- By Dan Veaner
- News
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Nobody attended the hearing, and officials attributed that to residents being happy about lower taxes. But Monday a freak blizzard swept the area, making driving conditions difficult. "I expected some of my fellow municipalities to be here in protest," Hartill joked. "It sets a very bad precedent!"
Hartill attributed the lower tax rate to the way the Village funded the Triphammer Reconstruction project and other projects within the municipality. After pursuing State and Federal funding for the project the Village paid its share of the project in cash. "We've done reasonably well in fiscal management," Hartill said. "One of the reasons we have done as well as we have is by looking very carefully at the cost of projects, deciding whether we need that project or not, understanding the lifetime costs of those projects, and proceeding on that basis."
Now that the Triphammer project is complete, some smaller road projects will be undertaken. The next such project will be work on Dart Drive, which parallels Route 13 to the north between the Cayuga Mall and Warren Road. Hartill reported that he had toured the road with Village engineer Dave Putnam and Superintendent of Public Works John Courtney to determine what that project should include. The project will round the corner onto Graham Road as far as the Swathout Coaches property. "The appropriate solution appears to be a sidewalk on the south side," he said. "The north side ditch would be filled in with drainage structures."
Hartill said that there would be no curbing installed, but Trustee Frank Moore questioned that. "Isn't there a safety issue, if the sidewalk is close to the road, not having a curb?" he asked. Planning Board Chairman Ned Hickey agreed with Moore about the safety factor, noting that not including a curb would likely require repairs after winter plowing. "I think the curbs also have a psychological effect," Moore added. "If there is a speeding problem on Dart Road it's probably because people think of it as a country road. When you see curbs people think of it as a city road, and you expect you shouldn't go more than 30 miles per hour on a road with curbs."
Trustee John O'Neill asked whether there is a State regulation about including curbs, which the Mayor said he would research. Hartill said the eventual plan is to close off the intersection of Dart Drive and Warren Road, making Dart a dead end. "That's going to happen, I would guess, in five to ten years," Hartill said.
Funding for the project is included within the budget, and officials say they will not take out loans to complete it. "The only debt that the Village has is the water debt," Hartill explained. "We tried to pay it off, but it would cost us more to do that."
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