Elbridge Town Board
Elbridge Town Supervisor Ken Bush Jr. and the Town Board faced the difficult decision Wednesday March 4 of prioritizing projects for a community development grant application.
Two projects, the creation of the Sunview Drive Water District and construction on Towpath East, were deemed worthy of the grant money by the board, but deciding which project should be considered a top priority was not so clear-cut for the councilors.
“Flip a coin… I’m torn,” Councilor George Betts said of the decision.
The creation of the Sunview Drive water district was the decision of the board and grant funding would aid individual households in hooking up to the district, based on income and only if the households opted for public water. Construction for Towpath Drive would cover a multitude of malaise that first started in the 1970s.
The board weighed whether the district should receive first priority because it came before the board before Towpath, in spite of the fact that residents may or may not be eligible for funding if the grant was awarded.
“We can lament about this all day long, and it doesn’t mean we’re going to get any of it,” Councilor Bruce Ralston pointed out.
The board ultimately applied for $90,000 toward the Towpath East construction, as priority one, and $15,000 for the Sunview Drive water district hookups as a second priority.
Elbridge Senior Coordinator Mark Grasmeyer reminded the board that the minimum income requirements for food stamp eligibility had been increased and that anyone eligible for HEEP assistance could qualify for food stamps.
Jordan Village Board
The next night, Thursday March 5, Bush addressed the Jordan Village Board to follow up on a previous visit he and Town Councilor George Betts had made to the village.
As the town prepares to renovate Town Hall, Bush and Betts approached the village to explore the possibility of applying for a shared services grant to build a shared court facility that would maintain separate court systems.
Village Trustee Lee Badman questioned whether the project would truly be “shared services,” or “shared facilities,” since the courts would not be consolidated, and whether that would affect the eligibility of the application.
Mayor Richard Platten said he did not see a cost savings for the village in the project. The board agreed to correspond further with the town regarding the project.
