2012-2013 Annual Report of the Village of Corinth

To the Village of Corinth I submit the following report.

Your Board: Deputy Mayor Timothy Halliday, Melanie Denno, Mitch Saunders, and Julius Enekes; Clerk-Treasurer Nicole Colson, DPW Superintendent  Arthur Lozier, III and Fire Dept. Chief Andy Kelley have worked together diligently with me to provide you, the residents of the Village of Corinth, with the best quality of services as economically as possible this past fiscal year.

Clerk –Treasurer Colson, acting as Budget Officer, the members of the Board and the Department heads worked long and hard on this year’s budget to be able to provide the same level of services at no increase in the tax rate for this coming year.

This past year has been a year of challenges and a year of accomplishments.
Some of the challenges we have encountered this year are due to our aging infrastructure. Our waste water treatment plant is 40 years old and is long past its life expectancy. Fortunately we have very knowledgeable operators who have been able to keep it running and meeting state standards. This year, however, we have had several serious and expensive breakdowns at the waste water treatment plant and the River Street pump station. Our plant operator and DPW employees were able to save us thousands of dollars doing some of the work themselves, but because the equipment is so old many parts are no longer available, and must be sent out to be machined. This is very expensive. On the positive side, Clerk- Treasurer Colson was able to write a grant application and we were awarded a $30,000 grant for an engineering study to determine if our waste water plant can be rebuilt or if it needs to be replaced.

Over the past year Clerk-Treasurer Colson also worked to refinance our Firehouse and Hamilton Ave. Bonds. This will save us $25,000 dollars this year and over $364,000 in coming years.  I commend Clerk- Treasurer Nicole Colson and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Alice Lissow for their dedication to keeping the Village running smoothly and their excellent service to our residents.

Your Board, working with our Attorney Karla Buettner, passed several new laws to keep us in compliance with New York State law and provide for a safer and more enjoyable community.

Working together with the DPW, CSEA employees, and our Attorney, your Board developed a mutually agreeable labor contract for the next four years. This contract was negotiated with the goal of being fair to both the tax payers and the employees, and both sides worked hard to meet that goal.

We are very pleased with the work that has been accomplished this past year on the rehabilitation of the upper and lower reservoir dams. Our engineers, The Laberge Group, and our contractor, J&A Bayly Construction Co., Inc., have been outstanding in their performance. They have both worked hard during the project to ensure a quality job while coming in about $50,000 under budget.

Your DPW was very busy last year.
Sidewalks & Curbing:  5th St, 1500 linear ft. removed and replaced--New entrance to Town’s Pine St. IP Museum--Pour & finish entrance sidewalks to the Town Hall--Warren St., 10 driveway entrances removed and replaced
Blacktop:   5th St., 750 ft. milled and resurfaced--Liberty St., 900 ft. milled and resurfaced--Main St. (from Oak St. to 9N)--Normal patching when needed--Shared serviced with Town of Corinth, Greenfield, Day and Hadley (2 tandem dumps with men to haul for them when they need assistance)
Buildings & Grounds/Parks:  Renovations to the offices upstairs in the Village Hall--Assist Town of Corinth with Depot clearing and clean up--Crosswalk striping twice a year--Daily maintenance at the Beach & Parks--Mowing & Trimming all Village owned properties on a weekly schedule--Normal maintenance at the Firehouse
Water:  New curb boxes and rods installed on 5th St.--800 ft. of new 6” water line installed to the HRCCU building off Pine St.--Pilot study completed to determine the type of filters best suited for the Village’s water--Flushed hydrants 3 times a year--Normal maintenance at Hamilton Ave. Well House
Sewer:  Heath St., repaired 40 ft. of 8” sewer main, 2 laterals and 1 new manhole--Pine St., repaired 40 ft. of 8” sewer main--River St. Pumping Station assisted with the removal and installs of 1of 2 new rebuilt pumps and motors. The 2nd one is under way.--WWTP, removed and installed rebuilt distribution tower and distributor arms to our #2 Trickling Filter--WWTP, removed, fabricated and reinstalled new center distributor cone to our Thickener Tank--Hamilton Ave. Sewer Pump Station, removed and reinstalled new rebuilt submersible pump--Normal yearly maintenance at all 4 buildings.

All this was accomplished by DPW Superintendent Lozier, Assistant DPW Superintendent Cliff Jensen, 8 DPW employees and 2 WWTP operators. They have worked day and night in all kinds of weather and they should be commended for the remarkable job they do for our community.

Fire Chief Andy Kelley and our Volunteer Firefighters have spent thousands of hours this past year training and responding to emergencies. In addition to this our Fire Dept. Dive Team has spent many extra weekends and evenings training and diving with a professional Rescue Diver Instructor. We now have one of the finest Dive Rescue Teams in the area. I am very proud of the way our Village Fire Department and the Town of Corinth Jessup’s Landing EMS work together and support each other in taking care of all of us here in Corinth.

Town Supervisor Dick Lucia and I have been meeting on a weekly basis to find ways we can work together to provide both Town and Village residents with services while saving money. Both Town and Village DPW departments have been very effective in working together. Working together they get more done without having to bring in an expensive outside contractor and work force. This saves us money and keeps the money we do spend local. Over the past several years the Village and Town Boards have worked together as lead members on the Task Force for Senior Living Committee.  This committee was formed to look at the needs of seniors and how we, as your elected officials, could assist in finding solutions.   With the support of both Boards we are currently researching options for a senior housing project in the Village.  In the very near future, we will hold a joint Board meeting to discuss these options and necessary steps to move this project forward as part of our joint effort to build a better future for our community and Corinth’s Senior Citizens.

 I thank Supervisor Lucia and the Town Board for their willingness to work together. It is good to know we are all dedicated to making Corinth a better place to live.

Finally, I would like to thank our Volunteer Firefighters and members of our Jessup’s Landing EMS for being there 24-7. I thank our Image Committee, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and all the other Committees for volunteering their time to serve our community. I also thank the many organizations, such as the American Legion, the Corinth Central Schools, the Community of Churches, the Rotary, the Merchants Association, Little League, The Grange and the many other groups that serve the needs of our community and make Corinth a better place to live.

We wish you all a safe and healthy summer.
Dennis Morreale, Mayor.