State’s Mayors Award Village ‘First Place” Prize For Canal Improvements left to right: Fredonia Mayor Frank Pagano, DPW Head Scott Spencer, Treasurer Mary Marowski, Mayor Bob Corby, Clerk Anne Hartsig, Trustee Tim Galli, Executive Director of NYCOM Ed Farrell The Village of Pittsford received first-place prize honors for its Erie Canal Improvement Project last month when the state’s mayors met in conference at Lake Placid. “Pittsford is demonstrating that local revitalization is not a lost cause,” said Mayor Frank Pagano of the Village of Fredonia, who presented the First Place award. “They are rolling up their sleeves and building for the future. We commend Mayor Robert Corby, the Board of Trustees, and the citizens of Pittsford for their efforts.” Pagano serves as first vice president of the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM). NYCOM represents more than 575 cities and villages in New York State. Highlights Of The NYCOM Award We Villagers can take pride in the praise showered on our combined achievements—leaders, village staff, and citizen volunteers— in making the canal an asset not only to the Village and its visitors, but a model for other communities throughout the state. Here’s what the NYCOM citations has to say about us: • “Pittsford is a small bustling community of 1500 people with an annual budget of just over one million dollars. Located 7 miles southeast of Rochester, the village is widely known for its charm, historic architecture, and unique specialty shopping. • Schoen Place, a narrow village street. . . bisects the village’s waterfront district.. . . Lined with historic mills, silos, and barns, [it] is a well-preserved example of the warehouse complexes that evolved along the canal during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. • In the early 1990s, despite increasing retail business. . . , the waterfront remained underutilized. An eroding canal bank, unchecked weeds, and vacant buildings made the area look neglected. • In the mid-1990s, the Village Board appointed a volunteer citizens committee to study the waterfront and provide recommendations for its improvement. . . . The Village sought funding and initiated a series of capital projects to improve its waterfront. The first project created a waterfront park including a promenade, pedestrian plaza, pavilion, and fueling dock. • After the first project was completed, crowds replaced scattered towpath users. Since the mid-1990s, the Schoen Place waterfront has remained the village’s most popular place for strolling, biking, and people-watching. . . Following continued on page 3 News from the Village of Pittsford, NY Summer 2005 2005 Budget Between January 1 and March 31, the Village staff and the Trustees worked to develop a Village budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. This packet includes a budget summary and general background information used by the Village Board to make fiscal decisions. Projected Village Revenues for 2005-2006: Monroe County Sales Tax ......................$400,000 Sewer Rents...............................................$87,925 Permits and Fees .........................................$8,500 State Aid and Grants ..............................$223,154 Village Property Taxes ...........................$305,869 Other Revenues.......................................$175,401 Property taxes (representing 29% of the General Fund budget) and sewer rents (representing 67% of the Sewer Fund budget) are the only components of the Villages revenue stream over which the Village Board has discretionary control. In recent years, revenue from sales tax receipts and other revenue sources has remained flat or has declined while health care benefits and insurance premiums have increased. Like most other local governments, the Village has been forced to reduce expenditures and adjust property taxes. The Village Board has attempted to limit expenditures without affecting the quality of services the Village provides. For the 2005-2006 year, your Village taxes comprise approximately 5.9% of your total property tax bill or $2.20 out of a total bill of $37.08 per $1000 of assessed value. The remainder of your local tax bill includes school (61%), county (26%) and town (7%) taxes. Village residents pay 15% less in Town taxes than Town residents outside the Village because the Village provides its own Department of Public Works. † This year, the Village tax rate will be reduced from $2.35/1000 (2004-2005) to $2.20 (2005/2006). Although the tax rate has been reduced, actual tax bills will increase slightly due to the increased property assess- ments instituted last year. The typical village home- owner, with a house assessed at $170,000, will pay $374 in village taxes this year. This represents an increase of $21.50 from a year ago. Because the increases in property assessment were not uniform, the percentage change in actual tax bills will also vary. FROM THE MA YOR Bob Corby Mayor, Village of Pittsford The Village’s general budget funds the following services: • Maintaining village streets, sidewalks, and curbing. • Monitoring, maintaining, and improving storm sewers and natural storm water drainage channels. • Plowing and removing snow from village streets, side- walks, the canal towpath, and the business district. • Providing weekly brush pickup during Spring, Summer, and Fall. • Providing weekly fall leaf pickup. • Street lighting. • Building inspection/code enforcement. • Parking monitoring. • Long-range planning (canal corridor plan, compre- hensive plan, traffic calming plan). • Planting, pruning and removing diseased shade trees along village streets. • Maintaining the Erie Canal Park, village properties and buildings, canal frontage, entrance gateways, and other green spaces in the village. • Municipal planning. • Providing and maintaining flower baskets throughout the Village’s business district. • Installing holiday lighting and wreaths. • Providing support for events such as Candlelight Night, and the Pittsford Crew Regatta. • Maintaining communications with our residents, busi- ness owners, and visitors through newsletters, visitor brochures, and our website(www.villageofpittsford.org). • Providing other municipal services required by our residents and businesses. • Maintaining an up-to-date archiving system for Village documents and historical records. • Seek grant funding assistance that subsidize the cost of capital projects aimed at improving the Village’s qual- ity of life. • Collaborating with the Town of Pittsford, Pittsford Central School District, and other governmental agen- cies to stage community events and accomplish munici- pal projects. • Providing public meeting space at Village Hall. † Village residents pay slightly higher county tax rate because town residents are refunded a portion of Monroe County sales tax revenue as a credit against their county tax bill. The Village and the Town provide different services to their residents. The total tax bill for a $170,000 valued house in the village is 11% higher than for a house of the same value in the town. Some of this difference can be accounted for by the denser infrastructure, extensive sidewalk network, street lighting, and other services that are provided in the village but not in the town. First Place continued from cover resident requests, the Village initiated plowing the towpath during the winter so it can be used year round. . . The canal has also become a prime venue for community events including summer concerts, charity fund-raising, and a high school crew regatta. • The 2004 Erie Canal Waterfront Improvement Project (Phase III) extended the improvements. . . including an overlook pavilion, another small-vessel dock, a small plaza, and decorative lighting. The former highway-style guard rail separating the towpath trail from Schoen Place was replaced with a curbed landscape median containing street trees and roses. . . The project incorporated citizen-donated benches and memorial pavers. • Plans to renovate the three-story historic Pittsford Flour Mill as a bank and offices are near final approval and the phased rehabilitation of the T. J. Zornow Bean Mill has begun. Due to increased demand, the Village has leased the vacant former railroad bed behind the mills to provide overflow parking for the area. . .The Canal Improvement Projects have transformed a neglected area into a source of community pride. • Today, Pittsford’s waterfront is one of the most frequently photographed and heavily used sections of the entire canal system.” C’mon, villagers! Let’s all toss our summer hats in the air in a gesture of civic pride! This year’s budget includes a variety ofcapital and other projects. • Boxing out and repaving Eastview Terrace between Elmbrook Drive and Jefferson Road. • Chip sealing will occur on East and West Jefferson Circle, Lincoln Avenue, all of Rand Place, Schoen Place, Village Grove, and Washington Avenue. • New sidewalk and curbing will be installed at east end of Schoen Place (near Northfield Common). • To comply with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, the Village is completing the second phase of accessibility improvements at Village Hall. Fifty-five percent of the project cost will be covered by a federally funded Community Development Block Grant administered Monroe County. • A pump-out station and recreational dock will be constructed on the north bank of the Erie Canal adjacent to the Village Department of Public Works. The dock will be funded by $35,000 New York State Clean Vessel Program grant. The project will be completed this summer. • The Village has also been awarded a $31,944 grant from New York State to fund the microfilming and indexing of our records archive. • We will begin implementing recommendations from the Village Traffic Calming Plan this summer. Although details of the plan are still being finalized, recommendations we expect to achieve this season include providing “Yield to pedestrians” signs in additional locations; striping street parking to reduce the apparent traffic lane widths; adding crosswalks, installing planters, and refurbishing the median at North Main and Washington Road. • The existing ca. 1975 streetlights and poles between the Village line and the canal bridge on State Street will be replaced with decorative acorn fixtures matching those in the village center. • The Village has requested state funding for the reconstruction effort along Washington Road for sidewalks and curbs. This request will be incorporated into the New York State Department of Transportation design plan for Washington Road. • A fire alarm system will be installed in Village Hall. • A fire suppression system at the Village Department of Public Works fuel tanks. • A water service to allow easier flushing of the docks and walkways on Schoen Place. • Maintenance of Village sanitary sewers is covered by sewer taxes and is treated as a separate budget. (The sewer budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year is $131,425.) The Village sewer system serves the entire village and several areas in the Town of Pittsford including the Woodcreek neighborhood, High Street, Line Street, and the Town Garage. Sewer tax rates will remain unchanged for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Traffic-Calming Study Available At Village Office Changes in driving habits, road design, engine size, and motor vehicle design have significantly increased vehicular speeds within the village. To protect residents’ quality of life, improve pedestrian safety, and maintain the pedestrian-oriented nature of village life, the Village Board hired nationally-acclaimed traffic calming expert Dan Burden and local traffic engineer Steve Ferranti to develop a comprehensive traffic slowing (calming) plan for the village Draft copies of the Traffic Calming Study are available now for public review at Village Hall and at the Pittsford Community Library. The plan reflects input received during meetings between village residents, Village officials, professional consultants, business owners; and representatives of the Pittsford Volunteer Fire Department, Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the Rochester Regional Transit Authority, Pittsford School District, Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance, the New York Department of Transportation, and the Monroe County Planning and Development Department. “In addition to slowing traffic, our goal has been to listen to residents and respond to their concerns. The study’s suggestions will become part of the Village’s Comprehensive Plan after it is adopted by the Village Board,” says Trustee Tom Farlow. A public hearing on the Traffic Calming Study is scheduled for July 12 at Village Hall. The public is encouraged to submit comments or speak at meeting. The Board of Trustees expects to approve the study at the regularly scheduled August meeting. The Traffic-Calming Effort: Where and When? While a few of the Traffic-Calming Study’s suggestions can be implemented immediately (such as road-striping), others may take several years to implement, according to Trustee Tom Farlow. (Tom and Mayor Bob Corby, have served as Village Board liaisons during the project.) “This plan provides a road map of the improvements we would like to make,” says Farlow. “Some of the plan’s concepts may be implemented without further planning. Others will require acquisition of funding, design drawings, and acceptance of the proposed improvements by other government agencies.” Officially adopting the traffic calming plan will provide a comprehensive local policy document for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). NYSDOT will use the plan to ensure future state highway projects incorporate Village speed and pedestrian issues. According to Mayor Bob Corby, “The study is an important communications tool between the Village and other government agencies. Now, when the NYS DOT undertakes improvements and/or maintenance of roadways within the Village, they will have a published record of our concerns, and some of our suggestions may be incorporated into their planning.” Trustee Tim Galli Focuses On Finance Tim Galli was appointed to the Village Board of Trustees in January to fill the seat left vacant by Glenn O. Brown. He was elected March 15 to fill the remainder of Glenn’s term. Tim brings a set of very impressive credentials to the Board of Trustees. The Eastview Terrace resident had recently retired as senior vice-president of ESL Federal Credit Union, where he had worked for 20 years, following a 17-year career at Eastman Kodak Co. In addition to Tim’s banking experience, his financial expertise has made him a valued member of a number of community boards. A member of Merrill Lynch’s Customer Advisory Board, he also serves on the Lifespan Finance Committee and is the consumer representative on the Board of Directors of the Better Contractors Bureau (a not-for-profit consumer protection agency). “I’ve always enjoyed living in Pittsford, but for many years my working days were spent outside the Village,” Tim says. “Now that I’m retired, I’m taking real interest in learning the nuts-and-bolts of Village operations. What’s important to me is continuing the sound financial management, as well as focusing on the needs of residents and businesses. This is a very special place, and I’m proud to be a part of the leadership.” Village Moves To Enforce Parking Regulations An important Village priority is to maximize the benefit of our existing parking facilities. To do this, prime spaces, located closest to the Four Corners, generally are restricted to two hours, while longer term parking is available further away from the business district. The idea is to ensure short term parking is available for potential business customers. Unfortunately, some cars are left for extended periods of time in parking spots where the time limit is clearly stated. We have also received an increasing number of complaints about cars and trucks blocking driveways and sidewalks. To improve the situation, Robert Ploof has been hired to enforce parking regulations as our new parking monitor. You can see him throughout the week making sure that illegal parkers are notified of their error, through warning tickets or parking citations. The parking map below identifies short term and long term parking areas within the village. This map has been distributed to village businesses and is available at the Village Hall. Village Announces Contractor Parking Exemption Permit Contractors will now be able to obtain a Permit which would allow them to temporarily park their vehicles in areas posted as “No Parking Zones” while they are engaged in the home improvement or repair of properties in the village. The permit would also exempt them from “Overtime Parking”. Persons wishing to apply for a permit or get further information may contact the Village Office at 586-4332. Warm Weather Is Here— And So Is This Village Code Reminder By Skip Bailey The following is the annual start-of-warm-weather reminder of Village Code requirements: • Exterior changes to your home that can be viewed from a public street or waterway require a certificate of approval from the Architectural and Preservation Review Board. The Board meets on the first Monday of the month. Applications are available at the Village Office or on our website. Please call before starting your project. • The Village Code contains provisions regulating junk cars, refuse and debris, tall grass, and building maintenance such as painting. You can report any violations to the Village Office at 586-4332. • In January of 2004, the Village Code was amended to prohibit parking of motor vehicles in front yards, unless they are parked in a legally permitted driveway. • Most construction projects require building permits. Contact the Village Office for specific rules for your proposed projects. I will be glad to provide any information that is needed and help you with the approval process. FROM THE DPW SUPERINTENDENT Scott Spencer DPW Superintendent Yard Clean-up Continues— and you can help! Scott Spencer, the Village’s DPW superintendent, reminds residents that our crews follow State and Federal mandated procedures for picking up brush and other yard debris. Please read the following rules carefully: • Place grass, weeds, flower clippings, apples, nuts, and other small debris in biodegradable paper bags or in reusable rubbish containers which, when full, will not exceed 50 pounds. Whenever possible, composting is encouraged, especially for grass clippings. Refuse in plastic bags cannot be picked up because the plastic cannot be composted. • Leaves may be piled loose by the curb during the fall. At all other times, they are to be placed in containers like other debris. • Brush and yard debris pick-up occurs once per week, generally Monday or Tuesday, weather permitting. Branches should not exceed 6 feet in length. • Disposal of brush and debris into any creek is prohibited. • Large trees and other debris gathered by a private contractor are to be taken directly to the Town of Pittsford Highway Garage on Golf Avenue by the contractor. • Items such as water tanks, stoves, furniture, building material, etc. will not be picked up by the Village Department of Public Works. Your private waste hauler can assist you in disposing of these items. A special request: Please don’t park on the grassy border between the street and sidewalk. In addition to spoiling our efforts to “Keep Pittsford Green,” vehicles parked in this fashion hinder the work of the Village DPW crews. Pittsford Taxes: Remember the Dates! Some residents have asked us to clarify billing dates for Pittsford’s property and sewer taxes. Here’s the answer: PROPERTY TAX: Annual bills are mailed June 1, with payment due June 30. SEWER RENT: This is a biennial rent. The first bill is mailed early in January, the second early in July. Your sewer rent bill arrives in the form of a white cardboard postcard with a perforated section that must be returned with your payment. Payments are generally due four weeks after the card is mailed. The exact date is printed on the card. ALERT! If you haven’t received your next sewer bill by mid July, please call the Village office at 586-4332. — From the Building Inspector Visit Our Open-door Committees Your neighbors on the Village’s standing committees work hard to keep our community attractive and smooth-running. Their meetings are always open to the public. Your attendance and participation is always welcome. The Architectural Preservation Review Board (APRB) meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Village Office on the first Monday of every month. The Pittsford Zoning Board (PZB) meets on the fourth Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Village Office. Board applications are available at the Village Hall and on our website at www.villageofpittsford.org. Please keep in mind that most projects require a building permit. Contact the building inspector for details. Calling All Bikers! “User-friendly!” That’s our goal for Pittsford Village— and we’re targeting both residents and the thousands of visitors attracted by the canal path and Village shops. Now two new bike racks—one near Hicks & McCarthy’s restaurant on South Main Street, another by the new pavilion on Schoen Place— have been installed for the security and convenience of our many visiting cyclists. Another chance to honor a friend: If you’re a cyclist (or a parent of a cyclist), why not consider donating a bike rack in honor of a friend or a child? With the cycling season in full swing, we’re going to need more places where riders can secure their bikes. Help us accommodate the many residents and visitors already rolling in to take advantage of the good weather. A bike rack with a commemorative plaque may be purchased for $200. For more information, please call the Village Office at 586-4332. For your convenience, a new mailbox has been installed at the side entrance to the Village Hall. Please use it to drop off correspondence and/or bills directed to the Village. Congratulations, Champs! The Village of Pittsford and the Town of Pittsford vs the Village of Fairport and the Town of Perinton, participated in a “Bowling for Dollars” tournament held at Clover Lanes to benefit the United Way in April. The Village of Pittsford team was made up of Mayor Bob Corby, Deputy Mayor Steve Maddox, Trustee Tom Farlow, DPW crew members: Scott Spencer, Peter Calabrese, Andy Caschetta, and Rob Harter, and two “assistants”, Don Spencer and Mike Marowski. The victorious Pittsford teams took home the winning trophies! We’re proud of the generosity of the participants and of the additional funds generated for United Way. Benches And Bricks: Memorial Treasures Most residents are aware of memorial benches that now grace village the sidewalks and the memorial bricks that line the Schoen Place canal path. Please consider joining those donors who have honored friends and family with examples of these very attractive and long-lasting remembrances. A bench can be purchased for $850. Memorial bricks are available at $100 each; five for $400. For more information, please contact the Village Office, 586-4332. Pittsford Scrapbook Courtesy of Paul Spiegel Vogt’s Steam Mill Save these dates! July 8........... Concert in the Park ................ 7:00 p.m. July 22.......... Concert in the Park/Duck Drop...... 7:00 p.m. July 29.......... Concert in the Park ................ 7:00 p.m. TBA ............Buffalo Bills Pep Rally August 5......... Concert in the Park ................ 6:45 p.m. August 12........ Concert in the Park ................ 6:45 p.m. Sept. 17 ......... Pittsford Celebrates! Oct. 29.......... Scarecrow Scramble! Oct. 30.......... Family Halloween Night Dec. 6........... Candlelight Night.................. 6:00 p.m. Pittsford Village Office Staff (586-4332) Anne Hartsig, Village Clerk Mary Marowski, Village Treasurer Edward (“Skip”) Bailey, Building Inspector Linda Habeeb, PZ/APRB Secretary Robert Ploof, Parking Monitor www.villageofpittsford.org 21 North Main Street Pittsford, NY 14534 Village Trustees Robert C. Corby, Mayor Steven D. Maddox, Deputy Mayor Tom Farlow, Trustee Tim Galli, Trustee Paula Sherwood, Trustee DPW Superintendent & Crew (586-9320) Scott Spencer, Superintendent of Public Works Jason Bliss, Crew Peter Calabrese, Crew Andrew Caschetta, Crew Steve Green, Crew Rob Harter, Crew