SHERIDAN - The Sheridan Town Board held a special meeting recently to award the Middle Road water district pipeline replacement project bid to St. George Enterprise for the price $29,548.
The decision was easy said Supervisor Louis Delmonte, because there were only four submissions. The county installed the waterline in the early 1970s, now the new pipeline will begin construction before this winter.
Next, the board had to make several decisions regarding its dog licensing policies. They decided in favor of maintaining the senior exemption for dog licensing.
However, they decided to eliminate the current pure breed licensing policy where up to 10 dogs can be licensed for $25.
They determined a need for a dog census as one has not been done in 15 years. However, it was less clear on how to conduct this census, either with volunteers or through a paid position (per dog and mileage). The board was considering the paid position because it will probably pay for itself as a result of the increase in the number of dogs licensed.
The board took this opportunity to increase penalties for unlicensed dogs from $25, $50 and $100 for repeat offenders to $50, $75 and $100 because of the time and paperwork involved. Impound fees were also increased from $10, $20 and $30 for repeat offenders to $25, $50 and $75 because of the increased price to impound a dog at the Humane Society on Strunk Road in Jamestown due to its distance, the gas involved and possible vet bills.
The board said the real cost will be seen in the extra hours the office must be open to deal with the increased paperwork of the dog licensing. The tags themselves will also cost the town 17 cents per tag for a 1,000-piece lot.
The town clerk has little to do in changing the fee structure for dog licenses because the fee structure was recently changed within the past year and a half, the only foreseeable change is the addition of the $1 fee for spayed and neutered dogs. Attorney Jeffrey Passafaro will help the town write the new law which will be similar to others in the area.
There will be a public hearing about the new dog license policies on Oct. 14 at 7:15 p.m. before the regularly scheduled 7:30 p.m. meeting that night.
Initial plans for the renovations of the old St. John Bosco's church as the new town headquarters were presented to the board. However, there were several flaws in the design that the board was unhappy with. It plans to form a committee in order to sort out the designs according to the wishes of all involved, the board, the court, the code enforcement officer and the public.
Please contact the town clerk, Julie Szumigala, at 672-4174 if you are a resident and believe you could be of assistance to the committee.
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