Council Says Sidney Records In Compliance
May 12, 2020 at 2:59 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
On Feb. 22, the financial records were filed with the SBOA via Gateway, said town council President Sharon Rancourt. She noted she spoke with the SBOA last week and the subpoena for the town’s records that was issued in February has been rescinded.
There’s also monthly requirements for towns, Rancourt said. As a town, Sidney has to submit its bank records, its bank reconcilation and its monthly minutes, which have to be uploaded on a monthly basis. Rancourt did say the town is four months behind in that for 2020.
“Because we all just got on board, we’ve been in discussion with the State Board of Accounts and they gave us permission to go ahead and take our time to get organized,” Rancourt said. “They understand the situation and what we inherited in finding paperwork and sorting everything out. We are about ready to go ahead and get that submitted, which means that, quite frankly, that for the first time in many years, Sidney will be legal. We will be officially legal in our reports for the State Board of Accounts.”
Rancourt said the SBOA requires each town to submit their budget, as well as what the town spent their money on and their bank records, bank reconcilation and monthly minutes.
“In 2019, that was not done,” Rancourt said. She could not attest to records in 2018.
The budgetary requirements were addressed in February. The statements have not been addressed. She said from the town is just going forward.
The topic of disconnection for late sewer payments was also brought up.
Tim Woodward, superintendent of Turkey Creek Regional Sewer, plans to meet with the town council about the topic in an executive session to go over the legalities of it.
“People misunderstand what your responsibility is,” Woodward said.
The town has to renew its sewer license every five years. The current license is in Kenneth Koontz’s name because he was council president at the time it was renewed. Koontz died earlier this year.
Woodward said the town has to follow state laws, as well as county ordinances.
There’s several ways to disconnect a sewer, but with the permit, there’s a legal way Woodward says the town can do that.
During the executive session, Woodward plans on going over the legal ways to do that and the ramifications.
He said if you disconnect something, it could cause a problem somewhere else. He also noted Sidney is required to maintain its sewer system, which includes inspecting the system and collecting bills.
At April’s meeting, the town council talked about the possibility of digging at the street and disconnecting the sewer there. Woodward said that would be an estimated cost of $1,200, but it could be more since, in some places, the sewer line is deeper and the further you dig, the more it costs. He also said there are some places the line is 20 feet deep and there’s no way that it will be dug that far deep.
The issue will be discussed further during the executive session.
The board also discussed how long the term of council president would be. It was decided the term would be a year, starting Monday. After a year, depending on how council meetings fell, the council would vote again on who the president should be.
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On Feb. 22, the financial records were filed with the SBOA via Gateway, said town council President Sharon Rancourt. She noted she spoke with the SBOA last week and the subpoena for the town’s records that was issued in February has been rescinded.
There’s also monthly requirements for towns, Rancourt said. As a town, Sidney has to submit its bank records, its bank reconcilation and its monthly minutes, which have to be uploaded on a monthly basis. Rancourt did say the town is four months behind in that for 2020.
“Because we all just got on board, we’ve been in discussion with the State Board of Accounts and they gave us permission to go ahead and take our time to get organized,” Rancourt said. “They understand the situation and what we inherited in finding paperwork and sorting everything out. We are about ready to go ahead and get that submitted, which means that, quite frankly, that for the first time in many years, Sidney will be legal. We will be officially legal in our reports for the State Board of Accounts.”
Rancourt said the SBOA requires each town to submit their budget, as well as what the town spent their money on and their bank records, bank reconcilation and monthly minutes.
“In 2019, that was not done,” Rancourt said. She could not attest to records in 2018.
The budgetary requirements were addressed in February. The statements have not been addressed. She said from the town is just going forward.
The topic of disconnection for late sewer payments was also brought up.
Tim Woodward, superintendent of Turkey Creek Regional Sewer, plans to meet with the town council about the topic in an executive session to go over the legalities of it.
“People misunderstand what your responsibility is,” Woodward said.
The town has to renew its sewer license every five years. The current license is in Kenneth Koontz’s name because he was council president at the time it was renewed. Koontz died earlier this year.
Woodward said the town has to follow state laws, as well as county ordinances.
There’s several ways to disconnect a sewer, but with the permit, there’s a legal way Woodward says the town can do that.
During the executive session, Woodward plans on going over the legal ways to do that and the ramifications.
He said if you disconnect something, it could cause a problem somewhere else. He also noted Sidney is required to maintain its sewer system, which includes inspecting the system and collecting bills.
At April’s meeting, the town council talked about the possibility of digging at the street and disconnecting the sewer there. Woodward said that would be an estimated cost of $1,200, but it could be more since, in some places, the sewer line is deeper and the further you dig, the more it costs. He also said there are some places the line is 20 feet deep and there’s no way that it will be dug that far deep.
The issue will be discussed further during the executive session.
The board also discussed how long the term of council president would be. It was decided the term would be a year, starting Monday. After a year, depending on how council meetings fell, the council would vote again on who the president should be.
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