SUPERVISORS BLOG 2017
As I reflect on my first year as Town Supervisor I realize it has been quite a journey and without the help of my personal assistant Susie Ewald and the support of my wife Cindy and children Tyler and Abigail and the faith in my Lord Jesus Christ the journey would have been very difficult to say the least. I would also like to thank the people of the Town of Lewis who have supported me along the way. Their faith in me is what drives me to succeed.
January started out with me learning the ropes, so to speak. I was a Councilman for 18 years prior to being elected Supervisor, so I had an idea what the job entailed, but until you sit in the chair you don’t really have an idea. I familiarized myself with the responsibilities of the job and began to prepare for the annual financial report due to the State Comptroller’s office. Susie helped guide me thru the process and we completed this in a timely manner.
We also began reviewing some of our Local Laws, Contracts and Policy’s and decided we needed to review these as a Board and make appropriate changes. We are still in the process.
We also continued to consider avenues to repair the Blood Hill Road Bridge that had been damaged and closed in 2015. Working hand in hand with Kevin Denton our DPW Superintendent, Chris Garrow and Jim Dougan from Essex County DPW we came up with a plan to repair the bridge and reopen the road at the best cost to the taxpayers of Lewis. We reopened the bridge in the fall of 2016 with little impact to the tax payers of our community.
We also began the purchase of a new dump truck for DPW, with our aging fleet it was time that we began the process. I began working with Kevin to decide what would be our best route to follow, as our trucks were 19, 17 and 15 years old respectively, it was time. Kevin began to research trucks and I started to look at our finances and develop a plan. We developed what we are calling our 12-year plan, in this plan we should be able to purchase a truck every 4 years with little or no impact to the budget. Our new truck arrived in December of 2016.
Last year we were fortunate to receive a couple of grants for our Thrall dam trail system. We have worked on connecting trails as well as hiring a professional trail developer to develop about another mile of trail as well as to put a bridge in across a stream and wetland to connect both sides of the property. We are very excited about this. We are developing parking areas for entrances as well as trail signs marking the trails. We have also acquired trail sign-in boxes to keep track of the number of people using the area. This trail system is open to all and I encourage everyone with an interest in the outdoors to stop and hike, bike, walk, ski, horseback ride, snowmobile or whatever and enjoy this beautiful area. We also plan to have additional signage available with maps so you will know the area.
We also applied for a grant to finish the 3rd phase of our water project that began with the addition of our new system, this was to replace the original line on the south end of Town, unfortunately we did not receive funding this time around, but are hopeful for this upcoming round.
We also received a member item grant from Senator Littles office this year to replace our existing salt shed. This is a much-needed item, as a new salt shed will help prevent runoff and contamination of the area surrounding our salt shed. A big thank you goes out to Senator Little!
In September of last year Adirondack Community Action Program, (ACAP) opened the Wee Care Daycare Center in the old Lewis School. This provides much needed daycare for our Town as well as community. For more information contact Marge Z at ACAP 518-873-3207
Also in September, we began my first official budget process as Supervisor, with Susie guiding me we worked hard to develop the best budget we possibly could to present to the board. We went back 8 years looking at past budgets, looking for trends in appropriations and revenues. Given the two percent tax cap, which isn’t a hard two percent, this year it was .68 of a percent, doesn’t leave much wiggle room for anything. Health insurance costs continue to drive upward, this year it increased twelve percent for our Town. The continuing of unfunded mandates the State puts on our communities also adds a significant burden to the taxpayers and the need to continue to maintain our infrastructure, provide services to our constituents and plan only added to the challenge. We worked hard and brought a budget in slightly below the tax cap number, which the Town Board approved.
My biggest concern is if Albany continues to enforce these mandates without funding, we will be unable to maintain our services to the taxpayers. We are working on many ways to save money, through shared services and other methods, but the State needs to do their part.
Our plans for this year are many, continuing to fulfill the dream of a multiuse trail system at Thrall Dam, have our new Salt Shed constructed, receive grant funding to complete the water project, to finalize our Risk Management Plan and to develop ways to improve our community.
Lastly, I would like to thank, first the voters of the Town of Lewis for having the faith to place me in office, my wife Cindy and Children, Tyler and Abigail for their support, Jim Pierce for his guidance and mentoring me in this first year and to the Employees of the Town who work hard every day to make this the absolute best Town to live in and raise a family. Please feel free to contact me at any time, my door is always open. Thanks again!
As I reflect on my first year as Town Supervisor I realize it has been quite a journey and without the help of my personal assistant Susie Ewald and the support of my wife Cindy and children Tyler and Abigail and the faith in my Lord Jesus Christ the journey would have been very difficult to say the least. I would also like to thank the people of the Town of Lewis who have supported me along the way. Their faith in me is what drives me to succeed.
January started out with me learning the ropes, so to speak. I was a Councilman for 18 years prior to being elected Supervisor, so I had an idea what the job entailed, but until you sit in the chair you don’t really have an idea. I familiarized myself with the responsibilities of the job and began to prepare for the annual financial report due to the State Comptroller’s office. Susie helped guide me thru the process and we completed this in a timely manner.
We also began reviewing some of our Local Laws, Contracts and Policy’s and decided we needed to review these as a Board and make appropriate changes. We are still in the process.
We also continued to consider avenues to repair the Blood Hill Road Bridge that had been damaged and closed in 2015. Working hand in hand with Kevin Denton our DPW Superintendent, Chris Garrow and Jim Dougan from Essex County DPW we came up with a plan to repair the bridge and reopen the road at the best cost to the taxpayers of Lewis. We reopened the bridge in the fall of 2016 with little impact to the tax payers of our community.
We also began the purchase of a new dump truck for DPW, with our aging fleet it was time that we began the process. I began working with Kevin to decide what would be our best route to follow, as our trucks were 19, 17 and 15 years old respectively, it was time. Kevin began to research trucks and I started to look at our finances and develop a plan. We developed what we are calling our 12-year plan, in this plan we should be able to purchase a truck every 4 years with little or no impact to the budget. Our new truck arrived in December of 2016.
Last year we were fortunate to receive a couple of grants for our Thrall dam trail system. We have worked on connecting trails as well as hiring a professional trail developer to develop about another mile of trail as well as to put a bridge in across a stream and wetland to connect both sides of the property. We are very excited about this. We are developing parking areas for entrances as well as trail signs marking the trails. We have also acquired trail sign-in boxes to keep track of the number of people using the area. This trail system is open to all and I encourage everyone with an interest in the outdoors to stop and hike, bike, walk, ski, horseback ride, snowmobile or whatever and enjoy this beautiful area. We also plan to have additional signage available with maps so you will know the area.
We also applied for a grant to finish the 3rd phase of our water project that began with the addition of our new system, this was to replace the original line on the south end of Town, unfortunately we did not receive funding this time around, but are hopeful for this upcoming round.
We also received a member item grant from Senator Littles office this year to replace our existing salt shed. This is a much-needed item, as a new salt shed will help prevent runoff and contamination of the area surrounding our salt shed. A big thank you goes out to Senator Little!
In September of last year Adirondack Community Action Program, (ACAP) opened the Wee Care Daycare Center in the old Lewis School. This provides much needed daycare for our Town as well as community. For more information contact Marge Z at ACAP 518-873-3207
Also in September, we began my first official budget process as Supervisor, with Susie guiding me we worked hard to develop the best budget we possibly could to present to the board. We went back 8 years looking at past budgets, looking for trends in appropriations and revenues. Given the two percent tax cap, which isn’t a hard two percent, this year it was .68 of a percent, doesn’t leave much wiggle room for anything. Health insurance costs continue to drive upward, this year it increased twelve percent for our Town. The continuing of unfunded mandates the State puts on our communities also adds a significant burden to the taxpayers and the need to continue to maintain our infrastructure, provide services to our constituents and plan only added to the challenge. We worked hard and brought a budget in slightly below the tax cap number, which the Town Board approved.
My biggest concern is if Albany continues to enforce these mandates without funding, we will be unable to maintain our services to the taxpayers. We are working on many ways to save money, through shared services and other methods, but the State needs to do their part.
Our plans for this year are many, continuing to fulfill the dream of a multiuse trail system at Thrall Dam, have our new Salt Shed constructed, receive grant funding to complete the water project, to finalize our Risk Management Plan and to develop ways to improve our community.
Lastly, I would like to thank, first the voters of the Town of Lewis for having the faith to place me in office, my wife Cindy and Children, Tyler and Abigail for their support, Jim Pierce for his guidance and mentoring me in this first year and to the Employees of the Town who work hard every day to make this the absolute best Town to live in and raise a family. Please feel free to contact me at any time, my door is always open. Thanks again!