Steven May, Village of Owego 1st Ward Trustee. (Provided Photo)
First, let’s discuss the facts about what has really transpired between the Mayor, the Village of Owego Trustees, and the Village of Owego.
I ran for Trustee only after being approached by a good friend. I really had no interest in running for the Board. As the owner of several businesses, I was concerned I would not have time to serve as a Trustee on behalf of the taxpayers and residents of the Village of Owego. The voters felt differently as a whole.
My victory did not bring me as much joy as some would think. I have served and learned that we, as taxpayers and residents of the Village, have no clue as to what is really happening.
My first nine months as trustee has overwhelmed me with the incredible dysfunction in our Village. Many already know this, including those that previously served as a Trustee or Mayor. This board spends many hours each day learning how each department functions or in some cases, does not function.
Being successful in business means seeking opportunities to strengthen your business position. Business owners, like myself, look at OPTIONS that can produce better efficiencies at a lower cost; that’s just “good business” in a highly competitive market.
Serving as a trustee is similar to being an owner of the “business” of the Village of Owego. I questioned myself on how to approach this position of trustee. I decided to always try to look at OPTIONS that provide a safer environment for our constituents, first, and at an affordable cost, second.
Owego Fire Department
It didn’t take long for me to get “thrown in the mix” of Village politics. The Owego Fire Department (OFD) had some issues relating to a line of duty death and other violations. OFD was cited for six violations by the New York Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau (PESH) related to the catastrophic death on the job.
I am not a firefighter or Emergency Medical Services (EMS) member, so I sought information from longstanding OFD members on how the department functions. The Village Board then spent numerous hours trying to come up with OPTIONS on how to update the Standard Operating Guidelines (SOG) section within OFD’s operating manual.
The Village Board was given a PowerPoint presentation from a few of the OFD chiefs serving during this time, proposing an updated 2014 operations manual. Only a handful of OFD members were party to this revised manual, with the guidance from PESH.
This operations manual was a complete revision of 2012’s operations manual, which was previously in force.
PESH found that the 2012 operations manual was not properly implemented and was violated by the OFD chiefs at the call resulting in the line of duty death.
During our review of the 2014 operations manual presented to us, we discovered that the revised SOG section was written so that only a handful of members would be qualified to serve with the Department. This revision would not only oust a majority of members, but also would remove OFD’s Fire Board.
Some of my fellow trustees, and myself, were not comfortable with this “gutting” of OFD. It appeared that a minority within the OFD were seeking to use the situation for their own future benefit, possibly as paid firefighters within a paid OFD – creating a huge expense over the existing volunteer department.
At that point I decided to attempt to rewrite portions of the SOG in that 2012 operating manual instead.
I presented a motion at a Village Board meeting to update the SOG with the changes needed to satisfy the last of the PESH violations. The motion passed during that same meeting. We also set a deadline of Dec. 31, 2014, that all chiefs must meet the new SOG requirements in order to continue to serve as fire chiefs.
This satisfied the last remaining PESH violations and ensured all chiefs were properly trained.
We are happy to report that the current OFD officers and members have far exceeded those updated SOG requirements long before the Dec. 31, 2014 deadline. Thanks to progressive current OFD chiefs, all PESH violations are now satisfied. Luckily, your Village of Owego Board trustees saw the “set up” by previous OFD leaders to devastate OFD by exploiting revisions to the operations manual. Now we have a skilled, functional, and fully staffed OFD / EMS staff for our Village.
There have been many articles and rumors that OFD lost the annual contract with the Town of Owego – a loss of $140,000 in revenue. That decision did not come from the negotiations by the Village Board and the OFD.
My understanding is that there was a request made for a higher fee from the Town of Owego and from the Town of Tioga for OFD and EMS services, which was declined.
Now a group of ex-OFD members who resigned en masse after the failed attempt to force through their proposed operations manual is attempting to build a new fire station. This new, unnecessary station was approved – which will result in a large tax increase. The tax increase will fund construction resulting in Town of Owego residents paying dearly for an unneeded facility. OFD / EMS has provided this service for many years without this additional facility, with great results at a very fair price.
OFD lost their #3 tanker truck this past year during a call. Tankers are critical for fighting fires, particularly in areas without fire hydrants. The tanker will be replaced by insurance in full, at no expense to the taxpayer.
This crucial apparatus is necessary to allow our firefighters to do their job properly. We are very fortunate to have this equipment for the next emergency. There will be a time when the proposed new station in the Town of Owego will need back-up tankers. Having our own new tanker will allow us more OPTIONS to protect ourselves and assist our neighbors. OFD will be ready to assist any other fire departments that call for mutual aid. Better to be safe, than sorry!
Water / Sewer
Our second major issue has been the sewer / water billing in the Village. As for the Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) billing method currently being used, how did we come to this incredibly unfair method for our quarterly sewer billings?
New state laws that prevent sharing of your water usage information between the Village and United Water were recently passed that prevented us to continue with our old billing method.
A fellow trustee and I are currently working with United Water on finding OPTIONS or a billing method that makes more sense, similar to the former water usage method.
As of today, the dialogue between United Water and the Village Board has been heading in a positive direction. We hope to have an official proposal to present to the village board in January of 2015 that is more practical and fair than the EDU method.
Landlords, commercial property owners, non-for-profits, and residential owners are a few of the groups being charged unfairly under the EDU method. Being billed for an empty apartment is unfair. Seniors on fixed incomes that are using minimal amounts of water that are being charged as though they use much more water is unfair.
Commercial property owners working to stay open are being financially and unfairly burdened because of the EDU method. The method of billing we are being saddled with is just not right or fair, but there are OPTIONS that are being explored.
Owego Police Department
The future of the Owego Police Department (OPD), like the other two aforementioned issues, had the board looking for OPTIONS. Rumors started by the critics of specific Village Board members make it sound like the village board’s “four musketeers” is against having an OPD. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
The trustees seek the best police coverage available to the taxpayers and residents of the Village that makes the most financial sense and provides the best protection. Yes, we have been reluctant to fill the current vacancies with full-time employees.
The Village Board has elected to hire part-time officers while we carefully consider the alternatives available to us. We have visited police departments similar in size to understand how they are staffed and compare budgetary needs.
During our last board meeting on Dec. 15, we passed a motion to allow the Village Board to enter into discussions with the Tioga County Legislature and the Tioga County Sheriff’s Department to gather information concerning delivering effective and affordable police coverage to our Village.
Currently, OPD is inefficient and suffering from many issues that cannot be made public at this time. But we, the “four musketeers”, have been working diligently, developing choices for professional police coverage for our Village that will become public very soon.
We did not make our goal to reach out to Village residents by Jan. 1, 2015 with those options, but we have very encouraging traction now. We feel that we would rather give the Village residents the best answer a little later than planned, rather than a poor answer early.
I promise you that Trustees Hartman, Phelps, Lockwood, and myself will get the OPTIONS available to everyone in the Village and let you decide what you, as a business owner, resident, tenant, not-for-profit organization, or landlord desire as a police presence for the Village of Owego.
Conclusion
Constituents, there is much more needed than the aforementioned issues that still face the Village Board and the Village of Owego. This board will look at what OPTIONS are out there that may help Owego become sustainable now, and into the future.
Since the flooding of 2011, this village has not completely recovered, and perhaps it never will.
Nearly 50 percent of the structures in the village are now off of the tax rolls. This does not include the new “forever green” properties from the flood buy-outs, which gives us a smaller taxpayer base.
Leaving things as they are is not an option. You will get less service at a higher cost, and pay higher taxes unless action is taken now. In the end, this should be your choice, not the mayor or trustees. It’s your money, so spend it wisely!
So if the Mayor thinks we are dragging our feet, well here is what we four trustees have been doing every day. My thumb is down to the Mayor and his recent statements in the press.
Thumbs up to all of your village trustees for their hard work in making Owego a wonderful place to live. We appreciate your support in delivering to everyone the OPTION to keep Owego the “Coolest Small Town in America”.
