CAZENOVIA — During the Sept. 12 Cazenovia Town Board meeting, Councilor Kelli Johnson reported on the conclusion of the Cazenovia Joint Youth Recreation Program, which ran for five week-long sessions throughout the summer.
The annual program, which is based at Lakeland Park, serves children from Cazenovia, Fenner, and Nelson.
Johnson informed the board that this year’s program had 58 participants from the Village of Cazenovia, 125 from the Town of Cazenovia, 34 from the Town of Fenner, 23 from the Town of Nelson, and 18 who were visiting for the summer.
Each week had 60 available openings.
Johnson pointed out that the number of registrants per session generally decreased as the summer progressed.
Week one had 60 kids, week two had 57, week three had 59, week four had 47, and week five had 40.
“They have some ideas for next year about how they might put more in the first [four] weeks and maybe not do that fifth week,” Johnson said. “They are playing around with that.”
The councilor also reported that the program, which was led by Director Kristen Brink, ended up with a little surplus, which will be put towards next summer’s equipment needs.
Additionally, she reported that the program was not forced to cancel a single time due to blue-green algae blooms and that the kids only had to spend one day at Cazenovia College due to inclement weather.
In other news
The town board authorized an amendment (the first) to the inter-municipal agreement (IMA) between the Town of Cazenovia, the Town of Nelson, and the Village of Cazenovia for the Route 20 Water District.
The three municipalities entered the original IMA relative to the supply of water and management, maintenance, operation, billing, construction, and financing for the Town of Nelson Route 20 Water District and the Town of Cazenovia Route 20 Water District on Feb. 11, 2019.
According to the original IMA, the terms of the agreement may be amended from time to time upon agreement by all involved parties.
“The parties have acknowledged large changes to the relative assessed values in the Town of Cazenovia, such that the originally contemplated pro rata share of each participating municipality in the payment of indebtedness for the two districts has created unexpected outcomes. . .” the resolution states.
The involved parties are now seeking to amend the IMA to reflect each town’s “current and fair” pro-rata share of the balance of the total project cost and project indebtedness for the two water districts.
“Each of the [towns] shall bear their pro-rata share of the balance of the Total Project Cost and Project Indebtedness based upon the percentages determined by dividing the sum of the total assessed value of all properties within each Town’s District into $17,505,331, being the sum of the total assessed value of all properties within both Districts,” the amended IMA states.
The adjusted pro-rata share of the total project cost for the Cazenovia District is 25.65 percent and the adjusted pro-rata share of the total project cost for the Nelson District is 74.35 percent for Tax Year 2023.
During the town board meeting, Town Attorney John Langey attributed the fluctuation in the relative taxable values contained within the Cazenovia District to GHD engineering firm moving out of the building at 1 Remington Park Dr. off Route 20.
“Because we had that drop in assessed values [when] GHD left, this [amendment] is an attempt to try to put it back in place. . .” said Langey. “We think this is going to resolve this issue for a few of those owners in the Town of Cazenovia, because the burden ended up shifting onto our residents. Nelson is aware of this; they are aware that it is going to shift back towards them, and they’re OK with it.”
Town Supervisor Bill Zupan added that if the GHD building “comes back online” next year and the new car wash opens in Cazenovia, the IMA could be amended again to reflect those changes.
At the time of the Sept. 12 board meeting, the Nelson Town Board had already approved the proposed amendment to the original IMA.
According to the resolution, the Cazenovia Town Board’s authorization of the amendment is contingent upon the approval of the new terms by the Village of Cazenovia.
During the meeting, the board also adopted a resolution modifying the October and November town board meeting dates due to NYS Law as it relates to meeting for budget and adoption processes.
The next two meetings will be held on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022 at the New Woodstock Firehouse (2632 Mill St., New Woodstock) and Monday, Nov. 7, 2022 at the Cazenovia Town Office (7 Albany St., Cazenovia).
The Cazenovia Town Board typically meets on the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit towncazenovia.digitaltowpath.org or call the town office at 315-655-9213.
Village of Cazenovia found objects: A ring and portable speaker at Lakeland Park, a journal on Albany Street, cash on Forman Street, a walker and a vest left at Kinney Drugs, several pairs of glasses, several sets of keys, and several cell phones. Please contact the Cazenovia Police Department at 315-655-3276 to claim.
