OpenGov Homer

06/19/2026

Today we recognize Juneteenth. On this day in 1865, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were informed of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth stands as a powerful reminder of freedom, resilience, justice, and the ongoing work of building a more equal society.

06/11/2026

Highlights from the June Town Board meeting:

Dairy Month - June is officially declared Dairy Month in the Town of Homer

Legislator Reed Cleland - Reed provided an update during Privilege of the Floor. Reed will be spending July doing a “listening tour”, walking every street in his district and hearing out his constituents. Way to go Reed! What a great model of what engaged representation looks like.

Village Mayor Pat Clune – Comprehensive Plan - Pat provided an update about the Village’s Comprehensive Plan update (which is often confused with the Town’s, but the Town’s is separate and seemingly at a standstill). There will be a public engagement workshop Monday, June 15th at 6:00pm at Center for the Arts where residents can learn more about the Village Comprehensive Plan and share ideas for the future of the Village. The Village also has an excellent website dedicated to this update, https://www.villageofhomerny.gov/comprehensive-plan, and a steering committee made up of residents from different backgrounds. Hopefully we will see the Town follow the Village’s model whenever this process gets moving.

Roundabouts - Mayor Clune also talked about the NYSDOT’s plans for two roundabouts where Rt 90 and Rt 41 intersect Rt 281. Many concerns have been expressed, particularly by Town Board member Sarah Head, about the impacts of the multi-year construction project on farm equipment which must go through these intersections during the construction phase. However, neither the Town or the Village can stop the DOT from installing roundabouts, they can only provide feedback and hope the DOT acts on the concerns.

Speed camera - The town will be purchasing a speed camera to mount to a trailer and locate in problematic areas. However, Sheriff Helms attended the meeting and explained that he recently stationed officers at some locations in the Town of Homer with frequent complaints about speed and found virtually no cars exceeding the 55mph speed limit in those areas.

Highway superintendent Kyle Bean – Kyle says the department is thrilled with the new ditch mowing tractor (we believe this cost around $160,000, so we’re glad it’s working well). Many maintenance and upkeep projects are happening at the highway garage, along with road maintenance, of course.

Zoning Board of Appeals - No names have been brought forward to nominate for the vacancy on the ZBA, but board members were encouraged to pass along any possible nominations to Town Board Member Kevin Williams. Mr. Williams, as we know, was the driving force behind the most controversial proposed zoning law change in recent memory (the billboard proposal), so this is something to watch.

New Conference Room - New tables and chairs were approved for the new lower level conference room.

A 75” TV and Meeting Owl will also be purchased for the new lower level conference room. It still isn’t clear what the Town’s plans for the Meeting Owl or the TV are, there were vague references to recording meetings and possibly holding them on Zoom, and references to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the TV. We will see. In the meantime, OpenGov Homer will continue independently recording meetings, summarizing them here, and posting them, unedited, to YouTube, as quickly as possible, as has been done since July 2024.

Sweeney Road speed limit - The request to reduce the speed limit on Sweeney Road was tabled until next month.

https://youtu.be/qWYhMM2VmLQ

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06/09/2026

The June Town Board meeting will be held this Wednesday, June 10, at 6:30pm.

Of note:
- The town wide property reassessment is underway and notices of new assessed values will be mailed February 2027. The written update from the assessor is screenshotted below.

- A zoning board of appeals member resigned and a new member will be appointed. No information is available on who that will be.

- The town is proposing to purchase a conference table, chairs, TV and sound system for the new conference room. The quotes posted to the town website show a 75" TV and "Meeting Owl", which is an all-in-one we**am and microphone for online meetings. Regardless of the town's plans for the Meeting Owl, OpenGov Homer remains committed to independently recording and quickly posting unedited Town Board meetings whenever possible.

06/09/2026

Highlights from the May Town Board meeting:

- No video recording is available from May.

- Solar: Homer is seemingly waiting for Cortlandville's solar ordinance to be finalized before adopting their own. In the meantime, Homer's solar moratorium has been extended. We would like to note that Cortlandville's solar ordinance is extremely restrictive of homeowners wanting to install solar on their own properties for residential use. Supervisor Park has repeatedly stated that Homer's ordinance will not restrict residential solar projects in this way. We will be watching this very closely.

- Highway: A new full time highway employee was hired. This appears to be an added position. Two trucks were surplused, a 2018 and a 2008. No word on if new trucks will be requested to replace these yet.

- Police: A lease agreement for the Village police department's use of the Town Hall was approved by the board. The lease is reasonable, although it's unclear why this was submitted to the board for approval after the village police moved in.

- Town Hall Renovation: $31,257 in additional change orders were approved.

- Seasonal roads: There was discussion and review on the Draft Local Law No. 2 of 2026 to Establish a Procedure for Residents Requests to Convert Seasonal or Minimum Maintenance Roads to Year-Round Town-Maintained Roads.

Draft minutes can be found on the town website, or in OpenGov Homer's public Google Drive here:

05/25/2026

Should Homer consider a data center moratorium and draft a local law regulating these facilities? Not aware of any proposals at the moment but it seems inevitable.

Tech, data policy expert says concerns legitimate over rising power rates, water use, environmental issues amid mushrooming growth.

05/18/2026

While recognizing that the county, like many local governments, is in an extremely tough financial spot, this is just not it. Calling a special session to vote on a controversial topic at a time when many will be unable to attend goes against open government, stifles debate, and erodes trust. We've seen these tactics at the federal level. Cortland County, be better than that.

Community stakeholders were told that a vote on the Occupancy Tax (tourism) law wouldn't happen until the full legislative session later this month (having been previously taken off the docket in April due to absences at the April meeting). Instead, our local leaders called a "Special Meeting" this past Tuesday at 11:30 AM—a time when most of us are at work and unable to attend or speak up - with five county legislators absent.

We see you.

Here is a list of those legislators that voted to dismantle and defund the tourism and cultural sectors in Cortland County:

• Douglas Bentley (D)
• Beau Harbin (D)
• Cathy Bischoff (D)
• Jason Prentice (R)
• Dominick Mantella (D)
• Kevin Fitch, Chairman (R)
• Christopher Newell (R)
• Eugene Waldbauer (R)
• Sandra Price, Minority Leader (D)
• William McGovern (R)
• Mitchel Eccleston (R)

This law strips 15% away from a tiny slice of the county budget (less than 1%) that was dedicated to tourism via the occupancy tax.

It caps tourism funding at $1 Million. Anything collected over that amount? The County keeps it for "undefined economic development."

Instead of reinvesting in the museums, theaters, venues, and cultural events that make visitors want to stay here, this money is being siphoned off into a general "slush fund."

Transparency is the fundamental bridge between a government and its people. When a decision-making process is "hidden" or rushed, that bridge begins to crumble. Community trust is not a renewable resource - it must be earned.

05/11/2026

The May Town Board meeting will be held this Wednesday, the 13th at 6:30pm. Lots going on, looks like more new hires, equipment purchases, and projects. Also an extension of the solar moratorium.

04/18/2026

Open house for the $1.3m renovation to Homer Town Hall lower level today! Come check it out, open until 2pm.

04/11/2026

OpenGov Homer's focus is on Town of Homer government transparency and accountability. But we're sharing this today, as this is a Homer-wide issue.

Homer Central School District is facing budgetary distress, and will need to simultaneously undergo significant cost cutting and tax increases. This comes at a time when many lower and middle class households (presumably including many, if not most, taxpayers of Homer) are already in a tough spot.

The district hired a consultant to help navigate this; he gave a presentation to the school board last night. It's long, but worth the watch. OpenGov Homer has some questions about the accuracy of a few of the consultant's specific claims, but overall, the big picture he paints seems like it's supported by data, and is grim.

Thank you to a few OpenGov Homer supporters who shared this video on their own pages already. As one supporter said, a well informed public makes a better community.

Also, we commend the Homer Central School District for their transparency in communicating this issue. The meeting last night was live streamed, recorded, and posted immediately. The technology and venue used for the presentation was adequate for this purpose. The video and audio quality are especially noticeable, because locally, this is too rare. This is something all local governmental bodies should be doing with all public meetings here in the year 2026, including the Town of Homer.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

04/09/2026

Highlights from the April Town Board Meeting:

Budget Adjustments�
The budget adjustments formerly noted on the agenda were explained to be aimed at reallocating funds between accounts to balance the 2025 budget. A detailed breakdown was posted to the town website today — however, all document links on the town website are currently broken (the “preview” function does appear to work). Hopefully this gets resolved soon. In the meantime, you can access the full document in OpenGov Homer’s google drive here:�https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZaTXrkNCaSEnBessptGU0Ccda0AXGZYI/

Highway Garage Updates�
A proposed new furnace for the highway garage was discussed but ultimately tabled until next month. This comes shortly after major renovations to the building, which had previously been described as setting the facility up well for the foreseeable future. Last month, there was also discussion about modifying the building entrance, so this is something to keep an eye on.

Energy Resolution�
The board approved a resolution calling on the governor to declare an “Energy State of Emergency.”�You can read the full resolution here:�https://drive.google.com/file/d/12hTCU-YnFJMJpxKBUVPcuoVkPRq_vvPl/

Town Hall Renovation Open House
An open house for the renovated lower level of Town Hall will be held on April 18th from 10-2. The total project cost is now expected to be around $1.3 million. This is a good opportunity for residents to see the completed work firsthand. The highway garage will also be open as part of the event.

Additional Change Order
There was another change order for the Town Hall project — this one for cabinets and countertops in the police department area, totaling $12,716. The previously approved contingency increase will cover this amount.

Sweeney Road Speed Limit Discussion
There was initial discussion about potentially lowering the speed limit on Sweeney Road. This would require a multi-step process involving the NYS DOT. No decision was made on whether to move forward at this time.

https://youtu.be/OnSgABbsxKk

Budget AdjustmentsThe budget adjustments formerly noted on the agenda were explained to be aimed at reallocating funds between accounts to balance the 2025 b...