Mid Hudson Times Feb. 14 2018

T IMES MID HUDSON Vol. 30, No 7 3 FEBRUARY 14 - 20, 2018 3 ONE DOLLAR New arrivals Colombian harp Page 21 Page 14 SERVING NEWBURGH AND NEW WINDSOR Gift from Goshen County asks city to use surplus sales-tax funds to keep firefighters Gardnertown Road closure expected in early June By SHANTAL RILEY [email protected] Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus and other county officials visited the City of Newburgh Fire Department on Tuesday to announce the City of Newburgh will receive more than $536,000 in surplus sales-tax revenue from 2017. By SHANTAL RILEY [email protected] Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus visited the City of Newburgh Fire Department on Tuesday to announce the city will receive surplus funds of more than $536,000 in sales-tax revenue. The announcement location highlighted the county’s hope that the money will go to save 12 city firefighter jobs. “We just presented a check for $536,000,” said Neuhaus. “The City of Newburgh can utilize that money that they’ve gotten in sales tax revenue... to keep those firefighters rather than lay them off.” Neuhaus explained the county took in a surplus of $3.7 million in 2017 fourth-quarter sales tax revenue. The City of Newburgh will receive a total of $536,635 in surplus sales-tax funds, he said. “The economy is doing better in Orange County than anywhere else in the Hudson Valley,” said the county Continued on page 4 WWW.MIDHUDSONTIMES.COM The Town of Newburgh will replace a culvert bridge along Gardnertown Road this summer. The project is expected to close Gardnertown Road between Taft Avenue and Gidney Avenue for about three months, beginning in June. The detour will lead traffic along Route 300, Route 32 and Gidney Avenue. Gardnertown Road will be restricted to local traffic closer to the construction site, near Gidney Avenue. Local traffic will be able to use a detour route along 5th Avenue, South Plank Road, South Street and West Street. The 13-foot span crosses over Gidneytown Creek. Traffic was brisk next to the bridge, at the corner of Gardnertown Road and Gidney Avenue on a recent weekday afternoon. The existing culvert is “severely deteriorated,” according to the town. The culvert was badly damaged in 2011 during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, which washed out a stone section of the bridge. The span was temporarily reinforced with steel plates following the storm, said town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio. The project calls for a new, four-sided, buried box culvert. The steel and concrete structure will be partially buried under the creek, so as not to disturb marine life, Piaquadio said. “It will have a durability of 75 years,” he said. Continued on page 4