Submitted Photo Pictured, the close of the STTC Triathlon at Cassadaga Beach last month.

CASSADAGA — Discussion on how to handle complaints in the village was a topic of interest at the latest meeting of the Cassadaga Village Board.

Mayor Bill Astry brought up the notion of employing written complaints during his mayoral updates. “It appears to me that we have complaints come to the board anonymously,” Astry said. “I would like to institute a policy of write-up forms for complaints.”

The process would ease relations and open up availability between trustees and citizens. “If you have someone that has a complaint, have them put it in writing and sign it,” Astry noted. “We can address it as the board, rather than ‘I heard this, or I heard that,’ that really gets us in a lot of trouble.”

The forms will soon be made available for printing on the Cassadaga village website, according to Village Clerk Roxanne Astry. “We have complaint forms for general and code,” Bill Astry also stated. “It’s a simple form, but it’s from somebody, not anonymous.”

Village Attorney Joseph Calimeri also commented on the idea. “There’s no requirement that someone come (to a meeting) and put their name to a complaint or concern,” he stated. “Whatever any elected official deems relevant to raise, they should. … Some issues just get glossed over. It’s just like checks and balances to make sure it doesn’t.”

In other news, Deputy Mayor Cindy Flaherty provided an update on Cassadaga Beach, which officially closed for swimming on Aug. 16, but remains open dawn until dusk until Columbus Day.

“I’ve got the beach report for 2019,” Flaherty said. “We had 3,298 people visit, which is actually down from last year by about 700 people, but I think it’s because we didn’t have the heat that we had last summer, but it was still almost doubled from 2017 and 2016.”

Flaherty went on to say, “Our biggest day was 117 people. The event attendance estimated total was over 2,500 people, which was more than double from 2018. We only had six minor injuries and they were due to zebra mussels.”

From there, Flaherty also brought up a developing idea for large group reservations for the beach next summer. “I took the community building reservation form and tweaked it so it might be appropriate for the beach,” she noted. “For community residents, there is no charge … $200 for (non-residents). For over 20 people or for use outside of regular beach hours, but there would not be any swimming after regular beach hours.”

When asked where the revenue would go, Roxanne Astry responded, “It would go into the general fund unless we set it up differently.”

With nothing set in stone on a reservation system quite yet, Calimeri also weighed in on the matter. “Rather than being a reservation agreement, I would make it a special event permit application,” he commented. “Gives the autonomy to the village to maybe turn down a party, or someone who wants to apply for every single Saturday open to close.”

Several other issues, including the possibility of permitting alcohol at large events, will be flushed out in the drafting process before any final decisions are made, according to Flaherty.

The next meeting of the Cassadaga Village Board will be Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.