The Fonda Blog

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.

written by admin \\ tags: Government, Professional

State Shifts Planned Replacement for Fonda Bridge

Gazette Reporter – August 7, 2008

Rt 5 & Rt 30A in Fonda, NY

Fonda, NY – Despite starting design work to build to the west, the state Department of Transportation will instead build the new Route 30A bridge to the eastern side of the structure that spans the CSX railroad at Route 5 in the village.

Residents and officials were dismayed when they learned in April that DOT officials were planning to buy land and build to the west of the bridge built in 1949. DOT Region 2 design engineer Stephen Zywiak said today the change in plans, prompted by those concerns, will delay by a year the project, originally planned to start in 2010.

Zywiak said the new, three-lane bridge will provide a left-turn lane for motorists to travel west on Route 5, or Main Street.  DOT officials have said the bridge carries about 11,300 vehicles daily with 13 percent of that being large truck traffic. The DOT has to perform inspections more often on the bridge due to its deteriorating condition.

written by admin \\ tags: Montgomery Co., Municipal, New York, News

Businesses to Make Way for Bridge

The Leader-Herald – August 5, 2008

Fonda, NY – Antoinette Capparello is enjoying what will be her last few months in the restaurant and catering business she owns on Route 5.  Capparello will lose her cafe after 18 years, not because of price increases, foreclosure or any other of the multitude of financial troubles affecting businesses. She will close it because of a bridge.

Antoinette Capparello, left, talks with customers Richard Blowers and Robert Green.

When the New York State Department of Transportation begins construction of the new Route 30A bridge, at least two village businesses will lose their locations and three others also may be affected.  Antoinette’s Cafe and Mike’s Pizzeria will be closed to make room for the new bridge. The Fairway Mobile gas station will lose about half its land to the construction. The Dairy Isle ice cream stand and Cathy’s Cafe also may be affected by the construction.

DOT spokeswoman Alice Romynch said the plans are not yet finalized, but the department is going to put the expanded bridge east of where it stands now.  She said the plans should be finalized within the next few months. Construction is slated to be completed in 2009.  As soon as the plans are finalized, a public hearing will be conducted to discuss the new bridge and its impact on the community, Romynch said.

The $3.5 million project will erect a new bridge replacing the almost 60-year-old structure that rises above the CSX railroad tracks.  It will be raised from about 21 feet to 23 feet high, and the state will add a left-turn-only lane from Route 5 west to Route 30A south, a right-turn-only lane from Route 5 east to Route 30A south and a left-turn-only lane from Route 30A to Route 5 west.

The bridge will remain open during construction to ensure traffic is not delayed. Approximately 11,000 vehicles travel over the bridge in a given day, and about 13 percent are tractor-trailers.  In 30 years, the DOT projects, the number will increase to 17,000. (…)

written by admin \\ tags: Montgomery Co., Municipal, New York, News

Cummins Northeast Introduces Alternative Energy Solutions to Fonda-Fultonville School District

Business Wire, August 3, 2004

Fonda-Fultonville Goes Off-Grid

Dedham, Mass. — Off-Grid, Co-Generation Facility Brings Significant Cost Savings to New York School District. Cummins Northeast Inc., exclusive distributor for Cummins Inc, a global power leader in the design, manufacturing, distribution and service of electric power generation systems, has announced the completion of its Fonda-Fultonville co-generation project in upstate New York. The first grid-independent, co-generation performance project of its kind in a New York school system, it provides the Fonda-Fultonville school district with all the energy necessary to heat and cool its single-campus institution, thus achieving significant energy efficiency and cost-savings.

“As a result of the Cummins Northeast off-grid project, we estimate that the Fonda-Fultonville school district will save $275,000 each calendar year,” said Glenn Goodale, Superintendent of Schools. “Instead of spending money on energy, we could now focus on reducing our budget, introducing new social and instructional programs, enhancing our district staffing, and directly impacting the teaching and learning programs.” Also see Energy Concepts

written by admin \\ tags: New York, Schools

Rensselaer Residents Vow to Fight Plan to Build Cell Tower

WTEN.com – March 20, 2008

Cell Phone Tower

The debate over a cell tower in the heart of Rensselaer may not be over. Two weeks ago, City Council approved a cell tower to go up next to City Hall. The city would collect just over $14,000 dollars a year in fees.

Residents say, however, it would cost them a whole lot more in lost property values.  The tower would be located less than fifty feet away from a neighborhood.

Resident Gloria Fonda said at a recent City Council meeting, “All of a sudden, no one is going to want to buy their home. Who on this council wants to look out their front door or their upstairs bedroom window to a tower 40 feet away?”

Residents plan to fight the tower. Their argument will rest on a provision in the city’s charter that requires a majority of the council to approve such a measure; with two members absent from the vote two weeks ago, that did not happen.

written by admin \\ tags: Buildings, Business