Town of Hartford, New York

This year will mark the 3rd year that I serve as the Chaplain for the Washington County Board of Supervisors. All that really means is that I give the opening prayer for the Monthly full board meetings.  I will update this blog monthly to share my prayer, but in the meantime here are some prayers that I have recently given.   Dana

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11/18/11   Board of Supervisor’s Prayer

Our Heavenly Fater, this past Weds, November 16, 2011 - New York Governor Cuomo has directed flags on state buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset in honor of Fort Drum Soldier Private First Class Theodore B. Rushing who died on Veteran’s Day November 11, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.  Veteran’s Day was celebrated last week and Father Denis Edward O’Brien of the United States Marine Corps. would have us remember that it was the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.  It was the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.  It was the Veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.  It was the Veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.  It is the Veteran, who salutes the flag, who served under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag.  We pray to you also for the day no one needs to serve in any military to maintain world peace.     Amen

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12/16/11 Board of Supervisor’s Christmas Prayer

Our Heavenly Father, the Holiday Season is upon us.   But what is the Holiday Season? It is not some politically correct secular holiday where we gather around the Festivus Pole made famous by the Jerry Sienfeld comedy TV show.  But rather it is the December 21st celebration of the Jewish Holiday Hannukah and the December 25th celebration of the christian holiday Christmas. Both of these holidays are historically significant religious celebrations.  Hannukah celebrates the miracle of how 1 night’s worth of lamp oil lasted for 8 days and is symbolized by the Menorah.  Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ after the miracle of the immaculate conception and is most often symbolized by the Christmas Tree.  In 1893 the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously declared that we are a Christian Nation, where Christians are free to pray for peace in Jesus name, so let us do that in all humility, with confidence to Almighty God our everlasting Father and greet each other with Happy Hannukah or Merry Christmas.    Amen 

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Board of Supervisor’s Prayer 1/20/12

Our Heavenly Father, in this new year, every day is a special day and a testament to your miracles.  However, some view each day as a hardship and they pray to just get thru it.  Their burdens can be crushing and they often loose sight of your divine grace and wonderous creations.  Our job as Legislators of the County should be geared towards easing the burdens of our citizens, one way or another.  By doing so, perhaps we can help them to catch their breath instead of a sigh, and at least see a little bit of specialness in each day.  For example, I doubt if anyone in this room knows that today is National Butter Crunch Toffee day, but it is. There are also many citizens of this County that do not know that today we will work to ease their burdens and spend their tax dollars wisely, but we will try.  I am sure that today’s sunrise was greeted by many a cancer survivor as the most special sunrise they ever saw, that is of course until they see their very next one and revel in its beauty.  So let us not fall under the spell of pessimism, but instead proclaim that today is special and that our glass is half full instead of half empty as we give thanks to you God, for all of our blessings.    Amen.

My Blogging New Year’s Resolution is to not let all the Spam I get discourage me from Posting info relevant to the Town of Hartford.

You may have noticed that my Postings have declined dramatically the last 6 months. That is because 99.9% of all the comments I get back are junk spam. Some do not even make grammatical sense and makes me wonder if they are a computer written substitution for a human.

I just deleted 104 Spam comments to this blog. There were 104 comments waiting to be reviewed and every single one of them was spam.

Hopefully real constituents read these posts even if they do not choose to comment., but a real comment from a real human every once in awhile, even if it is negative would be nice.  

Dana

Dear Hartford Taxpayer,

                By this point all taxpayers should have received the 2012 Town and County Tax bill showing the three separate tax levies listed for County, Town, and Fire Protection.

                The Levy is the amount of money to be collected through Real Property taxes.  When you pay your taxes, it is divided and dispersed to three separate entities. These entities are; County, Town, and Hartford Volunteer Fire Co.

This letter will address the taxes that you pay towards the Town only. 

Last year the Town Tax Levy was decreased by 15% from the year before.  This year’s Town Tax Levy has increased by 0.7% which is well below the new 2% Tax Cap.  All in all, we are still down 14.3% from the levy of 2010. 

It is my drive to make the 2010 Town Tax Levy the highest Town taxes that you will have paid for many years into the future.  My goal is to be fiscally conservative and remain below that 2010 amount for as long as we can.  The 2010 Town Tax Levy was $885,025.  This year’s 2012 Town Tax Levy is $757,458 which is $127,567 less than the amount of Town Taxes collected in 2010.  In fact, if you refer to the reverse side of this page, you will see that the 2012 Town Tax Levy is very close to the 2008 Town Tax Levy.  

This year’s Town Budget saw a 9% increase in the Health Care Insurance provided to the Town’s full time employees, an 18% mandated increase into the NYS Retirement fund, and a 100% increase in the fee that the Town pays into the Worker’s Compensation Pool Fund to cover injuries to Town Workers.  Even with all of these increases, we were able to keep the increase in Town Taxes to just 0.7%.

One change in this year’s budget is that the Town has created three separate bank accounts for; Vehicle Replacement Fund, Building Capital Improvement Fund, and Museum/Civil War Enlistment Center Capital Improvement Fund.  By making these separate dedicated accounts, money put into them will be harder to sweep up and spend elsewhere.  This is like a savings account for specific items and will allow the money to accumulate incrementally each budget year so that next time the town needs to replace a snowplow truck or make an improvement to the building we will not have to borrow the entire amount. The Vehicle Replacement Fund so far has $35,000 in it, the Building Capital Improvement Fund has $5,000, and the Museum Fund has $15,500.

The money placed into the Museum Enlistment Center account will allow the Hartford Historical Society to leverage that money and qualify for grants to help preserve the last remaining Civil War Enlistment Center in New York State.  The Town of Hartford owns the property and buildings of the Museum/Enlistment Center while the Hartford Historical Society acts as Stewards of the property.  Not only does the Hartford Historical Society act as Stewards of the property but they also fundraise and spend their own money to help maintain the Town’s property which is much appreciated by the Town.   

The Town of Hartford Government will work hard this year to keep spending down.  The worse thing to see in the Town is the increasing amount of vacant homes where the owners had to just walk away because they could no longer afford to live in the Town, County or State.  It is important that your Town Government work to keep expenses down and your Town tax burden as low as possible.

Regards,  Dana Haff - Town of Hartford Supervisor

Even though the DEC landfill permit for Eldridge Lane expired this past January, it is a good idea to keep this expired permit “expired” and prevent any ideas of attempting to renew it.

On Sept. 16, 2011 the Washington County Board of Supervisors adopted the following resolution. I would have prefered something a little more iron clad but it is at least a move in the right direction.

Resolution #213:  Title: To declare intent to not renew permit 5-5338-0004/00004 for construction and operation of a landfill on County owned property in the Town of Hartford.                                                                                                                                                                                          

WHEREAS, Washington County had a DEC permit # 5-5338-0004/00004 for the “construction and operation of a 147 ton/day solid waste management facility (landfill)” subject to certain conditions which expired January 1, 2011, and                                                                      

WHEREAS, the Washington County Board of Supervisors has discussed the desirability of constructing and operating a landfill on this site in light of the developments in the solid waste marketplace and the impending expiration of the Adirondack Resource Recovery facility, and

WHEREAS, it appears imprudent at this time, in light of the disposal options available in the area for the County to construct and operate a solid waste management facility; now therefore be it                                                                                                                                                            

RESOLVED, that the Washington County Board of Supervisors hereby indicates its intent to abandon pursuit of renewal of a permit for operation of a solid waste management facility on County owned land in the Town of Hartford.

Thanks to Town Clerk Denise Petteys, the Town of Hartford Government now has a Facebook page. Check it out at “Town of Hartford”.

This year’s Memorial Day Parade was once again very nice with a small town touch.  President Abraham Lincoln once again graced us with his Gettysburg Adress Speech and this year we had the Adirondack Pipes & Drums Band.

Here is the speech that I gave at the War Monument in the center of Main Street:

“Memorial Day is the time for Americans to reconnect with their history and core values by honoring those brave American Service members who gave their lives in battle for the ideals we cherish.

More than a million American service members died in the wars and conflicts this nation fought since the first Colonial soldiers took up arms in 1775 to fight for our independence.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Fort Sumpter and the start of the Civil War.

We should be proud of the fact that Hartford is the only town in New York that has managed to keep and preserve its historic Civil War Enlistment center.

This center is the last one standing in all of New York State. This small building is where brave Hartford men volunteered and enlisted in the war effort before marching over the mountains thru Hebron to catch the army train in Salem.

This Civil War Enlistment Center is maintained by the Hartford Historical Society. It is located just up the street next to the museum and is open today for visitors and donations.

America would be a much different place today if our rights and freedoms were not supported and defended by the valor of American blood and sacrifice.

Thank You”

For the second year in a row Americade will include Hartford for its Americade Scavenger Hunt motorcycle run. During the week of June 6-10, bikers will roll thru town and stop at three businesses to get a card stamped.

The three businesses this year will be; Lulu’s Family Diner on Route 40, As Time Goes By Country Home Decor Gift Shop on County Route 23 Main Street, and Cria-tions Alpaca Farm on the corner of Shine Hill Rd and North Rd.

This scavenger hunt is designed to get the riders off their bikes to check out local businesses instead of just roaring thru town.

Every year, the Hartford School Budget Public Hearing is the same date and time as the May Town Board meeting.  People cannot be at two places at the same time.  Once, a couple of years ago in May, Phil Gibson complained that the Town Board meeting was at the same time as the School Public Hearing.  I thought he had a valid point. 

Last year, since I was now Supervisor, I was unable to go to the School Budget Public Hearing. School Superintendent Tom Abraham Told me that only one person showed up and did not have many questions.  I feel it is very important for the tax paying citizens to be aware of what the budget process involves and to take part in it.

The school budget is almost 9 times the size of the Town Budget.

At our last Town Board meeting I brought up the idea of rescheduling our May Town Board meeting to another day.  The Town Board decided to move its Town Board meeting date to the next Tuesday which is May 17th.

So, on Tuesday night, May 10th you can go to the School Budget Public Hearing and participate, then come to the town Board meeting the next week.

In today’s Post Star newspaper, the editors gave the students at Hartford Central School a “Bravo” for their efforts in raising over 477 pounds of food for the Hartford Food Pantry. The FFA club at the school organized the effort and it is much appreciated by the Town, Pantry, and persons in need.

This Sunday, resident Pete Klaiber who helps run the pantry out of the Baptist Church, attended the Methodist Church services and gave a food pantry report.  His report included the following info;

The food pantry has come a long way since opening its doors in Jan 2002.  That first year had some wooden shelving donated in a small room in back of the church and served a mere 120 people consisting of 36 households. In fact, so few people came that first year that Pete wondered if it was worth the effort.

Through the years the number of clients has gradually increased almost twelve fold to the point where last year the Pantry served 1,410 persons consisting of 464 households.

The Pantry continues to be well supported by the community churches as well as the surrounding organizations and individuals throughout the town and county.

One corporate supporter is Irving Tissue in Ft. Edward. Most all of the clients that come to the Pantry are also eligible for Food Stamps, but you cannot buy toilet tissue, soap, etc with Food Stamps. Irving has made multiple donations of large factory cases of toilet paper, paper towels, and Kleenex. Last month the Pantry got a check from them for $500 as well. 

Residents Harrison Cornell, Jean Aubrey, Arlene Ingersol, John & Mary Fox, Pete Klaiber, and Pastor Mike have all generously donated their time and effort in making the Pantry the success that it is. Keith and Marlene Brynes (thru Keith’s business) continue their very generous donation of bread and bread products each day the Pantry is open.

The Pantry also accepts cash donations. For every $1 they take in, the Pantry can purchase $12 worth of food from the Regional Food Bank.

The Pantry is open every other Saturday from 9am till 1030am. In these times of economic trouble and a very tough winter, any money saved by the clients in getting food could then go towards buying heat for the home.

If you can find it in you, please donate to the pantry so that some poor soul will not have to go to bed both cold and hungry.

The Hartford Town Board has appointed seven persons to serve on a Steering Committee that will work on creating either an Economic Development Corp (EDC) or a Local Development Corp (LDC).

A Hartford Development Corp would be focused on enticing beneficial businesses into town, or encourage and assist citizens of the town in starting a business. New businesses in town will increase our local employment and increase our tax base. 

The Steering Committee members are; Emily Oswald, Michael Deyoe, Paul Miller, Ron Smith, Ron Combs, Steve Forbes, and Bill Donaldson.

An EDC or LDC are very similar in nature but with some minor differences. This Steering Committee with work with the Town Attorney thru workshops, etc to create a Development Corp and advise the Town in the direction to go. The first workshop will take place on 4/5/11.

Once a Development Corp. has been formed, members of this steering committee would be eligible to be appointed as its Board of Directors.

This Development Corp. would be a quasi-governmental type. This means that the Town Board would appoint the Development Board of Directors and provide funding to operate.

The Hartford Farmers’ Market now has a weblog site where you can search for info and download application forms. The forms also include a listing of what type of permits and licenses the State requires to vend various types of food in case you were ever curious. Some forms of food require no permits at all from the State.

The site to visit is www.hartfordfarmersmarket.com  

The market is still accepting vendors for the 2011 season which will run on Saturdays from 9am till 1pm mid-May to mid-Oct.

Hi all, since posting the below info, I have heard that the location of the dinner has been moved to the Fire House. This was done to accomodate the number of people interested since the Fire House can seat a lot more than Lulu’s.  Dana

A Benefit Spaghetti Dinner (eat in or take out) will be held at LuLu’s Diner, State Route 40, Hartford, NY on Monday Feb. 7th @ 5pm.

The dinner is to benefit Lori Hilder who is suffering from throat cancer and has to undergo treatment.

The dinner is $7 and includes: Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, and Bread.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle and a small Basket Party to help raise money.

I plan to both eat in and get take-out.

The tax levy for the Washington County 2011 budget is $28,174,442.

For every $100 of the county taxes that you pay, here is the breakdown of where most of the money goes;

Medicaid $23, Highway $11.80, County Jail $10.95, Social Services $10.63, Sheriff $7.39, Public Health $3.60, Buildings and Grounds $3.40, Handicapped Children $3.05, Higher Education (2 year college) $2.84, Emergency Services 911 center $2.49, Retiree Health Insurance $2.13, Information Technology $2.11, Probation $1.84, District Attorney $1.50, Public Defender $1.20. 

 This equals $88 or 88% of the budget. The remainder 34 categories represent 12% of the budget and are all less that $1 so I did not bother to list them.

Washington County Economic Opportunity Council (EOC) is offering free Tax Return Preparation services for low to moderate income county residents who are not self employed and who’s family income is below $49,000. 

The program is called VITA which stands for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program.

In 2010, 749 Tax Prep appointments were conducted equalling 1013 hours worked with returns totalling $1,637,000.  The volunteer tax preparers are all IRS certified and must complete and pass a test annually.

The volunteer preparers will sit down with you and explain the whole tax return preparation with you. Your Federal and State tax return will be prepared free of charge. They can even file your return electronically.

To make an appointment for your free tax prep., please call the Washington County Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program 1-800-211-5128 Monday thru Friday, 9am to 3pm.

I must admit I am not very politicaly correct because I always make a point not to say “Happy Holidays”. In fact, if someone says “Happy Holidays” to me, I answer back “Merry Christmas”. So, have a very Merry Christmas!