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Aug 25
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Big plans in Fonda’s future
The Leader-Herald – August 25, 2017 – Kerry Minor, Reporter, kminor@leaderherald.com
Shown are conceptual plans for the future of Fonda. (The Leader-Herald/Kerry Minor)
Fonda – The village is planning a new comprehensive plan to plot out what the future of the village might look like. During Tuesday’s unveiling for the new Nathan Littauer Primary Care center, village mayor Bill Peeler discussed the plan, and how the new facility fits into it.
Peeler said the comprehensive plan will serve as a map of the wants of the community. He said the goal is to make sure village residents are getting what they want and not just what village officials preserve them as wanting. “We have a lot of ideas, but we want to make sure that is the vision that our people have,” Peeler said.
Peeler said the village has involved both communities and businesses both in and out of the village in the comprehensive plan. He said a draft plan has been created. Peeler said he is asking residents to let village officials know what they want to see and why they have chosen to live here. “This will go out to the public for approval and changes, amendments and the like, because we want to make sure what ever we are shaping is exactly what folks in our community want to have,” Peeler said.
Primary considerations for the plan is infrastructure and its impact on development. “We cannot have facilities like [Nathan Littauer Primary Care] if we cannot provide them proper services,” Peeler said.
Village Mayor Bill Peeler speaks during the event. (The Leader-Herald/Kerry Minor)
Peeler said recreational facilities are also part of it, along with historical preservation. Residential improvements to the older inventory of homes and creating new housing are touched upon in the plan. Economical development, disaster mitigation and fiscal planning are all a part of the plan. Peeler said the village is also looking at shared services, including meeting with the village of Fultonville. “A river does not separate us, it’s just a river. We are Fonda-Fultonville. We will always be Fonda-Fultonville,” Peeler said. “We want to work with our neighboring communities to keep improving not just our community, but their communities as well.”
Peeler said the village will look into creating a zoning plan. He said Fonda is one of only two communities in Montgomery County without zoning. “That is going to be vital to us getting grant funding,” Peeler said. The plans are not just economic however, Peeler said the village is looking to bring entertainment to the village park with a stage for concerts and other events and creating a campground facility.
Peeler said the county’s plan to move out of the Park Street Office Building and DPW facility will help the village with its waterfront vision. Peeler said the Park Street Building could be turned into condominiums and the DPW facility could be turned into an entrance to the campground. “The goal of our efforts is to make our community a place where we can enjoy our rural culture while seizing economic opportunities. A place you would want to come to visit and live,” he said.
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Feb 10
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Fonda Begins Neighborhood Watch
February 9, 2010 By Amanda Whistle, The Leader-HeraldFonda, NY – The village is a relatively safe place, according to Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Krug. Krug and village neighborhood watch coordinator Mark Scott want to keep it that way. The two organizers hosted the first neighborhood watch meeting in the village Monday night at the village firehouse on Route 5. Both said the neighborhood watch group is important because it gives citizens the tools to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement, brings the community together and engages youths.
Paul Krug, right, Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy and law enforcement liaison for the Fonda neighborhood watch, answers questions while coordinator Mark Scott, left, and his wife, Susan Scott, look on at the first Neighborhood Watch meeting in the village Monday at the Fonda firehouse.
“It’s not a group of vigilantes,” said Krug, the law enforcement liaison for neighborhood watch groups in the county. Krug said the group will host programs that will teach residents about “target hardening,” or how to make their homes less of a target for crime, CPR classes, and what to look for if one witnesses a crime. In the summer, the group would like to have barbecues and start opening up the meetings to be social gatherings as well as educational.
Scott said he’s seen the people in the community become less involved and said the village used to be friendlier. “I’d love to see it go back to a community,” Scott said. “I walk every day and there isn’t a person I don’t know and it should be like that [for everyone.]” Krug, who recently moved to the area, said the group can be used to welcome new residents.
“It’s networking with your neighbors,” Krug said. “It gives you an opportunity to meet more people.” “In general, we don’t have a high crime rate,” said village resident David Stone, who was at the meeting. “When I lived on Long Island, you go out and half the time you don’t know what you’re going to find.” “It’s the stupid little things that do happen here,” Scott said.
Interim village Volunteer Fire Department Chief Donald Wagoner attended the meeting and said he hopes the group can get more people in the village involved. Though the first group meeting didn’t garner much of a turnout, Krug and Scott said they understand people are busy and some are working two jobs to make ends meet. “When it’s something you care about, you can find the time,” said Susan Scott, Mark Scott’s wife. The volunteer fire department hasn’t been able to keep a lot of volunteers over the past decade, having gone from 45 volunteers in the 1990s to about a dozen today.
“The problem with the community is that people are so busy and they don’t want to [commit,]” Wagoner said. “This is one of the safest places and we want to keep it that way,” Susan Scott said. The village will hold monthly neighborhood watch meetings every second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the village firehouse.
Amanda Whistle covers Montgomery County. She can be reached at montco@leaderherald.com.
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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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Jan 01
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This is a duplicate of the listing on the fonda.org website.
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