February 2009 Monthly Announcements

1.   Tug Hill Commission's Local Government Conference - Registration information has been mailed to local officials for the Tug Hill Commission's Annual Local Government Conference on Thursday, March 26 at JCC.  There is wide variety of courses for all elected and appointed officials. The course for assessor will be for 6 continuing education credits. When sending in your registration forms, please mark the registration form in the lower left corner for the courses you would like to take.  Also please mark you lunch choice.  This helps in planning for enough seating and adequate handouts available for each session. If you have any newly elected or appointed officials please provide the NOCCOG circuit riders contact information so these new officials will receive future mailings

2.  Real Property Tax Cap Proposed  on NYS Forested Land-  The 5 Councils of Government in the Tug Hill region have contacted Governor Patterson  and state representatives  on the proposed plan for a property tax cap on the State payment of real property taxes on certain state lands within the Tug Hill region, as well as elsewhere in NYS.. The Executive Budget proposal is to amend Section 544 of the Real Property Tax law by capping property tax payments on state lands to towns, counties and school districts.  This would push the tax burden to other local property taxpayers. Some of our towns have thousands of acres of state owned land. At this time Gov. Patterson has not removed the measure from his amended budget bill.  We are asking each local government to read over the letter from the COGS.  If you have a position on the measure in agreement or disagreement with the COGs, please make your own positions known your state legislators..

3. Training for Floodplain Administration -The Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District is offering training for floodplain administration on Thursday, March 5, 2009, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Oneida County Farm and Home Center, 121 Second Street, Oriskany. The session will cover the practical basics for floodplain administration and will be presented by William Nechamen, chief, Floodplain Management Section from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. The course is targeted for community floodplain administrators and local officials responsible or interested in development requirements within floodplains.  The course is eligible for three hours of continuing education credit for code enforcement officers. If you are interested in attending this free training, please contact Jo-Anne Faulkner at Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation District at 736-3316, ext.3.

4. Planning Strategies to Revitalize Community Centers - The Jefferson County Department of Planning, NYS Tug Hill Commission, and the Center for Community Studies at JCC are co-sponsoring a training session on Planning Strategies to Revitalize Community Centers for local planning officials.  The free workshop is designed to help local planning officials learn what they can do to encourage, support, and enable redevelopment and economic renewal of community centers to improve their long term viability.  The session is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25^th, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., in the Jules Center Amphitheater (Room 6-002) at Jefferson Community College, 1240 Coffeen Street, Watertown. 

Topics will include: community planning processes for revitalizing small downtowns and village\hamlet centers; strategies for encouraging private investment, mixed use development, facade and streetscape improvements; and NYS programs used to assist revitalization.  The presenters will be Paul Fritz, a landscape architect and planner, and Jane Rice, a planner - both with Environmental Design and Research, PC, in Syracuse.  Paul and Jane have extensive experience in guiding communities in planning, designing, and implementing community center improvements. Case studies from similar rural communities will be discussed.  Handouts will be available. If approved by the municipality, this workshop provides two hours towards the NYS Municipal Training Requirement for planning boards and ZBAs.  RSVP's are strongly encouraged by February 23^rd. Please call the Jefferson County Department of Planning at (315) 785-3144 or send an e-mail to lorit@co.jefferson.ny.us. 

5.  Conflict Resolution Workshop - Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oneida County  is offering a conflict resolution workshop at their office, 121 Second Street, Oriskany on Thursday , February 12 from 11:00 am -2:00 pm. The session will focus on negotiation as a back and forth communication designed to reach an agreement acceptable to the parties involved.  A representative from the Peacemaker Program in Utica will address the following topics: Definition and Identification of Conflict; Handling Escalation and Confrontation; Effective Listening: Conflict Resolution Tools; When is Mediation Appropriate. All of these topics are important tools when negotiating contracts,  improving employee relations/disputes and addressing constituents  concerns.  Lunch will be provided free.  Reservations are requested and can be made by contacting Bonnie Collins at 736-3394, ext 104.

6.  Tug Hill Commission Energy Efficiencies & Alternatives Workshops - The Tug Hill Commission's  half-day workshop in Boonville in January on 20 for improving energy efficiency and alternative energy sources  was well attended.  Please note that there are three sessions at this year's LGC focusing on assistance to municipalities and other institutions in helping to cut costs through energy efficiency

7.  NOCCOG's NYS Archives Grant 2009-10 - NOCCOG submitted a NYS Archives grant in the amount of $82,053 to digitize historical records for twenty eight towns and villages in Oneida County. The grant was written and submitted by NOCCOG for the 2009 -10 grant cycle. The grant is for pre 1910 governmental historical records only and the records would contain genealogical and local government history information.  It did not include any vital statistics records, in accordance with NYS law.  If funded, the project will start in the fall of 2009. If you have questions, please contact Gerry Ritter at 392-2260 or at GJRitter01@aol.com.

8.  NOCCOG Monthly Announcements - We will be posting the monthly announcements on the NOCCOG website - NOCCOG.org  - starting the end of January 2009.   We will be developing a distribution list for these announcements that will be available to our member communities.  We are working with Digital Towpath on the distribution list and more information will be available soon.  The circuit riders will continue to pass out a hard copy at the monthly municipal meetings.

Email addresses:

Gjriiter01@aol.com or gerryritternoccog@frontiernet.net