DRONES Coming to GRIFFISS

It's a Bird,...it's a Plane...no, it's "Drones testing at Griffiss" to bring about 500 jobs Informative & interesting article from today's (12/30/13) UTICAOD.... Remember when Amazon President Jeff Bezos said he hopes to deliver packages with drones? Some of the testing for that kind of private sector use for unmanned aircraft systems will now be done at Griffiss International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration announced today that a group headquartered at Griffiss has been awarded one of six licenses nationwide for commercial drone testing. http://www.uticaod.com/article/20131230/NEWS/131239973#131239973/?tag=1

RAY WHITFORD: A Tribute to a Native Son

Here is a wonderful tribute by Hobie Morris to RAY WHITFORD who passed away on Christmas Day. The Musings of a Simple Country Man Ray Whitford: A Tribute to a Native Son By Hobie Morris On Christmas day one of this area’s most widely known and greatly admired native sons passed into the ranks of those of many earlier generations who were similarly distinguished in this community. For many of us familiar with his decades of unselfish contributions, Ray Whitford will always be affectionately remembered as Mr. Brookfield. An honorary title that was deeply heartfelt by the legions of people who appreciated all that he meant. Over the years the good people of this area generously recognized Ray’s importance in any number of ways, including at his beloved fairgrounds as well as a scenic park named in his honor at the edge of the village. Ray’s voluntary activities and special interests would take a thick volume to completely enumerate. What follows is only a small sampling of the impact he made. For decades, in fact virtually his whole life, he was deeply involved with the Madison County/Brookfield Fair in many different capacities. At fair time it seemed there were 10 Ray Whitfords all working simultaneously to make the fair a success. There were no jobs that this jack of all trades wouldn’t gladly tackle. For over 40 years and counting he was the inspirational and guiding leader of the widely popular fall classic “Wheel Days.” In fact, fair officials from all over the state knew Ray Whitford and often called on him for his assistance and advice. Ray was also an important voice in the popular stock car races that were held at the fairground in the 1950’s. Many of the old time drivers who drove there still remember Whitford with great affection. Whit, as he was called, and others of his generation spent countless thousands of hours keeping the fairgrounds “ship shape,” both before and after the main events. When the cheering stopped, these volunteers were there mowing grass, painting, repairing, fixing, cleaning up, etc. My lovely wife, Lois, and I remember many late summer evenings when Ray would work all alone putting together a wonderful exhibit of Americana and Wheel Day memorabilia in one of the fairgr0und’s exhibition buildings. When special groups used the fairgrounds, Ray would become a cook, dishwasher and a rather famous drink impresario. On many occasions he loved popping popcorn (as he was passing away recently he was still mumbling about needing to get up to the fairgrounds to pop popcorn.) Many of us believe that Ray Whitford must be given major credit for helping keep this great historic fair going in both good and bad times. Thankfully, good people like Jeff Mayne, Terry Larkin, Josh Walker have taken up the necessary reins of leadership responsibilities. Ray Whitford was a genial and delightful man to know. Tall, thin and kindly looking he was low keyed in many ways, with a dry sense of humor. Over 30 years we sat down with him on many occasions. He seemed to know everybody, and everybody liked him. As far as we know he never had an enemy nor did he ever speak unkindly of others. We often enjoyed Ray reminiscing about his growing up years. He loved the past but wasn’t entrapped by it. He often spoke about going to school, joining the Army after WW II and many different jobs that he held at various times. For instance, he would help Wendell Morrow put in furnaces. He worked on Joe Piersma’s construction crew and later had a job in Utica at, I believe, Drop Forge. For many years he was a serviceman for Sears and Roebuck, first in the New Hartford Shopping Center and later the Sangertown Mall. In those years Sears manufactured, sold and repaired their American made appliances. Fixing them was Ray’s job and he enjoyed it because he liked people. He was saddened when appliances began to be made elsewhere, couldn’t be fixed here, but if fixable had to be shipped long distances elsewhere. Ray would just shake his head at the changes in his lifetime. During this time Ray would marry the love of his life, Judy, and was blessed with two loving children, Ronnie and Jill; and many grandchildren and now great grandchildren would follow. From time to time Ray would reminisce about his early years in Brookfield. Many of these stories have been lost but fortunately not all of them. I gathered that in his younger years he was a rather dare devil man who liked and palled around with good friends, motor cycles, fast cars and maybe even a nip or two on occasion. He lived fast and enjoyed life to its fullest. After WW II Ray saved up his pennies so he could fly in a single engine Piper Cub piloted by a veteran Army pilot. The plane flew in and out of the cow pasture just east of the Chester Dye farm. It was fair time and Ray had a somewhat nerve wracking experience as the small plane did all kinds of acrobatic tricks. Ray loved it. Many years later Ray was a bungee jumper up at the fair and a regular swimmer in the Colgate pool almost into his 80’s. Ray loved thrills and excitement. Ray’s parents were descended from pre- and post-Civil War generations. His father William died unexpectedly when Ray was very young. William Whitford was, among other things, a jack of all trades as well as a skilled electrician. He was involved in running the first and only Brookfield electrical system in the first decade of the 20th Century. When his father died, Ray, their only child, did many jobs to help his mother get through the difficult Depression years that followed. From their large, two-family house at the corner of Dugway and Skaneateles Turnpike Ray would often push and later pull up the hill his reel lawn mower. He had several lawn mowing jobs in the village. Ray recalled with a chuckle that, one winter day during the 1930’s, with the Dugway totally plugged with deep snow, he heard a lot of early morning noise and voices outside. It was several trucks containing WPA workers, each carrying a long handled, pointed shovel. They proceeded to shovel the Dugway open for traffic. It took many, many hours. Have you ever tried to shovel snow with a pointed shovel? Ray was also the local newspaper boy. Picking the bundle of papers up at the General Store, he would fold them, put them in a canvas bag hung over his shoulder and off he’d go (on his bike, in season). At one time he delivered over 100 papers per day. For all his work, and if everybody paid their bill, he earned a whopping 64 cents a week, or two cents a paper for his effort. Ray also did odd jobs at the General Store, from packing and delivering, to filling glass quart motor oil bottles. One of his main jobs was candling eggs br0ught in by farmers to either sell of barter. A candle was held up to each egg to see if it was fertilized, and thus less marketable. With times very tough and hard money extremely scarce, the bartering of farm produce was regularly used. The store owner, Mr. Curtis, carried many local people “on the books” for years. People tried to heip each other as much as possible. Ray was sure Mr. Curtis and other people like him carried unpaid debts to their graves. The General Store was, and still is, a very popular place in this community, selling not only food and hardware items, but also dry goods such as shirts, pants, hats, boots, gloves, etc. In those days people could easily do their Christmas shopping at the store. The coming of WW II would irrevocably change small rural, semi-self contained rural communities like Brookfield. Men went off to war, others to work in industries in nearby cities; women began working outside the home and farming began to change dramatically. Countless changes came fast and furious in the post war years. But Ray Whitford’s salad years were ahead. A long exciting life encompassing his family, an army of friends and an amazing legacy of contributions in many different venues in this community and area. He has eminently earned his eternal rest. May this simple country man and his lovely wife bid farewell to our good friend, a native son with a treasure trove of memories remaining to remember him by.

TOWN BOARD - Lots of Wind & No Plans

Due to family commitments, I was unable to attend and report on the December TOWN BOARD MEETING. So many important issues continue to face the community. In my absence, I requested an update on TWO CRITICAL ISSUES which have been held up for far too long: Road use law and the Comprehensive Plan. Following is a review of the issues covered by Jackie Mineo who attended the regular BROOKFIELD TOWN BOARD meeting held this past Monday, Dec. 7. Attendance low, but two very critical items for the Town continue to go unaddressed. Political cowardice?....Enough with the promises!............. Windpower Welcomed in Brookfield:..... At last Monday night’s Town Board meeting John Salka made comments indicating that the Town welcomes the development of wind turbines and hopes that there will be no opposition “like in Madison”. It was pointed out by our Highway Superintendent that many of our roads currently would not be able to bear the weight or possibly accommodate the width of loads associated with wind turbine construction and that we still need a Road Use Law to protect the Town against the costs associated with the damage that would likely occur. That road use law was also discussed. The newest delay was attributed to wording in the proposed contract with Delta Engineering who we are told will be doing a road survey prior to the adoption of a Road Use Law. At this rate the question is, are we going to have a Road Use Law before construction on wind turbines begin? On the topic of delays…the Board was asked why no vote has taken place to accept or reject the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Salka offered the excuse that it was used as a “political Football” before elections…but those elections are over ( and that would be a poor excuse in any case) so why all the political foot-dragging? This plan has been in the works for FIVE years. It has been finished for some time now and has been presented to and accepted by the County. It’s had its’ public hearings. The Comprehensive Planning Committee was recently the recipient of a Madison County Planning Department Award for its work at an awards dinner that Mr. Salka attended and proudly posed for pictures at …and yet still refuses to bring it to a vote before the Town Board. There is no excuse or acceptable reason for this. Make up your mind, Board members…take a vote, decide and be accountable. It’s what you’re there for.

MADISON County supervisors pull fast one on public

This "LETTER TO EDITOR" re: MADISON COUNTY BUDGET certainly bares sharing. Letter: County supervisors pull fast one on public By Rick Kinsella osted: 11/27/13, 5:08 PM EST | People attending the Nov. 19 Madison County Board of Supervisors’ meeting and public hHearing on the 2014 budget participated in a classic “bait and switch” exercise organized by the board leadership. Approximately 100 members of the public attended, most of them prepared to support the restoration of approximately $200,000 cut from 13 not-for-profit (N-F-P) agencies and services. Funding for these agencies has been flat for the past three years. Nevertheless, they were slated for a 35 percent reduction. Draft resolutions to restore the proposed cuts to these agencies were prepared, circulated to all supervisors, and appeared to have garnered enough support to be passed. Although there had been multiple committee meetings and discussions throughout the day, most of the supervisors had not seen or discussed the actual resolution introduced Tuesday evening by exiting Cazenovia Supervisor Monforte. It was placed on supervisors’ desks just before the scheduled public hearing. Supervisor Degear immediately moved to call a vote which eliminated any discussion of the resolution. Under this stealth resolution, the board leadership also included more than $500,000 for the Sheriff and Highway Department in order to restore the popularly acclaimed N-F-P funding. The public got much more than they realized. Mr. Becker was heard stating that they had cut the county departments to the bone, yet the N-F-Ps were not willing to go along. The truth is substantially different. In past years, much has been made of the impact of “unfunded state mandates,” especially Medicaid and state retirement benefits costs. This year, both of these major expenses were actually reduced by approximately $450,000. These potential budget savings were far exceeded by a 3 percent across-the- board salary increase for all county management/confidential employees, including the supervisors; a new executive secretary position at about $70,000 annually; a more than 20 percent increase in health insurance premiums; and almost $267,000 for new software for the treasurer. N-F-Ps provide essential services, often much more efficiently and effectively than government can. This was a primary rationale for privatizing much of the Public Health and Drug and Alcohol services. The N-F-P organizations serving our county are also subject to inflationary costs and have to attract and retain qualified staff, pay increasing health insurance premiums and offer retirement benefits (albeit it less generously than we see in government). They play a significant role in protecting and serving our most vulnerable citizens and make a strong contribution to the quality of life for all of our communities. What the leadership of the Board of Supervisors perpetrated on our citizens at the Nov. 19 meeting looked more like the work of carnival grifters, not public servants. People were distracted from the major costs driving the budget increases while working to preserve essential services constituting less than 1 percent of total appropriation. Madison County deserves better and so do those supervisors and county employees truly trying to serve their communities. — Rick Kinsella, Oneida http://www.oneidadispatch.com/opinion/20131127/letter-county-supervisors-pull-fast-one-on-public#.UpcQHh6DhPg.email

SALKA Answers....THANK YOU!

Supervisor John Salka got back to us with the answers to questions raised in today's RAT posting re: 1. county health benefits; and 2. possible property tax rate for Brookfield. Thanks to John for the quick and informative reply. Salka voted AGAINST the proposed 2014 budget currently before the Madison County Board of Supervisors. "1. The health insurance contributions will be 10% for a single plan and 20% for a family plan. It will apply to any management or elected official hired after 1/1/14. "2. The tax rate for the Town of Brookfield will go from $6.61 per thousand to $6.99 per thousand. This is the rate increase as it stands now. Due to the fact that the property tax cap was overridden we are now seeing amendments to restore all the funding to the not for profits (including the Fair) and it is impossible to predict if there will be any more between now and the public hearing Tuesday night [Nov 19]. Theoretically you could see another 20 or 30 cent increase on top of the $.38. So much for fiscal responsibility. "

TAXES - Bend Over Madison County Taxpayers!

Caitlin Traynor of the ONEIDA DISPATCH does a great job of covering the MADISON COUNTY Board of SUPERVISORS.... following are links to the Supervisors' recent budget meeting, where they: .....are proposing to override the tax cap, raising taxes to 5.8%.....due to differences in equalization rates, tax rates will range from $6.98 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $10.06 on the same valuation...and cutting the MADISON COUNTY FAIR budget by 50%. Here are some highlights and please check out the links to both articles for more detail. This proposed budget will be passed onto the county’s finance, ways and means committee for review and will go before residents in a public hearing Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. I am contacting John Salka (who voted AGAINST the tax hike) to clarify what the hit to Brookfield will be. HIGHLIGHTS: $101.8 million county budget includes a 5.58 percent increase in the property tax levy, significantly exceeding the state’s 2 percent property tax cap, and equates to a 4.62 percent increase in the tax rate; The county’s property tax rate, as applied to each municipality, is based on equalization rates and sales tax apportionment. Taking into consideration those factors, county tax rates will range from $6.98 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $10.06 on the same valuation. More than 35 percent of next year’s levy will be consumed by Medicaid expenses alone that total nearly $11.4 million. Another 15 percent of the levy will go towards paying retirement expenses for county employees, nearly $4.7 million. MOST SURPRISING AND SEEKING CLARIFICATION: Starting at the beginning of the year all newly-hired management and confidential employees and elected officials will be required to contribute to their health care insurance premiums or participate in a new high-deductible plan. BUT NO DETAIL ON % CONTRIBUTION OR WHETHER THIS APPLIES TO ONLY "NEWLY-ELECTED" politicians. Seeking clarification from John on this as well... LINKS: http://www.oneidadispatch.com/general-news/20131113/madison-county-supervisors-vote-to-raise-taxes-higher-than-cap-would-allow and http://www.oneidadispatch.com/article/20131113/NEWS/131119697?source=jBarPopUp

POST ELECTION - Disappointing

Very disappointed that we did not get some new Town Board members. Only hope the results were sobering for Dewitt...only won by 10 votes and it wasn't in his "district" - North Brookfield. Voters continue to feel let down by the inability of the Board to look after the community's interests. Example: Would not even get us local Assessor hours from our assessor. If they can't look after us, then who the hell will?