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Clerk Hours Monday 9 am–1 pm Wednesday 2 pm–5 pm Saturday 9 am–12 pm Assessor Hours by appointment 806-5500 Zoning Officer Hours Monday 10:30 am – 12:30 pm Supervisor Hours by appointment 252-1046 3705 State Route 34 P.O. Box 71 Scipio Center, NY 13147 (315) 364-5740 fax (315) 364-6802 website:co.cayuga.ny.us/scipio email: [EMAIL REDACTED] Clerk Hours Monday 9 am–1 pm Wednesday 2 pm–5 pm Saturday 9 am–12 pm Assessor Hours by appointment (315) 806-5500 Zoning Officer Hours Monday 10:30 am – 12:30 pm Supervisor Hours by appointment (315) 730-3638 Town of Scipio P.O. Box 71 Scipio Center NY 13147 (315) 364-5740 email: [EMAIL REDACTED] Fall 2017 Town Office Highway Garage (315) 364-7754 Clerk’s Office (315) 364-5740 Fax number (315) 364-6802 Supervisor Gary Mutchler (315) 730-3638 Council members Howard Nelson (315) 730-2962 Mark Ferrari (716)- 870-3380 Leslie Baxter (315) 237-1292 Gary Whitten (315) 364-8596 Justice Brian Dugan (315) 364-5325 leave message Town Clerk/Tax Collector Tom Olenych (315) 364-8816 Deputy Registrar / Town Clerk Dodie Rowlands (315) 364-7682 Historian Dodie Rowlands (315) 364-7682 Highway Superintendent Mark Chamberlain (315) 364-8719 Assessor Heather Garner (315) 806-5500 Animal Control Officer Carl Collier (315) 253-4367 Zoning & Code Enforcement Officer Mick Piechuta (315) 283-0627 Transfer Station Attendant DJ Grady (315) 224-1817 Website co.cayuga.ny.us/scipio Email [EMAIL REDACTED] Newsletter is on the Scipio website. If you would like to receive a paper copy by mail, please contact the Town Clerk. As always, we welcome comments and feedback. Write, email, call, or stop in during clerk’s hours (Mon. 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Wed. 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM & Sat. 9:00 AM – 12:00 noon). Shopping Local: Shopping local not only supports local businesses, but local government as well. Sales tax revenues are very important to towns and counties, helping to pay for the services local government provide. Shopping in other counties and on-line reduces tax revenues significantly. So, it is very much to the benefit of the grassroots levels of government, and to the residents served, if shopping is done locally, within Cayuga County. Fall Clean Up Day: Saturday October 7, 10 am to 4 pm at the Transfer Station. For Scipio residents only. SIGN IN REQUIRED. For large items, too big to bag. No truckloads of construction debris. Special Bin for scrap metal. Household trash to be bagged and tagged as usual. No tires, refrigerators, freezers, or batteries. Mattresses will be accepted for cleanup days only. Call 255-1183 for disposal of hazardous materials. Rabies Clinic: Dr. Tyson Benson of the Homestead Large Animal Clinic will be holding a rabies clinic at the town offices on Saturday October 7th. between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM. The cost for shots is $10.00 each and all certificates are good for one year unless proof of a prior vaccination is provided. With proof of a prior vaccination you will receive a three year certificate. Dogs must be on a leash and cats must be in carriers or secured. Fall 2017 Transfer Station open Saturdays 10 am – 4 pm. Scipio residents only. Household trash must be bagged and tagged - $2.50 per bagful. Tags available from Attendant or Town Clerk. No charge for recyclables. Please place items in the proper bin and break down cardboard boxes. Summer Hours Wednesdays Only 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM starting May thru September 27th If you’ve got a little time to help your fellow townspeople on Clean-Up Day, please contact: Howard Nelson at 730-2962, Gary Mutchler at 730-3638, or Town Clerk Tom Olenych at 364-5740. Or email [EMAIL REDACTED]. You’ll be helping others and get to talk to various board members in a relaxed setting. THANKS to all who have helped in the past. We’re on the web! h ttp : / /co.cayuga.ny.us / s c i p i o Electronic recycling: Anytime during business hours at Auburn Computer and Satellite 74 Genesee St Auburn. www.CNYDigital.com 315-255- 6808. ---PAGE BREAK--- VOTE – VOTE – VOTE. Be sure to exercise your right to vote on Tuesday November 7, 2017. The polls at the town offices will be open from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM. There are several county positions, judge, treasurer and legislators, as well as local positions to be decided. In the Town of Scipio, the town supervisor, town clerk, town highway superintendent as well as two town board seats are to be decided. From Tom Olenych / Town Clerk: The town recently purchased a second exterior bulletin board which is hung outside the town offices. The town purchased a second bulletin board for community use. If you have a community event you’d like to post we can do that. We are also going to experiment with town residents posting business information on this board as well. At this point, there is no way of knowing how this will work out but until the town decides it’s unmanageable please feel free to come up to the town offices during normal clerk’s hours if you’d like something posted. From the Town Historian / Dodie Rowlands In the last few months I enjoyed working with some out-of-state descendants of early Scipio settlers James Barber, Nathaniel C. Robinson and Captain George Whitfield. The town board minutes records from 1794 -1799 reveal interesting facts about life in early Scipio such as a bounty of wolves and records of the many who served as Path Overseers (the 1790’s equivalent of our dedicated highway department). It is exciting to see all the progress on the restoration of Opendore, Isabel Howland’s home in Sherwood on Route 34B. If you would like to see all the work that has been going on you can go to the website (theopendoreproject.com). If you have stories or photos of early Scipio or its residents that you would be willing to share please contact me. As always, all are invited to stop by the town offices on Route 34 during Clerk’s hours and browse the “History Corner”. Dodie Rowlands, [EMAIL REDACTED]. News from Southern Cayuga Ambulance: From January through July, SCIA has responded to 183 calls, transporting 115 patients receiving advanced life support (ALS) and 24 receiving basic life support (BLS). The SCIA average in route time is around three minutes and the average time on scene is eleven minutes. SCIA covers over 150 square miles and partners with the local rescue squads to ensure high patient care prior to our arrival and help with movement of patients to the ambulance. In May of this year SCIA and the Scipio Fire and Rescue had a joint training to review use of patient transport devices, stretcher, stair chair and scoop stretcher. SCIA has obtained new, better versions of these devices in the past few years through grant funding. Scipio had a great turnout and much information was shared, with the SCIA crew also getting a chance to become more familiar with the Scipio Fire Departments medical equipment. SCIA also has two new EMT’s, Tristin Warner and Karan Brazo, who have successfully completed the Cayuga County EMT program. We look forward to their progress. Two of SCIA’s members, Thomas Murphy and Brad DeWitt, have been accepted into the Physician Assistant Program at Upstate Medical Center and as a result will be reducing their hours with SCIA. Recently SCIA hired Lela Burroughs, on as a long-term volunteer, to become an EMT/ Driver Operator. Lela has been an EMT for nine years and has been with SCIA since 2014, with Scipio for the past seven years and with Poplar Ridge two years prior to that. Lela is also hoping to continue her learning and training to become an advanced medical care provider supporting the Southern Cayuga County area where she and her family live. From Mark Chamberlain / Highway Superintendent: After we finish fall mowing we will be ditching again. Anyone that wants some ditch dirt can call the town barn, [PHONE REDACTED]. We are also looking for a part time wing person for the winter. Anyone interested can call the same number and leave a message if no one is in the town barn when you call. From Gary Mutchler / Town Supervisor: As I write this on August 6th, it is nice to see the sun shining and the land drying out. We, in the town of Scipio have been very fortunate to have experienced very little damage due to all of the rain compared to Moravia and surrounding towns. Our highway crew continues to do a great job of monitoring the situations as well as improving the town’s road. We were fortunate to be able to pave an additional 2 ½ miles of roads this spring which will help to stabilize them during the spring freeze / thaw cycle. This year we joined the Greater Tompkins Municipal Health Insurance Consortium in an effort to reduce the cost of providing 90% of the costs for 3 of our 4 full time employees. By joining this group, we experienced a $19,000.00 reduction in costs. As one of the directors of the consortium I traveled to Ithaca 6 times each year to help direct and to insure our employees receive the best health insurance while reducing the costs to all the tax payers in Scipio. Last week we learned our costs will increase by 5% next year while most municipalities will see an increase of 10% or more. I continue to enjoy working with your town board as each member shares the burden of responsibility. Gary Whitten, with his many years of experience and knowledge of large scale farming, is in charge of new equipment purchases. Leslie Baxter helps monitor road conditions, as well as being very involved with water quality in our streams and lakes. Howard Nelson does a great job with the transfer stations and uses his professional skills in writing contracts and letters. And, Mark Ferrari is working on plans to update the town offices as well as keeping us up to date on IT issues. We are happy to provide additional transfer station hours on Wednesday evenings from May through to the end of September. Please let us know what you think of the new summer hours so we can plan for next summer. I continue to attend all Fire Commissioners meetings as we continue in the audit process to determine if and how the Scipio Volunteer Fire Department should separate from the current fire district. We will also be preparing the budget for the town with the public hearing being held at the November 8, 2107 town board meeting. I want to remind all eligible voters to come out and vote on November 7th, as there are two town board positions to be filled as well as the position of town supervisor. Lastly, I want to say I am always available to listen to any thoughts, suggestions or concerns you may have regarding the town. My contact information is in the box on the right on the front page of this newsletter. From Keith Batman / Chair Cayuga County Legislator: As summer slips into fall, we look back and ahead to the major events that shape our work in the County. The torrential rains of July had disastrous results in our southern communities. Scipio was not spared but certainly not hit as hard as Moravia, Niles and Sempronious which have wide spread road, farm, business and residential damage. The county has set aside a million dollars from our fund balance to work on the damage to county roads. The total damage is unknown at this writing but will likely be double or even triple the damage currently known. The positive in this, if there is a positive, is the extent to which the communities came together to support one another and the quick response of NYS and FEMA. I have previously reported on our efforts in the county to examine how we organize ourselves to do the work of county government and we have begun the formal analysis of our structure. The plan is to have a report to the legislature by early next year. The project has several parts. 1) to understand how we currently organize our work: who reports to whom, how departments are staffed and what modifications might make sense. 2) to develop a plan to streamline our work: might departments be combined, might reporting structures be Changed to be more efficient, might work be shared within the county? 3) to prepare to implement a plan to improve services and ultimately to reduce cost. More on this as it unfolds. As you may have seen in the paper or other media we decided to continue discussion and work on our county wide Shared Services plan through this year and into 2018. This was done to position us to develop the best plan possible and to ensure wide spread buy in on the part of towns, villages and the city of Auburn. I look forward to continuing these discussions and to a truly robust and productive final plan in 2018. Finally, we are near to hiring a new administrator in the county. The search committee, comprised of representatives from the public, the legislator and county departments heads has recommended a group of 5 nominees. The legislature will move forward to interview these candidates with the intent of further narrowing the choices. Once we have a final group of candidates the public will be invited to meet and speak with each. We hope to have the process complete within the next few weeks. Lots more to report but space in this newsletter is limited. We have projects and progress with water issues, with energy programs, with infrastructure and more. If you have questions or concerns on any of these initiatives or ---PAGE BREAK--- any other areas, if you need assistance, or you want to share your ideas you can call me at (315) 253-1007 ore- mail me at ([EMAIL REDACTED]). From Mick Piechuta / Code Enforcement Officer: We would like to thank the people of the town who have responded to the town’s concerns regarding the Property Maintenance Code. However, there is still a lot of work to be done. Also, we have many people calling to ask if they need a permit and if they do can they get one “TODAY”. Please plan ahead if you are thinking of building, remodeling, replacing, converting or installing anything. Please call sufficiently ahead of when the permit is needed so that we get the paperwork started in time to meet you or your contractors building schedule. If you go to the town’s web site, co.cayuga.ny.us/scipio, you will find the forms and checklist you need. If you have any questions please call the town office ([PHONE REDACTED]) and leave a message or call me ([PHONE REDACTED]). Thank you for your cooperation. From Wayne Pettit / Scipio Fire Department Chief: As the days and months have grown longer we are working hard to train and educate ourselves to ensure we are offering the community the best fire protection and EMT services possible. Every Monday evening, we can be found at the fire station training, familiarizing ourselves with our new equipment, holding our business meeting or training with other local fire departments. We take a great deal of pride on the quality of fire protection we provide the community of Scipio. But it is not without much hard work and dedication that we are able to achieve and maintain this high level of fire protection. Grants purchase new equipment: with no cost to the fire district or the town’s tax payers we recently received a grant for $10,000.00 from Michael Nozzolio, even though he left office in 2016. With this money, we were able to purchase 2 new fully automatic AED’s to replace the old one on our rescue truck as well as the old one on our rescue boat. We also purchased a quick deployment rescue boat that can be assembled and in the water within 10 minutes allowing us quick access to ponds, lakes and even manure holding ponds. The remainder of this grant money purchased a rapid intervention saw to assist with quick entry into a house or structure during a fire. We also received a grant for $5,600.00 from Cargill which will be used to purchase new equipment. Water safety: As we enjoy the remaining days of summer please be sure to practice safety when in your pool or a lake. Please ensure children are properly supervised while swimming. When you are out on the lake in a boat be vigilant that everyone is wearing a life vest. Often accidental drownings could have been prevented with the use of a life vest or flotation device. Also remember there are laws that prohibit the operation of a boat while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Take time to ensure everyone is safe. WE ARE LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS, BOTH FIRE AND EMS BUT ALSO SOCIAL MEMBERS AS WELL. From Heather Garner / Town Assessor: Walk-in Assessment Office hours for the upcoming season begin September 13th. from 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. You may call anytime with questions (315) 806-5500. Please be sure to leave a message with your name, property location and MOST important your phone number. If you mail exemption applications and would like a receipt please include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Important Upcoming Dates: Please keep in mind if the roads are bad I may be delayed. You are welcome to give me a call on my cell to make sure I’m in the office or on my way. September: 13th. & 27th. Office hours 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. October: 11th. & 25th. Office hours 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Watch for Exemption renewal applications to arrive in the mail. November: 8th. & 22nd. Office hours 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Watch for Exemption renewal applications to arrive in the mail. December 13th. Office hours 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. EVERYONE SHOULD RECEIVE A RENEWAL APPLICATON BY CHRISTMAS. Orange for Enhanced STAR (over 65), green for low income senior citizens and blue for an agriculture exemption. January 10th. & 24th. Office hours 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Over 65 and signed up for INCOME VERIFICATON for Enhanced STAR? Watch the mail! You should receive a GREEN approved post card or an orange renewal application during the month of January. If you get an application please complete and submit your 2017 income tax return with in NO LATER THAN 3/1/2018. February 14th. & 28th. Office hours 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. March 1st. ALL EXEMPTION APPLICATONS ARE DUE FOR THE UPCOMING 2018 ASSESSMENT ROLL. All exemption applications received after MARCH 1ST. 2018 will be processed for the 2019 Assessment Roll. March 1st. Taxable Status Date: Property will be assessed as it stands on this date. March – April: Office hours by appointment only. Property visits and valuation reviews please phone ahead to schedule an appointment. May 1st. 2018: Tentative Assessment Roll is available at the Town Offices and on Cayuga County Real Property website. May dates and times of “sitting with the Roll” to be determined and posted in April. May 31st “Grievance Day”: Board of Assessment Review will meet to listen to assessment grievances from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the town offices. June: Office hours by appointment only. Please call ahead to schedule any property visits or property assessment reviews. July 1st: Final 2018 Assessment Roll filed and available at the town offices and the Cayuga County Real Property website. Office hours by appointment only. Property visits and review appointments available. Please call ahead to schedule an appointment. August: Office hours by appointment only. Property visits and review appointments available. Please call ahead to schedule an appointment. Recycling Events: Electronics: September 16, 2017 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM: At Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES Campus, 1879 West Genesee Street Road, Auburn. Accepting TV’s, computers, small Freon appliances, fluorescent tube lights, small propane tanks, ink cartridges and more. There is a cost for some items, $10.00 donation for each TV or CRT monitor and a $20.00 donation for each console or projection TV. Household Hazardous Waste: October 21, 2017: Accepted items include, chemicals, pesticides, oil based paints, antifreeze, gas or oil mixes and more. You must pre-register on line to take advantage of this recycling opportunity. Go to blogs.cornell.edu/ccecayuga and go to “click here to register for a class or seminar”. America Recycle Day: November 18, 2017: To be held at the City of Auburn Landfill, 311 North Division Street, Auburn. Times to be announced. Regular Town Board meetings are held at the Town Office on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm. All visitors are invited to attend. If you have an item to bring to the board, you may contact the Town Supervisor or Clerk so that it may be placed on the agenda.