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VOLUME 135 — WHOLE 7097
Crash Claims Life Page 9
Tina Molé Re-elected as Del. County Chairwoman
TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2018
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DA’s Jasper Koota, NYSPHSAA’s Captains Club Student Athlete Page 13
Sidney Man Wins $1 Million Jackpot in Masonville
Additional Appointments Approved By Rosie Cunningham DELHI - The Delaware County Board of Supervisors held the 2018 organizational meeting Wednesday, Jan. 3. Bovina Supervisor Tina Molé was re-elected for a second term as board chairwoman. “I would like to thank my colleagues on the board for supporting me,” she said. “I would also like to thank employees and departments of the county as well. We are a well-oiled machine, we are the figureheads, but it is truly the employees that do the work.” Molé added that she enjoys her position as chairwoman. “We have had a lot of chal-
lenges,” she said. “Last January, I had a brief honeymoon period before the issues regarding the Office of the Aging and the Department of Public Works (DPW) came up.” Molé said some of the accomplishments on behalf of the supervisors in 2017 include the completion of the emergency services tower, keeping taxes under the tax cap and relocating the OFA to the current address on Main Street. “That is one of the best things we have done this year,” she said of the OFA relocation. On tap for challenges this year, Molé said, are the new facilities for the Department of See BOS Meeting page 3
Hamden Town Board Hears Presentations, Makes 2018 Determinations By Sara Andros Two presentations were made at the town of Hamden meeting on Jan. 3. The first was made by Maureen Blanchard, the project director for Healthy Schools and Communities. She came before the board to discuss the “Complete Street” project, a grant program funded by the Department of Health. “Roads should be safe for all users,” said Blanchard. That includes walkers, runners, bikers and individuals with disabilities. The goals of the Complete Street project are to encourage walking and riding for exercise, to make streets easier to navigate for the elderly and disabled, and to help the environment by decreasing automobile usage. Blanchard
said that not all roads would require the same treatment. Changes as simple as adding signage or painting white lines on the edges of streets to slow down traffic could make a big difference. Installing sidewalks or bike lanes in certain locations can save lives. One area Blanchard suggested might benefit from sidewalks was the road near Delaware Opportunities. Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield questioned who would be responsible for maintaining and removing snow from the sidewalks and Blanchard said that it would be the town’s responsibility. Marshfield commented that the town doesn’t have a lot of resources to do that. Blanchard said that at this point she was just asking the town to See Hamden Town Board page 4
Take Safety Precautions In the Biting Weather By Rosie Cunningham DELAWARE COUNTY - It hasn’t just been cold in the region this past week, it has been well below freezing.
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Heather Warner, public health programs manager for Delaware County Public Health Services discussed what precautions should be taken during the cold winter weather. “When the weather is extremely cold, try to remain indoors, but if you must go outside, dress properly for the conditions - wear a hat, a scarf or knit mask that covers your mouth, a water resistant winter coat, mittens or gloves, several layers of loose-fitting clothing, and water resistant boots,” she said. “When going outside make sure body parts most often affected by frostbite are covered in warm, dry clothing - nose, ears, toes, cheek, chin and fingers.” Warner said people most at risk are the elderly and inSee Cold Weather Safety page 5
Rosie Cunningham/The Reporter
Yolanda Vega hands lottery winner Donald Savastano an oversized $1 million check Wednesday in Masonville. By Rosie Cunningham MASONVILLE - A Sidney man is feeling like a million bucks. Donald Savastano, 51, hit the lottery on a Merry Millionaire ticket, winning the $1,000,000 prize. He will earn a lump-sum payment of $661,800 after taxes. Savastano, a self-employed contractor, was on his way home from work at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 9 when he stopped at the Mirabito gas station on State Route 8 in Masonville. He had won $20 on a “Set for Life” scratch-off ticket earlier in the day and decided to reinvest his winnings by purchasing two additional $10 tickets - Merry Millionaire being one of the two choices. “I usually don’t play the holiday scratch-offs,” said Savastana, who frequents the Masonville Mirabito. Savastano bought the holiday ticket on a whim.
“I went out to my vehicle, scratched the ticket,” he said. “It was getting dark and I came back in the store to check it out. I felt like I had a winner. I brought it to the self scanner, which made some noise. When I realized I may have won, I said to the cashier, ‘Holy (blank), I think I just won a million dollars.’ She said ‘Really?’ I showed it to her real quick and hightailed it out of here.” Danielle Scott, who has worked at the store for more than two years, is the young woman who sold the winning ticket. She said once she realized he had hit the jack pot, she was “very happy for him.” “He had me check the ticket and said ‘24 is my number, right?’ I just said ‘yes’ and ‘God Bless,’” she said. Savastano said he likes to scratch his numbers first when it comes to his “technique” and the eventual number 24 was re-
vealed as the jackpot. “I thought I may have won $100 bucks or so,” he continued. “But, I found out it was a little more than $100.” Savastano, who has been in the area for about 12 years, said when he realized he had hit the jackpot, he just “couldn’t believe it and “I just couldn’t put my arms around it.” He then went home and told his girlfriend about winning and she was initially skeptical. In the past, she had been chastised him on spending a lot of money on purchasing lottery tickets. “Look at me now,” he said. “She was very happy.” Since it was a Saturday, he could not claim his prize until Monday at the Lottery Customer Claim Service. In the meantime, he put the ticket in a box and returned to it repeatedly to have a look, he said. The Sidney resident said he has family locally, but none of See Sidney Man Wins page 3
Colchester Reorganizes for 2018 Back-up Water System Operator Sought
By Lillian Browne COLCHESTER - Colchester officials held their annual reorganizational meeting on Jan. 3. At the meeting, council members authorized the expenditure of $235,000 to be used for paving projects in 2018 on 98.38 miles of road. Those include: 6.11 miles on Holiday Brook/ Berry Brook Road; 1.30 miles on Beaverkill Road; 1.13 miles on Ackerman Acres Road; 1.12 miles on Little Spring Brook Road; .13 miles on Little Spring Brook Spur; 2.84 miles on Morton Hill Road and .02 miles on Gavette Road. Town board meetings will be held the first and third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the town hall. At the meeting the following non-inclusive list of appointments and designations were made: • The Reporter as the official newspaper; • Community Bank, N.A. as the official depository; • Arthur Merrill as Police Commissioner through Dec. 31, 2019; • Michael DeGroat, Esq., as
town attorney; • Janet Champlin as deputy supervisor; • Dawn D’addezio as supervisor bookkeeper/account clerk; • Gerald Merrill as assessor chairman; • Kay H. Parisi Hampel as town historian; • Ronnie L. MacDonald as Downsville water superintendent; • Noma Lacey as Cooks Falls water superintendent; • Town clerk as clerk of the water districts; registrar of vital statistics and records management officer; • Joyce Steflik as deputy town clerk and deputy registrar of vital statistics; • Thomas Zampolin as code enforcement officer/building inspector; • Taylor Gill as dog control officer; • Colleen Griffith as FEMA clerk. The town renewed the annual contract with Delaware County Planning Department, at an expense of $3,500, for planning advisory services and assistance. An intermunicipal agreement between the towns of Colchester and Walton was signed for plow-
ing and winter maintenance. Colchester will plow a section of East Trout Brook Road from the Colchester town line to state Route 206 in Walton in exchange for Walton maintaining a section of Wilson Hollow Road from the Walton town line to state Route 206 in Colchester. The tax collector was authorized to collect $7,577,204.56 in taxes levied and disburse $2,494,464.89 to Colchester and $5,082.739.67 to Delaware County. The town also unanimously voted to proceed with soliciting estimates for the installation of two electric car charging stations as part of its commitment to obtain a clean energy community designation. At the suggestion of Council member Julie Market, the board is seeking to train and hire an alternate/additional back-up water district operator in the event the superintendent is unavailable in an emergency. The town clerk’s office will be closed on Jan. 15 in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Colchester Town Council will be Jan. 17 at 7 p.m.