December 2009 Monthly Announcements

1. Teleconference for Newly Elected Officials- The Local Government Education Committee for Oneida & Herkimer Counties will be hosting a live interactive teleconference from the NYS Comptroller's Office and the NYS Association of Towns for newly elected officials. This session - Just Elected - What Do You Do Know - will be held on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 from 6:30-8:45 at Kunsela Hall at SUNYIT, Utica. Sign in is at 6:15.  A direct mailing to all the newly elected officials went out the last week of November.  As a bonus after the presentation, a panel of local town officials currently holding the offices of supervisor, councilman, town clerk, highway supt., and town attorney will be on hand to field questions.  Also a copy of the booklet, The First Meeting of the New Town Board will be available to attendees. Seasoned local officials are also invited to attend this session. Registration is $15 and checks should be made payable to The College Association. More information is available at the Local Government Education Committee link -     http://lgec.org/content/Generic/View/5

2.  LGRMIF Grants -   Application guidelines and instructions for 2010 New York State Archives Grant are now available online at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/grants/grants_lgrmif.shtml.

There are some changes for this year -

              Grant applications for this year will have to be filed electronically except for a few specified parts of the grant that need signatures.

            The RMO for each municipality will need a user name and password the first time you log into the system.  If you have applied for a grant in the last three years, this information should have been received electronically by your Clerk/Records Management Officer.

            In addition to the competitive grants program, the LGRMIF also supports disaster recovery grants this year.       

Also if you are interested in applying for a 2010 NYS Archives grant, you need to contact the Region 5, RAO, Kent Stuetz to set up an appointment to discuss the project ASAP. Grants are due 2/1/10.    Kent can be reached by contacting the regional office at 793-2780 or by email at kstuetz@mail.nysed.gov.  If you want NOCCOG or the Tug Hill Commission‘s assistance in writing the grant, please contact us as well.

3. NOCCOG NYS Archives Grant 2009-10 - NOCCOG submitted an application on behalf of twenty-eight municipalities in Oneida County, on February 1, 2009 requesting $82,053.   NOCCOG received word in October the project was funded in the amount of $13,882.  We have not received the funding at this time and recently learned that all the LGRMIF grants will be cut anther 6%.  It was recommended by NYS Archives that a pilot project be completed first with these funds for 4-5 municipalities and reapply for more funding in 2010-11  All the communities who asked to be part of the 2009-2010 project will be notified on how the project will proceed after we receive the award.

4. Building Healthy Communities Grant Program -Grants, up to $2,500, are now available to registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, public schools or tax-exempt public service agencies in the U.S. who are using the power of volunteers to improve the physical health of their community. Grants are made in the form of The Home Depot gift cards for the purchase or tools or materials. Only grants submitted through the online application process will be considered for funding. The current cycle of grant applications opened on October 15, 2009 and closes on December 15, 2009. Notifications should be made on or about January 15, 2010. More information is available at:

http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/Grants

Grants are for community improvement projects that include activities such as construction or refurbishment of affordable or transitional housing, building, rebuilding, painting, refurbishing, increasing energy efficiency or sustainability, landscaping, planting of native trees, community facility improvements and the development and/or improvement of green spaces. Grants must support work completed by community volunteers in the U.S., and projects must be completed within six months following notification that the grant has been awarded.

5. Genesis Group Clean and Green Presentation - The Genesis Group of the Mohawk Valley is inviting community leaders from every town, city and village in Oneida and Herkimer County to join in an effort to participate in the Keep America Beautiful Program.  The kick off meeting for the Regional Clean and Green Project. was held November 18 at the Hotel Utica and follow up meetings will be scheduled after the first of the year. We are asking that a representative from every town and village attend future meetings to be able to participate in the as Great American Clean-Up Day on Saturday April 24, 2010.  Each community will be asked to recruit volunteers to work in each community on this project to improve the community's appearance and promote the public interest in the maintenance of a clean and beautiful environment. Contact Ray Durso, Jr. for more information at rdurso@thegenesisgroup.org 

6. Interactive Snowmobile Maps & Information Available Online - Many snowmobilers come to this area as tourists are searching for a map of snowmobile trails, attractions, gas stations and restaurants. A new interactive web site by Mohawk Valley GIS shows not only the trials but also over 150 businesses through out the Oneida County area. The site - http://www.nysnowmobilewebmap.com/ - is also part of the NYS Snowmobile Trails Interactive Map and Trip Planner.  Mohawk Valley GIS is a Herkimer NY based business, offering Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services for municipalities, businesses and organizations. Please contact MVGIS with any feedback about this site, suggestions for enhancements or to add your local snowmobiles club's trails or area businesses to the site.

7.  Tug Hill Commission's Planners Corner-   A great resource for local planning and zoning officials is the Tug Hill Commission's Planner Corner's on the commission's website which can be accessed at:

http://www.nyupstateplanning.org/PlannersCorner/PlannersCorner.html

Posted are examples of different checklists used during the planning review process, ag data statement examples, information about SEQR, model subdivision laws and other very helpful documents.  Some municipalities are using the review of this material at meetings as an in-house training for planning boards and ZBA members.

                                                             Email addresses:

Gjriiter01@aol.com or gerryritternoccog@frontiernet.net

hmoonen@twcny.rr.com  &  smartin47@roadrunner.com