Seneca County Town of Ovid Launches Planning Survey

Steering Committee Launches Survey on May 1

Following a series of meetings with focus groups, the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee is now preparing to ask the Ovid community for its input. A survey is in its final stages of development, and will be distributed the first week of May.

In accordance with the committee’s plans for a “reasonable” length, the survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. One copy will be mailed to each of the households in the Town of Ovid. A postage-paid envelope will be included in the mailing. If additional copies are needed, they will be made available at locations throughout the Town, soon to be announced. An online version will also be made available at this website.

Questions on the survey will cover a range of topics and,...will focus on the most frequently discussed issues.

The committee has established a deadline of May 22 for the return of surveys. They hope the finite time period generates a stronger response rate.

The consulting team will compile the results of the survey and present the information to the committee in a subsequent meeting, to be scheduled later in June.

Town of Ovid reviews ambulance service contract

Ithaca Times:

(Town Board Member John) Hubbard reported on EMS. A letter was written by the town attorney, Steven Getman, to explain the position of the Town of Ovid Board regarding South Seneca Ambulance Corps.

It included information such as what the town requires of them in order to continue on with them with the EMS contract. They would come to the August Town of Ovid meeting with their budget in hand and go over the budget with Ovid line item by line item.

Also, the town would be allowed to make twice-a-year payments.

Following a discussion, the board felt that a quarterly payment would work out well for both the Ambulance Corps and the Town of Ovid.

Town of Ovid to Host Comprehensive Plan "Kick-off" July 13

Ovid town officials invite residents to attend the next scheduled meeting of the Town Board, July 13, at 7:00 pm at the Town Offices on Brown Street, to learn more about the recently initiated Comprehensive Plan process.

Guided by a team of planning professionals from MRB Group and EDR, a town-appointed Steering Committee will meet monthly and follow a timeline which will be outlined at the Board meeting.

Public participation is the most important element. The Town Board wants input and feedback from as many residents as possible.

Scheduled for the beginning of the 7 pm Board meeting, the presentation will also include a look at a new website created to support the planning project.

Ovid Town officials look at emergency signage procedures

© Copyright 2016, Ithaca Times:

The village of Ovid may be getting on the house numbers bandwagon a little, but not too late. Dr. David Dresser came to the Feb. 10 Ovid town board meeting with a plan to help the village get house number signs at reduced cost.

The town of Ovid has just finished wrapping up its house numbers program, providing green number signs that will be visible at night to emergency responders. Dresser said that in talks with Ovid village mayor David Terry, he had come up with a plan to obtain similar signs for village residents. The village would be posting a notice to residents in local newspapers, to the effect that they can get number signs for $20.25 by leaving their name, number, street address, and phone number at the village office. Village personnel will be erecting the signs.

Al Deming put in that he had talked with Mayor Terry, too, and “he doesn't think there's going to be a huge influx” of people wanting signs.

Ovid town attorney Steven Getman said he had some concerns about the process of paying for the signs, since the plan is for the town to order them (to take advantage of the bulk discount attached to buying all those town signs) and the village to pay the town back. “What if someone doesn't pay? It's a financial obligation created for the town by the village,” said Getman.

After some back and forth Getman said he would be satisfied by a Memorandum of Understanding from the village that detailed the terms of the deal. Deming said there should be a time limit on the whole process; at this time, the plan is to ask residents to get their orders in by March 15. Regarding the town of Ovid signs, a lingering issue is that some residents removed the signs posted for their properties. Borst said he had communicated with the new sheriff, who is extremely busy and responded via voice mail; “He believed the enforcement should be done by our code enforcement officer. We don't have a code enforcement officer... It didn't sound like the Sheriff's real interested in this.”

Officer Leon Anderson, Interlaken Police Chief and School Resource Officer for South Seneca, had offered to do it, but attorney Getman said it would be outside his jurisdiction. Getman suggested that supervisor Prouty schedule a meeting with the sheriff and find out once and for all “what the sheriff will or won't do.”

John Hubbard returned to a pet peeve, which is the cost of the signs for owners of trailer parks. Although the signs for the trailer numbers are smaller and cheaper, the cost is borne by the property owner- the owner of the park. Hubbard's opinion is that the cost, around $1000, for a certain trailer park owner, is “unfair.”

Getman reminded him that charging everyone else in town for house number signs while giving them to the trailer park owner for free isn't legal: “The law says, they've got to pay for them.” The town can't make a gift of services or goods to an individual, said Getman.

Ovid Interviews Comprehensive Plan Consultants

Finger Lakes Community Newspapers:

The June 10, 2015, meeting of the Town of Ovid board was opened by supervisor Walter Prouty...

Councilman Brian Flood inquired about the status of the search for a consultant for the town’s anticipated Comprehensive Plan for land management. Town attorney Steven Getman said he had a couple of responses. When the successful candidates have been chosen there needs to be an interview at which specific questions are asked, as suggested by Councilman John Hubbard.

Getman said, “My recollection is that the Planning Board and the Town Board members were to submit questions to me so I can have a chance to look at them ahead of time and make sure all areas are covered.”

Once he comes up with an approved list of questions, each boards’ members will be assigned questions to be asked of each candidate to put all on the same playing field. It was decided that the candidates will be given up to 10 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes to answer questions.

Getman felt that the sooner he gets the questions from the boards, the easier it will be to get the questions on the short list.