Public Hearing – December 5, 2018
A joint public hearing of the Town Board and the Homer Town Fire District held on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, in the Town Hall Senior Center was called to order by Supervisor Frederick J. Forbes, Sr., at 6:15 p.m.
PRESENT
Frederick J. Forbes, Sr., Supervisor
Larry R. Jones, Councilman
Michael R. Park, Councilman
Barry E. Warren, Councilman
Kevin M. Williams, Councilman
Patrick M. Snyder, Attorney for the Town
Anita W. Jebbett, Town Clerk
OTHERS PRESENT
Mahlon Irish, Jr., Fire Chief, Village of Homer Fire Department
Stephen Butts, Secretary, Homer Town Fire District
Donald Ferris, reporter, The Homer News
Nick Graziano, reporter, Cortland Standard
Supervisor Forbes said that the purpose of the hearing was to allow the public to comment on the proposed one-year contract between the Village of Homer and the Town Fire District (see attached legal notice). Forbes explained that the Town Board had approved the amount of taxes to be raised for the Fire District contingent upon an agreement being signed by the Fire District and the Village, allowing a 2% increase from last year, from $88,314 to $90,080.
Fire Chief Irish and Treasurer Butts agreed that the contract needs to be agreed upon well before the Town’s November budget deadline. They plan to encourage the Village to begin work on the 2020 contract earlier in the year.
There was also some discussion about the new State requirement for cancer insurance coverage for volunteer firefighters, and about the possibility of creating a joint fire district separate from the Village.
As there were no further questions or comments, the public hearing was adjourned at 6:28 p.m.
Anita W. Jebbett
Town Clerk