Ellicottville Receives Award & Town Budget Hearing Set
Ellicottville Receives Award & Town Budget Hearing Set
October’s Town Board Meeting Was Chalk Full of Great News
Photo / Jessica Schultz, ellicottvilleNOW
On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, The Town Board of Ellicottville reconvened for their routine monthly meetings. Supervisor Matthew McAndrew called the evening to order, as the Board prepared to discuss the most recent agenda at hand.
Getting right into business, the Board approved previous Town Minutes including those conducted from the Regular Town Board meeting held on September 18th as well as the Town Board Budget Workshop meeting held on September 24th. Whenever any previous minutes have been approved, they then become public information for residents to review online under the Town Government at www.ellicottvillegov.com.
Town Supervisor McAndrew presented to the Board his monthly report which included the Preliminary Budget of the Town of Ellicottville for the fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2025. Currently, the Preliminary Budget has been filed with the Town Clerk and is available for review by any interested party. It was agreed by the Town Board that a Public Hearing will be made available to discuss the 2025 Town Budget which will be held on November 6, 2024, at 4:00pm at the Town Hall, 1 W. Washington Street, Ellicottville, NY. At this time anyone who is interested in voicing their support or concerns regarding future budgeting will be heard and taken into consideration.
Next up on the agenda, the Department heads presented their reports for approval by the Board. Starting off with some good news, The Police Department shared that the Town of Ellicottville has been awarded by the Office of Justice. The funding was made under the Rural and Small Department Violent Crime Reduction Program and will be shared with the City of Salamanca under the amount of $189,778. This will allow for the Town to obtain digital processing equipment to assist with digital evidence, as well as additional training within those areas. Officer in Charge, Jim Bouchard, wanted to extend the departments thanks to Tracy Rozler, Deputy Clerk, who was able to make this award possible by finding, researching, and completing the grant process. There were only 12 departments in the country who were awarded this funding, it truly is a high achievement for the Town of Ellicottville and City of Salamanca.
OIC Bouchard went on to address another topic that deserved some praise. This year’s Fall Festival was one of the busiest yet but despite such an influx of visitors, all went as well as they could have expected. He extended his thanks to the Sheriff’s Department, State Troopers, Village DPW, Emergency Services, and Code Enforcement Officers for all of their assistance in such a smoothly operated event.
The Highway Department, headed by Scot Brumagin, had some updates to make within his report. The Northwood project is set to be completed shortly, and the draining issues have been addressed. Another project that has been wrapped up for the time being is the Holiday Valley Road project. The Town found that they had to correct some issues that the hired contractor did not see to. Labor, material, and equipment costs to complete the errors are all being calculated, and a meeting is in the works with the original contractor to right the financial differences.
Town Planner, Greg Keyser, presented current Department topics that needed addressing. The Engineering Services agreement submitted by MDA Consulting Engineers was resolved by the Board with the approval of an increased payment. This was due to the delay and issues brought about by the contractor and subcontractors from the Holiday Valley Road Project.
The Town Hall Door bid has been revised. The resolution of the Board is to now place an ad to attract the necessary bids for the replacement of the doors. It was also discussed by the Planning Board that to expand housing stock and eligibility for future grants, the Town will need to submit a letter of intent to obtain pro-housing certification under Option One. The Board agreed to the resolution.
The final inventory from the Lead Service Line was made and submitted to the NYS Department of Health. There will be another notification letter mailed to customers that have not previously replied that is expected by November 11, 2024.
The Town Board then shifted their focus to New Business. A proposal was made to reimburse CDL Training for Town Highway laborers. Resolved by the Town Board of Ellicottville, it was agreed that Town Highway laborers that successfully obtain their commercial driver’s license (CDL) can be reimbursed for the cost after six months of uninterrupted employment with the Town. This reimbursement will be made over a six-month payment installment if they are an active employee of the Town for that period.
There will be a Public Hearing made available on November 20, 2024, at 6:00pm at the Town Center located at 28 Parkside Dr., Ellicottville, NY to discuss Short-term Rentals.
As the evening’s agenda came to an end, the Town Board was called to adjourn by Supervisor McAndrew. The Board will gather again in November to further discuss the needs within the Town of Ellicottville.