Petition To Dissolve Lakewood NY Successful
Posted by Richard Benedetto on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 at 11:48am.
LAKEWOOD - Around 300 people in the village of Lakewood are prepared to vote for dissolution.
On Wednesday, Dr. Rudy Mueller, Merge And Lower Taxes Committee member, Democratic county legislator and Lakewood resident, told The Post-Journal that the committee - with both residents of Busti and Lakewood - has gathered enough signatures on its petition to put the issue of dissolving Lakewood up for a public referendum vote.
The committee formed about a year ago to look into the idea of consolidating the village and the town. At the same time last year, the Lakewood Village Board formed its own committee of village residents to also look into the possibility of merging the two municipalities.
Mueller said the committee is preparing the signatures to present to village officials to certify that 10 percent of registered voters from the last election signed the petition. Mueller said the group gathered around 300 signatures, with around 230 needed.
As for the public referendum, Mueller is hoping that an election on the issue can be held at the same time as the primary elections held in September. Mueller said he doesn't know what the primary election races would be, but it would be better than holding a special election on the issue of dissolving the village alone.
''We're hoping that the vote could happen with the primary election in September. That way the village can save money by not having an additional special election,'' he said. ''Hopefully, this way there could be more of a turnout because of the primary, too, instead of just one issue.''
Mueller said the committee has discussed public meetings to help inform the public.
''We want the public to be educated on this issue,'' he said. ''We feel we've done our homework.''
Joe Troche, Lakewood Village Board's ad hoc consolidation committee chairman and village trustee, has said along with other members of the Lakewood Village Board that more information and research is needed before a public vote on dissolving the village.
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Share6 Responses to "Petition To Dissolve Lakewood NY Successful"
It's a sad, sad day when people are asked to vote on an issue that needs to be researched and discussed beforehand. When the people of the VILLAGE OF LAKEWOOD hear both sides to this issue, I am confident that they will vote NO! Once this is voted on, there is no turning back because it didn't work. This isn't East Randolph. (No disrepect) There is more at stake here then just a minimal savings on taxes. Please come to the hearing on July 14th!!
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 2:53pm.
Hi Richard,
I am a 20+ year resident of Lakewood (10+ year home ownership). Since you posted this announcement you can probably anwer a few questions related to this subject (or, please let me know if and where this information has already been posted).
1) What are the tax implications related to this issue? -- i.e., how much less would home owners have to pay in annual taxes (please provide $100K, $200K, $300 ballpark)?
2) What community services would the residents of Lakewood lose if this proposition is inacted?
I heard the only service the town of Busti does not provide is a garbage collection. Is this true?
Thank you,
Val
Posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 11:09pm.
Hi Val,
Thank you for your post.
Dissolving the Village is not going to have much, if any savings to the tax payers.
If the village is dissolved the services for street lighting, sidewalks etc: would be renamed to a district tax from what I understand.
Merging of services is needed with the County to save money.
Example: Why do we need so many Police Chiefs throughout the County? Chautauqua County asked Jamestown to hold off on appointing a new police chief to explore merging that position with the County, did they? No
My question is why can
Posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 11:24am.
I would like to know how the petitions were handled. Were forms distributed to various businesses for residents to review and sign if they wished to do so or did they go door to door? If it were the latter, there are many residents in the Village of Lakewood who were never approached. I would hate to see the dissolution go through as there are still so many "unknowns" and frankly, although there are legal steps involved for this process, the cart is before the horse no matter how you look at it!
I have lived in the Village of Lakewood for 23 years. Mayor Caprino and the Board of Trustees have done a super job maintaining great services as well as bringing in new businesses to the area. Lakewood has grown considerably and yet maintains a hometown, friendly atmosphere. If consolidation is to be considered, consider a small entity of services, not a whole Village.
Thank you for your time and look forward hearing from you.
Posted on Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 3:26pm.
Hi Nancy,
I am not sure how the petitions were handled. Well even though many residents were not approached they will get their chance to vote.
I think Mayor Tony Carpino has done a great job for the Village of Lakewood. I have told Tony several times he should be the Mayor of Jamestown. Tony is a no nonsense guy when he knows something is good for the village he will get things done no matter what the political consequences are.
As I mentioned in an earlier post I am for merging of services. Celoron, Falconer, Lakewood and Jamestown should merge services and run as one. There would be many tax saving benefits to merging services.
Celoron, Falconer/Ellicott, Lakewood and Jamestown population do not total more than what Jamestown was 20 years ago. Twenty years ago Jamestown had a population of approximately 40,000 people and were run by one entity.
Today Celoron, Falconer/Ellicott, Lakewood and Jamestown population together are approximately 40,000 people but we still have 4 entities of government.
I see no reason to have 3 school superintendents, 3 police chiefs, 4 highway superintendents and the list goes on.
My vote would be to have Tony Caprino run the four merging communities.
Sincerely
Richard Benedetto
Posted on Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at 12:09pm.
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Why on earth would the "politicians" and the powers to be want to dissolve this beautiful village?
Posted on Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 12:09am.