BROOKFIELD - Town Board Votes to Change MINOR SUBDIVISION Ordinance

Full house Monday night --with 18-20 attending -- including Planning Board Members Jerry Cheseboro and Gail Abrams. The Town Board unanimously approved (Head absent) a resolution, recommended by Councilman George Cowen and further amended based on public input. Essentially, the requirement for a MINOR (less than 4 parcel) SUBDIVISION will no longer require a professional survey. The MAJOR subdivision requirements will remain in place, requiring a survey; but the PLANNING BOARD will have the ability to waive the survey requirement depending on the circumstances/hardships.

BROOKFIELD - Salka Announces 5 Point Economic Development Plan

John Salka, Supervisor of the Town of Brookfield, has announced an 5-Point economic development plan for Brookfield. Below is a brief summary. Email him for full copy... or he may put the full text on Town Site or Speak it Free..

1- Grant tax incentives to build in Brookfield , such as as sliding scale tax exemptions;.
2- Increase use of the Brookfield horse trail system;
3- Encourage alternative energy development through aggressive efforts to attract wind, micro hydro, and biomass to the Town;
4- Expand and improve the Fairground's potential to include flea markets and auctions, equine events, concerts, and racing, both snowmobile and auto;
5- Encourage the establishment of a local chamber of commerce.

landowners vow to work together in fight against natural gas developer

Good follow up article from Alaina Potrikus of the Post Standard recapping this evening's meeting in Lebanon. 50+ attended...Madison county residents met to discuss the recent letter from Norse gas to 16 Madison County land owners, unexpectedly voiding the lease provision for "free" gas from wells drilled on their land. Although gas officials attributed the change to liability and safety concerns, according to the article, the leases clearly place the risk on the landowner. Norse has promised to replace the free gas with a payment and make arrangements to convert heating systems to propane. The controversy over the contract change is one of many issues driving citizens to band together to negotiate with natural gas companies interested in exploring and drilling on their land. Resident Mike Khoury said neighbors should have joined forces years ago. “Anybody that tries to go it alone is a dead man walking,” Khoury http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/lebanon_landowners_vow_to_work.html

INDIAN CLAIMS: Feds Kill CATSKILL Casino Proposal

2-19-11 The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs rejected a proposal to build a Native American casino in the Catskill mountains. The decision ends the effort by the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians in Wisconsin to open a casino in the economically depressed CATSKILL area, once a destination for top celebrities at world-class resorts known as the Borscht Belt. The effort sought to combine two complex issues — its land claim and the casino effort, but it was met with great opposition by the Oneidas, who have a world-class casino in central New York, and by racetracks that operate video slot machine centers, which also provide the state with a cut of the proceeds. syracuse.com . http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/feds_kill_catskill_casino_prop.html

EDUCATION: 4 Madison Co. Schools Look into Merger Possiblities

2-14-11. Faced with dwindling enrollment and declining state aid, four rural Madison County school districts are looking into merger partnerships. Superintendents from Morrisville-Eaton, Hamilton, Madison and Stockbridge Valley met with an education consultants and paired off to discuss opportunities for sharing costs and other consolidation efforts. Instead of a four-way merger, the districts paired off based on similarities in enrollment, tax rates and educational philosophies. Hamilton and Morrisville-Eaton will work together; Stockbridge Valley partnered with Madison Central. The districts have applied for funding from the state Department of Education for merger feasibility studies. Reporter: Alaina Potrikus/Post Standard http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/four_madison_county_school_dis.html

I'm Back.....and with a new, shorter format

Apologizing again for the hiatus... due to a busy schedule and limited time I am going to slightly change the format .....with shorter explanations... more like the DRUDGE format and continue links to the articles. So much local news to cover and scattered among 5-6 local papers and blogs..... alot of news in so many areas from school mergers, gas drilling and financial situation of the state and local governments. Hope this new format is helpful and educational.