Penn Yan joins Keuka fracking opposition

    PENN YAN—Mayor Robert Church signed the Keuka Lake Watershed Township Agreement Monday, Aug. 27, which will be sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) to hopefully persuade him to prohibit hydraulic-fracturing (fracking) in the area. The agreement includes signatures from township representatives in the Keuka Lake watershed and requests that the governor protect the area from heavy industrial fracking.
    The mayor was authorized to sign the document by the village board during their meeting Tuesday, Aug. 21.
    At that meeting, Legislator Mark Morris said the Yates County Legislature has passed two resolutions to get the Keuka Lake watershed treated in the same regards as the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, in which heavy industrial fracking is not permitted. The governor is expected to come out with a statement regarding the permission of fracking in certain areas in the southern tier, so the board said signing the agreement would better allow them more time to study the issue.
    In other news:
    • The Tobacco Action Coalition of the Finger Lakes presented the board with information regarding tobacco users in Yates County and the benefits of a smoke-free outdoor environment. The group said they wanted the board to develop a policy to prohibit smoking on public outdoor areas like playgrounds and little league fields, but Christensen raised concerns about the inability to enforce a policy and the costliness of enforcing it if it were made a law. Coalition representatives agreed to present further information at the next parks and recreation committee meeting.
   • The board approved a resolution recognizing Rainbow Junction Child Care and its employees for their work, and designated Saturday, Sept. 22 as “Rainbow Junction Day” in the village.
    • The board set a public hearing for an amendment on the wastewater management chapter of the village code for Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m.
    • The board declined a parcel of land located on Sheppard and Johnson Avenue because it was of no current or future use to the village.
    • Former Dresden Fire Chief Ted Cox was approved as a member of Ellsworth Hose Company, while also taking former Chief Charles Garvey off the active roll.
    • Police Chief Mark Hulse was approved to attend several conferences, including the Missing Persons Tool Box Training along with Officer James Maciejewski Monday, Sept. 17, Threat Assessment in School Training along with Officer Jeffrey Dawes Tuesday, Sept. 18 and the Annual Finger Lakes Law Enforcement Executive Conference in Varysburg Saturday, Sept. 25 to Monday, Sept. 27.
    • The board approved bids from the municipal board, including a $32,075 bid from HMT to perform breaker maintenance at the Ryder substation, a $6,600 bid for Elliot Engineering Services to perform this year’s stray voltage study and a motion to allow Assistant Director Bill Jensen to attend the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Annual Meeting in Watkins Glen Thursday, Sept. 13.
    • The board recognized the public’s negative reaction to the idea of converting Water and Wagener Streets into one-ways, saying they will take it back to the public works committee and discuss it, even though it seems to be a dead issue from public opinion.
    The next Penn Yan Village Board meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. in the village hall.