Belated Reactions from Sardinia Republican Committee Pancake Breakfast

I'm 2 days late in posting my thoughts about the Sardinia Republican Committee breakfast this weekend - I just thought it was a great time. The pancakes were delicious, the company was pleasant, and I even won a raffle basket (sadly, not my first choice, which was the basket with chocolate). 

I hope that future events like this have similarly sunny weather! 

Pancake Breakfast - One Month from Today!

The Kiwanis / Fire Co. Annual Pancake breakfast with real maple syrup will take place on Sunday, March 22 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Sardinia Fire Co. Training Hall on West Schutt Road, Sardinia. All proceeds benefit the Chaffee-Sardinia Fire company.

Would you like to volunteer to help (busing tables etc.)? Contact any Kiwanian or respond through our website - www.cskiwanis.org.

(I like my pancakes with cinnamon and syrup - no butter!)

HEAP Outreach - Home Energy Assistance Program

An Outreach for HEAP is scheduled on Thursday, February 26, 2009, for the Sardinia Community Center, 12320 Savage Road, Sardinia, NY.

We interview all prospective clientele at Outreach regardless of age or disability.We conduct interviews from 9-4, but a staff member will be on site as early as 8 am to sign in applicants and set up for the day.

Applicants should come prepared with the following:

1 form of ID for all household members (birth cert, license, SS card)
Proof of income received within last 30 days for all household members (paystubs, SS or pension award letters, proof of child support, rental income, unemployment benefits, worker's comp, etc.)
Current heat and /or electric bills
Current shut off notice, or statement of low fuel supply, if applicable
Proof of all household resources including: current checking and savings account bank statements, proof of other resources (stocks, bonds, IRAs, 401K, etc.)
If applicant is missing information we may allow them to mail the information to us in order to complete the application process.

Applications are available at the Town Clerk's office and will be at the registration desks for the Special Election for the Firemen's Service Retirement Award on Tuesday, February 24.Any questions, please contact Council Member Mary Hannon at 716-864-9472.

Reminder: Sardinia Republican Committee Pancake Breakfast This Weekend!

What: Pancakes, and lots of 'em. Plus sausage, juice, and coffee/tea, and sledding, basket raffles, and a bake sale

Who: the Sardinia Republican Committee

When: Sunday, February 22 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: Sprague Brook Park Casino, Foote Road, East Concord

The Committee is also looking for interested individuals to join the team and run for office in the 2009 election. Meet the committee at the breakfast!

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Springville Relay for Life Kickoff Event on February 26

Springville's Relay for Life Committee is planning a Kick Off/Awards Night on February 26, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church on Main Street in the 'Ville. This event will gear volunteers and participants up for the main event, the Relay for Life, to be held June 19-20 at the Springville-Griffith Institute High School.

Join the Relay for Life Facebook Group!

Be there.

Family Swimming with SYI

Family Swim will start on Tuesday, February 24th from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.. 

Come and get out of the cold and swim for only $1.00. Come soon because the last Family Swim is on March 17th.

Mr. Heineman's Answers

I didn't make it to the informational session this evening, but I listened to part of it online.

Here are Mr. Heineman's answers to my questions from earlier this week; his answers in red.

I will reserve my comments until tomorrow when I'm more well-rested. I decided not to comment on what I heard, since I wasn't there in person and wasn't able to hear all the audio. If you were there, please comment here.

I hope that these questions are answered in time for the informational

> session on Thursday, though if it takes longer to confirm some of the

> answers, I understand.

>

> - Is the Fire Company willing to have a portion of their financial

> reserves applied to this program?  (no response given)

> - Is there a public record or audit of the Fire Company's finances?

> Has one been done? yes

> - Does the Town or the Fire Company have projections for membership  

> over the next 10-20 years? no

> - Are service award payments considered taxable income? yes

> - What payments can current and former town board members (or their

> families) expect to receive? what do you mean?

> - Once in place, what has to happen in order for the program to end?

> - Does the fire department have trouble recruiting members? What steps YES, A LOT OF HOURS HAVE TO BE SPENT AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP THERE PERSONAL TIME, SOME VOLUNTEERS CAN SPEND UP TO AND ABOVE 600 HRS. A YEAR

> have been taken in the past 1-2 years to bring new members into the

> department? we set up booth at carnival,add in our book we hand out,labor day event, word of mouth  

> - How much money has the department spent on advertising in the

> Sardinia Standard, Springville Journal and Arcade Herald, and in  don't know exact amount but it was min. this was our foreign fire tax money we used.

> letters to individual residents, to promote this program?

> - What are the average response times for calls throughout the town? depending on time of day, weather, week day or week end 

>

> I have to say quite honestly that I'm very disappointed that the Town

> Board chose to go with a more expensive program. The Chaffee Sardinia  there are more expensive plans available than this one 

 Fire Volunteers provide an essential and vital service to our town and

> should be duly recognized, but I don't think this is the way to go  if you look at fire co. web site you will see companies that use this type of program

The New Sardinia (official) web site

Hooray!

It's finally here!

Town of Sardinia at the Erie County Web Site

Once they add in news and information (and, dare I dream? a link to this web site?), and fix the glaring and embarrassing typo of "SARDINA" in the top left corner, I think it'll serve as a great resource for the town.

[Edited to add: I emailed the Erie.gov webmaster and told her about the typo - it's fixed! As for the missing content, it all has to come from the Town itself, so - NOTE TO THE TOWN: get that information updated, posthaste!]

My Emailed Questions to the Fire Department

I'll post any answers as I get them.

###

I hope that these questions are answered in time for the informational session on Thursday, though if it takes longer to confirm some of the answers, I understand. - Is the Fire Company willing to have a portion of their financial reserves applied to this program? - Is there a public record or audit of the Fire Company's finances? Has one been done? - Does the Town or the Fire Company have projections for membership over the next 10-20 years? - Are service award payments considered taxable income? - What payments can current and former town board members (or their families) expect to receive? - Once in place, what has to happen in order for the program to end? - Does the fire department have trouble recruiting members? What steps have been taken in the past 1-2 years to bring new members into the department? - How much money has the department spent on advertising in the Sardinia Standard, Springville Journal and Arcade Herald, and in letters to individual residents, to promote this program? - What are the average response times for calls throughout the town? I have to say quite honestly that I'm very disappointed that the Town Board chose to go with a more expensive program. The Chaffee Sardinia Fire Volunteers provide an essential and vital service to our town and should be duly recognized, but I don't think this is the way to go about it. Best, Kara Kane

More Pancakes: The Sardinia Republican Committee

What: Pancakes, and lots of 'em. Plus sausage, juice, and coffee/tea, and sledding, basket raffles, and a bake sale

Who: the Sardinia Republican Committee

When: Sunday, February 22 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: Sprague Brook Park Casino, Foote Road, East Concord

The Committee is also looking for interested individuals to join the team and run for office in the 2009 election. Meet the committee at the breakfast!

Fire Service Award Comments + Community Meeting Results

Some interesting sentiments in the Fire Service Award Poll comments. I agree with a lot of them. With a $3.2 million surplus, the Town is ably prepared to weather the financial poo-storm that continues to gather strength on a global level. The results of the community meeting in November, where dozens of good ideas were tossed around, were never publicized or given to the Board to my knowledge.

I will post the report here. Denise Scheiner emailed it to me as a powerpoint, which is not a web-friendly form of posting information, so I've copied and pasted the text. Many of these ideas have just as much, if not more, merit than the Fire Service Award program, and I wonder why in the name of grilled cheese this document has not been publicized or discussed? Discuss it here. (any typos are mine)

Town of Sardinia

Citizens Committee Report

Short & Long list of suggestions for use

of excess funds

Meeting 11/6/08, 25 people present

Categories

• Future

• For the good of the whole town

• Town buildings

• Seniors

• Wild ideas

• Residential

• Youth & Families

• Town Parks

• Various & Sundry Ideas

Short List/Priority

• Taxes, Fire and School

• Water for Chaffee

• Water for the Rt 16 & Rt 39 business corridor

• Town owned van service

• Web site – filled with pertinent info about the town, events, documents, also to promote the town

• Study, Plan & Act

Long Lists

Future

• 5/10/20/30 year financial plan

• Green energy for all new construction

• Solid long-term fiscal plan

• Invest

• Comprehensive plan

• Replace community center

• Look over old ideas

For the good of the town

• Pay fire taxes for residents

• Pay school taxes for residents

• Comprehensive on-going water and air testing program

• Sponsor health insurance plan for residents, under $100 per person per month

• Free Wi-Fi access

• Positive promotion of our town

• Town web site

• More open to working in partnership with corporations

• Town wide cable access

• Engineering study for water

• Large well in each of the town parks to supply the hamlets

• Disaster Facility

• Encourage new businesses

• Survey public on more ideas within the town

Town Buildings

• Replace community center with an energy efficient building

• Supply a new multicenter purpose state of the art meeting area

• Working elevator for handicapped access

• Sell the Old Town Hall for $1 to the Historical Society and subsidize with an annual stipend

• Spruce up highway building, landscaping

Seniors

• Exercise room

• Bingo

• Senior housing/apt.

• Donate 1 or 2 new vans for Rural Transit and expand on hours and distance

• Senior assistance center/help line

Wild Ideas

• Sport center on the main road

• Small business and residential loans

• Indoor heated pool

• Community banquet facility

• Partnership with Chaffee water works

Residential

• Sidewalks

•Sponsor education on reducing energy needs, recycling etc.

Youth & Families

• Separate the sports fields from the town parks

• Offer entertainment i.e. movies, bowling

• Affordable housing

• Area for skateboarding and ice skating

Town Parks

• Sponsor a study for better use of park

• Path from Chaffee to Veterans Park space

• Trails

• Cabin/Building for use or rent year-round

• Road or path connecting Meyers Rd to the Veterans Park

Various & Sundry Ideas

• Water

• Investigating use or purchase of Erie County  buildings in our town (Warner Gulf & Genesee)

• Education Center/programs

• Tapping back into the Erie County Library system

• New Post Office for Chaffee

• Fire Hall on west end of town

• Scholarships for volunteer fire fighters

• Scholarships for town residents to complete education and remain in town

Site Stats, January 2009

For the start o' the year . . .

315 visits and 113 unique visitors. A little dip from last month.

The average time a person spent on the site was just under 3 minutes.

The site had 675 page views. Another dip, but whatever. This site is fun to write!

The most popular posts were the Fire Service Award post, the Fire Service Award Poll, and the ZBA Planning Board post.

Call for Events to Add to the Sardinia Event Calendar

Please submit any events in the Town to me by email to add to the Sardinia Event Calendar - it's available in the sidebar of this site, and at its own web page.

I'll add any event that's sent to me by email - please include the who, what, where, when, and a little bit of how and why.