TOWN OF DEWITT – At its Aug. 22 meeting, the DeWitt Town Board decided it will keep its summer schedule through the month of September.
That means the open-to-the-public meetings the board holds will continue to take place at 8:30 a.m. until October, at which point it will return to 6 p.m. start times.
Town Supervisor Ed Michalenko made clear, however, that the recordings of the meetings can be viewed afterward on Facebook and that he and the councilors will remain accessible through telephone calls and email.
During the meeting, it was also mentioned that the town received a grant from Sen. John Mannion’s office that will be used to remodel the bathrooms in the town hall and bring them up to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance.
The board also scheduled a public hearing relating to its Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) local law for Monday, Sept. 19 at or around 8:35 a.m.
The law allows the town to refer to New York State planners for help with the implementation of priority projects using the additional grant of $400,000 the municipality received.
Town Engineer Doug Miller, who will give a presentation prior to the hearing, said the law could also unlock the potential to obtain more funding pertaining to water and drainage issues.
The program has commenced partnerships between the state and its communities to address coastal and inland waterway problems, redevelop underused waterfronts, contribute to water quality improvement, and facilitate access to public waterfronts.
The town was considered eligible for the program because of the presence of the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park, the remaining portions of the canal corridor, and the Orville feeder canal.
In other news
At the board’s previous meeting on Aug. 8, a pair of residents asked about the possibility of placing sidewalks on Maple Drive and Waring Road.
Though Michalenko said the board is supportive of doing so for both streets, he said that the last time they attempted to for Maple Drive roughly seven or eight years ago, about half of the homeowners on the street disapproved — a tide of opinion that he acknowledged may have changed since then.
He also said that the larger analysis carried out by DeWitt to see where they wanted to pursue sidewalk construction showed that the entire undertaking would cost in excess of $13 million, amounting to a significant chunk of the town’s $18 million annual budget.
While Maple Drive is in close proximity to Jamesville-DeWitt High School, the woman advocating on behalf of Waring said the absence of sidewalks or a shoulder on that street poses a safety concern for students walking to and from Tecumseh Elementary School with their parents.
She said she has also seen senior citizens, dog walkers and people with strollers move to the grass and wait for cars to pass, especially when the St. Sophia’s Greek Cultural Festival leads to an increase in car and foot traffic.
Michalenko brought up that the town backed the state’s sidewalks to schools program about 15 years ago but had trouble securing the approval of Jamesville-DeWitt Superintendent Alice Kendrick, who he said preferred for all students to take the bus.
