Newfield Town Board talks taxes, water, recreation

The tax levy, town’s water supply and recreation were the main focus of this month’s Newfield Town Board meeting Sept. 10.

Near the start of the meeting, Mike Allinger, supervisor for the town of Newfield, called for public comments regarding Local Law No. 3 of 2020. None of the members of the public who attended the meeting offered any comments, so the Board unanimously voted to approve the local law.

The Board voted to approve a draft water study for the town, which was about an ongoing project to drill wells in the town. Maysoon Sharif from HUNT Engineers gave an overview of the project, saying the test had found that two wells could be installed in the Pine Circle well field, and there was no need to pursue the other backup areas.

She said that about $65,000 of the grant money remained, and $49,000 could be used to install a test well in the Pine Circle well field with a 6-inch diameter. Sharif said the test well could be converted into a full production well, but the process would cost $120,000, more than what the grant provides.

Jamie Gironda from Hanson Van Vleet stressed the importance of running tests when drilling wells. He said that even if the town ultimately drilled a well in the same location as the test well, it was still important to confirm whether the aquifer materials would be viable for a well, and drilling a test well was “standard operating procedure” for him.

“We would never install an expensive production well without some means of collecting samples beforehand,” Gironda said. “It just would be too risky. Anybody who would is really playing with their money, and it’s a big gamble.”

The Board discussed the possibility of requesting a loan from the Environmental Funding Corporation to fund the well project. Sharif said that Newfield could obtain a loan more easily if it received a violation for not providing the required daily output of water due to a well failure, but its median household income would make it ineligible for hardship grants.

Applying for a loan would require being on the Environmental Facilities Corporation’s list of eligible borrowers, and Timothy Steed, who represented HUNT Engineers, said there were no downsides to being on that list.

“The important thing is that you’re on the list, you’re on the list for water supply improvements, and there’s plenty of opportunities to amend down the road as well; you don’t owe Newfield anything,” Steed said.

The Board voted to approve the formation of a Recreation Park Committee, an organization that would report to the town supervisor and serve an advisory role.

Norm Aidun spoke to the Board about issues relating to sports in Newfield as well as ongoing recreational projects. He discussed renting out playing fields to other organizations that needed them for sporting events and the fees that would be charged for the use of those fields.

Aidun expressed his hope that people would once again form basketball leagues and play together after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I honestly think those basketball courts will fill up so fast you won’t even believe it, come post-COVID, by next summer,” Aidun said.

Aidun discussed providing signs to honor donors who gave large amounts — one type for those who gave more than $1,000 and another for those who gave more than $5,000. He said there were only a few people who gave more than $5,000 but that all major donors deserved recognition.

“It’s not a recommendation; this is what I promised the people that gave $5,000 for a sign,” Aidun said. “If we change our mind now, it’s kind of crappy.”

Austin Kuczek, recreation supervisor for Newfield, discussed sports in the town of Newfield, which had finished signups for soccer, fall baseball and softball, and noted that few people had signed up for baseball or softball so far. He also mentioned that the district was preparing for sports practices that would observe social distancing.

“It’s a year of transition, but we face a lot more than that this year, so I think it will be one of the smoothest things this year to go,” Kuczek said.

Allinger mentioned a county meeting he attended earlier that day. He said that in July, there was about a 15% decrease in sales tax revenue compared to last year and that August’s results were not available yet.

The Board discussed how many Newfield residents struggled to obtain affordable internet access. Jim Haustein from the Planning Board said prices for internet cable installation could vary based on how far one’s home is from the road. He remarked that the proverbial “last mile” of internet access counted less than what he described as the “last 5 feet,” and houses that were far from the road could have to pay hundreds of dollars to install the cables necessary for internet access.

“A lot of people in Newfield don’t have that kind of money,” Haustein said.

The Board voted to renew its Animal Control service agreement for a one-year term. The agreement would cost the town a total of $28,416, an amount that had not increased since last year.

The Board began to make preparations to submit a preliminary budget by Oct. 5 and adopt its final budget by Nov. 20. It made arrangements to discuss the budget in more detail at future meetings.