Van Buren — “Knockerball” is coming to Van Buren.

For those not in the know, Knockerball — also known as “bubble soccer” — is a sport in which players wear large, inflatable plastic bubbles and attempt to knock each other over.

“So it’s like dodgeball — and you’re it,” Councilor Ron Dudzinski said at the Nov. 4 town board meeting.

Parks and Recreation Program Director Heidi Anders told the Van Buren Town Board that there is a successful Knockerball league in Rochester, so she decided to ask for the board’s approval to buy 16 Knockerballs for the town.

Anders said with league fees, the Knockerballs should pay for themselves within a year. She said league fees range between $60 and $75 per person for a six-week session.

Budget passes unanimously

Fun and games aside, the town board also dealt with more serious issues. The board and the handful of residents who attended the meeting heard Comptroller Greg Maxwell’s presentation on the 2016 budget, which the board adopted unanimously.

The town’s expenditures total $4,641,453 for 2016, which represents a 1.83 percent decrease from the 2015 budget. Expenditures break down as follows:

• $1.7 million in wages

• $737,000 in benefits,

• $450,000 in capital costs,

• $1.5 million in consumables (paper, electricity and other expenses that last less than one year)

• $248,000 in debt payment

Maxwell said the town’s debt service is up about 4 percent. The town is borrowing money for the town hall’s roof replacement and boiler repair, and will also borrow money for the purchase and renovation of a new highway garage.

The town’s appropriated fund balance, or “rainy day fund,” is $198,000.

A taxpayer inside the village of Baldwinsville with a home assessed at $100,000 can expect to pay $3.44 more in 2016.

Outside the village, homeowners whose houses are assessed at $100,000 will see a reduction of $5.68 on their tax bills.

continued — Because Van Buren remained under the state’s 0.73 percent tax increase cap, taxpayers will receive a rebate from the state.

“It’s about as good as it gets,” Councilor Darcie Lesniak said.

“Considering the things that are beyond our control, we’re in good shape,” Councilor Howard Tupper said.

Maxwell’s budget presentation can be viewed at townofvanburen.com.

Zoning, planning boards to merge

Following in the footsteps of the village of Solvay, the town of Marcellus and the town of Springport in Cayuga County, Van Buren is taking steps to merge its planning and zoning boards.

Supervisor Claude Sykes said this would “streamline the process” for applicants in the town.

“It’s taking them anywhere from three to five months to get through the process, which is too long,” Sykes said. “We’ve always prided ourselves on being a user-friendly government.”

The proposed joint Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board will have seven members, including one chair.

A public hearing on the merging of the boards will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17.

CNY Stormwater Coalition survey

The town of Van Buren is helping the CNY Stormwater Coalition conduct a water quality survey.

“This non-scientific survey is designed to track baseline stormwater public awareness and to help direct future public education efforts,” the coalition said in a statement. “The survey takes less than five minutes to complete and will help your community meet MS4 public participation requirements, as well as improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public education and outreach programs.”

The survey can be found at surveymonkey.com/r/CNY_Stormwater_Survey.