Village of Schuylerville’s possible application for the
2008 – 2009 Local Government Efficiency Grant Program
Although the Town of Saratoga, the Village of Schuylerville and the Village of Victory all received letters from the New York State Department of State dated September 12, 2008 - informing them of funds available to consolidate and/or increase shared services between the three municipalities not one of the members of any of the Boards decided to start having discussion with each other. It was not until residents of the Village of Schuylerville spoke with Supervisor Tom Wood about the grant program that Supervisor Wood pursued discussions with the Village of Schuylerville and Victory Mayors. Instead of these discussions being held in an open forum – they were held behind closed doors without any public involvement in November, 2008. The decision was to contact the LA Group about filing the application on behalf all three municipalities to study shared services. The last deadline for the General Efficiency Planning Grant was January 14, 2009. At the Village of Schuylerville Board Meeting on December 10, 2008, the Village Board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the LA Group to complete the Local Government Efficiency Grant Program application on behalf of the Town of Saratoga, Village of Schuylerville and Village of Victory. Shortly after this resolution was passed, the Village of Victory Mayor pulled out of the agreement – which left just the Town of Saratoga and Village of Schuylerville. More private discussions were held with the LA Group who was requesting $4500 to write the application. The Village of Schuylerville Board was adamant they were not going to pay for the grant application to be written and the Town of Saratoga Board stated they would not approve additional funds to be used to write this grant application. At the January 5th Village of Schuylerville Board of Trustees Workshop Meeting, it was mentioned that there had been a change in the type of grant that would be applied for – which was applying for the High Priority Planning Grant which is also a non-competitive grant and the deadline for applying for this grant is March 11, 2009. The deadline for the other grant they were going to apply for then passed and the only grant left to apply for is the High Priority Planning Grant. Based on the description of what could be applied for:
“High Priority Planning Grants are for a city or a county charter revision that includes functional consolidations or increased shared services; municipal mergers; consolidations or dissolutions, countywide shared services or the transfer of local functions to the county, and multi-county or regional services. For village dissolutions or charter revisions, a single applicant may apply.”1 The only grant the LA Group could write would be for the Village of Schuylerville to study village dissolution and it appears that the Village Board agreed to have the LA Group write the grant application at no cost to the Village. It is my understanding, however, that the grant application has specific requirements that must be mentioned in the application as well as a mandatory resolution. There has been no open discussion regarding this grant and the LA Group has not attended any Village meetings to discuss this application openly. Again – all is behind closed doors. As desperately as the RSVP group would like to see the Village of Schuylerville Board apply for this grant, it is very upsetting to watch how sloppy they are being in getting the application as thorough as possible. When their February meeting came and went, there was no new resolution passed to support applying for this grant – but how could there be as the LA Group had not even begun to write it yet. It would be very disturbing to have had the Village apply for this grant to be the only applicant rejected because they did not follow the guidelines of how the application is to be written.
Dissolution Petition News
RSVP members have been busy collecting the signatures required for a successful petition to study Village Dissolution. The petition is necessary even if the Village Board does apply for the grant and is successful in receiving the money to study Village Dissolution as there are specific Village Dissolution Laws that need to be followed and without the petition the Village Board would not be required to follow those laws – specifically detailing who will be on the Dissolution Committee, requiring a public hearing and then requiring that Village residents vote on the decision instead of it being solely a board decision. It’s one of the few times Village residents will be a part of the decision making process.
1 - http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lgss/lge/RFA%20announcement%20Ltr%20&%20att.pdf
2008 – 2009 Local Government Efficiency Grant Program
Although the Town of Saratoga, the Village of Schuylerville and the Village of Victory all received letters from the New York State Department of State dated September 12, 2008 - informing them of funds available to consolidate and/or increase shared services between the three municipalities not one of the members of any of the Boards decided to start having discussion with each other. It was not until residents of the Village of Schuylerville spoke with Supervisor Tom Wood about the grant program that Supervisor Wood pursued discussions with the Village of Schuylerville and Victory Mayors. Instead of these discussions being held in an open forum – they were held behind closed doors without any public involvement in November, 2008. The decision was to contact the LA Group about filing the application on behalf all three municipalities to study shared services. The last deadline for the General Efficiency Planning Grant was January 14, 2009. At the Village of Schuylerville Board Meeting on December 10, 2008, the Village Board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the LA Group to complete the Local Government Efficiency Grant Program application on behalf of the Town of Saratoga, Village of Schuylerville and Village of Victory. Shortly after this resolution was passed, the Village of Victory Mayor pulled out of the agreement – which left just the Town of Saratoga and Village of Schuylerville. More private discussions were held with the LA Group who was requesting $4500 to write the application. The Village of Schuylerville Board was adamant they were not going to pay for the grant application to be written and the Town of Saratoga Board stated they would not approve additional funds to be used to write this grant application. At the January 5th Village of Schuylerville Board of Trustees Workshop Meeting, it was mentioned that there had been a change in the type of grant that would be applied for – which was applying for the High Priority Planning Grant which is also a non-competitive grant and the deadline for applying for this grant is March 11, 2009. The deadline for the other grant they were going to apply for then passed and the only grant left to apply for is the High Priority Planning Grant. Based on the description of what could be applied for:
“High Priority Planning Grants are for a city or a county charter revision that includes functional consolidations or increased shared services; municipal mergers; consolidations or dissolutions, countywide shared services or the transfer of local functions to the county, and multi-county or regional services. For village dissolutions or charter revisions, a single applicant may apply.”1 The only grant the LA Group could write would be for the Village of Schuylerville to study village dissolution and it appears that the Village Board agreed to have the LA Group write the grant application at no cost to the Village. It is my understanding, however, that the grant application has specific requirements that must be mentioned in the application as well as a mandatory resolution. There has been no open discussion regarding this grant and the LA Group has not attended any Village meetings to discuss this application openly. Again – all is behind closed doors. As desperately as the RSVP group would like to see the Village of Schuylerville Board apply for this grant, it is very upsetting to watch how sloppy they are being in getting the application as thorough as possible. When their February meeting came and went, there was no new resolution passed to support applying for this grant – but how could there be as the LA Group had not even begun to write it yet. It would be very disturbing to have had the Village apply for this grant to be the only applicant rejected because they did not follow the guidelines of how the application is to be written.
Dissolution Petition News
RSVP members have been busy collecting the signatures required for a successful petition to study Village Dissolution. The petition is necessary even if the Village Board does apply for the grant and is successful in receiving the money to study Village Dissolution as there are specific Village Dissolution Laws that need to be followed and without the petition the Village Board would not be required to follow those laws – specifically detailing who will be on the Dissolution Committee, requiring a public hearing and then requiring that Village residents vote on the decision instead of it being solely a board decision. It’s one of the few times Village residents will be a part of the decision making process.
1 - http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lgss/lge/RFA%20announcement%20Ltr%20&%20att.pdf
