Groton village mayor speaks to local issues

Groton Village Mayor Christopher Joseph Neville is known by some as “Chris,” others as “Joe” and still others as “the guy who owns the Neville Farm on 222,” but in his official capacity, he has been “Mayor Neville” for the past six years.
Prior to sitting in the mayor’s seat, Neville served on the Board of Trustees for the village of Groton for 20 years.

In addition to serving as mayor, Neville is the third-generation owner of Neville Farm, first owned by his grandparents, Joe and Mabel Neville, and then by his parents, Francis and Norma Neville.

The family farm has never been a large operation. Joe and Mabel both worked full time at Smith Corona, Francis was a rural mail carrier for Groton and drove a school bus for Groton Central School, and Norma was the food service director for GCS for decades.

Neville Farm is primarily a dairy farm, with 50 to 60 head of cows milked daily. “Mayor Joe,” whose middle name was given to him in honor of his grandfather, said he started milking cows when he was in seventh grade and has been doing it ever since.

Now running the farm, Joe also grows corn and hay to feed his livestock and produce for a farm stand. He also raises 40 to 50 head of Angus/Hereford beef cattle.

Joe and his wife, Deanne, raised three children of their own on the farm: Leah, who now lives in Tennessee and owns a hair salon there; Chad, who is involved in the music industry in Nashville; and Hallie, who is a nurse in the maternity ward at Cayuga Medical Center but also loves helping on the farm as much as she can.

Fun fact: Neville Farm boasts a butternut tree that is the largest and oldest of its kind in Tompkins County.

A 1982 graduate of Groton High School, Joe played basketball and wrestled but did not have time for too much else outside of schoolwork.

“I’ve always wished I could have joined the fire department,” Joe said. “But I just didn’t have the time for it. That takes commitment, and I am serious about giving my all to things I commit to.”

In recent months, there have been a few main issues that people discuss in the village of Groton, and I asked Joe to speak to those things so the facts as he knows them could be known to all.

Regarding the Dollar General being built on Main Street, all Joe really knows about it is that it is happening, but the village has no control over it. The building is owned by an outside group of investors, they have rented it to Dollar General, and the opening is planned to occur before the first of the year.

Another project put on the back burner due to COVID-19 is the empty lot that is earmarked to house the new safety building. Meetings can hopefully resume soon, the project is still progressing forward, and it is hoped that construction bids will be more affordable now.

The village of Groton has its own wastewater treatment plant, and in recent months, the village needed to address some issues with that when residents complained of unpleasant odors.

“When things are working as they should, the biosolids from the sewer plant are spread in drying beds where the solids are separated from the liquids,” Joe explained. “The solids have to be 25% or less moisture before they can be transported to a site in Bath, New York. It costs $5,000 a month to fill containers and transport them there.”

He then explained what was causing the odor problem.

“A part had broken down, and because of COVID, we couldn’t get the part,” he said. “To mitigate the situation, tree bark had to be stirred into the drying beds, as well as hydrated lime to disinfect and lower the smell, which was a big expense to get it done.”

From there, meetings were held with the DEC and engineering firms to apply for permits to landspread the biosolids over acreage between Route 222 and Old Stage Road. The waste has been approved to be spread, but the next hurdle they would like to jump over is a variance to allow the village to do the spreading itself, which would result in significant savings in the water and sewer bills for village residents.

“Right now, it costs $50,000 to $60,000 a year, but if we can do the biosolids ourselves, that would be reduced to $6,000 to $10,000,” Joe said. “Multiple alternatives have been considered, like trucking it to Cortland, but that would be very costly.”

The main thing Joe would like everyone to know about the landspreading is that he is personally very health conscious and would never do it if it was not safe.

“When the biosolids are spread, the timing would be very thoughtful. It would literally take one or two days in the spring and again in the fall, and the whole process would be over — honestly no different than when cow manure is spread,” Joe said. “My grandfather taught me to ‘always take care of your neighbors,’ and that is a motto I live by.”

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.

In brief:

Groton school taxes

By now, homeowners in the town of Groton should have received their Groton school tax bill, which should be mailed to TST BOCES if paying by mail.

All in-person payments must be made at the Groton office of the First National Bank of Groton. Please bring your entire bill with you and pay with no penalty by Thursday, Oct. 1. A 2% penalty will be added for payments made thereafter through Monday, Nov. 2.

Payments may be made by cash or check in the bank lobby Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon. Payments made via the drive-up window may only be by check. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Happenin’ in the Hamlet

The McLean Fire and Rescue’s Happenin’ in the Hamlet is going to be happening!

Save the date for this popular community event that had to be postponed this past May due to COVID-19. It has been rescheduled and will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1 and conclude Saturday, Oct. 3.

There will be all the usual rides, games, music, food, beer and more. More details to come soon.

Library Book Club

The Groton Public Library is still hosting its book club, but virtually. The next GPL Book Club will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. This month’s book is “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly.

A special read for this month, “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. Contact director@grotonpubliclibrary.org for Zoom links and a copy of either book.