Shelby Town Supervisor provides update on issues and projects in the town

Editor:

Town of Shelby residents have asked for transparency, so here goes…

The last Town Board meeting a request was made to the Town Board to assist with funding Basketball Courts at Butts Park.  The Board voted unanimously to fund $10,000 towards the Basketball Courts.

Recently the Town Hall parking lot was milled and paved.  A big thank you to Highway Superintendent Dale Root for coordinating with Keeler Construction to immediately start on the Town of Shelby project as soon as they finished milling the roads in the village of Medina. This coordination saved the taxpayers of Shelby approximately $5,000 in transportation costs if Keeler Construction was not already in the area doing work.

Superintendent Root also applied for grant funding to purchase a new dump truck/plow truck with Congresswoman Claudia Tenney’s office,  which if approved, could save the town approximately $300,000 for a new truck.

The heavy truck fleet is strong but tired. The cost of repairs are starting to rise and the trucks are starting to need more repairs as they age. I commend the crews on their maintenance and upkeep of the trucks. You can see the effort and pride they have in their vehicles, but season after season of salt takes a toll on the equipment. The Town Board has authorized Highway Superintendent Root to accept bids for two new plow trucks with plows to replace aging equipment. Updates will be forthcoming.

The Town Board has engaged the services of a local engineering firm to explore funding opportunities to establish a water district 13 which includes the east side of the Town of Shelby.

Recently I have been getting questions from concerned citizens about comments made by an unendorsed candidate for town council, who said that the National Wildlife Refuge Overlay near Fletcher Chapel Road, which the Town of Shelby approved, needs to be removed because no business can be established inside the overlay area.

The overlay surrounding The Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect the Refuge which is a unique natural resource in the Town of Shelby. If you go to NYS Local Law look-up and search Town of Shelby Local Law #3 of 2017, it clearly defines businesses that are allowed in the overlay district.

That area is zoned Agricultural/Residential. It does allow for home-based businesses such as vehicle repair shops, bed and breakfasts, even a campground up to 10 acres in size, among others. What it does not allow for is commercial or industrial-type businesses.

So to answer the concerns, yes the overlay district does restrict commercial and industrial-type businesses. However that does not mean you can not have a business in the overlay area. If you are interested in starting a business in that area, contact the Code Enforcement Officer at the Town Hall.

I received an email that I think every taxpayer in the Town of Shelby should be made aware of.  The email I received was addressed to the Town of Shelby Supervisor and it was from The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 8, Regional Permit Administrator.  The email was a notification that a renewal mining permit was issued to Frontier Stone LLC of Wilson, NY for the Frontier Stone Quarry on Fletcher Chapel Road-Sour Springs Road in Shelby.

If any resident is interested in obtaining a copy of the mining permit, it will be available at the town hall.

Respectfully,

Scott Wengewicz

Supervisor

Town of Shelby