Township Board Prepares For 2018
Turkey Creek Township Advisory Board Monday, Jan. 8, prepared for the coming year by electing new officers and taking action on the township’s anti-nepotism and ethical oversight policies.
The board elected Dennis Darr to serve as president and Barb Griffith as secretary for 2018.
Township attorney Andrew Grossnickle distributed certification forms for the board members’ signatures.
“Every year each member needs to certify in writing their compliance with anti-nepotism policies,” he explained. “We need to have a record and have the signatures in the file.”
Not having the certifications on file can cause delays in state approval of the township’s budget, according to Township Trustee Barb Griffith.
Grossnickle also prepared a resolution for the board’s approval naming the members of the township’s obligatory oversight committee. The resolution replaced Kim Cates, who is no longer a board member, with new board member Sylvia Gargett.
“All members of the board except the township trustee are members of the committee,” said Grossnickle.
Griffith presented the township’s year-end financial report. December’s expenditures included an $810,342.94 transfer to the fire territory, bringing the 2017 total to $2,059,804.59. The township also paid $4,530.85 in insurance premiums.
Poor relief disbursements for December included $650 for rent and $2,348.64 in utilities. The township received a $149.96 refund from NewMarket for payment of a bill that was inadvertently charged twice.
The township spent $1,785.73 for food for needy residents in 2018, considerably down from previous years.
“We have been telling residents to apply for food stamps and try the food banks” before requesting poor relief funds, said Griffith.
In all the township disbursed $39,393.86 in poor relief in 2017. Griffith also reported she will transfer 20 percent of 2017’s excess funds to the 2018 rainy day fund. Exact figures were not available at Monday’s meeting.
Turkey Creek Fire Chief Mickey Scott filed his year-end report, noting his department responded to 193 fire calls and 1,168 EMS calls in 2017.
He also noted department personnel completed 228.25 hours of training in December. The department will participate in an eight-hour training course Saturday, March 10, at the Syracuse Community Center.
The course will be conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and will entail first responder training for “freight car incidents involving hazardous materials, specifically crude oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids,” said Scott.
The training will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is open to the public.
The board will next meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, at Syracuse Town Hall.