Tonight (2018-10-15) was a meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees.
There was also a Mendon Town Board meeting tonight. By pattern, the Town Board should have met last week, yet they did not. I went, but I guess they let the holiday discourage them. Tonight I chose to observe the Village Board, I’m sure the Town managed well enough without me. I’ll ask them when I visit the office tomorrow.
Rick (Mayor) reported the Carriage Street (former GM plant) property is nearing a deal. The potential buyers are looking for a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) deal that lasts ten years. Sounds like they are hoping for three years at 0%, then increasing until the deal expires. Complicated tax systems cause enough headaches, I will admit I’m not a fan of PILOT’s. But if that’s what is needed, then I guess that’s what happens. It would be nice if the system was simple enough this wasn’t needed.
From the other side of taxes, the Village approved what has become the standard tax cap override law. Which does not mean the cap will be overridden. This law will most likely be repealed five minutes before a budget is passed. Creating it now just means their are more options when it gets to be budget time. Somehow, explaining the distinction is the hardest part of this process.
Apparently not everyone in the Village is aware the Village has a website. This came up from discussion with new residents. I would not be surprised if some form of advertisement starts appearing. Likely overblown, when all that is needed is adding “.org” to anyplace ‘Village of Honeoye Falls’ shows up. Tax bill, public notices, event reminders, etc. And for those of you that have missed it, the Village of Honoeye Falls website is VillageOfHoneoyeFalls.org
Local Kiwanis group will likely be disbanding at their next meeting, which doesn’t surprise me. When I first heard this group was forming it struck me as a group looking for a reason to exist. Absent one, there are plenty of other ways potential members could spend their time. Mind you, that’s my view from outside the group. From inside I’m sure the view is different. The failure in sharing that viewpoint is most likely why the group will be folding. On the other hand, maybe there wasn’t any reason for it to exist.
The Village is exploring merging the Planning and Zoning Boards into one entity. For legal reasons, that ‘new’ board would be a Zoning Board. Disclaimer: I am on the Town of Mendon’s Zoning Board, so I am biased on this topic. Having said that, it is an interesting idea. Streamlining process, and by extension getting quicker results to the public, is generally something I am in favor of. The potential downside I can see is that Zoning and Planning are different functions, and (in theory) a single Board may have trouble shifting between them. Which isn’t to say I am against exploring the idea, recent history shows that both these Boards have their flaws. Even if merging falls through, I am in favor of exploring it. Hopefully it will help improve the situation. We all need help at times, being able to admit it is a strength.
A number of residents have been complaining about the Deer population. Not news to me, nor I suspect to most long time residents. The Conservation Board will be discussing the problem at their next meeting: Wednesday, the 17th, at 7:30PM. Realistically, I don’t see anything coming of the discussion (or the complaints). Pests are removed by killing them, anything else is a delaying tactic at best. Yet killing animals, even vermin, is not ‘Politically Correct’ in these progressive times.
Troop 10 received approval for their annual usage of Harry Allen Park to sell Christmas Trees. While I am glad they got this approval, as it is a nice tradition, I do wonder if this approval was for usage of the Park or for holding a fundraiser. Under existing code the two are very different things. Not going to bother the Village about it this year, as I wouldn’t want to discourage the Boy Scouts. Maybe I’ll argue the distinction next year.
Festival on the Green (aka Village Days) fireworks were approved. Nothing new here, this has been happening for many a year. In fact, there have been fireworks that weekend for longer then my brother has been alive. As we would usually have his birthday party then, we had the running joke of the whole Village celebrating with him. Nice to know they continue, even if he is no longer living in the Village. Although he does live closer then last year, maybe he’ll visit for ‘his’ fireworks.
Amusingly enough, some of the agenda items were the same for both the Town and Village: the schools Summer Rec program and the sexual harassment policy required by the state. They are really only of note in how the same item appears on multiple agendas.
And those are my Observations From Audience Land for the October 15, 2018 meeting of the Honeoye Falls Board of Trustees.