prepare descriptive statements concerning the previously mentioned list of topics. A questionnaire will be developed and sent to all residents and landowners.

Clippinger said residents must take an active role in determining the town’s future, and this is one way of doing it.

The planning process will include a review by the town’s planning board, as well as the town board. This document will not in and of itself regulate, but will serve as a guide for residents and local officials to draw upon when making decisions, maximizing benefits and minimizing risks.

According to another committee member, it is important to preserve and protect what is seemingly valuable to the community and at the same time give thought as to how we can encourage reasonable growth.

Residents interested in joining the committee or who have questions are asked to contact Judi Clippinger at (315) 691-3415 or judi@clippinger.org. The next meeting of the whole committee will be March 6 at the town offices.

(Town of Lebanon, NY – Nov. 14, 2011) Lebanon town board members adopted a final 2012 town budget that will lower the town tax levy $2,100 or .6 percent.

The town council also authorized Supervisor Jim Goldstein and Highway Superintendent Alex Hodge to sign an agreement to finalize road repair issues with Norse Energy, Inc. concerning $82,500 in repairs for Vosburgh Road that is expected to be completed next spring.

The final budget will have a tax rate of $4.353 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, but the overall tax levy will be reduced from $358,490 in 2011 to $356,334 in 2012. The tax rate represents about a 2-percent increase over the 2011 tax rate of $4.266, due to a drop of $2.2 million in assessed valuation tied principally to natural gas production.

Town officials cited higher-than-anticipated sales tax proceeds as the primary reason they were able to accomplish the tax rate reduction. Town officials also cited good management of town reserves as a key to having funds available to apply against the proposed budget and to reduce debt on new machinery acquisitions.

The overall town spending increased about 4 percent from $467,490 to $487,334, due to higher state retirement costs, health insurance, Workers Compensation and related highway inputs, but sales tax proceeds increased from $110,000 to $131,000, helping to offset costs. This was especially helpful given low the interest rate is now on reserve funds that have historically been a crucial part of revenue used to offset budget increases by town officials.

This development allowed town officials to fund the Comprehensive Planning Committee activities for 2012, grant pay increases to Hodge, Town Clerk/Tax Collector Nicole Viera and bookkeeper Elaina Morgan for their efforts in assisting the town with vigorous efforts toward FEMA road repairs and reimbursements, developing the town website townoflebanon.org, improved records organization and to plan for anticipated building improvements and equipment repairs.

The state currently assesses natural gas, a commodity, as real property and uses estimates rather than actual sales in determining the value of the gas, Goldstein said, which also runs about two years behind the actual sales by the industry.

Town board members approved a resolution and were close to finalizing an agreement with Norse Energy that would have Town Attorney Steven Jones hold in escrow the $82,500 in repairs proposed by Vestal Asphalt that the town has had a quote for since May 3 of this year.

The agreement, which will need to be signed by Norse, would transfer the funds to Jones until Vestal had satisfactorily completed the repairs. Town officials are expecting Norse to turn over a check to Jones no later than Nov. 30.

Town officials also approved a snow and ice removal agreement with Madison County for 24.47 miles of county roads in the township including Armstrong Road, Nower Road, River Road, Rodman Road, Reservoir Road, Campbell Road, Lebanon Road and South Lebanon Road.

The Town Board meets again Dec. 12 at the Town Office, 1210 Bradley Brook Road in the hamlet for its end-of-year meeting.

(Madison County, NY – Nov. 2011) The Madison County Landfill Operation (all sites) and the ARC MRF Recycling Center will be closed on Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, November 24.

The Landfill Office on Buyea Road in the Town of Lincoln will be closed on Friday, November 25.

Proposed Budget to Keep Tax Levy Increase at or Below 1 Percent

(Town of Lebanon, NY – Nov. 2011) Lebanon town board members will present a proposed 2012 town budget to the public for comment Thursday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m., at the Town Office, 1210 Bradley Brook Road in the hamlet.

The public is invited to attend.

Town officials have also invited representatives of various fire contract and ambulance contract agencies or other contractual programs that they fund to answer questions posed by the public.

Supervisor Jim Goldstein reported that the Town Board met for its budget workshop Monday, Oct. 24, and finalized the budget to be presented to the public. The proposed 2012 budget estimates that the town tax levy will increase about 1 percent or less, and that the town tax rate will increase between 2 to 3 percent, depending on final sales tax figures to be applied to the budget.

Town officials cited the principal concern being the large increase requested by the Georgetown Board of Fire Commissioners, which is requesting an increase of 33 percent, or raising their contract for fire and ambulance protection from $26,300 in 2011 to $33,790 in 2012.

All other fire and ambulance contracts to date have not requested an increase, and several fire contracts in Hamilton and Earlville are projecting a decrease for 2012. Town board members had Goldstein request the Georgetown Fire Department attend the budget hearing with current numbers and rationale for the increase requested and to answer any questions members of the public who reside within that protection area may have.

Town board members voted unanimously at the Oct. 24 workshop to increase the salaries of Town Clerk/Tax Collector Nicole Viera and Town Highway Superintendent Alex Hodge about 4 percent after meeting in executive session to discuss individual personnel performance.

Town officials cited Viera’s records improvements, launching the town website, townoflebanon.org, and helping out in a multitude of other areas as reasons for granting her a $300-per-year increase in her town clerk and tax collector lines, increasing her town clerk salary from $9,734 to $10,034 and her tax collector salary from $2,266 to $2,566.

The town historian position at $500 per year remains vacant.

Town officials praised Hodge’s efforts with town FEMA repairs; more than $269,000 in road and bridge work will be reimbursed by FEMA and State Emergency Management Office thanks to his documentation of all labor, fringe, materials and fuel to ensure maximum coverage for the town for flood damages.

Hodge also was recognized for continuing to do a superb job of being proactive and keeping a close eye on natural gas developer Norse Energy, Inc., in terms of road use and road impacts. He was granted a $2,000 increase in salary from $43,500 to $45,500, with the expectation by town officials that FEMA reimbursements will more than cover that balance, given all town labor associated with FEMA repairs was carefully tracked and applied as appropriate.

The town has gotten by on three highway employees and Hodge for the last two summers, after having had a crew of four full-time workers in prior years.

Goldstein reported that final sales tax numbers to be applied to the budget might increase as much as $5,000, which would more than cover these increases.

Hodge discussed beginning the process this winter of trying out the one-person plow units with some town roads to see how the system works, with the expectation of additional cost savings down the road if he finds the system is doable for the town in the winter.

Town officials are still waiting to hear from Norse Energy on finalization of its agreement to transfer the $82,500 for Vosburgh Road repairs to be completed by Vestal Asphalt next spring into a town escrow account held by the Town Attorney until the work is completed, given recent announcements by Norse that it has significantly reduced its workforce, has put its assets up for sale and is $90 million in debt by some news accounts.

(Hamilton, NY – Oct. 6, 2011) Colgate Bookstore, student volunteers from the Head Start group at Colgate’s Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education and the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority took part in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record – the nationwide campaign to set a new world record for the largest shared reading experience on a single day.

The campaign is designed to draw attention to the growing crisis in early childhood education in America and to encourage a love of reading in all young children.

This year, record-breakers read Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. The day-long campaign was kicked off nationally on NBC’s TODAY show and was followed by large and small reading events organized by individuals, schools, libraries, government organizations and local businesses nationwide.

The Colgate Bookstore, assisted by volunteers from the COVE and KKG, hosted two in-store programs (and several school-based programs) for children, featuring the record-breaking story, a related craft, stickers, activity sheets and a certificate of participation.

In Madison County, 220 children were read the official campaign book. Participants came from Hamilton, Morrisville, Madison, Randallsville, Brookfield and elsewhere in the county.

Thirty students in the Morrisville and Madison Head Start classrooms were given their own copy of the book, donated by Kappa Kappa Gamma. Every participating elementary classroom was given a free copy of the book donated by the Colgate Bookstore.

In the 2010 campaign, volunteers read to 2,057,513 children nationwide in order to set the world record. Although the total number of participants for 2011 has not yet been released, it is predicted that the new world record will be set this year.

(Randallsville, NY- Oct. 2011) Lebanon town board members adopted a preliminary tentative town budget Oct. 10; the spending plan would increase the property tax levy 1 percent.

The board also set a budget workshop for Monday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. at town hall and scheduled a public hearing on the town budget for 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10.

The proposed budget includes increases in state retirement, Workers’ Compensation, health insurance, highway garage and office maintenance and repairs, and funds set aside for the town’s comprehensive plan, which is being developed in the initial stages by the town’s Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Lebanon officials also agreed to the recommendations by Town Supervisor Jim Goldstein and Town Highway Superintendent Alex Hodge to approve the agreement proposed by town attorney Steven Jones between the town, Norse Energy, Inc., and Vestal Asphalt.

The agreement will allow the town to receive from Norse and hold in escrow $82,500 in road repairs estimated for Vosburgh Road. The money would be paid to Vestal Asphalt upon satisfactory completion of the repairs to the town road.

Goldstein and Hodge said that given the fact that delays would prevent the work from being completed before winter and that repairs would have to wait until the spring, the town felt much more comfortable with the money in the town’s possession for repair use rather than delay and re-negotiate the matter next spring.

Hodge, Goldstein and Jones held a phone conference last week with Norse and Vestal in which Vestal held to its estimates, and Hodge was satisfied that the proposed expenditures would be adequate to complete the repairs next spring.

Town officials also discussed a recent low-volume hydraulic fracturing of the Keller well off of Reynolds Hill Road conducted over the holiday weekend without prior notice to the town but with approval of the DEC.

Goldstein and Hodge said that they had not been advised of the activity and became aware of it when constituents made inquiries. Goldstein said he requested that Norse include such prior notifications in any future activities so that the town can be in a position to recommend the proper route.

There were about six water trucks traveling on South Lebanon Road and Reynolds Hill Road at dusk Sunday, Oct. 9, where the “work over” of the Keller well proceeded, according to Norse officials.

Goldstein said he is still researching the issue and would report back on his findings.

In other town actions, board members:

* Authorized payment of the new 2011 Stadium International Highway Truck that has met the satisfaction of the highway superintendent at a cost of $188,962 on state bid.

The truck was paid for by a combination of town highway reserves and a bond anticipation note from Alliance Bank at a yearly rate of 1.85 percent for $127,000, which will be paid off over three years.

* Appointed former town historian Penny Hughes to the town Comprehensive Planning Committee. Hughes joins Judi Clippinger, Gary Will, Susan Galbraith, David Lopp, Thomas Hoe, Brian Musician, Pat Matson, James McDowell, Matt Powrie, Chad Nower, James Mulligan and Jeff Manley on this committee.

The committee is still looking for a representative who can communicate with the Amish community and will also have residents serving on sub-committees.

* Put the 1998 Chevrolet CK-2500 pickup out for bid. Bids will be opened at the Nov. 14 town board meeting.

The preliminary proposed tentative town budget for 2012 is on file with the town clerk and can be reviewed by members of the public prior to the budget workshop and public hearing.

Town Clerk Nicole Viera is also working to put more and more items on line, including board meeting minutes through the town’s new website townoflebanon.org.

Goldstein gave an update on meetings that southern Madison County supervisors have been continuing to use to discuss issues ranging from the state tax cap to a countywide road use law for natural gas issues that will be able to be adapted by the towns to their own needs.

Goldstein gave updates on the visit by the Madison County Natural Gas Development Working Group on Sept. 28 and also discussed the challenges the county faces in meeting the tax cap with the 2012 county budget.

Goldstein will be e-mailing out his annual survey later this month to take the pulse of the public on pending town, county and state issues of local concern.

The town board will hold its budget workshop Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. The public hearing on the proposed budget will be Thursday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m.

The next town board meeting will be Monday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

All meetings will be held at the Town Offices, 1210 Bradley Brook Road in the hamlet.

Submitted by Supervisor James Goldstein (D,C,I – Lebanon).

TOWN OF LEBANON

1210 Bradley Brook Road

Earlville, N.Y. 13332

     JAMES GOLDSTEIN                                               NICOLE VIERA

TOWN SUPERVISOR                                              TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR

PHONE/FAX: 315-837-4152                         PHONE: 315-837-4220

lebanon@citlink.net

AGENDA

LEBANON TOWN BOARD MEETING

MONDAY, OCT. 10, 2011

SMITH VALLEY COMMUNITY CENTER, RIVER ROAD, RANDALLSVILLE

7:30 P.M.

I.                   Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance

1. Privilege of the Floor
2. Approval of Minutes
3. Payment of Bills and Claims

V.        Town Officer Reports

Planning Board Chair/Comprehensive Planning Chair

Town Justice

Dog Control Officer

Code Enforcement Officer

Town Assessor

Town Clerk

Highway Superintendent

Supervisor

V.                Resolutions

n  Accepting/amending 2012 tentative budget and scheduling budget workshop and hearing dates

n  Approving road repair agreement for Vosburg Road with Norse Energy and Vestal Asphalt

n  Payment of 2011 Stadium International Truck

n  Fund transfers for 2011 town budget

n  Other resolutions

VII. Discussion Items

2012 Town Budget – goals and issues

Highway equipment issues for 2012

FEMA and CHIPs repair updates

Supervisor Survey

Comprehensive Plan

Other new/old business, natural gas updates town/county/state – SGEIS

IX. Privilege of the Floor

X. Executive Session (if needed)

XI. Adjournment

(Randallsville, NY – Sept. 2011) Town of Lebanon Democrats will gather to nominate candidates for town office for 2011 when they meet to caucus Saturday, Sept. 17, at 10:30 a.m. at the Smith Valley Community Center in Randallsville on River Road in the hamlet.

Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley, a Lebanon resident and registered Democrat, will be the featured speaker for the caucus. Refreshments will be served, and all registered Democrats are encouraged to attend and participate.

Riley won election as Madison County Sheriff in 2009 and kicked off his campaign that year by announcing at the Town of Lebanon Democratic caucus. He now returns to discuss his progress in law enforcement in Madison County since taking office.

The caucus will be facilitated by Town Democratic Chair Judi Clippinger and committee members Charles “Chuck” Hall and John Grossman.

Town offices up for re-election include town supervisor, town clerk/tax collector, two town council positions and town highway superintendent.

Announced registered Democrats who are candidates for office include Jim Goldstein, incumbent, for town supervisor; Nicole Viera, incumbent, for town clerk/tax collector and Marie Morgan, incumbent, for town council.

Goldstein is seeking a sixth two-year term as town supervisor, Viera is seeking her first full term as town clerk/tax collector and Morgan is seeking her third term as a town council member of the Lebanon Town Board.

Viera was appointed to replace Lisa Thomas as town clerk/tax collector in 2010 when Thomas resigned the position to attend nursing school. Viera was elected unopposed in a special election in 2010.

Goldstein has already been nominated by the Conservative and Independence parties for the position of town supervisor on the fall ballot.

Other announced candidates who have filed for office include incumbent Town Councilwoman Carol King, who is running for re-election on the Republican line, and incumbent Highway Superintendent Alex Hodge, who is also running for re-election on the Republican line.

Town supervisor terms run two years. Town clerk/tax collector terms run two years. Town council terms run four years.

The caucus is open to the public, but only registered Democrats may participate, nominate and vote.

TOWN OF LEBANON

1210 Bradley Brook Road

Earlville, N.Y. 13332

     JAMES GOLDSTEIN                                               NICOLE VIERA

TOWN SUPERVISOR                                              TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR

PHONE/FAX: 315-837-4152                         PHONE: 315-837-4220

lebanon@citlink.net

TOWN OF LEBANON TOWN BOARD MEETING AGENDA

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011, 7:30 P.M.

TOWN OFFICE, 1210 BRADLEY BROOK ROAD, EARVILLE

1. I.                   Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance
2. II.                Privilege of the Floor
3. III.             Approval of the Minutes/Bills and Claims
4. IV.             Reports

Planning Board Chair

Town Justice

Town Assessor

Dog Control Officer

Code Enforcement Officer

Town Clerk

Highway Superintendent

Town Supervisor

1. V.                Resolutions

n  2012 Town Budget

n  Comprehensive Planning Committee appointments

n  Fund transfers

n  Other resolutions

1. VI.             Discussion Items

n  Norse road repair issues with Vosburgh Road

n  Road use law/road repair agreement updates

n  2012 Town Budget/FEMA repairs/2012 Road Plan

n  Supervisor survey

n  Dog licensing issues for 2011- update and status

n  Natural gas development updates/Marcellus Shale SGEIS regulations

n  Highway garage and equipment repairs

n  Rte. 12B followup – speed study update for Middleport Road intersection

n  Other items/old and new business/Comprehensive Plan updates and status

1. VII.          Executive Session (if necessary)
2. VIII.       Privilege of the Floor
3. IX.             Adjournment

(Town of Lebanon, NY – Sept. 7, 2011) The Town of Lebanon is seeking to fill the position of Town Historian. Any resident, age 18 or older, is free to apply for the appointment to the Town Board, C/O Town Supervisor, 1210 Bradley Brook Road, Earlville, N.Y. 13332.

The position has remained vacant for several months now.