The Sidewalk to Nowhere

Not sure if everyone noticed it, but I guess someone decided we needed a sidewalk on Springfield Road right by the Frontier building. What the hell is wrong with these people who make these numb-skull decisions? Can somebody please tell me exactly what this sidewalk is for, and where it goes to? Who exactly is going to use the damn thing?

I know one thing for sure... we're paying for it (apparently it costs $1300). I wonder if this is part of our presidents public works stimulus package? [I think not...]

Can't we please just stop this nonsense? What's next? Building a sidewalk from Leona's office to Whiteface?

I was going to go to the meeting tonight and bring this up, but someone has to watch the kids!
Based on the E-mail I've been getting lately, I think more people read the Warbler's Blog than go to town meetings anyway!

Leona Helmsley of Wilmington Strikes Again

First, the Warbler wishes to apologize for lack of posts lately. As most of us know, it's a busy time of year with graduation and proms - our kids drive us nuts sometimes don't they?

Anyway, while catching up on some of the town council meeting minutes, I came across this little gem from last week:

http://www.townofwilmington.org/minutes/towncouncil/towncouncilminutes.html

(Oh, by the way, I urge all residents to read all the minutes posted on the town website: http://www.townofwilmington.org/minutes.php)

Let me draw your attention to the second to last order of business,

"It was decided that building lots which are half the required size or more
cannot be refused from the pre-existing code of 1988, if it meets the set
backs and septic requirements."

Uh, excuse me.... Who was it that "decided" this? Was there a town vote on this that I
missed out on? This was apparently discussed at the "town council workshop". We all know
who is behind this, don't we? (see the title of this post). She is some piece of work isn't she?
She must have a ton of 1/2 acre properties on her sell-sheets that need unloading... and how
better to do it, than to quickly pass a "town council directive" that usurps the authority of
the Zoning Board of Appeals. Basically, it says: "to hell with you ZBA and town residents, any
lot that I have to sell that's on 1/2 acre, but less than 1 acre, is immediately allowed to be built upon."

Folks: these zoning ordinances are in the books for a reason. It was decide long ago that if your lot is on less than an acre, you can't build on it unless you go before the ZBA. But wait, Leona comes along, and voila! we can now build on undersize lots without ZBA approval. In fact, if you read the directive, it says: "It was decided that building lots which are half the required size"...
HALF THE REQUIRED SIZE. REQUIRED SIZE. If something is "required", doesn't that mean... IT'S REQUIRED? How can you circumvent something that is "required". Apparently, all Leona has to do is have her cronies on the Town Council do it for her. Very nice, isn't it?

Could this have been her motive to get on the town council - it's kind of self-serving if you ask the Warbler.

What do you think? I think all of the Warbler's followers and town residents want to know what the hell is going on here?

Water is wet, and Money is green...

We all know by now that Wilmington has about $200,000 left over from the water grant project, and they have to use it or lose it.

Some background information:

Many of the water meters that have been installed throughout Wilmington have transmitters on them... these were the meters that were installed during the big "meter push" 6 or 7 years ago.

We all remember how well the meter installations went now, don't we?
1) plumbing nightmares trying to shut water off that wasn't turned off in years (or ever)
2) the plumbers wouldn't/couldn't do the installations for the fee the town allocated
3) never got them up and running.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone on the board kept us informed of the status of the water meters? All the residences with transmitters installed and paid for are sitting unused because they are now outdated or not compatible with the newer installs (software wise). Does this constitute some sort of joke? Who is going to pay for new software updates and maintenance?

The Warbler agrees that we should all pay for water based on usage.

It would seem that hiring one or two part time meter readers might be a better system in the long run - the town would not have to pay benefits (recall that only part-time town board and town officials get benefits). Another alternative may be if The Bear gets a tase of the honey he could fit it into his very very busy schedule. (camps, house sitting, fishing licenses, etc.).

It seems we don't have anywhere else in the water that system attention, right?

In the words of our very own Supervisor, it would be our last chance to get grant monies for the water system updates unless Whiteface was added to the water district. So, if that was true, then this could be the last money we could get from the state as far as grants or low/no interest loans to fix our water system. Is this how we should spend the last money we have left?

Back to the $200,000 in surplus... During the town meetings for adding Whiteface to the water district, the Warbler remembers that "due to delays in getting various approvals", there was a substantial rise in the costs of materials and labor. The Warbler also remembers how all the updates to Rt. 86, Quaker Mt. Rd., Bonnieview and Haselton all kept getting cut. It finally reached a point where they said they could only do half of what they originally were going to do. Guess what... all of a sudden, they got everything fixed and even went further out on Haselton than they originally intended. In addition, the entire water main on Juniper Hill was replaced - and there was no town meeting discussions about that. Now, we have $200,000 left over! What the hell is going on down there on Community Center Circle? Does anyone know what they're doing down there?

What actually happens if the town doesn't spend that $200,000 ? Do we have $200,000 less to pay back (bonds, loans)? or to we just lose a $200,000 "gift" from the state?

Does anybody know?

Local Motel Owners Hurting

The Warbler feels for the local motel owners. When you ride around town and see "Vacation House Rental" signs all over the place, whats a motel owner to do? These "Vactaion Houses" are not subject to the same regulations and taxes that motels are. Why is that? If someone rents out a vacation house, they should be subject to the same regulations and taxes that motel owners are. It's just sick.

In addition, these "Vacation Rentals" can be problems for local residents as well. The city folk come up here, rent these houses, and have big shin-digs, loud music and extra traffic on local roads - not to mention parking issues.

Does the town have code enforcements to try and protect our local motels - the same motels that support and donate to many town events?

The Warbler knows that we even have a town board member who built a house for the sole purpose of a vacation rental!

Posting Responses

While shopping this past week, someone asked the Warbler how they could respond to post without creating a special account. The answer is simple: just E-Mail your response to: wilmwarbler@hotmail.com and indicate what you are responding to. The Warbler will post your response anonymously.

In addition, if you have a topic you would like the Warbler to post, please send those to the same EMail address: wilmwarbler@hotmail.com

Keep Chirping! They hear us!

Culprit Spotted!

The Warbler has been informed by a couple of faithful followers that Smokey was spotted removing the Warbler's public notices from the Post Office bulletin board! Apparently this is Smokey's way of expressing his displeasure with the Warbler's comments.

In all fairness, the Warbler believes that there are other culprits that remove the public notices as well. Just remember, the The Old Owl (formerly, The First Lady of Wilmington) isn't the only one who can see behind their head!

The Warbler will continue to post the public notices in the Post Office. Remember, the Warbler has lots of friends...

Smokey's Shiny New Truck

The Warbler came across an older copy of the Wilmington newsletter that contained a blurb about the new fire truck, a brand new 2008 International Horton Rescue/Air Truck. The Warbler fell off his perch (a metaphor for a chair) when Smokey said that the new truck "was at no additional expense to the District taxpayers." The article goes on to say that Capital Reserve Funds, a short-term loan and the sale of our 2003 Ford Rescue Truck paid it for [sic]. Very nice. So, are we to believe that this short-term loan is not being paid back by tax dollars? Are we also to believe that we can trade in a 5 year old used truck, and get a brand new shiny fully-loaded truck in return? Unless ALL the money for the new truck (and the old one) came from donations, then we, the taxpayers, paid for it, or will pay for it in some way, shape or form.

I think we should know how much this loan is for, what the terms are, and how much trade-in value we got for the old truck (which, by the way, was only 5 years old!).

A Changing Town - Very Bad, Very Sad

The town board has giving its blessing to the following projects:

J. Levitt development is building behind the ball field off Route 86. This is 40+ lots. They still have not sold all the lots, nor the model house (which is now 2 years old) from the Fox Farm development. I guess that $60,000 for a lot and $379,000 for a house rules out the Wilmington locals!

On the burner---
The building of Town Houses along the beach road. It appears they are going to put up 4 buildings, with 6 units in each, although they can only build 1 at-a-time. I hope the new residents of these condo-units enjoy the summer beach concerts - or, perhaps, with all their money, those concerts will become a thing of the past...

Also in the works---
A development across from the Inn and next to Ledge Rock. It appears to be something like 12 condo-type places - time will tell.

Many folks settled in Wilmington because it was not "Lake Placid". It was just a small, quiet hidden jewel of a town. This appears to be changing, and that is quite sad.

Maybe the town board should wake up and look at places like Aspen, Breckenridge and Jackson Hole and other small ski towns taken over by outsiders with deep pockets! I'm sure The Bear has his hand in this whole "development" thing and is keeping his pockets lined as well!

How to post a follow-up message

The Warbler has learned through the grapevine that people who wish to reply to messages do not know how to set up an anonymous account to facilitate posting. I will explain how you can do this.

You may want to "Print" this entry so you can follow the directions.

1) In the upper right corner of this page, click on the thing that says: "Create Blog".

2) Type in your "Email address" where it says to. This will *not* be shared with anyone (it says this on the right hand side). No one will be able to know it's you who is posting.

3) Retype your Email address in the box below the first one.

4) Pick a password that you'll remember and enter in the "Enter a password", and
in the "Retype password" box just below.

5) Pick a "Display name". This is the name that will appear next to your posts. Avoid putting your real name in here, unless you want everyone to know who you are. A catchy name is nice. For example, if "The Bear" wanted to create an account, he could use "The Bear" as the Display name.

6) In the box that says, "Word Verification", retype the word it shows in the box. The word may be hard to read, but this is done for security purposes.

7) Click the "Acceptance of Terms" box.

8) Press the orange "Continue" arrow on the bottom.

9) On the next page, pick a title for your BLOG - this can be anything you want. "The Bear's Blog" would be suitable for "The Bear".

10) For Blog Address (URL), enter your display as one word, for example: TheBear

11) Press the Orange Continue arrow at the bottom.

12) On the next page, "Choose a template", just press the Orange Continue arrow.

13) It will create your blog, and you should then press the "Start Blogging" button.

14) You can then just go to the "wilmwarbler.blogspot.com" website, read the blogs there, and
post follow-ups if you want!

It's that simple! Enjoy and contribute! Let the town know what YOU think!

Wilmington Health Care

It's funny how and for whom the town pays health care benefits. The part-time elected "officials" receive full health care. Someone like Hammer & Nails, who works two part-time town jobs doesn't get health care coverage. Seems Wilmington government works the same way as big government... take care of yourself first, and let everyone fend for themselves.

Under their skin?

It seems the Warbler is getting under someone's skin in the town. This person keeps taking down the publicly posted Warbler information sheet at the Post Office. I think we all know who is most likely ripping them down, but the Warbler can put them up just as fast they're ripped down. There are other places in town to post things - I hope this person knows to check the other locations too!

Building Fees

It seems there are a lot of building related fees, doesn't it? Lots of nickel and dime stuff. Maybe Hammer & Nails figures if he collects enough fees, the town will buy him a truck so he doesn't have to use his own car, or maybe he figures if he can keep busy going from site to site collecting fees, he can get away from the stench of the dump. In any event, I know there is a need for some fees, like if you're building a house or barn or some other sizable structure, but let's stop with the silly stuff - it just aggravates us all.

Preliminary Assessments

Most residents probably received their preliminary tax assessments this week. Looks like the
Fonz keep the assessments pretty much the same as last year. Now, the big question is will Smokey and the board hold the tax rate a bay? We all know the Fonz will not lower assessments - he's like an old tightwad and wants to get every penny's worth of assessment value.

It's a damn good thing the older life-time residents have Father Time looking out and helping them, or they would be in real trouble down there.

Wilmington Stimulus Plan

Well, it seems that Wilmington is ahead of the curve when it comes to economic stimulus plans. Wilmington continues to spend and spend and spend our money. We now have a new work truck, and brand new shiny fire engine Smokey bought last year (it's not like we don't have a bunch of them already). But, fear not, we were told our taxes weren't going up to support these expenditures, however, it seems the fire tax did increase this year - imagine that.

Economic stimulus is one thing, but for Christ's sake guys, how about cutting some of the frivolous spending!

Property Taxes

With the new 4 month tax payment plan, I wonder if the Bear is getting his beak wet like he does with the fishing licenses? It's no big secret the Bear pockets the money NY pays the town for each license...