We hope everyone enjoyed the Presidents Day Weekend, and is doing their best digging out of the latest storm. The Board wanted to again take a moment to update the residents on what has been going on, in and around the Village, and pass along some suggestions from the 3 precinct on how to better protect your home during this weeks’ school vacation.
AROUND THE VILLAGE: We have endured quit a winter season and we would again like to complement our maintenance crew in the stellar job they have done keeping our roads clear.
SAFETY: In response to what seems to be an increase in crime in our Village, Sean McCarthy, the Commanding Officer of the 3 Precinct joined us to address the recent crime and answer questions from our residents. In addition to a Burglary Prevention check list which can be found on our website at http://www.munseypark.org/newsblog/2014/2/14/residential-burglary-prevention-checklist, here are some of the salient points from the meeting.
- In all Emergency and Non-Emergency Situations use 911.
- With the vacation this week, if you’ll be away make arrangement for someone to look over your home and to pick up any mail and newspapers. You can also, arrange to halt your mail and any newspaper service while you’re away by contacting the post office and your newspaper provider.
- If it snows while you’re away, make arrangement to have someone clear the snow, giving the impression your home is occupied.
- Utilize motion activated lighting on the perimeter of your home.
- If you have an alarm, please get in the habit of using it.
- Our most effective and powerful tool is simply to have neighbors watch out for each other. If something looks out of place, report it by calling 911.
ROADS: As you can all imagine our roads have taken quite a beating while trying to keeping them clear of the ice and snow. As a result potholes have formed throughout the village and we have been doing our best to repair them in between snow storms. If you have noticed a pothole needing attention please give Village Hall a call so we can make arraignments to have it repaired.
NEW LAWS:
LAW #1-2014 Override NYS 2% Tax levy limit
In order to protect the residents of the Munsey Park from any unforeseen catastrophic financial emergency, our village like all other NYS Villages is required to pass a local law allowing the board the flexibility to override the 2% tax cap in case of such a catastrophic emergency. However, the Board has NO intention of breaking the 2% tax limit. As of this February due to increased fiscal control, the Villages finances are tracking in line with our projected budget. As such, in 2014, we don’t intend to increase taxes. In fact, we are doing our best to reduce taxes.
LAW #2-2014 Amendment of Code regarding placement of Basketball Hoops
Recently, we had a resident approach the board looking to place a Basketball hoop in the Village Right of way facing the street. After the resident application was denied, he informed the board that the law was not clear and felt it needed to be updated. In response to this request the Board updated the existing code including the words “Village Right of Way”.
ELECTIONS: The Village will again have contested Elections this year. There are two, 2 year term Trustee positions, and one, 4 year Village Justice position up for Re-Election. The Residents for a Better Munsey Park ticket includes incumbents Justice, John Turano and Trustee, Jennifer Noone, and challenger Johnathan Lippmann. The Village Party ticket includes incumbent Trustee, Sue Auriemma, with challengers Eileen Cuneo for trustee and Brian Dunning for Village Justice. The Trustees positions are decided by the top two vote getters. Elections will be held March 18 at Munsey Park Village Hall.
TECHNOLOGY: The Board is happy to announce that in addition to the Village’s new website we have also launched a Facebook page so we can better disseminate timely information to our residents directly. The new website again can be found http://www.munseypark.org/, and the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/munseypark.
COPLEY POND REVITILIZATION: We are happy to announce we have successfully worked with the County to have a $30k County Grant reinstated from 2009. In addition we have secured $50k in additional funding from the State to offset the revitalization costs of this project. Those funds, in addition to the MPWC fundraising efforts will allow us to restore the walkway and pond with little to no impact on our Budget.
The Village is excited to work with the Munsey Park Woman’s Club to finalize the plans and begin this restoration project. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the project please feel free to reach out Trustee Haggerty at shaggerty@munseypark.org. Any residents that are interested in participating in the campaign can reach out to Erin Cunningham at mpwcparkfund@gmail.com.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact any of the trustees:
Mayor, Frank DeMento (fdemento@munseypark.org)
Deputy Mayor, Sean Haggerty (shaggerty@munseypark.org)
Trustee, Sue Auriemma (sauriemma@munseypark.org)
Trustee, Patrick Hance (phance@munseypark.org)
Trustee, Jennifer Noone (jnoone@munseypark.org)