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Dec 25
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Fonda set to create Village Web site
Entering Village of Fonda from West Rt 5
FONDA – The Village Board unanimously approved a motion Monday to launch the village into cyperspace.
The trustees voted to contract with Digital Towpath, a government entity formed through municipal agreements that specializes in developing Web sites for smaller municipalities across New York state. Officials expect to have the site up and running within a few months, and it will help get residents and businesses more involved and informed.
“It’s better for the village to have a Web site so potential prospects who want to start businesses will have a way to get in touch with us,” Trustee Robert Galusha said.
The annual contract with Digital Towpath is not yet finalized. The village will pay about $600 a year for the service and will need no additional staff to maintain the Web site. The annual fee will include technical support for the system and phone and e-mail support for the software.
Fonda Main Intersection of Rt 5 and Rt 30A
“It’s a Web-based application and we provide access to the tools,” Digital Towpath Director Jeanne Brown said Tuesday. “Each municipality is responsible for the content on their site, and they don’t need technical knowedge. They just need to know how to use a word processer and open a browser to keep the site updated.”
Officials plan to use the site to post meeting times and minutes and an event calendar. Trustee Lynn Dumar said she hopes the site will have a feature that encourages taxpayers to ask questions of their elected officials. A newsletter published twice a year is the only village-sponsored information medium currently available.
“This will make people more aware of what’s going on and open more doors,” Mayor Kim Flander said.
Digitial Towpath powers several local municipalities’ Web sites, including the town of Johnstown, village of Canjoharie and town of Mayfield.
Headquartered in Syracuse, Digital Towpath went live with its first 10 municipal Web sites in 2000. In 2005, participating municipalities signed the agreement that formed the Digital Towpath Cooperative.
The village is not required to join the cooperative, but if it does, it will have a say in software changes, cost and the level of training included in the annual fee. Digital Towpath’s day-to-day operations are funded by annual fees.
Amanda Whistle covers Montgomery County. She can be reached at montco@leaderherald.com.
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Nov 08
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Lightning Strikes – Suffolk County
Hudson River
By Lt. Ken Didion
ECOs Vernon Fonda and Jason Curinga were checking fishermen at a popular spot in Shoreham as a thunderstorm approached. The officers had separated in order to complete their checks before the storm arrived. ECO (Environmental Conservation Officer) Fonda was talking with a fisherman when a person ran toward him screaming for help. ECO Fonda ran to where he saw a woman lying on the ground. The womans family members said she had been standing in the water when lightning struck nearby. A quick check revealed that the woman was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Officer Fonda immediately began CPR and the woman began to breathe on her own. When ECO Curinga arrived to assist, the woman lost her pulse and ceased breathing again. ECO Fonda resumed CPR, assisted by an EMT who had just arrived. The two rescuers revived the woman, and she was transported by helicopter to Stony Brook Hospital.
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May 04
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State to stick with Fonda bridge plans
Route 30A span won’t wait for bypass study
Daily Gazette – May 4, 2009
Fonda, NY – New York State Department of Transportation officials say they will go forward with plans to replace and expand the Route 30A bridge in Fonda regardless of whether the federal government conducts a feasibility study for a bypass highway connecting Thruway Exit 28 to Route 30A in Johnstown. Initially, the DOT had intended to build a replacement span on the west side of the existing Route 30A bridge in 2010, but after public outcry the plan was shifted to be built on the eastern side. The project is scheduled to start in 2011 and will cost an estimated $5.75 million, which would include alterations at the intersection of Route 5 to make it more suitable for heavy truck traffic.
Stephan Zywiak, left, of the New York State Department of Transportation discusses the plan to replace the Route 30A bridge with Fonda Mayor Kim Flander Thursday night. The DOT conducted a special meeting with residents who could possibly be affected by the project.
“The Route 30A bridge needs to be replaced. It’s a vital enough link that we would not let it deteriorate to the point where it would have to be closed,” DOT Region 2 public information officer Alice Romanych said. “[A Fonda bypass highway] would be a 12- to 15-year project … and the bottom line is we really can’t afford to wait until that feasibility study is completed before we replace the bridge.”
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said he’s been in contact with officials in both Fulton and Montgomery counties who want him to fight for a $2.4 million engineering and feasibility study for a bypass highway in the next federal transportation bill. Tonko said he’s ready to fight for the study because he believes a bypass highway could cut down on truck traffic and pollution in Fonda. “The feasibility study would provide for a thoughtful, analytical, steady process that gets the traffic from Exit 28 up to the Johnstown Industrial Park by circumventing the village of Fonda,” Tonko said. Supervisors in Fulton and Montgomery counties are poised to formally request the federal government provide 80 percent of the cost for the study, with the counties putting up a combined $480,000.
Fonda Mayor Kim Flander said she was surprised to hear the two county governments were lobbying for a feasibility study to build a highway bypass. She said state DOT officials told her in 2008 that constructing a bypass was not a feasible option as an alternative to replacing the Route 30A bridge. She said she supports the federal government feasibility study but wonders what the point would be after the state takes land from village residents to expand the bridge.
The bridge expansion will likely result in the state forcing the relocation of several Fonda businesses, including Antoinette’s Cafe at the eastern corner of routes 5 and 30A and Mike’s Pizza. “A year ago we talked to the state and asked them about a bypass. We were told a study was already done and based on that study it wasn’t cost effective to do the bypass,” Flander said. “If they’re going to conduct this study while they’re doing construction, I can’t comprehend why they are doing both.”
Romanych said replacing the Route 30A bridge is expected to result in the state purchasing slices of 10 properties and four entire parcels. She said the state hasn’t determined the cost of that part of the project. She said no formal study was done on the cost of building a Fonda bypass highway, but rough estimates indicate it would cost at least $35 million to $45 million.
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Feb 04
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Library bears brunt of wreck
Judy Smith, Deborah Kenyon and Mary Fonda survey the damage to the library children's section after a car accident Monday afternoon.
The Clay County Progress, Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Throwing the book at someone has a new meaning after a single car accident sent shelves and books flying at the Moss Memorial Library.
About 4:30 p.m. law enforcement officers responded to reports that a car had crashed through the library wall on the Main Street side of the building. No one was injured, but the library will remain closed until structural repairs are completed, librarian Mary Fonda said.
Fred Ogden, 80, of Waynesville, told the North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper that his foot slipped off of the brake while he and his wife were parking. Fonda said. His foot became lodged between the brake and the gas and the car crashed through the exterior wall, buckled the interior wall and crunched the white metal shelf support.
No citations were issued.
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Nov 04
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Freeport Says “No” to City Manager Referendum
WIFR.com – November 4, 2008
Freeport Boys and Girls Club
FREEPORT, IL – Freeport voters weighed in Tuesday on the city manager referendum and the numbers from Stephenson County show the measure failed.
A look at the numbers show 6,063 said no and 3,278 said yes to this ballot question. Supporters wanted someone trained in professional government running the daily city hall affairs and not Mayor George Gaulrapp. They say that’s a more efficient way of operating.
But opponents like Gaulrapp and didn’t see the need to hire someone else to do his job. The mayor says he’s glad to keep that job to continue a solid system at city hall under his leadership, but referendum supporters said the potential was there to make it even more solid.
“It works very well, it really does, it works well. You look both inside and outside this community and you see a changed city. You see a city on the move; a city working together.”
Dave Fonda says, “If we do a successful job in this community of transforming the government into a managerial form of government we’re going to be in a lot better footing than we are now.” Fonda was the man leading the charge for the city manager referendum. Going forward, he says he’s considering a possible bid for mayor in the next election.