The Town of Edinburg

   EDINBURG NEWSLETTER

April 2008                 42nd Edition

       GREETINGS FROM THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL

Well we survived another winter! Except for the lack of much needed precipitation and high heating costs, it wasn’t that bad of one. Hopefully the daily temperatures have reached the springtime level by the time you are reading this. If so, we can put an end to the high heat bills and wish for spring showers to help make up for the lack of snow.

And while April showers may bring May flowers, they will also signal the start of mowing season. For those of you who place flowers in the Cemetery; please make sure that all flowers, wreaths, flags, etc, are placed on the headstones so that they do not interfere with mowing and trimming.

Judy Beachy had a suggestion that I think could help all of us with maintaining flowers and other memorials placed in the Cemetery. When we have high winds, flowers and wreaths quite often are blown off the headstones. Judy suggested that we should all mark the name of the person these items are being placed for on the item. This could be done with a tag of some sort. Then when the items are found at the other end of the Cemetery, it would be possible to return them to the proper headstone. There are a number of individuals who walk through the Cemetery everyday. I’m sure many of them would be happy to help make sure things got back to where they belong. Thanks for the idea Judy.

Speaking of high winds, we certainly had our share of those this year. Between the natural things like tree branches and every conceivable type of box, bag and bottle, we all have some cleaning up to do outside this year. To help with this and general Spring Cleaning, we are scheduling a Big Trash Pickup on Monday, April 21. We decided on a Monday to give you the weekend to gather everything. So mark your calendars and have everything out on the curb for Monday morning.

And while you are noting this on the calendar, you might also want to mark down the 2008 Recycling Schedule. The every other Wednesday schedule for the rest of this year is as follows:

April 2, 16, 30           May 14, 28    June 11, 15   July 9, 23      August 6, 20             September 3, 17

                           October 1, 15, 29          November 12, 26                December 10, 17, 31

If you have any questions about what can be recycled or need a recycling bin, please contact the Town Office at 984-8521 or the Maintenance Department at 984-4592.

Something that the Town Hall continues to receive calls on is the Dogs around Town. Barking remains a problem. However, most of the recent complaints are about dogs running loose and the little (and sometimes not so little) “presents” they leave behind. If you own a dog, please be considerate of your neighbors. No one wants to listen to barking all day or night. If your dog is out for a run, you need to be hanging on to a leash and running right along with it. If Fido leaves a present on the sidewalk or in a neighbor’s yard, you need to clean it up. The Town has Ordinances that are in place to enforce the first two items. If the complaints continue about the third thing, Council will be forced to look into something to control this problem also.   I know our Maintenance Crew would support anything that would save them from the not too pleasant surprises they encounter while doing the trimming around Town.

Moving from the unpleasant to something everyone seemed to enjoy last year; it is time to plant the Urns along Main Street again. Sue Harshman and Judy Beachy have agreed to plant them again this year. And once again, the Town Crew will take care of watering them. Judy was able to winter some of last year’s plants in her greenhouse. They are looking for help to purchase the additional plants needed to complete the urns. The Town will fund part of this and we hope some of the Merchants will step forward again this year. However, if you enjoyed seeing the plants along Main Street and can afford to help, please consider a donation. Any amount will help. Donations may be dropped off at the Town Office.

A resident called to inquire about the Town’s drinking water supply in light of the recent reports of Pharmaceuticals Contaminating Water Supplies. Edinburg’s water source is from 2 wells with Microfiltration and Chlorine disinfection. The system undergoes a number of laboratory tests to assure its safety every month. We remain confident that our water supply remains safe and unaffected by the type of contamination reported in the recent articles from other areas.

Work is underway as you read this to further enhance the operation of the Town’s Water Treatment Plant. This project will provide our operator with the ability to continue full operation of the Plant while completing necessary backwashing and chemical cleaning of the filters. In addition, we will be retrofitting the existing filters with the latest Membrane technology.   This is a project that we have been working on for a number of years and look forward to its completion. A related project includes the construction of the Water Pump Station for the 200,000 Gallon Ground Storage Tank that was relocated to the site of our elevated water tank a year ago.

Once online, the Town will have approximately 800,000 Gallons of water storage at its disposal. We currently have an average daily water consumption of 145,000 gallons, so we will have a number of days of backup supply available if needed.   The Water Pump Station will also give us the capability to mechanically pressurize the Town’s water system if the elevated storage tank must be taken out of service for maintenance. We will also be installing something called a SCADA System to connect all of the components of our water system. This will allow us to automatically monitor and operate the various pumps and tanks to efficiently provide water to our residents.

We expect all of this work on the water system to be completed before the end of our current Budget Year on June 30. The Council is putting the finishing touches on next year’s budget right now.

As always, funding is tight. However there are no plans to increase any taxes or fees to residents in the new budget. The only increases proposed will be in some of the rental and admission fees at the Town Park and Pool.

Plans are in the works to complete more sidewalk replacement around Town in the current and new budgets. A long over due project at the Town Pool is planned for this coming fall. The interior plaster (concrete) of the pool will be replaced. As far as we know the existing pool interior is the original from the 1960’s. In recent years it has become a real maintenance problem and has even developed a number of cracks. Currently we spend $2,000-$3,000 in material and labor each year to paint the pool.

And while the paint improves the appearance, it doesn’t really do much to seal the ever growing cracks that have developed.

This is going to be an expensive but necessary repair if we plan to continue having a Town Pool. We have budgeted $40,000 for this work. Once completed, we will not be required to repaint the pool every year. The Pool Company estimates that we will get 20 or more years before we need to paint again. But more importantly, we will have repaired all of the cracks that threaten the integrity of the pool. Council is also planning to have a Safety Cover installed for use in the winter once the re-plastering is complete. The new cover will increase safety during the months when the Pool is closed. It will also stop the pine needles and leaves from entering the Pool during this time. Keeping this debris out will help with reopening the Pool every year and decrease the chance of staining the newly installed plaster finish.

One area that we could use help on with the Pool is how we ultimately do the Swimming Lane Markings. The preferred way is to have black ceramic tile lanes installed while the re-plastering is being done. The problem is that doing so adds an additional $5,000 to the project. At this time we do not have this additional money in the budget and might have to paint the lanes. So if you have an interest in the local swimming teams or the Town Park, we could really use your help to make this a first class project.

By now I’m sure you have heard about the Proposed Historic District Ordinance and Design Guidelines. The Planning Commission and Town Council have worked through comments that were received at Public Hearings held in October 2007 and January 2008. Changes have been made and reviewed, with the Planning Commission voting to recommend approval by the Town Council of the new Ordinance.

The Town Council had the first reading of the Proposed Ordinance at its March 11^th meeting. They also scheduled a Public Hearing for Monday, April 7^th at the Town Hall to again hear resident’s comments on the new Ordinance and Guidelines. There is a chance that the Council will be voting on this issue at the April 8^th meeting the following evening. If you have an interest in this, please plan on attending the Hearing on April 7^th.

You are also welcome to attend the Town Council Meeting on Tuesday, April 8^th. If you do, you will get to meet our newest Town Council Member, Ed Hite. Many of you already know Ed. He has wasted no time getting involved in his new post and we are all pleased to have him working with us.

Ed quickly had to make a decision about running again for the Town Council, as his term will expire on June 30, 2008. He, along with current Council Members Eloise Haun and Clyde Beachy, has decided to be placed on the ballot for the May 6^th Town Election. Even though they are running unopposed, we hope that you will come out and vote. They will definitely appreciate your vote of support.

That’s all the space I have for this Letter, so I guess I’m finished. Enjoy the Spring, and I will be writing again soon. Your Mayor, Dan Harshman

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