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Politics & Government

Northport Village Notebook

One code amendment was approved and the latest warrants were granted at the January 18th meeting.

A $1K Toilet Seat?
General fund and Northport Fire Department bills were approved at the Northport Village Board of Trustees regular meeting Tuesday. The amounts were $58,755.91 and $13,229.17, respectively.

One of the expenses in the general fund bill was re-worded, as it incorrectly described an $1152 payment to replace a "toilet seat" in the village jail downstairs at Village Hall. The entire toilet was replaced after its destruction several years ago.

‘Sewer Rent ‘Amendment Approved
Northport trustees approved an amendment Tuesday to a law they had approved in August.

The original law imposed a sewer rent on the approximately 20 percent of residents who are hooked up to the treatment plant. The amount charged per homeowner is based on water consumption over a one-year period from June 2009 to June 2010.  The fee was set at a rate 'not to exceed $3.95 per 1,000 gallons.

The board had long faced complaints from residents who paid for the upkeep and maintenance of the sewer plant but weren’t allowed to hook up to it. In addition, these homeowners were responsible for the costs of maintaining their own septic systems.

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In November,  following the approval of Local Law F, a group of residents who call themselves the Call to Action Committee  took issue with the fee saying it wasn’t correct for the village to charge them for past usage.

Village Attorney James Matthews disagreed saying he had consulted with the New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli before drafting the law and that he felt confident about its legality.

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Local Law F, however, did not give a deadline for when the sewer rent bills had to be rendered and this amendment changed that.

The legislative intent read that, “The Board of Trustees finds that amending the Code of the Village to allow the Board of Trustees the flexibility to set the dates by which Sewer Rent bills may be rendered and on which payment is due will allow for greater efficiency and accuracy in billing and collection.” The full amendment is attached to this article.

The amendment also made penalties on unpaid sewer rents assessed in a similar manner to the penalties issued on the real property tax.

"They're not identical, but they're very similar," said Village Attorney James Matthews. 

The amendment was passed unanimously.

Commissioners' Reports
Trustee Damon McMullen updated the status of the new railings for the bathroom pavilion, saying that he expected them to be installed next week, weather permitting.

Trustee Thomas Kehoe discussed meetings with Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal and Fire Chief John McKenna over reduction of police overtimes, saying that Chief McKenna's department would be willing to allow the fire police to cover some of those overtimes.

Village Administrator Gene Guido noted that there was a small, three-inch fresh water main leak at the sewer plant that was corrected.

Bruckenthal himself also discussed the annual police report at the meeting, which showed that crime trends were more or less the same as last year. He did note an exception, as there did appear to be an increase in crimes against persons in 2010, but he said those were covered by arrests.

"Sometimes we can't stop the people from doing the bad things," he said. "But we have arrested and prosecuted them."

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be on February 1st.

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