By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Town Council at their Wednesday meeting set a public hearing for a proposal to override the 2 percent tax cap at an Oct. 1 special meeting, at which the town clerk will also present the supervisor's proposed 2015 budget.

The board also discussed altering the parking lot at the Town Hall and setting aside money for cemetery upkeep.

Public Hearing

The board okayed setting a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 1. The board will hear comments on a proposal to override the 2 percent tax cap.

Town Supervisor Joseph Gray said he doesn't know if the budget will call or higher or lower taxes, but hopes he can keep the rate flat.

"We don't have a number yet," Gray said. "I hope we can keep it flat. I don't know if we're going to be able to do that."

He cited budget items that go up annually, like contractually obligated raises.

Last year, the board passed a budget that dropped town property taxes by 14 percent and village taxes by 5 percent.

Cemetery Reserve Fund

The board discussed setting aside $10,000 for upkeep and restoration at cemeteries that are no longer used, Gray said.

He cited the historic cemetery on West Orvis Street where tombstones going back to the 19th century are toppled and broken. Gray would like to see them propped back up and restored and the proposed reserve would be used solely for such projects.

"If you look at some of those tombstones, you'll see names like Orvis, Andrews, Polly … the founding fathers of Massena and their descendants are buried there," Gray said. "It bothers me to see veterans going to place a flag next to a stone that's been damaged or knocked over."

Town Hall Parking Lot

In light of a high number of fender benders in the Town Hall parking lot, the board is looking at re-striping the parking slots and changing traffic flow to one-way.

"We've had a number of instances where employee's vehicles have been hit," Gray said.

He added that Town Clerk Georgette Davis asked 11 town hall workers if their vehicles had been damaged and nine said yes.

"There were a couple as many as five times," Gray said, adding that there were no reported injuries.

Davis proposed making the slots diagonal. They are now perpendicular.

The other change would be to make traffic flow one way. The entrance would be from Main Street and traffic would have to exit on the Andrews Street side, Gray said.

Right now, traffic on the Andrews street side is supposed to be restricted from heading towards the Main Street lot, but that is often ignored, Gray said.