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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , February 22 , 2017

PUBLIC AGENDA

THURSDAY , FEBRUARY 23 Newburgh City Council Work Session , 6 p . m . City Hall , 83 Broadway . Town of Newburgh ZBA , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .

MONDAY , FEBRUARY 27

Newburgh City Council meeting . 5 p . m . City Hall , 83 Broadway . Town of Newburgh Workshop meeting , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh . New Windsor Town Board work session , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .

WEDNESDAY , MARCH 1 New Windsor Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .

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The Mid Hudson Times , ( USPS 000-5947 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , NY 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , NY . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Mid Hudson Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY 12550

By SHANTAL RILEY sriley @ tcnewspapers . com

Kroll Well has been shut down in New Windsor following the detection of PFOS and PFOA , the same chemicals that contaminated the water supplies of the City of Newburgh and Hoosick Falls , NY .

The chemicals were found at levels in the range of 10 to 15 parts per trillion , a good deal lower than the EPA ’ s health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion .

“ I believe that discontinuing the use of this well is the prudent thing to do for the peace of mind of our water customers ,” New Windsor Supervisor George Green said in a statement last week .

The well provides approximately 13 percent of the town ’ s daily drinking water . Production at two plants at the Catskill Aqueduct will increase to make up for the well being offline , said New Windsor Chief Water Plant Operator John Egitto .

The decision was made shortly after the town was notified of test results by the state , Egitto said . “ A letter was

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A portion of South Street on which the church sits is named “ Dr . James Best Place ” in her husband ’ s honor .

Best , now in her 90s , was greeted with a bouquet of flowers that evening . She thanked the church and those attending . “ I shall continue on ,” she said .

Lilliam Harris

Lilliam Harris was born to sharecroppers in Sylvester , Georgia . “ She moved to Newburgh for the opportunity of a better life and the met the love of her life , James H . Harris ,” the committee states .

Harris is an active member of the City of Newburgh Democratic Committee , the Black History Committee of the Hudson Valley , Project Life and is also a lifetime member of the NAACP .

The committee states she has received several awards for her work with former City of Newburgh Mayor Audrey Carey , the first black , female mayor in New York State . Harris has two sons , nine grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren .

Harris worked as a home attendant for many years and was one of the founding members of Mt . Carmel Church of Christ , originally located on Colden Street . “ Do forthcoming that would put the town ‘ on notice ’ that there were positive test results at the Kroll Well ,” he said .

Though the town was not required to take action , it was decided to take the safest approach , Egitto said .

Perfluorooctane sulfonate ( PFOS ) and perfluorooctanoic acid ( PFOA ) belong to a group of manmade chemicals known as perfluorinated compounds ( PFCs ), used for decades in products that resist heat , stains , grease and water . These include non-stick cookware , including Teflon , carpeting , clothing and fire foam .

Last spring , it was discovered that PFC pollution throughout the City of Newburgh watershed came from fire foam used on the Stewart Air National Guard Base at Stewart International Airport .

Kroll Well is capable of producing about 400,000 gallons of water per day . The well is located off of Mt . Airy Road , next to Brown ’ s Pond , a back-up drinking water source for both the town and the City of Newburgh .

Aside from Kroll Well , the town ’ s

unto others as you would have done unto yourself ,” she told the audience while accepting her honor .

Roxy Royal

Roxie Royal was born in the Town of Roseboro , North Carolina , where , according to the committee , cotton and tobacco were the main crops in the 1930s . She later attended Shaw University .

Royal worked at coat , furniture and pocketbook factories . She also worked as a nurse ’ s aide , a pharmacy technician and as a social worker assistant at the Family Health Center of Orange County .

Royal became civically active on many fronts : she has served as secretary of the Montgomery Street School PTA , president of the Broadway School PTA , chairperson of the City of Newburgh Democratic Committee and a member of the state Democratic Committee .

She is also a member of the NAACP Newburgh / Highland Falls Branch . Royal attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2008 . She has six children , 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren .

When asked to speak at the church last week , Royal read a poem by Maya Angelou . “ Just like moons and like suns , with the certainty of tides , just like hopes drinking water comes from the Catskill Aqueduct and St . Anne ’ s Well . Residents in a portion of the Beaver Dam Lake area and Scott Acres have their own water supplies . Many residents also use private wells .

Town engineers have begun to explore options for activated-carbon filtration systems , Green said , similar but smaller than the one currently being used at Washington Lake . “ There is sufficient money in the budget to cover it ,” said Green , referring to the town ’ s consolidated water fund .

Catskill Aqueduct water is notoriously expensive . In 2016 , the town of New Windsor paid $ 1,750 for one million gallons of raw water from the Catskill Aqueduct , and $ 5,000 per million gallons for excess water use . The town paid approximately $ 2 million last year for aqueduct water , said Egitto .

Several private wells contaminated with PFCs near the airport in New Windsor are slated to be connected to a municipal water main in the coming weeks .

springing high , still I rise ,” she said .

Rev . Dr . Coleman Briggs

Though he was unable to attend , Rev . Dr . Coleman Briggs was also honored that evening . Briggs served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War . He became an ordained minister in 1958 .

He came to Newburgh as the pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in 1960 . Briggs earned a doctorate in theological studies in 1970 . He raised six children after losing his wife to illness that same year .

Briggs was the first African American elected to the Newburgh School Board . He co-founded Project Life , providing housing for homeless families with children , and taught bible classes at the Wallkill Correctional Facility and the Orange County Jail .

Among his many accomplishments , he founded the Newburgh Bible Institute , taught in the Newburgh school district and served as president of the Black Ministerial Fellowship of Newburgh and Vicinity .

He helped to develop the New Hope Food Pantry into one of the largest food pantries in the region . Briggs was honored by the City of Newburgh in 2002 , when a portion of Mill Street was renamed “ Rev . Dr . Coleman Briggs Way .”