From The Desk of the Mayor February 2013

We are now entering the home stretch of winter. I dont know about you but the spells of bitter biting cold that have been visiting us lately are really making me look forward to spring this year more than ever. Soon the sap will be flowing, Maple Weekend will be upon us, which is a great new tradition started in the Village by Fleischmanns First, and winter will again be but a memory. For now though, lets keep the winter weather coming so that our local businesses can make a buck from the skiers! There are a few topics I can update you all on although not a whole lot is transpiring at the moment. FEMA Appeals As I previously wrote, the Village is pursuing an appeal of the FEMA work scopes for the reconstruction of the park, retaining wall structure in the park, as well as the repair of the embankment below a section of Lake Street that was eroded. These three are what FEMA refers to as our Large projects because they each were estimated initially at over $63,000. With large projects however, FEMA does not hold us to dollar amounts, rather they define the scope of work in their worksheet and then we put that scope out to bid. So what we are appealing is the scopes of work for these three projects. The park wall and Lake Street changes are not very major and we dont anticipate much of an issue. Basically the wall in the park will be of a different design which creates a wider channel area so when the water does rise, more water can be accommodated around the park instead of through it. There will also be a broad access area down close to the water for people to enjoy as opposed to the steep drop off that was there. The major push is for the park reconstruction worksheet to include a more comprehensive replacement approach rather than the patchwork strategy initially proposed. We have even gotten our elected State officials involved. I invited Assemblymen Pete Lopez down to look at the trouble areas that remain from the flood and asked for his assistance in winning our appeal. Assemblyman Lopez took great interest in our struggles here and really empathizes with us because of similar dealings in his home town in Schoharie County that was devastated as well. Since 100% of the work will be paid for by the Federal and State governments, it is important to the Village economically to get as much accomplished with our FEMA project worksheet as possible. Winter Decorations Most everyone has noticed that we no longer have wreathes up on the telephone poles lining Main Street anymore in the winter months. The wreathes were destroyed in the flood while in storage along with so much else. Recently a push has been

made to purchase some LED lighted snowflake decorations for Main Street through the combined effort of community volunteer Lynne Collins and the MARK Project with a combination of grant funds and donations. The Village will go ahead and purchase the decorations and will get reimbursed for the cost of doing such. Even though they will not be here in time for this winter season, buying them now will get us a much discounted price and they will be ready for next year. Thanks to Lynne and Peg for making this happen. Village Election Next month on Tuesday March 19th the Village will be holding its election. Usually there are two 2-year term Trustee seats on the ballot each year and the 2-year term Mayors seat is up every other year. Not only do we have all three of these positions to vote for this year, but there is an additional 1-year Trustee position to fill because of the early vacancy last year. As a result, 4 of the 5 Village elected positions will be voted on come election day. As far as the ballot goes, the people currently holding these seats are all running for them unopposed. These would be Ben Fenton and Kathleen Rostad; 2-year Trustee, David Yates; 1-year Trustee, and Todd Pascarella; Mayor. It is important that everyone who can do so come out and exercise your essential democratic right to vote. If you live in the Village and are not yet registered to vote, you have one very last chance to do so before the election. Saturday March 9th between 12 and 5 pm you can come to the library and sign up. Sewage Money Some good News! The Village of Fleischmanns has graciously accepted sewage trucked over from the Town of Andes while their sewer plant was under reconstruction for the past 6 months or so. The Village received a total of approximately $41,000 for providing this service and the revenue was split 50/50 between the sewer fund and the Villages general fund. It is great to see government disposing of waste instead of creating it! God Bless and keep well! Todd Pascarella, Mayor

P.S. Many of you have switched away from receiving paper copies of this newsletter in favor of email ones and I thank you. However, if you still receive this newsletter by mail and are able to have it emailed please contact us and let us know. It would be great to be able to reduce the cost of mailing this year even more. Thank you. Village Office 1017 Main Street (PO Box 339) Fleischmanns, NY 12430 phone 845-254-5514 email: village39@catskill.net website: www.fleischmannsny.com