The Town Board of the Town of Wallkill held a regular meeting
on Thursday, January 23, 2003 at 7:30 P.M. at the Town Hall,
600 Route 211 East. Board members present were Supervisor Ward,
Councilman King, Councilman Valentin, Councilman McLean and
Councilman Depew. Also present were Spencer McLaughlin, Attorney
for the Town and Jeanne Gervasi, Town Clerk.
SUPERVISOR
WARD: State of the Town
Last year at this time, this administration had a lot on the
table. I will tonight say the state of the Town is good with
the Town of Wallkill back to the respectability and prestige
it has known in the past.
First, great progress has been made in the Police Department.
My administration has worked together with the Police Officers,
PBA, the Federal Court appointed monitor and the new Chief to
accomplish much advancement. Almost all of the legal issues
are already behind us. A collective bargaining agreement is
in place for the first time in 3 ½ years, that is paying
the officers of the Town a fair wage to protect us, the residents
of the Town. Our new Chief of Police has lead the charge of
bringing the department back from its bad times.
Every step has been taken to avoid the legal matters that have
faced the Town in the recent past. Having hired a new legal
team to represent the Town has proven to be a big success. This
team which includes the Greenwald Law Offices, James Loeb and
his firm and Joseph Owen has been charged to avoid lawsuits
and to make every effort to settle litigation. The best example
of this was to settle the litigation on the lawsuit for Signs
was resolved and settled before going to trial. In 2002, we
had only generated a minimal amount of litigation.
Two (2) new P/T Code Enforcement Officer positions were created
and they have been working to insure that everyone is living
by the rules and laws of the Town.
The master Plan Review of the Town’s comprehensive plan
which was last updated in 1972 has begun. A Town Planner was
hired to lead and work with a committee of residents. The review
and report from this committee will be complete in 2003 and
those results will be incorporated into the Zoning of the Town
in early 2004. The Town of Wallkill is now a member of the Hudson
Valley Greenway Community which has many advantages. One advantage
is that we are receiving a grant of $10,000 to help pay for
our Master Plan Review. This grant was announced at a meeting
in Goshen last week.
Water and sewer issues in the Town have been of top priority
with decisions being made that have improved the Town of Wallkill.
New water sources have been found and wells are currently being
developed that will generate at a minimum of three (3) gallons
of water each day during drought conditions. That is the amount
equal to what we are currently using in the Town. In addition
we are taking steps to look for additional ware for the existing
water district in Town. We have also located and are going to
develop wells on the property on 17K. This water will be used
for the new Wal-Mart project as well as other PID property in
the immediate area only.
January 23, 2003
In January 2002, when this administration started the Sewer
plant was not working properly and was in violation of our permit.
This has been corrected and it is now working as required by
the DEC and we are meeting all the permitting they require.
The Sewer plant is currently only at ¾ capacity. (Capacity
is 4 million gallons per day, we currently use 3 million per
day)
I am happy to say at this time that we have not had an increase
in water or sewer rates in 10 years; the last increase was in
1993.
We have a surplus/reserve in both the Consolidated Water and
Sewer Funds. The estimates amount in the Sewer Fund $5,195,700
and the Water Fund is $3,832,096. This has been due mainly to
the work of Mr. Ed Smith and his staff and I would like to thank
Mr. Smith the Superintendent of Water and Sewer and his entire
staff. Our rates are still the lowest or close to the lowest
in Orange County. Our water rate is $1.97 and the sewer rate
is $2.23 per thousand for residential property.
One of the major projects that began in 2002 was the Wal-Mart
Distribution Center, which I began to work on immediately after
taking office last January. This project will create almost
600 new jobs and will grow to 1000 in 3 years. This project
when completed will be paying of 1 million dollars a year in
taxes to the Town, County, fire department and Pine Bush Schools.
The Town will get approximately $200,000 each year and the Pine
Bush School District about $700,000. This especially important
to the residents of pine Bush School District; for the first
time they will be getting rateables to help with taxes. Rateables
are monies without much increase in student enrollment.
A budget was prepared and adopted for 2003,which has controlled
spending, increase revenue and most importantly reduced taxes.
The final numbers will show that Town taxes have decreased 18
cents per thousand dollars of assessed value. This year’s
rate is 14.74 and last year it was 14.92. In review services
have not reduced, but ways are being found to increase services.
A plan is in place that will allow us to project the results
of any increase in spending or increase in revenue. This toll
will allow us to project forward up to ten years what any changes
to the budget will do to the tax rate.
In addition to all of this, there will be an estimated surplus/reserve
of $2,265,846 this will be finalized when all the books for
2002 are closed later in the month or early February. This amount
includes $928,521 that is owed the Town’s General Fund
from the Enterprise Fund. The total amount actually available
to the General Fund is now $1,337,325. For the 2nd year in a
row the Enterprise Fund will have a surplus. This fund has paid
back from year 2002 to the General Fund $50,000. This was accomplished
by carefully looking at how money was being spent each month
and then controlling what was being spent. The Highway Fund
also has a surplus/reserve of approximately $1,631,847 again
this will be finalized after all the books are closed.
Appointments
have been made or will be made again this year to different
committees that represent the best person(s) for the job. Upgrading
our parks so that we
January 23, 2003
can
say we have the best park system in the county is our goal and
we have begun that task. In 2002 a grant was received from the
County for $72,000 and a new pavilion was built in Circleville
Park. A completely new playground was installed in Belmont Ave.
Park as a result of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
More new playground equipment was installed at the WTC Memorial
Park (Little League Field). In addition, while working with
the Little League we have a new field that can be used by our
children.
Some other accomplishments that have been made in 2002 are that
there is now local law giving the homeowners a discount on their
Town and County taxes if they make certain home improvements.
A new Senior Housing Project was started in the Town. This will
give more housing for our seniors. The Bowser Road Bridge was
finally opened after many years of being closed.
In addition to what I have already said this year we are planning
to:
A) Will be making maintenance improvements to the Community
Center.
B) As usual we will continue to use the Highway’s Pavement
Management program to maintain our roads. T his year the highway
department will complete the projects started last year:
1. Casimer Rd/Bart Bull Road
2. York Road
3. Countant and Wye Roads
We will also be beginning our project in 2003 which includes
the Woodlawn Acres road work that is part of reimbursement grant
that was given to us by Senator Bill Larkin.
C)
One major effort being undertaken this year will be the bridge
or tunnel under Route 17(86) from the Galleria to Orange Plaza.
I have begun the process of applying to the Federal Government
for a grant. Congresswoman Sue Kelly and her staff have net
with me and assured us they would be there and help us in every
way possible.
D) Using the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for 2003
we will be doing drainage on the street off Silver lake- Scotchtown
Road. Between the tunnel and Route 211.
E) Bulk Pick Up for our residents will be held after almost
a 10 year absence. I am currently working on a time frame with
our new Highway Superintendent John Lippert.
F) We will again be applying to the County for additional funding
for our parks. This will be again using the grants being made
available.
G) We must continue to look at all the options available to
us for the expansion of the Police Department and Town Hall
if possible.
H) Our web site will continue to be updated and improved. This
will allow us to communicate better with our residents.
I)
Our Police Chief is looking for more qualified individuals to
add to our existing police department.
January 23, 2003
MOTION
BY: Mr. Ward to accept the minutes from the January 2, 2003
and January 9, 2003 meetings.
SECONDED
BY: Mr. Valentin
Supervisor
Ward Voting Aye
Councilman
King Voting Aye
Councilman
Valentin Voting Aye
Councilman
McLean Voting Aye
Councilman
Depew Voting Aye
MOTION
CARRIED
CORRESPONDENCE:
To:
Supervisor Ward
From: pat Gilchrest, Orange Co. Citizens Foundation, Inc
The
Orange County Citizens Foundation Transportation Committee has
developed a 2003 countywide Priority List of transportation
projects. For your information, we attach copy of the list.
It
is our intention to advocate that, where appropriate, these
projects be included on the Newburgh/Orange County Transportation
Improvement Plan (TIP). If you agree with our recommendations,
you may wish to voice your support by ensuring that they are
included on TIP.
Any
questions, please do not hesitate to call.
SUPERVISOR
WARD: These include improvements and upgrades to EZPass from
Route 17 to the New York State Thruway, including increased
speed at the toll barriers. When casino plans in Sullivan County
are in place, the issue of expanding capacity on Route 17 should
be investigated, perhaps jointly with Sullivan County. Also
to expedite the new interchange at Exit 122- NYS Route 17 (Town
of Wallkill/ City of Middletown) – Alternative 2C. this
alternative is more costly, and funding will be a problem, but
this is an area that will accommodate first class development
and create higher paying jobs for the residents of our county.
Every effort should be made to fast track this project and secure
the necessary funding. Also, the conversion of Route 17 to I-86
will occur, but the OCCF Transportation Committee does not support
taking funds from other needed projects throughout the county
in order to expedite the conversion. We encourage seeking additional
Federal funds specifically for this use.
January 23, 2003
To:
John Ward, Supervisor
From: Darleen A. Montanya
I
recently purchase 9 McKee Lane in Bloomingburgh, NY section/Block/Lot
1-1-49.11. I recently applied for a demolition permit #15486,
which was issued on 9/26/02 of which I removed an old trailer
that was beyond repair. Under the instructions of Carol Kelly
I am submitting in writing a request to replace the old trailer
with a different one, same size. My original intentions when
purchasing this property was to fix the existing trailer but
this was not possible.
Thank
you for your time in this matter. Please send me notice of the
next course of action I have to take in order to comply with
the Town requirements.
Discussion
Councilman
King; visited the site, feels this would be an asset to the
community, work must be complete within nine (9) months.
MOTION
BY: Mr. Ward SECONDED BY: Mr. King
Supervisor
Ward Voting Aye
Councilman
King Voting Aye
Councilman
Valentin Voting Aye
Councilman
McLean Voting Aye
Councilman
Depew Voting Aye
MOTION
CARRIED
To: Mr. Ward and Town Councilmen
From: Julia Sullivan, Chapter Coordinator, Project Linus
On February 22nd, 2003, our local chapter of Project Linus will
conduct its Second Blanket Making Day, which is a national event
for Project Linus at the Town of Wallkill Community Center.
Through the help of the Town Board’s donation of the use
of the Community Center, the chapter looks forward to another
successful Blanket Day.
Thank
you for your help by donating the use of the Town of Wallkill
Community Center. This will allow more senior citizens to attend
our meetings due to the accessibility of the building.
January 23, 2003
We
hope you will be able to attend our Second Annual Blanket Making
Day on February 22nd, 2003. On this day, we again would like
to invite members of the community to drop off donated blankets
and join our “blanketeers” in action. We would again
be working on blankets, sew labels into blankets, and children
color squares to be made into blankets. Please stop by and see
what we are all about.
Project
Linus remains a 100% volunteer organization; we do not operate
on any budget but from the donations of the community. Please
contact me if you have any questions and thank you again.
RESOLUTIONS:
SUPERVISOR
WARD: this resolution was tabled from the last meeting on January
12th and will now be read and voted on.
WHEREAS,
Mr. And Mrs. Nicholas and Carolyn Sawka has applied to the Town
Board of the Town of Wallkill for an Open Development Area to
create a five lot subdivision on Section 6- Block 1- lot 24.23
in the Town, which abuts Hubbard Road, a Town road, without
sufficient frontage for individual driveway access; and
WHEREAS,
the Planning Board of the Town of Wallkill has recommended approval
of said application; now
THEREFORE,
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Town Board of the Town of Wallkill
approves said Open Development Area to allow for said subdivision
by the applicants on the aforesaid parcel, subject to the conditions
imposed by the Planning Board with respect thereto, which shall
be placed on the subdivision map.
Discussion:
Mr.
King would like this tabled again; feels that the board needs
more time to review.
Mr.
Depew; agrees; does not want a five lot subdivision on a private
road
After
discussion; vote was held
MOTION
BY: Mr. Ward SECONDED BY: Mr. Depew
Supervisor
Ward Voting Aye
Councilman
King Voting No
Councilman
Valentin Voting Aye
Councilman
McLean Voting Aye
January 23, 2003
Councilman
Depew Voting No
MOTION
CARRIED
WHEREAS, the Edward Boniface Revocable Living Trust and the
Dorothy Boniface living Trust, as owners of a certain 2.5 acre
parcel in the Town of Wallkill, wish to transfer their exclusive
ownership of said parcel to the Town of Wallkill; and
WHEREAS,
the Town Board of the Town of Wallkill has determined that said
parcel is well situated to be of use to the Town as parkland;
and
WHEREAS,
the Town Board of the Town of Wallkill has determined that the
ownership of said parcel by the Town would be in the best interests
of the Town and its residents; now
THEREFORE,
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the town Board of the Town of Wallkill
hereby authorizes the acceptance of a certain parcel of property
designated as Section 14- Block 1- lot 107 in the Town of Wallkill,
pending determination of clear title as being in the best interests
of the Town and its residents; and
RESOLVED,
that the Town attorney is hereby directed to cause a title search
to be made of said parcel; and
RESOLVED,
that the Town attorney, upon clear title being demonstrated,
is directed to execute all papers necessary for said transfer
and file the same with the Orange County Clerk’s office.
MOTION
BY: Mr. Ward SECONDED BY: Mr. Depew
Supervisor
Ward Voting Aye
Councilman
King Voting Aye
Councilman
Valentin Voting Aye
Councilman
McLean Voting Aye
Councilman
Depew Voting Aye
MOTION
CARRIED
WHEREAS, heretofore the Town of Wallkill through the Water Department
has been negotiating with the Orange County Golf Club for the
acquisition of certain lands to permit the expansion of wells
and related facilities, and
