ladderthebuilding

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Posts posted by ladderthebuilding

  3. Posted

    The NYS Tax Cap Legislation relates to school district and their blank check mentality. "The New York State Senate today passed property tax relief legislation (S.2706) that would place a cap on the growth of school property taxes at two percent or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is less. If enacted, New York would become the 44th state to cap local property taxes. In addition, the Senate approved two measures related to providing mandate relief to school districts and local governments." (http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/senate-passes-property-tax-cap-legislation).

    I agree 110% with the Tax Cap legislation as school district have always put forth growing budgets for votes and include a vailed threat to the community "If the budget fails we will institute an austerity budget" in effect saying "vote the budget down and your kids will suffer as we will remove extra activities including but not limited to sports and after school activities". The austerity budget by law can be an increase equal to the CPI or 4%, which ever is lower and taxes can still rise. Never do school district attempt to do more with less or even the same. They do this while many of their Superintendents make more than the Governor and have golden parachute clauses in their contracts. It is about time someone said enough and put measures in place that will demand fiscal management and a look at cut that do not effect students. Lets face it, we have school with 3 or 4 vice principals, district offices where the secretaries have secretaries and many are administratively top heavy. Are pension costs a burden, without a doubt but to jump all over those who have the pensions is not fair either. Two sides agreed on those contracts and now one is having "buyer's remorse".

    Just my opinion.

    "The bill also provides for the same cap to apply to taxes levied by municipal governments. Local governments that do not levy an amount up to the cap in one year can rollover that amount up to 1.5 percent in the following year." Per the weblink above

  4. Posted

    Wow so all the other states in the country with a 2% tax cap must be really screwed up by now. Oh wait nope they are doing 10 times better then NY because it made the Politicians be FINANCIALY RESPONSABLE :blink:

    Which states? What is their make up? Are they similar to NY? Look Cal. with prop 13 and look at the state they are in. NY's Unfunded Mandates for Pensions and Healthcare costs are among the many unfunded mandates that are applied to local govt. In NY Local Govts have to fund unions pensions at 100% where the rest of the country does not. You can't place these burndens on local gov and the tie their hands. But this is being done intentially. Don't forget NY Passed the consolidation law a year or two ago to get rid of villages, special districts and so on. I think maybe one or two did this in the state? Not much more. The ones that were forced to look into and did not do it, it cost them big tax payer dollars to fund the research only to find it didn't do anything for them in savings.

    The GOV doesn't want villages, districts and other local governments... Just NY STATE. If this thing passes, he might just get his way. And our elected leaders don't have the you know what to say no becuase they are afraid of being called a tax increaser in their next elections.

  5. Posted · Edited by ladderthebuilding

    So, what is this NYS Tax cap I'm hearing about? Will it affect emergency services?

    Well I guess, once this passes villages, towns and counties in NY will no longer be able to survive. Everyone thinks this is a great idea, not raising taxes. Which of course keeping more money in your pocket is allways good, but people don't realize what is about to happen to them. Lets say a village has a 7 percent tax increase. Lets also say 5 percent is a tax increase due to un funded mandates by the state.... What is the village to do if they can only raises taxes by 2 percent? First: your pd goes, next your dpw/water does, then goodbye village. Oh and your FD too..Either paided or Volley. Then once the village is gone a town will take them over.. But what about the services the village just lost? Will the town pick it up? How can they if they can't raise taxes above 2 percent.

    Just like the last bill passed in albany to try and consoladate which is not doing what it is inteded, however it costs local governments more money because of the rules. If people are up in arms about reduction in services, wait till this pases and goes through. It's not a reduction, its a gone good bye.... The people up in Albany are afraid to say no becuase in the next election they are afraid of the opposition saying they are for increasing taxes. I guess they are more worried about keeping their jobs vs doing the right thing. You want to lower taxes, get rid of the unfunded mandates.

  6. Posted

    Among the local items of the proposed NYS Budget 2009-2010 budget:

    But this is more important.

    Improve Processing of Alcohol and Beverage Control Licenses. An investment of $3 million is included in the budget to supplement the operations of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. These new resources will support legislation authorizing the sale of wine in grocery stores, and will be used to alleviate the current license application backlog.

    We will sell wine in grocery stores so we can tax it and create revenues. But let’s eliminate the patrols ( Which I really can’t see them doing that but you never know.)

    So instead of spending $3 Million on this, fund the patrols for one more year, hopefully well get out of these financial crises and we can move from there.

    BTW.. I don't know about everybody else, i get my wine from a LIQUOR store because that have a lot of choices, I’m not going to get it at A & P.

    I think the problem with the state and federal law makers are that they have no idea on how to live on a pay check to pay check. Running a family budget, eliminating wasteful spending. The majority of them are very rich. So when they say " we know what the average American is going through" they are full of it. Let them fight in the trenches. They won't last...

    Ordinary citizens could run things better.

    Take a look at the 50 richest Congressional members The 50 Richest Members of Congress

    and if you think it ends there Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes new taxes, layoffs and cuts

    Let’s try a new concept... STOP SPENDING OUR HARD EARNED MONEY!

    Happy and Safe New Year To All….I’m off my soap box.

  7. Posted

    We'll see if that proves to be true or if everyone just blindly re-elects the incumbents yet again.

    And, just out of curiosity, if the City Council can reject a labor agreement for being too costly does that mean we can reject our tax bills for being too costly as well?

    Vote the Party Line... lol

    People will continue to enter the polling places and just vote down the line. They have no idea the impact it will have. Elections Have Consequences.. Good and bad.. But lately it seems more bad than good. The problem is that we do not elect people who have experience, real world experience. I'm sure a majority of our officials couldn't tell you the difference between an engine and a ladder.. Yet they are the ones who "Fight" for what we need? We put people up in various official offices who have the biggest bank accounts, biggest ties for campaign donations and have absolutely no idea what the "ground troops" do every day. Just look at what is going on in NY..RE: C. Kennedy. This isn't a Paid vs Volunteer Issue this is an issue that will not only affect the Emergency Services as a whole but also many aspects of our professional and personal lives. Of course we do have officials who are the exception. But they are few and far between.

    Until regular people take over our local, state and federal governments will be still be in the whorl wind decline we are in. I don't know about you but I know I have to live on a budget, and if can't afford a $10,000 Flat Screen TV... I JUST DON"T BUY IT! Why can’t government follow the same? And then put the money saved to the Important Aspects of Governining.

    I'm off my soap box...

    :-)

    Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

    Have a Safe Holiday

  9. Posted

    For all his talk of change, change, change it appears that Mr. Obama is filling his cabinet with a bunch of Clintonites. I guess a return to a past administration is a change, I'm just not sure it's the right one. The Clinton era was not all roses and cupcakes by any means. The appointment of many of good ole Bill's pals smells alot like more of the same, not the earth shattering change we were promised. And frankly Hillary as Sec. of State, wow that is troubling. Her hubby and by default her are bought and paid for by a cabal of Saudi's, the Emir of Dubai and the petty dictator of Kyrgyzistan. Now you can call it sour grapes, but putting in a bunch of old faces, using old policy ideas that feed the Washington money train is NOT change. C'mon Barak live up to your promises.

    Any thoughts?

    Cogs

    "That's Change You Can Belive In" LOL

    BTW... For all that think it can't get worse........We are in for another "Stimulus" Package on Jan 20th.....

    Chuck Schumer, a leading Democratic senator, predicted it could be as much as $500bn-$700bn. “It’s a little like having a new New Deal, but you have to do it before the Depression. Not after,” he told ABC’s This Week.

    More Spending On The Way

  12. Posted

    While not a complete list it is a start:

    Archville: Engine 235 1993 Pierce Dash 1250/1000

    Bedford Hills: Engine 198 1997 Pierce Lance 1750/750

    Bedford Hills: Engine 199 1991 Pierce Lance 1750/750

    Briarcliff Manor: Engine 92 1995 Pierce Dash 1500/500

    Buchanan: Engine 160 1991 Pierce Lance 1250/500

    Chappaqua: Engine 144 1974/1994 American Lafrance/Pierce 1500/750

    Chappaqua: Engine 146 1993 Pierce Dash 1250/500

    Croton-on Hudson: Tower Ladder 44 2002 Pierce Dash 2000/400/100ft.

    Dobbs Ferry: Engine 47 1995 Pierce Lance 1500/750

    Elmsford: Engine 137 1992 Pierce Lance 1500/500

    Elmsford:Engine 237 2001 Pierce Lance 1750/700

    Elmsford:Ladder 55 1999 Pierce 1750/500/75ft.

    Elmsford: Tower Ladder 21 1993 Pierce Arrow 1750/500/100ft.

    Fairview: Engine 174 2002 Pierce Enforcer 1500/750

    Fairview: Engine 176 1991 Pierce Arrow 1750/500

    Goldens Bridge: Engine 138 1968/1989 Mack CF/Pierce 1250/1000

    Goldens Bridge: Engine 139 1977 Dodge/Pierce 4x4 400/250

    Greenville: Engine 150 2001 Pierce Dash 1500/500

    Greenville: Ladder 4 2001 Pierce Dash 1500/500/75ft.

    Hartsdale: Engine 169 1999 Pierce Dash 2000/500

    Hartsdale: Engine 171 1999 Pierce Dash 2000/500

    Hastings-on Hudson: Engine 44 1991 Pierce Lance 1500/500

    Irvington: Engine 178 1993 Pierce Lance 1250/500

    Hawthorne: Engine 156 1991 Pierce Lance 1500/750

    Hawthorne: Engine 155 1997 Pierce Lance 1500/750

    Hawthorne: Tower Ladder 12 1983 Pierce Arrow 1500/200/85ft.

    Katonah: Engine 115 1985 Pierce Lance 1250/500

    Katonah: Engine 116 1993 Pierce Lance 1250/750

    Katonah: Engine 117 1989 Pierce Lance 1250/750

    Katonah: Tanker 6 2005 Pierce Dash 2000/3000

    Katonah: Rescue 17 1999 Pierce Dash

    Katonah: Mini Attack 15 1984 Ford/Pierce

    Larchmont: Engine 34 1991 Pierce Arrow 1750/500

    Mamaroneck Village: Engine 42 1989/2007 Pierce Lance 1750/750

    Mt. Kisco: Engine 103 1993 Pierce Lance 1750/750

    Mt. Kisco: Engine 104 2007 Pierce Lance 1750/750

    Mt. Kisco: Engine 105 1989 Pierce Lance 1750/750

    Mt. Kisco: Engine 106 2007 Pierce Lance 2000/1000

    New Rochelle: Engine 17 1988 Pierce Arrow 1500/500

    New Rochelle: Ladder 13 1998 Pierce Dash 105ft.

    New Rochelle: Rescue 4 1990 Pierce Dash

    Peekskill: Engine 131 1991 Pierce Arrow 1500/500

    Peekskill: Engine 132 1996 Pierce Sabre 1000/500

    Elmsford FD

    Tower Ladder 21 1993 Arrow

    Ladder 55 1999 Dash

    Engine 137 1995 Arrow

    Engine 237 2001 Dash

  13. Posted · Edited by ladderthebuilding

    Hartsdale FD

    Engine 170- 2000 Pierce Dash

    Engine 169- 2000 Pierce Dash

    Greenville FD

    Engine 150- 20?? Pierce Dash

    Ladder 4- 20?? Pierce Dash

    Fairview FD-

    E-174 20?? Pierce Enforcer

    White Plains

    -Rescue 88 2003 Pierce Saber

    -Two Freightliner/Pierce Engines

    Elmsford FD

    1993 Pierce Dash

    2001 Pierce Dash

    Both Engines are Pierce Dash's as wel.

    Dobbs Ferry

    Engine 147 Pierce Dash

    There's a ton more....

    Elmsford FD

    Tower Ladder 21 1993 Arrow

    Ladder 55 1999 Dash

    Engine 137 1995 Arrow

    Engine 237 2001 Dash

  15. Posted

    Yeah, this is a little ridiculous! A commissioner, a chief, 16 sgts, and 2 patrolmen! Look at their website, everyone carries some sort of rank! Another dept that should be eaten up by the Town Police since they are there everyday anyway!

    Few Points: Why should they be taken over by the town when our department does an excellent job of keeping us safe? We have not had problems with them and they work GREAT WITH THE FD and other Emergency Services. Two you are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but note one thing. This was a title change and has actually reduced the pd budget. No additional funds were needed for this.

    Third I’m not sure what you mean by they are there every day, meaning the town pd? To the best of my knowledge the only “PD” from the town that is in Elmsford every day is our medic.

    Four I don’t know where you got your stats of the current force, but they are a little off.

    And that’s the memo

  16. Posted

    For MUCH better reception get the Diamond RH77CA Antenna. I've got it on my Pro97 and it is like night and day. The antenna the scanner comes with is multiband for all the bands the scanner receives. The RH77CA is specifically designed for best reception on VHF & UHF. I couldn't believe the improvement in reception. Well worth the $25 price. NOTE - this antenna is about fifteen inches long, but again well worth it.

    Jack10562, you might want to check your settings, Control Channel Mode is only for 800MHz Systems. The reason we need to program the Base/Spacing/Offset settings is because scanners can't track VHF/UHF systems in Control Channel Mode. The reason for this is that the 800MHz frequencies are all assigned a channel number. In Control Channel Mode, when the Control Channel sends out an Outbound Signaling Word(the data all the radios in that Talkgroup need to know what channel to go to) this OSW signal tells the radio what 800MHz channel to go to. The VHF/UHF frequencies are not assigned numbers. The VHF/UHF frequencies in any system do have numbers assigned to them, but these numbers are not standard anywhere except the individual system. The Base/Spacing/Offset settings tell your scanner which channel to go to for the individual system.

    DOC22, if you manually go to 476.2375MHz (the South Zone Control Channel) you will hear the Control Channel datastream, like Jack mentioned above. If you do not hear this then you are out of range of the South Zone, and you will not be able to follow any transmissions associated with South Zone only transmissions. This does not mean you will not be able to hear transmissions form down South, because, as mentioned in previous posts, if a unit (Chief, Portable, Apparatus) from a South Zone agency is in the North Zone, that transmission will be retransmitted on both the South and North Zone towers.

    How come I hear the county bee line bus? Any way i can get rid of that?

  17. Posted

    Thanks for the info. Two more questions though, where will it be housed, and most importantly, will it be red or green?

    Sounds like an excellent addition to the EFD fleet!

    The truck will be housed at the Elmsford House. We are currently in the planning stages of adding a small bay to the fire house and it will create some additional space. The truck will be white to be neutral. Although it will be housed at EFC it will be a departmental truck, like both ambulances (Which are housed at Live Oak). Not company specific per say.

    Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy and Safe New Year to All.

    Mike Eannazzo

    Chief

    Elmsford FD

  19. Posted

    I absolutely think it's worth driving Santa around your municipality to bring smiles to kids. First as it was said before, Safety First. as long as Santa is properly secure, why not drive him around the town. Besides the kids getting all excited it's great PR for any fire department. If i were not affiliated with a fire department I would be disappointed if one year they stopped driving around with Santa in Elmsford. Having Santa wave to the young and old is a fine tradition that we should keep.

    My vote is the bring the big guy around and spread the Holiday Cheer. What is going to cost, some fuel?

    And Thats The Memo

    Have a Very SAFE Christmas and Happy Holidays

    2111

  20. Posted · Edited by ladderthebuilding

    As a Network Admin for my company I just bought a copy of Vista Ultimate.

    I have only played with it for a week and already I found some issues.

    First make sure your hardware has vista drivers. If not find out when they will be out. I have to wait on some hardware drivers to come out.. Like my verizon cellular card.

    Office 2003 does run on vista fine so you really don't have to upgrade unless you want to.

    Make sure the hardware is beefy. Video card at least 256, 2 gig of memory is my recommendation and a nice size hard drive.

    I think they went over board with trying to make it secure. We had to do an upgrade to our corporate mail server due to incompatibility with vista and IE 7. All web based stuff. There are lots more alerts and things running in the back ground which could get kind of annoying.

    AOL has software that is Vista Ready call AOL 9.0 VR

    There were allot of changes so there is some what of a learning curve.

    One nice feature is the Ready Boost which allows you to add a memory stick or card and allocate part of the space for memory for vista. I think only certain high end cards will work. You would have to check MS website.

    I believe MS has a program you can download to verify if your machine is vista complient. I put this on a 3 year old laptop. So far it's been running pretty good. Still trying to get used to it.

    But it's Microsoft, so at some point it will crash.

  21. Posted

    In Elmsford we use the Con Ed Boards. Each chief's car has a board ( 1 Large and two Smaller Ones). The larger board was donated by Con Ed and the other two were purchased from them.

    They are an excellent tool to have on a fire scene. We used the Larger Board at the Payne Street Fire at the Command Post. We also used both boards at the Battalion 14 drill.

  22. Posted · Edited by ladderthebuilding

    Bravo ATFID you are 100 percent correct.

    First until you know that department's policy you shouldn't judge. Like ATFID said, in Bat 14 we use Mutual Aid Chief's as Staging Chiefs, Sector Chiefs and alike. We train this way in our "Bread and Butter Drills" and this is the way we operate together. In today’s day and age we need to work and help each other not pick on every detail.

    You can come up with any scenario you want the bottom line is that the chief of that department has a responsibility to provide protection to his/her area first and then assist his/her neighboring department to the best of their capability.

    We don't have a hard and fast rule but we use common sense when responding to a MA call or an MVA on the highway:

    This is based on all three chiefs being available for a call:

    MA Ladder = Ladder Chief and Chief of Department

    MA Engine = Engine Chief and Chief of Department

    The 3rd Chief remains in the village.

    MVA= First Chief responds to the call.

    2nd Chief Responds to the Fire house to make sure the Ambulance Gets out and then will respond to the highway.

    3rd Chief will remain back in the village in the event of another run.

    Have there been times all three chiefs have responded to a highway call. YES. It does happen. So now you have three sets of hands, working with multiple injuries and vehicles. Again this is a common sense job.

    It’s also a lot easier to judge someone if it’s not you that’s in the hot seat. It’s hard enough to be a chief and run a department with out people who aren’t officers judging your actions. Walk a mile in my shoes and then come talk to me.