Van Etten Mayor, Trustees to Seek Re-election

The Village of Van Etten Fire Department currently has a machine to make reflective green address signs. Fire Chief Scott Rodman told the village Board of Trustees that the department will finish the signs that have already been ordered, then may go door to door offering signs to other residents.

Until recently the department as been relying on a neighboring municipality for the signs, which make it easier for emergency services to locate addresses. A single-sided sign costs $15 and double-sided is $18.

The board set March 18 as election day for the village. Voting will take place from noon until 9 p.m. Two trustee positions and the mayorship are open and current mayor James Ammack and trustees James Loomis and John Sandusky plan to run for re-election. Each person seeking a position must have a petition signed by 10 residents submitted to the village by February 10. The village will not be holding a voter registration day this year.

Newfield Planning Board Starts Town Plan

The Town of Newfield Planning Board spent the first few months of its existence attending training sessions and learning about the job at hand. Now that the board is eight months old, its members are beginning work on the town’s comprehensive plan.

Gary Goff, chair of the planning board, said the group was formed to first create a comprehensive plan for the town and later to deal with other issues regarding building in Newfield.

“That’s always been our goal,” Goff said. “From day one it’s been write a comprehensive plan. That’s the only thing we’re working on.”

Goff said creating the comprehensive plan and researching how the town functions are vital to being able to address bigger issues. Right now residents could attend planning board meetings to bring an issue to the board’s attention but its members would not know about details or how to fix it.

“Someone can come and want to talk about traffic issues but we don’t even know about that yet,” Goff said. “We’re not ready to tackle an issue.”

Fire Budget Approved at $316K

The Town of Newfield Board of Trustees and the Newfield Fire Company came to an agreement on the 2009 fire contract only days before the new year started. The two organizations had been discussing the fire budget over the past several months but did not sign a formal agreement until a special meeting on December 30.

The town budget allotted $311,000 to the fire company, but the final amount in the contract totaled $316,068. The extra money is from a contingency reserve fund built up from interest and money not spent by the department. Ultimately, the fire company’s budget is not as high as it initially requested.

TCSD Foundation to Make Teaching Grants

The Trumansburg Central School District (TCSD) Foundation has sent students to Street Survival Driving School, sponsored special speakers for both students and parents and brought a brain gym program to Trumansburg. After reaching the $10,000 mark during the summer, the foundation is back to fundraising and is soliciting grant proposals for its 2009 winter awards schedule.

Lindsay Hart, foundation board member and public relations chair, said the foundation gives out three types of grant throughout the year: teaching grants, blue and gold grants and new technology initiative grants. A grants committee awards the money during each cycle. The committee decided to focus on teaching grants this time around.

“That’s open to anybody in the area that teaches or instructs, so it doesn’t have to be a teacher per se,” Hart said. “It can be a dance instructor or a blacksmith who wants to do a class on blacksmithing.”

It’s Not Too Cold for Ice Cream

he ice cream cone cutout has disappeared from the Not My Dad’s sign for the winter and the benches are stacked up in front of Trimmer’s, but Cayuga Lake Creamery in Interlaken still has its doors open for those seeking ice cream.

The creamery, which opened five years ago this April, has shortened hours and is closed a few days a week during the winter but remains open all year long. Judy Gonroff, owner, said things definitely slow down during the colder months but people still come in, especially on sunny days. Local wineries help by sending people who are looking for food to the creamery, she said.

“Even though it’s not tourist time they still come,” Gonroff said. “On the weekend Route 89 is still fairly busy.”

Cayuga, Seneca Wine Trail Host Winter Party

Events where people can hop from one winery on the Cayuga Wine Trail to the next for a day or weekend aren’t out of the ordinary. But an event that doesn’t require a ticket and includes wineries on the Cayuga Trail, the Seneca Wine Trail and vineyards not affiliated with either trail only happens once a year. The seventh annual Between the Lakes Winter Wine Party will be held from 11 am until 5 pm on January 10.

The party is partly the brainchild of Kip Kalfs, manager of the tasting room at Sheldrake Point Vineyard, and isn’t an official Cayuga Wine Trail event.

“It started about seven years ago when me and the former manager at Knapp Winery were talking and saying that there’s nothing [in the winter] to let the people know that we’re still open and the wineries still exist,” he said.

The party now features 31 wineries along Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Kalfs said every winery between Ventosa Vineyards and Atwater Estate Vineyards on the Seneca Trail and between Montezuma Winery and Americana Vineyards on Cayuga is participating this year.