Watkins proposes 20 mile per hour speed limit

    WATKINS GLEN—The Watkins Glen village board introduced a local law to regulate traffic, parking, standing and stopping at its regular meeting held on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Local Law No. 2 of Year 2012 is set for a public hearing and a vote by the board during the regular meeting scheduled for Monday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in the municipal building. If passed, the law is scheduled to become effective Dec. 1, 2012 except for any portions requiring State approval.
    If it passes, the new traffic law sets a maximum village speed limit of 20 miles per hour unless otherwise specified. State Highways 329, 414, 409 and 419 will remain 30 mph along with Lee Road and Route 14. The school zone, which includes Clarence, S. Perry, S. Porter and portions of 12th and Decatur, will be 15 mph from 7 a.m until 6 p.m. on school days.
    The local law also sets out the odd/even parking requirement that is in effect from Nov. 1 each year to March 31. To be in compliance with the proposed law, vehicles parked east of Franklin Street must be parked on the odd side of the street on odd numbered days and on the even side of the street on even numbered days from 12:01 a.m. to 6 p.m. on those days. Variances in alternate parking are allowed under the direction of the superintendent of public works, presumably for the Code Red alert system to be utilized as it was over the past winter.
    Franklin Street pedestrians will be prohibited from crossing except for in designated crosswalks under the proposed law. Which also sets out one way streets, stop and yield intersections, areas where parking is prohibited, penalties for certain offenses and the process by which those penalties can be challenged. The full text of the proposed traffic law is available for review by request at the clerk’s office.
    In other business:
    • Utilities superintendent Mark Specchio voiced concerns over the current construction occuring on Steuben Street in the village. He explained that the contractor doing the work was reusing partially rusted out pipes for drainage and showing little regard for village utilities. He said that although the contractor seems reasonable, the problems are due to the New York State Inspector pushing them to complete the project as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, because it is a state project, the village has little control, however Specchio said that he and other village employees have monitored the project to prevent village utilities from being compromised.
    • The village is in the process of entering into a consent order with the Department of Environmental Conservation because of past alleged violations relating to the wastewater treatment plant. Part of that order, explained Mayor Swinnerton, is to correct the amount of inflow infiltration from the storm water system into the waste water system. Swinnerton requested that more smoke testing be done on the system in the near future as the time line for making corrections may be limited.
    • The Board approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Swinnerton to enter into an inter-municipal agreement with surrounding affected jurisdictions to hire the law firm Davidson & O’Mara to contest the real property assessment revision action filed by Wal-Mart.
    The next regular meeting of the board is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in the municipal building.