Town board appoints veteran coordinator
Navigating the ins and outs and beauracracy of veteran services can be difficult.
Town Supervisor Jim Lanning said this was a matter the town board took under advisement after speaking with both American Legion posts.
The board budgeted to set aside $1,000 annually as a stipend for the position of veteran coordinator.
“We spoke to the legions and they talked a bout the idea of having a coordinator,” Lanning said. “The Town of Elbridge hired Cindy Meili and it was recommended we talk to her.”
The board welcomed Meili to its meeting last week to share some of what she does in her work for veterans in the Elbridge area.
Meili has a great deal of first hand experience as a member of a military family.
Originally hailing from Plattsburgh, Meili said she and her husband, Lt. Col. John Meili, have traveled the world together.
During his career the family has been in New York, Texas, South Carolina and Germany.
But when the opportunity to move to Elbridge came about, the timing and the location all seemed to fall into place for the Meili family.
“We came here in 2008,” Meili said. “Elbridge was a good location for us and we had kids and they were getting ready for school and we looked at the community and we knew this is where we wanted to put our roots.”
With her husband serving at Hancock, Meili took on serving as readiness coordinator for the New York Air National Guard’s 152nd Air Intelligence Squadron at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse.
When the opportunity came to work as veteran coordinator for Elbridge, Meili was pleased to have the opportunity.
“The position aligned with what I do,” Meili said. “As readiness coordinator I have been able to help a lot of people and I was excited to learn about this position.”
Through her work, Meili has established relationships with organizations like Clear Path for Veterans and has learned about navigating through the red tape that often proves to be a roadblock to veterans seeking services they are entitled to.
“They often get frustrated and give up,” Lanning said.
Lanning said he saw part of the role locally to be compiling a reference list of resources for veterans, which Meili said she would be able to do.
She went on to say she liked to work with veterans on a personal level and would be available to assist with questions or paperwork or any other needs that may arise to ensure veterans are able to access the proper services.
The board voted to appoint Meili to the position of coordinator locally and her information will be available at town hall, on the town website and at both American Legions.
“As a veteran I think it is a great idea,” Councilor Rob Coville said.
The board also discussed and scheduled several public hearings for its Sept. 11 meeting with the hearings beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The hearings will involved two local laws.
“These are four fairly minor issues,” Lanning said.
One involves extending a moratorium on commercial solar use that is nearing its expiration.
Lanning said he is an advocate of solar power and this is an option the town has been exploring, but the idea of solar farms is something that the town does not currently have zoning in place to address.
The moratorium was originally established in order to give the town time to establish things like setbacks, but the planning and zoning boards are nearing completion of this work.
“It is something we just didn’t have the zoning to address,” Lanning said.
The other local law combines four issues including meeting times.
This would change the language as it stands in town code, allowing the various town boards more flexibility in establishing meeting times.
It also includes windmill heights, which at the time this language was originally established was set at 150 feet, but current windmill manufacturing is done in 20 foot increments, making 160 feet more reasonable.
Another portion addresses redevelopment fees applied to projects such as driveway reduction which reduces impermeable surfaces.
The local law will look at reducing fees associated with this kind of work.
The last portion will look at medical tax exemptions.
Currently in the event money is taken from a 401K for example this can have an impact on property taxes.
By addressing this, qualified medical expense would not be counted.
“We don’t anyone’s property tax to increase due to illness,” Lanning said.
