Electric Rates to Rise

At last night’s Village Board meeting, village officials told Holley electric customers to brace  themselves for “sticker shock” as big increases will be seen in upcoming electric  bills starting in March. Apparently, Holley’s municipal electric department.buys its power from three sources (New York Municipal Power  Agency, National Grid, and the New York Power Authority). All three are passing along huge increases onto what the village has been paying. As a result, the village will  have to charge more to its customers. For more information, check out the full article on Orleans Hub.

Village website updated

The Village of Holley recently updated their website with a crisper, cleaner “new look”.  The site boasts more pages, easy-to-access forms, area maps, as well as links to useful services and agencies with contact information. In addition, it provides links to Village Code & Policies so you can keep abreast of the latest code changes; Board Meeting Minutes to stay informed of decisions impacting area residents; and a list of Board Members with contact information so you can follow up with them in the event you have questions, issues, or concerns. Other features still in need of content are the news and events pages, the  local business section, and the village calendar, which Village Clerk Jane Murray states on the site will be updated constantly. So feel free to e-mail her at jmurray@villageofholley.org with your local news and events.

You say you care…

In my last post, I cited a study that indicated low income residents care for their community more than their high income counterparts. This post takes it one step further, challenging you to take a tour of Holley to find out just how observant you are about your own backyard. While there is no pass-fail grading, it is hoped that the tour gets you to think about what we do well here in Holley; what we can do to make Holley an even better place to live; and most of all… what you can do to make a real difference. After all… it is YOUR community, YOUR home we are talking about. So let’s get started.

Let’s first take a walk around Holley’s Public Square area. What do you see, feel, and hear when you are there? Do you see vacant, blighted properties, or hear a vibrant business district? Do you feel a sense of pride with the types of businesses that are coming into the area, or are you embarrassed by the pawn shops, new storage facilities, and rows of closed up shops and abandoned buildings? Then ask yourself…

• What are some of the challenges that small business owners face within the community?
• What is the turnover rate and vacancy rate of area businesses?
• What are some of the challenges that the community face when attracting industry to the Holley Business Park?
• How are existing businesses being encouraged?
• What opportunities exist to better connect the Erie Canal with the center of the village?
• How could the business environment within the Village of Holley be improved?

Now let’s continue our walk into the village neighborhoods. What do you see, feel, and hear? Do you hear children playing in the neighborhood? Do you see homes that are run down and in disrepair, or are you excited to see our neighborhoods thriving with charming, well-maintained historic homes that demonstrate pride in ownership? Do you feel safe raising your children and grandchildren in our neighborhoods? Or are you waiting for the day when you have saved up enough money to move out of here? Then ask yourself…

• What are the historic preservation goals of the community?
• What obstacles are there to historic preservation?
• Would the community support regulations associated with historic buildings and sites?
• What is the occupancy rate of downtown apartments?
• What are the main obstacles to occupancy?
• What impact has the prior trend of converting single-family homes had on neighborhoods?
• Are there opportunities for new housing development within the village?
• Where is new development appropriate?
• Are there adequate housing options for senior residents in the village? If not, what improvements could be made?

OK… now that we’ve walked a bit, let’s continue our tour with a bike ride or a drive around town. What do you see, feel, and hear as you do? Is your ride a comfortable one or is it full of bumps? Then ask yourself…

• What are some specific issues with roadways and sidewalks?
• What are the main obstacles to updating existing infrastructure?
• What is the capacity of the existing infrastructure?
• What are the village’s needs?
• What steps need to be taken to address the outdated water and sewer systems?
• What facilities or services are available in the village for senior residents?
• What additional facilities or services are needed?

Now that you had a chance to think about your own experiences, let’s invite even more people on our tour…your family and friends who are nearest and dearest to you. What do they see, feel, and hear as they tour Holley? Do they see that there is plenty of things for them to do to keep them here, or do they leave disappointed, viewing Holley a quick stop on their way to someplace else? Then ask yourself…

• What assets do we have within our community to entertain them?
• What barriers do we have in enhancing tourism and marketing of our Erie Canal area?
• What image do you wish to portray of the area?
• Who do we want to reach?
• What is currently being done to capitalize on the Village of Holley’s natural features, including its Canal Park, waterfall, as well as biking and hiking trails?
• What opportunities exist for attracting canal users?
• What opportunities are there for developing additional programming at targeted locations (i.e. Holley Falls, recreational areas)?
• What opportunities exist for attracting visitors to the area?
• What activities/programs are in place for our seniors and youth?
• What opportunities exist for additional programming targeted at these populations?

Our tour is now done. You’ve had a chance to think about all that you have seen, felt, and heard. Now ask yourself, “Do I REALLY care about Holley?” Enough that is to step up to the plate and get involved? You did the hard part already… taking a tour of Holley, absorbing all the sights, sounds, and feelings that are all around you… not just for the moment, but every day. The only difference now is that you are aware of them! The next steps require you to show that you REALLY care by getting involved. While painless, it does require you to get out of your easy chair. It involves attending village meetings on a regular basis to learn all the issues. More importantly, it tells our village officials that they REALLY are accountable to you and that as a taxpayer you expect them to serve you. So when are these meetings?

• Planning Board meetings are held the first Tuesday on the month at 7 pm at the Village Offices at 72 Public Square.
• Village Board meetings are held the second Tuesday on the month at 7 pm at the Village Offices at 72 Public Square.

Finally…. there’s always room for improvement. So if you are not happy with what you see, hear, and feel around town, contact one of your local representatives; let them know that you REALLY do care; then proceed to tell them what it is you want to see, hear, and feel on your next tour of Holley. Your public servants are:

Village Offices (585) 638-6367   Board of Trustees   John W. Kenney Jr.   David Dill   Donald Penna   Brian J. Sorochty   Stanley “Skip” C Carpenter Planning Board   Ted Broekhuizen   Monica Seeler   Dan Seeler   Brenden Bedard   William Quaranto  Zoning  Board   Sandra Heise   Mark Bower   Jeffrey Pearson   John Heise

Yes, Holley… you now have a choice

UPDATE:
A big thanks to all who came out to vote yesterday. You had a choice this year with your voice heard loud and clear. The results? Village residents gave strong support to Trustee Brian Sorochty and former Mayor Skip Carpenter, with both being elected to two-year terms on the Village Board.  Sorochty led four candidates with 129 votes, followed by 116 for Carpenter, former trustees Bill Quaranto, 33 votes, and Nancy Penna, 31.
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As you may recall from a previous post, vacant Village office seats are often decided before people are elected to them. With local candidates historically having the luxury of running unopposed, this leaves area residents at a huge disadvantage in having their interests and needs largely unmet. Fortunately, Holley… your voice has been heard loud and clear as this is not the case this year. In fact, with two trustee positions vacated on the Village Board, you have a choice of 4 candidates to fill those two positions:

• Stanley “Skip” Carpenter who is running as an Independent Party candidate
• Nancy Penna who is running as a People’s Party candidate
• William Quaranto who is running as a Family Party candidate
• Brian Sorochty who is running as a Taxpayer candidate

Now be the change you want to see and get out to vote for your candidates. Polls are open at the Village Clerk’s Office at 72 Public Square from noon until 9:00 pm on Tuesday June 18th. And remember… your vote does count as not too long ago, a Village Trustee won his seat by one vote!

Elections are just around the corner…

Did you know that vacant Village office seats are often decided before people are elected to them? That’s right. In recent years, your local candidates have had the luxury of running unopposed, leaving area residents such as yourself at a huge disadvantage in having your interests and needs largely unmet. With local positions running in two year cycles, it is typical for the same people to run for mayor and for the four village trustee seats when the June election rolls around. Since each office runs unopposed, there is no incentive to have a “To Do List”, or to instill real change. And that’s fine if you’re happy with things as they are… but if you’re tired of hearing the same old thing; if you really want to see and hear new ideas or approaches in handling the problems that face our community;and if you really want to see the actions outlined in Comprehensive Master Plan come to fruition, then status quo is just not good enough.

Granted… it is easy to be complacent or cynical about politics and the countless surveys you receive, but the reality is that you can’t hold politicians totally responsible, or express surprise by the election outcome if you don’t get involved, or show up and cast your vote at the polls. Starting now, pay attention to how well our elected officials perform for your benefit. Make it a point to learn the issues and share your thoughts about what really matters to you and your community — whether positively or negatively. Engage with your elected officials, not because you have to, but because you truly care about your neighbors and your community. Most of all… don’t discount your fundamental right and obligation to impact your local government because the decisions made here in Holley have the greatest impact on your daily life.

So wake up Holley.Put complacence to rest. Make your elected officials accountable. Revitalize the community with your ideas, your voting power, and your involvement in local government. There are two trustee positions subject to our vote in the upcoming June election. If you’re interested in holding either of these positions, independent Nominating Petitions may be obtained at the Village of Holley Clerk’s Office, located at 72 Public Square, typically during the month of March. To qualify, you must be at least 18 years old; a resident of the Village of Holley for 30 days or more preceding the election; and a citizen of the United States. A minimum of 50 registered voters from the village must sign the Nominating Petition to qualify. Be sure to check with the Village Clerk, Jane Murray (clerk@villageofholley.org) for necessary dates and deadlines in accordance with established Election Law. Finally… be the change you want to see.

Revitalization Survey

As you may have heard, the Village of Holley is embarking on an area-wide revitalization plan with funding provided thanks to the New York State Department of State. Building on the village’s Comprehensive Master Plan, this revitalization plan will define a vision for future revitalization efforts. More importantly, it will help position the plan such that the described vision becomes a reality.

One way you can help is by clicking here to take a short, four question survey. As a preview, one question asks you what types of businesses you would like to see in the Public Square area. Some of the recommendations I offered up were:

• A hardware store / bike shop repair to support those using our bike trails. Map holders within the Public Square area where people to pick up maps of Holley and Orleans County would be nice too.
• A more upscale restaurant as a means of staying in the area on a weekend night.
• A home accessories and gift shop, perhaps one with a year round Christmas theme to capitalize on Holley’s festive name.
• A home-based business storefront where local small business owners can rent out office space, fax, copiers, and conference rooms on an hourly basis as an alternative to out right purchase.

What ideas do you have for revitalizing Holley? Don’t keep your ideas to yourself; share them. Take the Revitalization Survey today.

Are you ready for the next storm?

Life is said to be a great, and often painful teacher. It has a way of teaching us what we need to know even when we may not want to know whatever it is determined to teach us. Case in point… Hurricane Sandy… thankfully, Holley escaped much of its wrath, with only soaking rains and high winds to show for it. There is, however, no escaping the deluge of images and videos in the media of the devastation it can cause. Further, with all the devastation down in NYC, NJ, and CT, it doesn’t take very long to realize that such devastation can and does hit pretty close to home. So while we may have escaped the mess this time around, we may not be so lucky the next time. It therefore prompts the question…”Just how prepared are we for such a disaster?” While we may not want to know, we in fact need to know about emergency preparedness to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from harm’s way.

What actually prompted me to write this post is in preparing for Sandy. As my family and I gathered food, water, candles, etc.in anticipation of Sandy’s arrival, it dawned on me… where would we go for shelter in the immediate area if we needed to evacuate as those living by the lake had to do? Being relatively new to the area (less than 5 years), I decided to go online to check out what area resources within Orleans County had to say about emergency preparedness; more specifically, what to do before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy. Here is a rundown of who I checked and what I learned…. and it isn’t what I expected…

• Village of Holley (http://villageofholley.org/content) – with no webmaster, information on the village site is sporadic. So it came as no surprise that emergency procedures were lacking. What I did find interesting though is that they did have time to post new information about the upcoming Jolly Holley Festival. So it would appear someone is manning the site even if occasionally…
• Town of Murray  (http://www.townofmurray.org/index.htm) – while the village did not have information, I was hoping to find an emergency preparedness plan or a set of updated procedures on what to do before, during, or after this storm, or any storm for that matter. Unfortunately, I was out of luck and am not sure how helpful the site really is as in  a brief diversion, even the link to the 2012 Assessment Data took me to an unexpected … and irrelevant place…
• Holley Central School District (http://www.holleycsd.org/) – ok… having living in another village prior to my move to Holley, the local school served as an emergency shelter for area residents. So I was hoping it to be true here.Unfortunately, there is no mention of that on their site so I cannot assume that this is the case here. The district was kind enough though to post the November issue of “Dimensions” as well as an article about the upcoming holiday sale.
• Holley Fire Department (http://www.holleyfire.com/) – no storm-related information here either. They did, however, remind us to change our smoke alarm batteries this weekend when we change our clocks back one hour. Thanks for the reminder. It will be helpful after the storm.
• Holley Police Department (http://www.holleypolice.com/) – we’re out of luck here too as it looks like this site has not being maintained in quite awhile. It still has 2009 stats. So definitely no recent storm information here.
• Orleans County Sheriff Department (http://www.orleansny.com/Departments/PublicSafety/Sheriff/Communications.aspx) – ahh at last some real emergency communication information! Oh… then again… it only tells me how 911 works and what calls are considered inappropriate. Ok then… onto the Red Cross.
• Red Cross of Orleans County (http://orleans.redcross.org/) – while there is no mention of what to do before, during, or after Sandy’s arrival, it does ask us to volunteer by joining their Disaster Team. Trouble is… there is no information or link to tell us how to do that. We can, however, help the Orleans County Chapter of the American Red Cross win $5,000 by purchasing a collectible Beanie Baby Bear on-line!
• Orleans County (http://www.orleansny.com/Home.aspx) – again…no emergency preparedness plan or instructions on what to do before, during, or after the storm. Mind you..this is the county level. It does tell us though that Orleans County is “nestled on the southern shore of Lake Ontario” and “enjoys the peaceful rural life with the advantages of urban centers nearby.”  So maybe I have it all wrong… could it be that storms always bypass Orleans County? Perhaps that is why there is no need for evacuation, emergency shelter, or emergency preparedness instructions for its 42,000+ residents!

Seriously….if my recent experience is any indication of what emergency information is available, then I am genuinely concerned … not only for my family, but for the county’s 42,000 residents when, not if, a true emergency arises. It should leaving every resident asking…

• Does the county, town, and village governments have an emergency plan? If so, why don’t they share it?
• Do our emergency services, including fire, police, and Red Cross have procedures in place for instructing area residents on what to do in the event of an emergency? If so, why don’t they share it?
• Finally… is our local school district equipped to serve as an emergency shelter for area residents? If so, why don’t they share it?

If the answer to one or more of the these questions is no, then let’s work together in developing a county-wide emergency plan with local emergency procedures. Then hold public forums on a regular basis with area residents so all are prepared to respond appropriately to an emergency.

Find out how your tax dollars are spent

Want to know how your tax dollars are being spent? Here’s your chance. A Board of Trustee meeting for the Village of Holley is scheduled for Monday, April 30, 2012 at 7:00 pm (that’s tomorrow folks!). The purpose of this meeting is adopt the village budget for fiscal year 2013. The meeting will occur at the Village Clerk’s Office located at 72 Public Square, Holley, NY 14470. This is a public meeting; not a closed one. All residents are strongly encouraged to attend. 

“Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me. ”
― Fred Rogers