Berggren Steps in as Interim Highway Super

There’s a new man organizing the snow plows and taking care of the roads in the Town of Newfield. Glenn Casterline, former Highway Superintendent, resigned at the end of 2008 and Kevin Berggren was appointed as the new Deputy Superintendent. Berggrem will be acting superintendent until someone is hired.

Newfield Mobile Home Park Violating Codes

The Town of Newfield Board of Trustees is prepared to take the owners of Newfield Estates Mobile Home Park to court if code violations are not corrected by mid-January. Harry Wright, code enforcement officer, approached the board at its meeting on January 8 to report that a final notice had been sent to the owner of the park and that the next step is to have the court enforce action.

Wright explained to board members that the new owner of the park lives out of state and has never seen the property. The man had employed an on-site manager who left the area without notifying the owner, Wright said. The board’s main concern is road maintenance in the park. Unplowed and unsalted roads make it difficult for vehicles to pass and the board is concerned that emergency vehicles may not be able to reach a time sensitive situation.

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.

Stella’s Barn Expanding

Terry Ferrara originally opened Stella’s Barn, on Route 13, as a county gift shop to see if the location would draw traffic. Now that she has a steady flow of customers stopping by. Ferrara is shifting Stella’s focus from gift shop and restaurant to more of a calm place for food and a few drinks, complete with dining rooms, a new bar and lounge and a private party room in the works.

“It will be more of a full service restaurant, which is what the customers have been saying they want,” Ferrara said.

About three months ago Ferrara added a Sunday brunch menu to Stella’s line-up. The country buffet has classics like sausage and gravy but the restaurant also serves savory items like stuffed French toast. Ferrara said she never planned on serving breakfast but it has been a hit.

School Building Aid Rises with Drop in Local Incomes

The Newfield Central School District Board of Education had a short meeting on Thursday, November 7. The board appointed several new people to positions in the district and received a capital project update from Superintendent William Hurley.

Hurley reported that despite the state’s fiscal crisis, state building aid to the district has increased. The district’s relative poverty has increased, pushing building aid to almost 96 percent.

Because of the increase, the district will be unable to use its $40,000 state Excel aide on the capital project. Hurley said the district might be able to fund a side project with the money.

Schools to Share Software

Underlining text in Microsoft Word is simple, you just click the U button. But what if you want the line to be green and dotted? The Atomic Learning software now available through the Newfield Central School District teaches that skill and thousands of others through quick video demonstrations.

Last month the district subscribed to the online tutorial service that covers 110 popular computer programs with more than 35,000 video lessons. The company is designed specifically for students and teachers but “anybody who pays taxes in Newfield” can use the site. Paul Lutwak, director of informational and instructional technologies at the school, said community availability is an extra perk.

“[Atomic Learning] said when you buy it for the school they’d throw it in for the community also,” he said.

Big Helpers

There are more than 50 children on the waiting list for the One-to-One Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ithaca and Tompkins County program, and around 12 of those children are from Newfield.

One-to-One Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ithaca and Tompkins County is an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a mentoring program that focuses on giving children a responsible adult friend to learn from and interact with. Volunteer “bigs” are matched with a child age 6 to 14 who is in need of additional positive adult companionship. The Ithaca program was founded in 1974 and focuses on children who “slip through the cracks” because of family circumstances, such as busy single-parent homes, financially unstable households or homes where an ill family member requires more time and attention.

Brianne Limner, AmeriCorp Vista mentor program outreach coordinator at the Ithaca Youth Bureau, said most children on the program’s waiting list are from the City of Ithaca, but there is also a need in rural areas.

“Most of the kids from rural areas are from Newfield,” she said.

Newfield Ski Club Starting

Greek Peak Mountain Resort is an hour from Newfield but those who don’t want to make the drive can join the Newfield Recreational Ski and Snowboard Club and hop on a bus every Friday for six weeks during the winter.

Last year the club had about 20 members and already has that many people signed up for this year, said Joyce Frank, club advisor. The club is open to anyone interested in joining and has been around for several decades.

“There are some people in the community who are fiftyish and talked about being in the ski club,” Frank said.

The club sells passes to Greek Peak that gives members access to the mountain from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays. Once the club season ends, the passes may be used during the same hours until Greek Peak closes for the year but transportation will not be provided, Frank said. Parent passes are also available for adults who want to ski with their younger children (kids under six ski for free at Greek Peak). Though the club is open to everyone, its membership is largely a mix of high schoolers and middle school students, with a few elementary schoolers, Frank said.

“It’s a nice opportunity for the kids in the community to get outside,” she said.

Newfield Genealogy Group Shares Search Tactics

Few people in the United States today have ancestors that originated in this country. With the advent of the automobile and airplane it became more common for families to move not only from town to town, but across states. As time goes on and families become more spread out and older genealogy is becoming a growing hobby. Newfield recently started its own genealogy club to bring family history enthusiasts together.

The genealogy club meets at the Newfield Public Library once a month and had its second meeting on October 25. The club’s goal is to bring people researching their family history together to share stories, ideas and problems. Rosemary Rowland informally leads the group but much of the two-hour meeting consists of group sharing and individual discussion between members.

“Our genealogy group is very open,” Rowland said. “It’s not set in stone or anything. You might know things that we don’t know.”

The group is open to anyone interested in genealogy and currently has seven members researching histories in Newfield, Tompkins County and other states. Some of the members belong to old Newfield families and are connected to the Taggarts and McDaniels but other members, like Deb Weeks, are busy researching family lines in Canada, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

“A lot of people are researching [Newfield] but I’m not,” she said. “I just want to connect with people.”