Keep those emails coming!

Our Anonymous Tipline has once again proved invaluable in breaking stories around town that otherwise would have gone unreported.

Story in today's Observer Dispatch:

"New Hartford school project back within cost estimates; Some aesthetics eliminated; other re-bid estimates also lower".

We received many tips regarding the cost overrun that Mr. Nole was not willing to admit was a problem when we visited his office on July 7th. It's also been reported to us that since we posted our blog on July 22nd, there have been a lot of "nervous" school administrators walking the halls. Three weeks after our visit we read about the cost overrun in the newspaper...go figure!

One thing missing in the Observer Dispatch article is mention of the final plans for the Auditorium/Community Performing Arts Theatre that Mr. Nole told us would not look quite like it was represented to the voters.

Makes one wonder what else are they forgot to mention to the article? In fact, we have heard that there are more changes than they admitted to in the article.

We appreciate your tips; rest assured that we follow up on every one of them. Together, we can make a change!

The Lucky Dozen (or more?)

From the DRAFT version of the July 9, 2008 Town Board minutes:

Higby Road Water District
Highway Superintendent Cleveland renewed discussion of several meetings ago about property owners in the Higby Road Water District who did not receive bills and should have. Superintendent Cleveland requested the Town Board’s consensus of how to pursue this matter. Contact had been made with another municipality(ies) which experienced a similar occurrence and their decision was to begin billing the property owners in the second year, rather than charging back for the first year. The Highway Superintendent inquired whether the Town Board wants to pursue this or not; he is willing to have a conversation with Board members on this matter involving approximately a dozen property owners [out of about 350 owners in the District]. Any changes need to be submitted to the Assessor’s Office not later than March 1, 2009 for billing in 2010. It was the consensus of the Town Board to review this.

Hmm! So lets' see, the first year the $365 was to be added to the Town & County Tax Bills for Higby Road water district debt reduction was this past January [2008]. We have the assessment database and can tell you that parcels tagged with Higby Road Water District in the 2007 Assessment database (used to calculate the 2008 town taxes) total 336 parcels; minus the 4 parcels that were charged that shouldn't have been...makes a total of 332 parcels charged for the Higby Road Water District debt reduction in 2008.

We now have a copy of the 2008 Final Assessment roll. For the tax bill that will be sent for the January 2009 town/county taxes; there are 333 parcels tagged as being in the Higby Road Water District.

What that all means is that as of today, the same people who were not being charged for the Higby Road water district debt reduction on their 2008 town/county tax bill are not tagged to be charged for their 2009 town/county tax bill either. In fact, the July 9, 2008 DRAFT minutes, make it appear that the town board sees no problem with sitting on this for another year.

If the town board doesn't feel they need to make corrections until March 1, 2009, doesn't that mean that a dozen (probably more by our calculations, unless you believe Roger) people are riding on the backs of the rest of the people in the water district for two (2) years...tax bills are sent out in January EACH year?

The sad part is that this same topic was on the town board agenda in January 2008, and yet no one on the town board made sure that the corrections were made by March 1, 2008...in time for the 2009 tax bill! Here is an excerpt from the January 23, 2008 town board meeting minutes:

(RESOLUTION NO. 32 OF 2008)

RESOLVED that the New Hartford Town Board does hereby authorize that letters be mailed to property owners outside the Higby Road Water District who were charged debt service, as well as to those few property owners inside said Water District that were not charged debt service, explaining the circumstances and offering a resolution.

We know that Roger sent the letters to the four (4) people that were erroneously charged explaining how they can be reimbursed; Concerned Citizens FOILed the letters. However, it appears that the town board failed to do anything about the people who were erroneously NOT charged! Probably explains why our FOIL for the letters to those residents was never honored!

Where was Robert A. Payne, III, the councilman for that area of town; why isn't he looking out for the taxpayers in his Ward?

Architects are just too darn expensive...

that's what Robert Nole, Assistant Superintendent for Business Affairs, possibly soon to be the next Superintendent of NHCS when Dan Gilligan retires, said during our visit a couple of weeks ago when we asked if there was any truth to the information we received on our Anonymous Tipline that the school is $4 - 5 million dollars over-budget with the Triple A Project.

Mr. Nole explained that because of the cost associated with hiring an architect, the school doesn't hire anyone prior to putting the project up for a vote by the residents of the district. They merely put together a conceptual drawing of what they hoped the project will look like. After a favorable vote, they get busy and hire an architect to come up with the final plans prior to putting the project out to bid.

So let's see, the school saved a few thousand by not hiring an architect before they were sure that the bond issue passed, but now they are possibly millions over budget because they didn't hire an architect to draw up more precise plans to begin with. Hmmm! Guess the school can just have another bond vote in a few years (after everyone forgets about the details of the Triple A Project, of course) to make up the difference. Isn't that what taxpayers are for?

We specifically asked about the auditorium/Community Performing Arts Center. Remember, back before the bond vote the architectural rendering looked like this:

You got to admit, it's pretty impressive. Not only did we receive tips that they are over-budget, but we have also received tips that the new auditorium will have no more seats than the current auditorium has and doesn't even resemble the picture above. Mr. Nole assured us that is not the case. Oh, it may have more of a stadium-type seating, but it still has 650 seats according to Mr. Nole. By the way, if they didn't hire an architect, how is this an "architectural rendering" (click on the picture above for a larger image if you can't see the fine print under the drawing)?

We must say that Mr. Nole was very cordial during our visit...even gave us his business card and said we should feel free to call him anytime! Believe me, we will...Concerned Citizens likes to keep in touch with their "friends".

At any rate, guess time will tell...for sure Mr. Nole would never say anything that isn't true...just saying!

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And don't forget to watch the video of the July 9, 2008 New Hartford Town Board meeting. Stay tuned...

County Legislators Jim D'Onofrio and Mike Damsky...on the EDGE...

New Hartford residents...these gentlemen represent you on the Oneida County Board of Legislators. We urge you to take the time to view the video...it's less than 9 minutes long.

In the video, Mr. D'Onofrio says he has never had a question that Steve DiMeo won't or can't answer regarding EDGE. Well, Mr. D'Onofrio we wished you had stayed around when we asked questions of Mr. DiMeo after the January 30, 2008 meeting at New Hartford High School regarding the New Hartford Business Park. Mr. DiMeo couldn't answer our questions (actually, we believe he could have answered the questions; however, we believe the answers to our questions would have only beget more questions that Mr. DiMeo didn't want to have asked). It's all in the way you ask the questions as to the answers you get, Mr. D'Onofrio.

Concerned Citizens asks hard-hitting questions...Mr. DiMeo evaded our questions...and that's a fact. By the way, the details of the New Hartford Business Park project that was presented at the January 30, 2008 meeting do not match the project details as they are being carried out today; yet, there has been no further communication to the taxpayers of New Hartford from either the town, the school (remember, the NH school board voted to give up tax revenue for the next 15 years to build roads for a private developer), the county or Mr. DiMeo! In fact, RoAnn Destito even stated in a recent newspaper article that the town needs to go to the public before they try to sell us another bridge!

We couldn't agree with your opening commentary on the video more, Mr. D'Onofrio, because frankly we are also tired of listening to you and all the rest of your fellow politicians who fail to ask the "right" questions, and we also happen to agree with you on another point in your rant...we firmly believe that there should be term limits too. Frankly, change is way overdue!

Please visit Larry Tanoury, Jr.'s website to watch a video of the full debate on the MV EDGE's 2008 contract.

And don't forget to watch the video of the July 9, 2008 New Hartford Town Board meeting. Stay tuned...

July 9, 2008 Town Board Meeting...

is now online.

This is one you don't want to miss! We will be blogging about several items from this meeting.

By the way, if Donna Donovan is looking for news stories of interest to people, perhaps she should see to it that a reporter is present at Town of New Hartford Board meetings. Just saying...

A little political satire...

Today Now!
How To Pretend You Give A Sh*t About The Election
This year - 2008 Presidential Election - Obama vs. McCain.

In 2009, at least four(4) terms are up in the Town of New Hartford...Reed; Reynolds; Payne and Cleveland. What will your excuse be?

Part 2 - I cannot tell a lie...

I understand it's going to be a...buffer zone.

That's what Mr. Nole, Assistant Superintendent for Business Affairs for New Hartford Central School said when we asked him about the possibility of someone buying land that is owned by St. John's Church and donating it to the school.

Guess we never did not get a copy of the brochure that was handed out at the Triple A Project meeting that was held on June 12, 2008...of course, if we remember correctly, it was reported in the Observer Dispatch that no one attended that meeting, but that's another story for another day. Once again, we have to thank our tipsters; our Anonymous Tipline is a valuable resource.

The brochure (pdf file of the Parking Plan) specifically outlines what the land will be used for...PARKING. Looking at the brochure...you will see that noted in purple is space for 71 Bus Drivers to park; then in light blue are 20 student parking spaces; and then if you look at the red, there are 70 student parking places. That is a total of 161 parking places. Wow!

According to a June 16th Observer Dispatch article:

Graham Avenue will be used as an access road for construction vehicles, Gilligan said.

Gee do you think that for safety reasons the students and bus drivers will be encouraged to exit the school premises on Bonnie Avenue/Bohling instead of Graham Ave?

Mr. Nole, when you know there is documentation out there, please remember...don't make up things. It doesn't look good...almost looks like you are trying to hide something.

If we lived in the area of Bonnie Ave/Bohling Road, we would be calling the school and asking some questions; unless of course the possibility of 160 cars entering and exiting the school premises and travelling on our quiet little street every day school is in session is not troubling to us.

Just saying...

Stay tuned...we are working on writing the blog for the last question that we asked of Mr. Nole.

I cannot tell a lie...I believe it's for a buffer zone...

So what else did Robert Nole, Assistant Superintendent for Business Affairs at New Hartford Central School have to say during our recent visit to his office?

Well, in recent months Concerned Citizens has been receiving tips on our Anonymous Tip Line regarding a piece of vacant land in the Village of New Hartford that is owned by St. John's Church. Reportedly, someone, who as yet is unnamed, is going to buy the church property on George Ave and donate it to the school. So naturally, instead of guessing as to the validity of the reports, we decided to get the story straight from the "horse's mouth".

Mr. Nole admitted that something like that was in the works. When we asked what the school plans to use the property for, he said it was his understanding that it will be a buffer zone between the school and the homes in the area of Bohling Road, Graham Ave, and Bonnie Lane.

Hmmm! Sounds kind of odd doesn't it because if the church owns the land and it is vacant land isn't there already a buffer between the school and the homes on Bohling Road? How does the school owning the property make it any more of a buffer zone than it currently is?

More importantly, who is buying the property from the church and what do they expect to get in return for their donation to the school? Sorry, Mr. Nole, but your explanation doesn't pass the "smell test".

Since Concerned Citizens has a copy of tax maps for the Village of New Hartford, we decided to look up where this parcel is and map it out for you. We have highlighted in yellow the vacant land owned by St. John's Church that is supposed to be purchased and donated to the school. We have marked the residential parcels with the house numbers and everything else that we have highlighted in purple is also vacant land according to the 2008 Tentative Assessment Roll. We are also providing you with an Excel spreadsheet listing all the property in the nearby area.

Have any ideas or heard anything around town, please use our Anonymous Tip Line to let us know what you have heard. As we piece things together, we will keep you updated.

We discussed one more topic with Mr. Nole and we will be blogging about that in a couple of days. Stay tuned!

With a million here..a million there...here a million...

there a million...everywhere a million.

According to an article in the Observer Dispatch:

Plans to build a bridge and interchange along state Route 840 have hit a snag. The estimated cost of the proposed bridge that would serve a new business park and proposed school transportation center has risen by more than $2 million. The reason: National Grid power lines are in the way and would have to be moved, officials said Wednesday.

According to Earle Reed, Town of New Hartford Supervisor:

“We need the bridge.”

Excuse us, but who did the Town of New Hartford use to develop the initial cost estimates? Didn't they visit the site where the bridge was to be built...how can you miss Niagara Mohawk Power lines?

And how about this quote from the same article?

Lawrence Adler, the developer of the business park, said access to state Route 840 was part of the deal with The Hartford, which will open in November.

“A bridge would be a real victory for the region,” he said.

A victory for the region? The fact that taxpayers are financing the building of the roads in your development, water lines for the residents of Woods Highway (and now supposedly a bridge) sounds more like a victory to you, Mr. Adler.

To her credit, RoAnn Destito certainly made a good point...it's about time someone starts thinking about the taxpayers.

According to the Observer Dispatch,

"Destito, who said her preference would be a bridge, called for public involvement in the decision-making process because of the costs involved.

“It needs to be made in the public domain,” she said. “There have not been any discussions or public meetings.”

RoAnn, my dear, public involvement is the last thing Earle Reed and Company want to have happen. Haven't you been reading our blog. They will go to any extreme, including but not limited to illegal measures to be sure that they get what they want.

On the other hand, all Joe Griffo could say is,

State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, said some action is needed. “We need to be sensitive to the needs of the business park and the consolidation project,” Griffo said. “But I also recognize there could be an impediment to the traffic flow.”

Senator Griffo, if you want to be in a "sensitive" mood, how about being sensitive to the taxpayers?

The article further states that,

The Hartford insurance company will become the first major tenant, shifting jobs from an existing building in the town.

Well, there's some real progress, shifting jobs from an existing building that is assessed for $4.5 million (occupied) to a "new building' about a mile away where the tax revenue will not help offset school, town or county budgets for the next 15 years. And what if there is not a "taker" to purchase or lease the building that The Hartford is currently occupying? More lost tax revenue...just how low will that $4.5 million assessment go?

By the way, our sources tell us that the bridge isn't the only project in the Town of New Hartford where the costs have exceeded the initial estimates by a few million.

Stay tuned...and keep your wallets handy!

That's what vacations are all about...

"kicking-back" and visiting "friends".

We've been on vacation from blogging for the past few days...we just needed to "kick-back" for a while and visit some of our "friends"...

First, we decided to see how our "friends" at New Hartford Central School were progressing with our FOIL request. The last communication we received from Ms. Greico, the NH Records Officer, on June 26th indicated that our FOIL request has been "turned over to the Business Office for review".

Since 7 days had passed since our June 25, 2008 FOIL request (actually, it has been 173 days since our first request on January 17, 2008, but who's counting?) for the New Hartford Employees' Union Contract and the FOI Law only allows for 5 business days to comply, we decided to make an unexpected call to Mr. Nole's office; Mr. Nole is the current Assistant Superintendent For Business Affairs and according to newspaper accounts, he is quite possibly the next District Superintendent following Dan Gilligan's retirement. As luck would have it, Mr. Nole said he was just in the process of looking over our FOIL request when we walked in. Talk about luck!

Anyway, Mr. Nole explained that even though the Board of Education unanimously approved the New Hartford Employees' Union contract for the period July 2007 to June 2010, the contract has yet to be signed by the school and the union. All Mr. Nole had available was the UNSIGNED, DRAFT version. It takes time for the signatures according to Mr. Nole...yeah, but really does it take 6 months?

What really has us curious is why Dan Gilligan, Superintendent of the New Hartford School told us at our February 14, 2008 meeting with him and School Attorney Hallak that the SIGNED contract was at B.O.C.E.S. being printed and we would have it in a couple of weeks. The meeting where Mr. Gilligan made this statement to us was prompted by an email we received from Mr. Gilligan dated February 8, 2008. Here's an excerpt (unedited, Mr. Gilligan should learn to use Spell Check):

To begin with, the District is responding to your requests in accordance with our understanding of the law. For example, the contracts you are referring to were approved by the Board in draft form. Following approval, they are updated by the respective attorneys and sent to us for final review before they are officially published. The purpose is to enxure that any language changes that were agreed to, in principle, are corrrectly entered into the 70+ page documents. That process should be completed this month and then they will be copied at BOCES for distributiion. We will send you electronic copies when the final approval of wording is reached by all parties. Even the employees do not have copies at this time and they won't get copies until the review is finished.

When we asked if school employees were being paid according to this DRAFT contract, Mr. Nole replied "yes". Since the DRAFT copy of the contract clearly states "DRAFT 4/29/08", are we to believe that changes have been made since the school board approved the DRAFT contract in January...wouldn't that DRAFT be dated sometime prior to January 8th? In response to our questions, Mr. Nole assured us that all schools work that way.

So let's see if we have the process correct...the school board approves a DRAFT of the contract on January 8, 2008. According to Superintendent Dan Gilligan, the signed contract is at B.O.C.E.S. for printing in February and would be available in two (2) weeks. Next, a DRAFT version of the contract dated April 29, 2008 is distributed to school officials and we suppose union officials also receive a copy. Yet, as of July 8, 2008 the contract has not been signed and the only thing Mr. Nole can provide us with is a DRAFT copy and they have actually been paying the employees under the terms of the DRAFT copy of the UNSIGNED contract!

Just goes to prove that one shouldn't believe everything they read in the paper. The question is just what has been changed, if anything, between the time the school board approved the contract on January 8, 2008 (as reported by the Observer Dispatch) and the time the April 29, 2008 DRAFT was produced and how many more DRAFTS will be distributed before the contract is actually signed? How is the school board doing their due diligence if the latest DRAFT of the contract is dated April 29, 2008 and the board approved a DRAFT contract at their January 8, 2008?

As taxpayers, we are curious as to how employees can be paid in accordance with a DRAFT contract that has yet to be signed by both parties. Is it even legal to pay from a DRAFT, UNSIGNED contract? Didn't the State Comptroller's office just cite Whitesboro Central School for giving employees benefits not in the current contract? According to the article in the Observer Dispatch:

“The district has to ensure that employees only receive the benefits stipulated in their contract.”

Wonder what the Comptroller's Office would say about paying employees under the terms of an unsigned contract? But then again, if that is the way all school districts do it...guess that must make it right...doesn't it?

Here is a pdf copy of the DRAFT, UNSIGNED New Hartford Employees' Union Contract.

UPDATE: We just received an email from Matthew Tabor telling us that he mentioned the New Hartford Central School lack of accountability in his latest Education for the Aughts Podcast. Thank you, Matthew. It's pretty sad when a school noted for excellence fails to comply with simple requests for public documents and instead tries to threaten us with "lawyers" that are paid for with taxpayer dollars.

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During our "vacation" we had some further discussions with Mr. Nole and some of our other "friends" around town, but we will save those conversations for other blogs in the very near future. Stay tuned!