By Brian D. Manktelow
Town of Lyons
It’s hard to believe but it’s almost May and today the sun is out and it’s a beautiful spring day. My supervisor’s report is long over do, and I’m not real happy with myself for not doing one in so long.
I know this weekend is opening day for our little league and softball teams in our community. I hope to see some of you down there and good luck to all the ball players, their coaches and to the families that that spend a lot of hours at the ball field. Its great to have so much support for these kids and speaking of support you can stop by to the concession stand and get a hamburger or hotdog and all the proceeds goes back to the program.
This past week at the Newark-Wayne Hospital the new Emergency Room opened on Wednesday morning and it is a state of the art facility and should serve our county well for many years to come. The entrance is now on the north side of the building with the public doors facing the east. If you have any questions on the location please give me a call at the Town Hall. Also this past week the new bridge on Rt. 31 opened on the west side of the village and it looks like a job well done. I would like to thank everyone for being patient on our side roads because the traffic was very heavy at certain times of the day. I would also like to thank our law enforcement agencies for keeping the speeds under control and keeping the traffic flow at a safe level.
I also received word from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that they had received funding to continue the fight on the Giant Hogweed that is along Warncke Road and some other minor spots here in Lyons. If you know of any other “hot” spots please let me know. Last Friday afternoon I spent a few hours with our Wayne County Economic Development and Planning Director Bob McNary , I took him through Lyons and showed him our community and what we have to offer as far as bringing industry in at our industrial sights as well as some of our vacant buildings and store fronts. He will be looking for funding as well as interested parties that want to build and develop new businesses and also look for some funding to take down some of our vacant building that are just falling down and the owners that have just left them. We have a lot of positives to locate some new businesses here in Lyons. We have one of the best industrial parks inWayne County and we will be looking hard to find someone to come in. We will also be visiting our businesses that are already here to find ways to help them grow. I feel really good about our community and the possibilities that we offer. The other two big topics have been the dissolution and where we are at, and the surplus of money that the County has. First of all I would like to commend the dissolution committee for the work being done and the time commitment. I’m impressed so far because we are looking at all the options and asking the tough questions. The hardest part so far is discussing the different options and not trying to sound biased one way or the other. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know, this is our community and we need to base our decisions on what the people want.
The second big issue as been the County surplus of money and why should there be so much. There are pros and cons of having too much or not having enough to help keep the tax rate from having big swings. At our budget meetings I have always believed we should not have more that what is truly necessary to operate the year on with just a little in reserve for emergencies and capital projects. This is not the County’s money but the taxpayers of Wayne County and the direction I take at the county level is the direction of what the people of Lyons want as well as the rest of the tax payers in the County. I’ve heard from our residents here in Lyons and the message is, and one I strongly believe in, is it’s our money and if there is excess it should stay in the taxpayers pocket not government. This will be my position when we make decisions at budget time as well as when we are looking at other projects and situations that come up during the year at the county as well as doing the budget at the Town level.I will not make any excuses or try to blame someone else; I believe the responsibility is on my shoulders at the County and the Town Board’s shoulders at the town level.
It’s hard to believe but the sun is still out and it looks so nice after a long winter. So please enjoy the Spring weather and never hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns and I will do my best to help.