New Hartford fails to collect dispatching fees from N.Y. Mills

By ELIZABETH COOPER

Observer-Dispatch

Posted Mar 09, 2010 @ 07:42 PM

Last update Mar 09, 2010 @ 08:57 PM

NEW HARTFORD —

The Village of New York Mills hasn’t paid for emergency dispatch services it’s been getting from the Town of New Hartford since 2008.

It’s all because of an apparent oversight by the town, according to officials from both municipalities.
New Hartford officials failed to send New York Mills a new contract for 2009 and 2010, New Hartford Supervisor Patrick Tyksinski said.

In 2009, the bill was for $10,725; and for 2010 it was $11,260, town records show.

Tyksinski, who took office in New Hartford on Jan. 1, expressed consternation at the discovery.
“How you can forget to renew a contract I don’t know,” he said. “Especially when you are in the financial shape this town is in.”

The new contracts are supposed to be renewed 30 days prior to the expiration of the last one, so the contract for 2009 should have been set by Dec. 1, 2008 and the one for 2010 by Dec. 1, 2009, Tyksinski said.

Despite the nonpayment, New York Mills did receive the dispatch services it had in the past, Tyksinski said.

New York Mills Mayor Rob Maciol said his village had budgeted for the expenditure both years, but had not paid them because no contract was supplied by New Hartford.

“We can’t pay a bill until we get a bill,” he said. The money will be paid once the paperwork is in order, he said.

Maciol also said he wants to make sure he pays the proper amount for 2010, since Tyksinski is planning to consolidate the New Hartford dispatch center with that of Oneida County soon. The merger is supposed to be complete by the end of this year. Once it’s accomplished, all calls the New Hartford center fielded, including those for New York Mills, will go to Oneida County’s dispatch center in Oriskany.

During the four-year tenure of Tyksinski’s predecessor Earle Reed, the town burned through almost all of its $2.8 million in reserves. Additionally, numerous financial mistakes from those years have been discovered.

Reed, reached at his home in Florida, said he didn’t know why the contracts hadn’t been sent out.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I don’t know who would handle that.”

Dispatch Center Supervisor Jeff Madden and town police Chief Ray Philo could not be reached for comment.

New Hartford also has contracts with Whitesboro and Yorkville for dispatch service. Tyksinski said he is researching the status of those contracts.