Brockport officials discuss Advisory Committee requirements

Brockport officials discuss
Advisory Committee requirements

Do members of the Brockport Advisory Committee have to be village residents, or does having a interest in the village make one eligible?

That was a question raised during the August 27 board meeting by Vice Mayor Connie Castaneda, who was filling in for Mayor Mort Wexler who was excused from the meeting.

"I have Pat Kutz (owner of Lift Bridge Books), a village merchant, who wants to be part of the Village Advisory Committee. She doesn't live in the village but is a merchant here who has a vested interest in the community," Castaneda said. "The idea behind the committee was to be inclusive, I don't know that we made a decision to not include merchants."

Trustee Hanny Heyen said board members should look at the mission statement of the Advisory Committee and ascertain what its purpose and focus are. "I'd like to see more residents serving on the committee," she said. "The merchants do have an association and through that group and by coming to any meeting they are invited to voice their opinions."

Castaneda reminded trustees of how hard it is to round up volunteers. "The Advisory Committee is an informal committee and I don't see a problem in letting those who want to volunteer be a part of it. The committee was made to help neighborhoods and the larger community, I don't see that having an interested merchant would hinder the mission," she said.

Trustee David Wagenhauser just asked, "Why? I know Pat is a great person and that she operates a business in the village and owns the building that Lift Bridge is in but my concern is, is the committee open to everyone or just village residents?"

"She is a taxpayer in the village, I don't understand the fear of having a merchant be a part of the Advisory Committee," Castaneda said.

Wagenhauser said that the board should look at the mission of the committee and then if it warranted it, to look at changes.

"I just think the committee should be open to persons with vested interests in this village," Castaneda said.

In other matters the board:

•Heard from Scott Zarnstorff that the code enforcement office is on track to surpass the 2006 inspection figures. "Last year we did 1,500 inspections total and as of now we have surpassed that mark," he said.

•The code office has also issued 30 permits and applications, five of them for new homes in the subdivisions.

•Fire Chief Timothy Rombaut reported there were 581 fire calls and 1,282 EMS calls to date. "We are going to surpass last year's calls," he said.

•Police Chief Dan Varrenti said the village will be borrowing "plate reader" cars from the Town of Greece Police Department. "The cars are equipped with cameras that read the plates and spit out information on whether the plates are expired, suspended and any number of other items," he said. Officers will be using it in the village for several weeks.