Mid Hudson Times Jan. 03 2018 | Page 4

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By SHANTAL RILEY sriley @ tcnewspapers . com

The Town of New Windsor will see development in terms of land and water in 2018 . Supervisor George Green spoke to the Mid Hudson Times this week about some of the town ’ s plans and challenges in the coming year . “ Our main goal is to complete the water project and get these wells online ,” Green said . “ We ’ re hoping to do that by mid-summer .”

He was talking about the Butterhill Wells – three freshwater wells alongside Moodna Creek – drilled and each capable of producing more than 1,000 gallons or more per minute of raw water . “ Right now , we ’ re into the construction of the plant ,” said Green , referring to a water filtration plant , which will filter up to 6.4 million gallons of water per day once completed . “ When it ’ s done , we ’ ll flip the switch ,” he said .

The wells are expected to wean the town completely off of Catskill Aqueduct water , which cost the town approximately $ 2 million in 2016 .

“ We ’ re looking forward to being off of the aqueduct by summer ,” the supervisor said . The Catskill Aqueduct is expected to be shut down for 10 weeks of repairs in October .

“ We purchased the Masonic Lodge on Route 32 ,” Green said , in the Mason ’ s Ridge apartment complex . “ We ’ re going to use that as a community center ,” he said , though plans have not been finalized .

Green said the town was also in contract to sell at least two properties at Stewart International Airport . One will be sold to Independent Helicopters , a woman-owned business providing helicopter flight instruction , tours , aerial photography and charter flights . Construction on the Patriot Bluff apartment complex is also expected to begin this year .

Green was asked about the perfluorooctane sulfonate ( PFOS ) still flowing from the Stewart Air National

Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , January 3 , 2018

New Windsor heads into the new year with ace in hand

Town of Newburgh DIAL • A • BUS SERVICE

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• Senior Citizens half-price ( 60 & over )

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Operating Hours Mon . - Fri . 8:15 a . m . - 4:00 p . m . SATURDAY SEASONAL MORNING RUN

Advance Notice Needed For Reservations Allow extra time for additional rider pick-ups

Town of New Windsor Supervisor George Green

Guard Base , also located at the airport . In addition to contaminating the City of Newburgh ’ s water supply at Washington Lake , the chemical polluted the private wells of New Windsor residents living on nearby roads and in the Beaver Dam Lake area . “ We ’ re looking forward to very quickly getting water to homeowners along Steele Road and ( Little Britain Road ),” he said . “ We ’ re laying pipe .”

Kroll Well , a town well located off of Mt . Airy Road , was also contaminated by the chemical in 2016 . It has been shut down since . Like the City of Newburgh , the town has not received compensation from the U . S . Department of Defense in connection with the contamination of the municipal water . “ We ’ re going to pursue that differently , more strongly ,” said Green , referring to the town seeking compensation for the shutdown of the well .

The town also hopes to receive funding through the New York Department of State ’ s Division of Cemeteries to carry out work at the New Windsor Woodlawn Cemetery , taken over by the town last year . In addition to work already carried out at the cemetery , “ We want to improve the roads , repave and secure the head stones ,” Green said .

The New Windsor Town Council is expected to appoint a town justice in January . The decision was handed over to the council after the Orange County Board of Elections declared the race between incumbent Judge Richard Thorpe and George Meyers a tie in November . Steve Moreau was sworn-in to replace longtime town Councilwoman Alice Biasotti on Jan . 1 .

In Brief

Christmas tree-recycling event is Saturday at Downing Park

Have a Christmas tree you need to get rid of ? The City of Newburgh Conservation Advisory Council and Department of Public Works will host a Christmas-tree recycling event at Downing Park on Saturday .

Trees should be completely free of tinsel and other decorations , the CAC states . Trees will be run through a wood chipper and turned into mulch , bagged and provided without charge along with hot coco , coffee and doughnuts .

The recycling event takes place from 8:30 a . m . to 2 p . m . on Saturday , Jan . 6 in Downing Park , at the corner of Third and Carpenter streets .

Town hosts public meeting on span replacement Jan . 10

The Town of Newburgh and the New York State Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to inform residents on the replacement of a culvert at Gardnertown Road and Gidneytown Creek . The meeting will be held at the Newburgh Town Hall at 7 p . m . on Wednesday , Jan . 10 .

A section of the road surrounding the span is expected to be closed for several months in the spring , Town of Newburgh Clerk Andrew Zarutskie said .

The purpose of the meeting is to review the proposed project and gather public comments . The town is in the process of developing a preliminary design for the project along with the state DOT and the Federal Highway Administration .

Town of Newburgh Town Hall is located at 1496 Route 300 .

Cuomo wants to rename airport

In an effort to rebrand the Newburgh facility as a major metropolitan area airport , Gov . Andrew Cuomo wants to rename Stewart Airport .

As part of a major investment in the facility , the Governor announced last week that he would like to rename it New York International at Stewart Field .

The governor also wants the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to invest $ 27 million to expand international service by building a permanent federal inspection station at Stewart . At present , the airport is using a temporary customs and immigration facility with a moveable wall at the passenger terminal .

Cuomo also wants to promote the Stewart Airport Express , the CoachUSA bus service from Stewart to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan . That service schedule corresponds with the Norwegian flights arriving at Stewart .