MEDINA – The public has pleaded with leaders of the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway, and the village of Medina to meet and have civil discussions and look for ways to reduce taxes.

The much-anticipated meeting is set for 7 p.m. on July 28 at the Shelby Town Hall. However, the town supervisors in Shelby and Ridgeway don’t like the agenda presented by Medina Mayor Andrew Meier.

He was told by the town leaders to prepare the agenda and listed village dissolution with discussion and feedback from the towns on the plan. Meier also put consolidation of Shelby and Ridgeway towns into one entity on the agenda, and a discussion of shared services among the three entities for water/sewer and street maintenance. Meier created the agenda following discussion with village trustees on Monday.

In emails today (Orleans Hub is included in the chain emails), Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli said the joint meeting should only include shared services.

“Town consolidation is an issue for the two Towns, not the village,” Napoli wrote in response to Meier. “We were not included in your dissolution plan. Therefore, you are not included in a discussion of Town consolidation. The Towns will decide if, and when, that happens.”

Napoli chided Meier for setting the agenda.

“This is supposed to be a mutually cooperative effort, not dictated by you,” Napoli said.

Dissolution was supposed to be put on the “back burner,” Napoli said, referencing a transcript for last month’s Village Board meeting that included comments from officials from Shelby and Ridgeway.

If Meier insists on dissolution as a topic at the July 28 meeting, Napoli said Ridgeway town officials won’t attend the session.

Meier responded by email that the village wants “open dialogue on a range of matters.” He said he has sought clarification on the agenda the past two weeks from Ridgeway or Shelby.

Shelby Town Supervisor Skip Draper, in his response, said town consolidation should be struck from the agenda.

“If this discussion were to take place it would be appropriate for it to be held between the two towns,” he said.

As for dissolution, Draper said, “it may be appropriate for the towns to make some type of statement regarding the plan.” But Meier’s request for discussion about the plan was rebuffed.

“(Discussion) should have happened as the plan was prepared (not after the fact),” Draper said.

The Shelby town supervisor said shared services is a good starting point to work to bring down taxes in the community.

“If we focus on Shared Services with open minds and not allow the discussion to get bogged down, we may be able to do some good and produce favorable outcomes for all,” he said. “I believe this is what people in general want and we owe it to them to have that discussion. Further, I feel we should be willing to have a discussion regarding Shared Services in general and not limit it to street maintenance and water/sewer.”

He asked if Meier and the Village Board would be open to a shared services discussion.

MEDINA – After months of discord over a possible dissolution of the village of Medina, elected officials from two towns and the village are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on July 28.

Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli and Shelby Town Supervisor Skip Draper wanted the meeting to be focused on shared services and cooperation among the three entities. They wanted dissolution off the table.

But Medina Mayor Andrew Meier has persisted, saying dissolution should be on the agenda.

The two town leaders told Meier to set an agenda for the meeting and they would respond.

During Monday’s Village Board meeting, village officials agreed to have dissolution and shared services on the agenda that would be sent to the towns.

The Village Board will have its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in the Shelby Town Hall with the joint meeting to follow at 7 p.m. The Town Hall is located on Salt Works Road.

MEDINA – The first email went out on Friday, an entreaty by Medina Mayor Andrew Meier. He sent several potential meeting dates to village officials and members of the Shelby and Ridgeway Town Boards.

Meier’s email came after a Village Board meeting on June 23 when town officials urged the Village Board to hold off on setting a date for a public referendum on dissolution of the village government. Shelby and Ridgeway officials wanted to first discuss more shared services or consolidation of functions among the entities.

Ridgeway Town Councilwoman Mary Woodruff responded to Meier’s email, saying the full board from the municipalities should all attend. (Members of the media have been copied in these emails.)

“I cannot support partial boards meeting to discuss these pertinent topics,” Woodruff said in an email on Monday. That was the format in past shared services and consolidation talks, she said.

Village Trustee Mike Sidari suggested at the June 23 meeting that two representatives from each board meet to discuss shared services and consolidation. He said the mayor and two town supervisors should be excluded because of a lack of trust and “butt-heading” among the three leaders.

Meier on Monday agreed with Woodruff, saying the full boards should attend the meeting.

“Given the time and resources spent by the village in developing the dissolution plan, and the resources consumed by the towns in discrediting it, we owe our residents an open, transparent, and unfiltered discussion,” Meier said.

That drew a response from Brian Napoli this morning, where he insisted dissolution won’t be part of the discussion, only shared services and consolidation of services.

“As for being discredited, the plan was discredited from the beginning,” Napoli wrote. “Manipulating the choice of committee members, along with placing yourself and Mark Irwin on the committee, was blatant disregard for openness, fairness, transparency, and unfiltered discussion. Then, narrowing the focus of the committee so they could only come to one conclusion…yours.”

Napoli also criticized the Center for Governmental Research, the village’s selection as a consultant for the plan.

“The last joke was hiring second rate consultants to justify your misguided idea,” Napoli said. “The taxpayers in Medina did not get fair value for their money.”

Napoli also alleges Meier used village taxpayer dollars for the “One Medina” campaign “after bragging that it is privately funded without taxpayer money.”

After Napoli’s email at 9:37 a.m., Sidari followed with one at 10:13 a.m. He told the officials to “drop the attitudes, roll up our sleeves and come to a working solution to the problems we are facing.”

He said residents have demanded officials from the village and two towns work together on the community’s problems.

“Wrong has been done on both sides of the lines,” Sidari said. “However both sides are showing a willingness to work on the same goal.”

He urged the elected officials to come to the upcoming meeting with an open mind “and leave the attitudes at the door.”

Sidari also requested the media be excluded from emails about planning for the upcoming meeting.

“I am sure they are thriving on this ongoing showing of remarks and accusations,” he said.

Mayor will seek joint session with town leaders

Photos by Tom Rivers – Ridgeway Town Supervisor Brian Napoli said promised state aid for a village dissolution shouldn’t be counted on. “A state guarantee means nothing,” he said.

MEDINA – A dissolution plan won’t be going to a vote by village residents until the Village Board can meet with town leaders in Shelby and Ridgeway.

“I don’t think at this point the public is ready for that,” said Village Trustee Mark Kruzynski at Monday’s board meeting.

Kruzynski and Michael Sidari pushed for a joint meeting with the towns, noting the dissolution discussions have been polarizing in the community and haven’t included the town officials.

Sidari first suggested the meeting among village, Shelby and Ridgeway officials exclude Mayor Andrew Meier, and town supervisors Brian Napoli of Ridgeway and Skip Draper of Shelby.

“There is a lot of butt-heading going on and a lack of trust,” Sidari said about the trio of leaders.

Meier said the mayor and town supervisors should be a part of the discussions because they are the chief executive officers with a big knowledge base of their respective governments.

“That would be a pretty big doughnut hole to have them be absent,” Meier said.

Village attorney Matt Brooks said it wouldn’t be legal to ban elected officials and residents from such meetings. The full Village Board authorized Meier to extend an invitation to the Town Boards to discuss the dissolution plan.

Village Mayor Andrew Meier said the current village government with high tax rates and a shrinking tax base is “unsustainable.” He is pictured next to Village Trustee Marguerite Sherman.

Meier welcomes the conversation, but he doesn’t want dissolution to be dragged out. He wants village residents to have a say on the issue in a public referendum.

Town leaders from Shelby and Ridgeway attended the Village Board meeting on Monday and urged the Village Board to look at ways for more shared services with the two towns, rather than just dissolving and having village functions passed to the towns, taxing districts or local development corporations.

The village tax rate is about $16 per $1,000 of assessed property. Dale Stalker, a Shelby town councilman, said about $10 of that rate is driven by emergency services – police, fire and ambulance – with the other $6 in services that are duplicative of the towns.

Stalker said there are ways to share those services and reduce costs to the community.

Ridgeway Town Councilman Jeff Toussaint also urged the Village Board to look closer at its budget and services to find ways to reduce costs.

Meier said the village has cut positions in DPW and police in an ongoing push the past 15 to 20 years to run a lean government. Meier said DPW has half the staff it did two decades ago.

The village faces an “unsustainable” model: its tax base is shrinking while its tax rate escalates, he told about 50 people during the board meeting.

Ridgeway Town Councilman Jeff Toussaint said the Village Board can reduce village taxes with better management of its budget and village staff, including making some hard choices about services already provided by the towns.

Medina’s combined village and town tax rates are about $20 per $1,000. With dissolution, it would fall to $14.30 in Ridgeway and $13.10 in Shelby.

Outside-village residents in Ridgeway currently pay a $6.71 rate for town, lighting and fire protection. That would rise 46 percent to $9.83 if the village dissolves and services are picked up according to the dissolution plan.

Shelby residents would see a 10 percent increase with dissolution with the current rate for outside-village residents going from $8.36 per $1,000 of assessed property to $9.17.

Toussaint said the towns shouldn’t have to subsidize the village, but Meier said the current system makes the village subsidize services to the towns with village residents double-taxed for many services. Dissolution would make the rates more equitable and fair, narrowing the gap between the village and outside village, Meier said.

Village Trustee Marguerite Sherman was elected in March. She doesn’t see dissolution as the answer. She sees more taxing districts if dissolution goes through, with less representation on the boards for the taxing districts and LDCs.

“I don’t want to give up on this village yet,” she said.

Meier said the dissolution plan shouldn’t be viewed as the village giving up. The plan brings balance to the tax rates, making Medina more affordable and attractive for residents and businesses, he said.

“I’m certainly heavily invested in the village,” he said. “I’m far from giving up on it.”

Toussaint also said the projected savings with dissolution aren’t very much. The plan identifies $277,000 in savings spread over three budgets that total about $11 million. That’s less than 3 percent. Toussaint said those savings would only be achieved if everything went according to the plan perfectly.

Toussaint and Brian Napoli, the Ridgeway town supervisor, questioned the $541,000 in additional state aid that has been identified for the dissolution. They doubt the money will be long-lasting. Napoli said the state has reduced promised funds for highway maintenance and assessing services.

“A state guarantee means nothing,” Napoli said about the additional aid with a dissolution.

About 50 people attended the Medina Village Board and many aired their views about a possible village dissolution.

Sherman said there is no certainty for residents that the dissolution plan, as proposed, would be followed by the two towns. She worries about service cuts for villagers.

“There’s no guarantee services will continue year to year,” Meier responded. “If we do nothing there is no way we can continue our level of services, unless we tax our residents into oblivion.”

Nathan Pace works as a local attorney. He was chairman of a previous committee that looked at shared services and consolidation among the village and two towns. The group favored dissolving the village and then merging the two towns.

He was critical of all the bickering among the village and towns, and their reluctance to sit down and discuss how to strengthen the overall community.

“It’s irresponsible,” Pace said. “Please come together. We have to sort this out. It is not that hard to sit down and come together.”

MEDINA – A committee studying the dissolution of the village of Medina is handing off its plan to the Village Board.

The Medina Dissolution Committee approved a plan last week that would cut taxes for village residents. Property owners outside the village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway would see an increase in their town taxes as the two towns pick up some of the services currently provided in the village, according to the plan.

The Village Board will discuss the plan during its 7 p.m. meeting on Monday at the Shelby Town Hall on Salt Works Road.

Village residents would see a drop in taxes ranging from 27 percent in Ridgeway to 34 percent in Shelby. The rate in Ridgeway would drop from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to a projected $14.30, according to the plan. That $5.20 reduction would save a homeowner with a $70,000 house $363 a year in taxes.

Village residents in Shelby currently pay a combined $19.80 rate ($16.45 to the village and $3.35 to the town). That would drop 34 percent to $13.10 and would cut the tax bills from $1,386 for a $70,000 house to $917.

Dissolution Committee members say the ultimate goal is to dissolve the village and then merge the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway. That would bring additional state incentives and provide more efficiencies, committee members said.

If the two towns don’t merge, their residents outside the village would see their taxes go up if the dissolution plan is followed by the towns. Town officials from both Shelby and Ridgeway have said the towns don’t have to follow the plan. The two towns haven’t said how the towns would handle services if the village dissolves.

Ridgeway residents outside the village currently pay a $6.71 rate for town, lighting and fire protection. That would rise 46 percent to $9.83 if the village dissolves and services are picked up according to the plan.

Shelby residents would see a 10 percent increase with dissolution with the current rate for outside-village residents going from $8.36 per $1,000 of assessed property to $9.17. That would raise taxes for a $70,000 home from $585 to $642.

The plan sees $277,000 in cost savings and $541,000 in additional state aid for $818,000 in overall benefit.

Village residents will have the final say in dissolution in a public referendum if the Village Board decides to put it on the ballot or if residents force a public vote through a petition.

MEDINA – The committee looking at a possible dissolution of the village of Medina government will meet at 8 a.m. Thursday at City Hall. It will be the committee’s first meeting since a May 6 public meeting, when most speakers were strongly against dissolution.

The committee will weigh public comments as it works to craft a final document that will be presented to the Village Board. Don Colquhoun, the committee chairman, said he expects the committee will be able to complete its work with another meeting after Thursday.

The Medina Dissolution Committee accepted a draft of the plan in April. It faced its first public scrutiny on May 6 when about 300 people attended a forum at the middle school. Many of the speakers at the May 6 meeting lived outside the village in the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby. They don’t want to see their taxes go up as part of the dissolution.

Outside-village residents in Ridgeway would see a 46 percent increase in their town taxes while Shelby residents outside the village would see a 10 percent increase in town taxes, according to the plan.

Dissolution would reduce the current rate for village residents in Ridgeway from $19.49 per $1,000 of assessed property to $14.30. That $5.20 reduction would save a homeowner with a $70,000 house $363 a year in taxes.

In Shelby, village residents currently pay a $19.80 rate for village and town taxes. That would drop by $6.70 or 34 percent if the dissolution plan takes effect.

Medina Mayor Andrew Meier sees dissolution as the first step of a two-step process for a leaner government. The tax increase outside the village could be reduced if the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby merge into the town of Medina, Meier has said.

Meier and others in the community are pushing “One Medina” as the ultimate goal for town/village government in the community.

If the village dissolution goes to a public referendum, only village residents will be eligible to vote.