In the letter recently circulated by Mayor David Truax; the
following response has become necessary.
To quote this letter, Mayor Truax states “The New York State
CHIPS program (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program)
provides reimbursements to municipalities for approved street projects and
related equipment.” Clearly the CHIPS money has not been spent on street
repairs as you can drive around the Village and see that they are in desperate
need of repair or replacement. He also stated that most of the equipment has
not been purchased with taxpayer money but, purchased with CHIPS money which
can be used for this purpose. Reality check, CHIPS money is TAXPAYER money
after all we Village Taxpayers are also STATE TAXPAYERS. All of the CHIPS money
spent on equipment is now unavailable for street repairs and improvements.
I have posted real numbers for equipment purchases, these
numbers were supplied by the Village Clerk (these are attached to this letter).
A majority of the equipment was purchased on lease agreements and the money was
borrowed so we are paying interest. The Village purchased a used 2006 Peterbilt
with a plow, yet we still have the old Chevy dump truck. Why do we need 2 (two)
dump trucks? The Village also purchased a new International bucket truck as the
board was advised in 2013 that “the old Ford bucket truck would not pass
another State certified inspection.” Presently we are in possession of 2 (two)
bucket trucks as the “old” truck DID pass inspection and 4 (four) years later
is still in use. Concerned taxpayers have asked me “Why purchase new equipment
if there are no real repairs being made to our streets with this new
equipment?”
The Mayor also references the 3 (three) different accounts
that are self-funding, to include equipment purchases, why then did the Village
need to borrow money for these? Would there have been a surplus that could have
been used for something else, instead of equipment? All of the money in ANY
fund of the Village in reality IS taxpayer money. A good question for the Mayor
is “There was an alleged surplus in the 2012 General Fund, what was the money
spent on?” How much is in the General Fund presently?
Also to quote Mayor Truax “the board does not want to invest
a lot of taxpayer’s money on street paving at this time due to the possible
future installation of water and wastewater lines.” The use of POSSIBLE FUTURE could be next
year; 10 (ten) years from now or even not at all. The water lines in the
Village were replaced within the last 10 (ten) years with the exception of a
couple of streets. When are the streets going to be repaired and with what
money?
To continue to quote the Mayor, “last fall the Village
purchased 4 (four) drain boxes that, weather permitting will soon be installed.”
If purchased in the fall of 2016 why “weather permitting” are they to be
installed in the spring of 2017? And it should be noted that in the July 9,
2013 Board of Trustees meeting minutes “Drain boxes are more important right
now than resurfacing the streets” if this was true then it took OVER 3 (three)
YEARS to order but not yet install those drain boxes.
As stated before we would all like to see Andover
revitalized and restored to where it can be a place we are all proud to call
home. This will not be a quick and easy task due to the financial shape of the
Village, but we would like to be part of the solution. Give us that chance.
On Tuesday, March 21st from 12:00pm to 9:00pm at the Andover
Community Center use your right to vote to make a change. Vote Matt Zengerle as
a write-in for Mayor, Patrick Vance and Merle Michael Dibble for trustees.
We appreciate everyone’s support.
Mike Dibble
