Fall is here and that means falling leaves. The village has acquired a second leaf vacuum shredder to remove leaves faster. Leaves should be put on the berm between the sidewalk and the road or next to the curb. They should not be put in the road where they will get wet, compacted and hard to remove.
There is a leaf compost pile at the corner of River and Water Streets. The pile closest to the river is the most mature. This compost makes great fertilizer or mulch for your lawn or garden. It is free to all residents. Construction for a 62-unit apartment building for people over age 55 has begun. It is on Southside Drive on property formerly owned by Tioga County IDA. Notice of a contact person will be coming out soon for those interested.
Road construction on the railroad underpass is nearing completion. The repaving of Route 96 from Fox Street to Turner’s Bridge is also almost finished. The length of the stop lights on streets that cross North Avenue have been a concern to many motorists. NYS DOT will reevaluate how long traffic lights stay red after the construction projects are finished and traffic returns to normal.
Members of the Village of Owego Fire Department (OFD) have proposed the formation of an Owego-Tioga Joint Fire District. There have been several joint meetings on this topic with the Town of Tioga, the Town of Owego and the Village of Owego Board.
State law mandates that we hold two joint meetings and a public hearing to form a fire district. Some OFD members are concerned that the Town of Owego Fire District could take over fire and EMS services in the village. An option currently being considered by the Village of Owego Board is to send the question about forming a fire district for the Village of Owego to a public referendum on March 15, 2016 and let village residents decide.
A fire district is governed by five fire commissioners, who set the fire district budget. A district gets funds from a fire district tax on district residents that is collected for the fire district by the town.
The village has obtained a grant from NYSEG to convert to LED lights in all interior village spaces and the lights on Courthouse Square. This will save $9,000 a year in electricity bills.
The village has engaged Computel to do an audit of the Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) funds that the village is supposed to receive from utilities that do business in the village. This audit is to make sure we are getting all that we are supposed to get. Audits in other municipalities have shown that the GRT was underpaid to them.
The NY Rising Community Reconstruction project plans to move the town and village DPW’s out of the flood plain to a location on Route 434 next to the Town Hall. There will be a single building with separate sections but shared areas and services wherever feasible. This move will reduce costs by getting a more efficient building, sharing space and equipment where possible, and eliminating the need for flood insurance. Even more importantly, this move will allow both the town and village DPWs to be fully operational in case of a flood.
The Evergreen Cemetery reconstruction grant is moving forward. An engineer familiar with stone wall construction and Jeff Soules and I walked through the cemetery on Tuesday, Oct. 27 to look at the walls and discuss construction techniques. Repairs are expected to begin early in the spring of 2016. If you have not been up to Evergreen Cemetery in some time go up for a visit. It is beautiful in the fall and has a commanding view of the Village and river.
The Village Department of Public Works has paved Stackmore Lane, Weber Street, Talcott Street, East Avenue, McMaster Street (by Agway and Thompson’s), McMaster Street extension, and Prospect Street this year.
Upcoming village events in Owego are O Tannenbaum at the Tioga County Museum, Nov. 7-Dec. 12. See and bid on beautiful Christmas Trees. Holiday Showcase in Downtown Owego is on Saturday, Nov. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Lights on the River is planned for Dec. 4 from 4 to 8 p.m.
The Tioga County Emergency Alert System uses Hyper-Reach (Hyper-Reach.com) to notify residents of an emergency. If you have a cell phone you will need to sign up to get emergency notices. There is also a NYAlert system that covers a wider area and many types of alerts. To learn more about it or to sign up for alerts go to www.nyalert.gov.
