TOWN BOARD MEETING REPORT 7/14/03

Sometimes I think I'm the only one to get the joke. Perhaps it's just because I see these things from a different standpoint or perhaps it's… Oh who knows why, but there came a point at last night's meeting where I would have spit out my coffee if I were drinking some at the time. I did my best to choke back a laugh and I think it worked but it sure was funny. So, what happened you ask? Well, I'll tell you. And by the way I just love it when I'm proven right, not that I don't believe I'm right almost all the time but I just love it when people realize I am and it annoys them. I guess annoying is what the town board would think whenever they think of me but I digress… again… Ok ok here's what happened. Tom Fox resigned from the town board and the Water Protection committee right. You remember that from a few months ago. Betty Pitman, supervisor had to appoint a replacement for the Water Protection committee post. Now Betty could have picked someone from any of the 1,500 residents of Preble, heck she could have picked ME and wouldn't that have been a hoot. She didn't. She looked all over, high and low and when she looked into the barrel she saw Peter sitting on the bottom and picked him for the WTP. Yep, that's right… She picked Peter Knapp for the Water Protection Committee! If you wanted proof that the WPC was a joke you have it now. Peter Knapp was the supervisor/code enforcement officer when he told Song Mountain to put in that illegal well AND when he told Flying J to ignore the buffer zone law. It was Peter's brother who got ALL the Farmland Protection money after engineering the illegal rezone of his brother land. AND who can forget that it was Peter who signed the permit for his brothers Cell Tower. Now Peter will be on the committee that will oversee new changes to our laws that will protect our water etc. PAULEZZE you just gotta see the humor in this. Did Betty think for a split second that this joke would go unnoticed? She's not that big a fool, she must have been under pressure to do it. After all it was Betty who was most hurt when that Cell Tower went in so why would she appoint Knapp for this? The "Who's Got What On Who In Preble" book must be bigger than the Encyclopedia!

But Wait, there's more…

Dean Smith also resigned as chair of the Planning Board and HE was also on the WPC. Will he also resign from the WPC and if he does who will Betty appoint to fill his position? I don't have a clue but I doubt it will be as funny as Peter Knapp on the Water Protection Committee… I gotta admit that for me this Town Board is a gift that keeps on giving. I just gotta write a book about this, it'll make a million… But who would believe it?

In other news…

WELCOME TO PREBLE! Barden Homes came to the meeting and told us they wanted to move their Homer operation to Preble on a 25 acre hunk of land just North of Saulsbury. This is GREAT news! This is the type of company Preble should be looking for. They run a clean operation, 25 years in Homer with no complaints. They employ about 100 people, maybe more will be hired once they get under way. They plan to break ground this fall and move in next June.

http://www.bardenhomes.com
http://www.saulsburyfire.com
(Yeah, I know the links don't click, I was in a hurry, just copy the links and paste them into your browser.)

Attention Seniors

Cortland Transit runs a bus service in Cortland County. They want to get input about running a bus from Preble to the senior home in Scott on Friday's. If you are interested there is a survey at the post office you can fill out or you could call them at 607-758-3383. They also offer Dial-A-Ride service county wide which means that you can have them come to your house and take you anywhere in the county for $4. Quite a deal. For details call the above number or check their website at:

http://zeua.odyssey.net/subscribers/corttrans/

Or email at: corttrans@odyssey.net

The representative from Cortland Transit left some flyers and other stuff that is available at the town hall or post office.

ONE LAST JOKE
During the discussion about Barden Homes Don Armstrong said his office worked for Barden on occasion and he would have a conflict of interest and couldn't represent the town in this matter. The joke? This is the first time in the many times in the past when Armstrong had a conflict of interest and he offered to step aside. I'll be going into that sometime in the future but for now the joke may only be funny to me, but then again I often find hypocrisy funny.