Great Valley Town Board Meeting
Great Valley Town Board Meeting
Great Valley will continue with manufactured housing moratorium while pursuing a townwide Comprehensive Plan to update land use policies
The Great Valley Town Board, meeting Monday, March 14th, voted to close a public hearing that was opened in February to air a restrictive zoning amendment governing manufactured housing.
Town Supervisor Dan Brown explained there are 60 days remaining on the extended moratorium for approval of manufactured homes. Any requests for these homes during that time will have to come before the Town Board for review. There were no public comments.
The Board agreed to step away from the proposed amendment to pursue an updated comprehensive plan and zoning regulations for the town. Officials have sought the guidance of the Cattaraugus County Planning Department and Planning Board to eliminate the expense of an outside consultant.
Code Enforcement Officer Rich Rinko pointed out that the County will be using Great Valley as an example in setting up a framework for zoning based on changes happening in the community and neighboring towns.
A public discussion on all land use issues should get underway later in the spring and summer. A public hearing will then be scheduled on an "umbrella law" that will avoid piecemeal zoning amendments.
The Board then set a public hearing for April 11th at 7:00pm on a proposed requirement for bonds insuring against damage by logging trucks and other heavy vehicles exceeding weight limits on town roads.
Brown said other towns have such laws but Great Valley has been able to work with area haulers to prevent seasonal road damage. Now there are problems requiring state enforcement action due to damage by a logger from the Adirondacks region removing timber from the Windfall Creek State Forest via Thorpe Hollow Road. The town's proposed bonding law is still being drafted.
Board members then signaled a go-ahead for the May 7th Happy Half Marathon/5k, which is in its seventh year. The route begins at Holiday Valley, then follows Route 219 into Great Valley, turns west on Mutton Hollow and Klawitter Roads to the intersection with Route 219. The Board's approval is contingent upon receiving a certificate of insurance.
Following a bid opening for lawn care, the Board voted to accept D & J Lawn Service and Snow Plowing's $9,295 seasonal bid for the four town cemeteries, memorial park, town hall ball fields and property. D & J Lawn Service was also awarded the contract for Bonn Way water/sewer district at $185 per cutting.
Several other topics came up and it was announced that the Assessor's Town Hall hours have been cut back from Tuesdays to the third Tuesday of each month. The information came from Cattaraugus County, which supplies assessment services to the town and will expand hours as needed in upcoming months as Grievance Day approaches.
It was then decided to add EllicottvilleNOW as a second "official newspaper" and several members pointed out an informative article in the March 10th edition, titled "Former Youth Detention Camp To Become Rec Area."
In addition, Brown announced a planned truck replacement will be suspended due to delays of as long as two years on delivery of new vehicles. He also noted he was recently chosen to serve as chairman of the Cattaraugus County Town Supervisors Association.
The Board agreed to host its 2022 Youth Program, which now includes a newly resurfaced basketball court, thanks to a donation by the Eddy Family, and is part of plans for additional space in the Town Hall.
The design by MDA Consulting Engineers is underway for the $180,000 addition. Brown said the town has already received half the Covid-19 impact funds for the project, which will include a food pantry and expanded Youth Program facilities.
Brown said the food pantry, managed by the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ellicottville, needed to expand into the Youth Program storage space when the pandemic required a shutdown of the Youth Program. The food pantry continues to serve an expanded clientele.
The Town has also been working with Acme Business on a budgeted $10,500 electronics and security upgrade. When completed, five security cameras will be placed inside and outside the building, and a video display monitor will be installed in the meeting area to provide Zoom presentations for the Town Board and for Planning and Zoning Board meetings.
Rinko reported that continued delays in Armstrong broadband connectivity are due to unfinished property surveys and right-of-ways through Seneca Nation of Indians lands near Carrollton. He said the state must still negotiate these with the Nation.
Many spoke about recent flooding caused by a clogged sluice under the rail tracks that had been the subject of complaints for the past three years. The flooding affected lands that have never been affected in the past. Several noted five homes and areas along Mutton Hollow and Klawitter Road suffered damage.
Mark Hagon of Klawitter Road told the Board that the DEC cleaning the creekbed near his home has not remedied repeated flooding of his driveway, garage and home, along with damage to his shop tools, since the event.
The meeting was held in memory of Great Valley resident Agnes Lorraine Crowley Slack, who died March 2nd.
The Board will hold its next official meeting on April 11th at 7:00pm at the Great Valley Town Hall at 4808 Route 219.