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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Minuta looks forward to serving as District 15 legislator
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
Earlier this month, voters elected
architect Joseph Minuta to the Orange
County Legislature in District 15. The
district covers most of the Town of New
Windsor.
“I was humbled to be voted in,” Minuta
said. “I don’t see this as a win. I see this as
a job I applied for and was hired to do. It’s
a job that I take seriously.”
Minuta will replace Democrat Chris
Eachus, who has served more than two
terms.
Minuta, a registered architect, is owner
of Minuta Architecture. He serves on the
Newburgh Board of Education. Minuta
plans to carry out the remainder of his
school-board term, which ends in June.
He also serves on the board of the Orange
County Water Authority.
“Health, safety and well-being is the
charge of an architect,” Minuta said, and
this includes infrastructure safety. “I
would like to see more infrastructure,”
Minuta said, including water and sewer.
“Water and sewer are the life blood of any
community. Without those, there is no
industry or development.”
Minuta pointed to a stretch of Route
9W in the Town of Newburgh, between
Balmville School and the Marlborough
town line. “The reason that corridor has
not expanded is there is no water and
Joseph Minuta
sewer,” he said, referring to the area’s
lack of municipal sewer service and
patchy water service. “Without water you
have nothing.”
He was asked his opinion on PFOS-
tainted water coming from the Stewart
Air National Guard Base property.
“It happened,” Minuta said. “It has
proliferated into every estuary downhill
of the airport. Someone needs to take
responsibility to clean it up.”
Minuta said he doesn’t care whether
that is the federal government or the
state. “One rents the property and the
DA announces guilty plea in gun case
Orange County District Attorney
David M. Hoovler announced that
on Tuesday, November 28, Frederick
L. Blue, 21, of Newburgh, pleaded
guilty before Orange County Court
Judge Craig Stephen Brown to the
armed felony of Criminal Possession
of a Weapon in the Second Degree,
for having possessed a loaded .380
semiautomatic pistol in the City of
Newburgh on May 22, 2017.
At the time Blue pleaded guilty, he
admitted that he possessed the loaded
pistol at about 4:47 pm on May 22,
2017, while he was in the vicinity of
Carpenter Street and First Street in the
City of Newburgh. Pursuant to a plea
agreement, which was placed on the
record at the time Blue pleaded guilty,
the Court stated that it would sentence
Blue to nine years in state prison and
five years post-release supervision
when he is sentenced on February 27,
2018. Prosecutors argued that Blue
had been carrying the weapon in
connection with his being involved in
narcotics trafficking. Blue had also
been charged with Criminal Possession
of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth
Degree, on May 22, 2017, for having
possessed cocaine at the same time he
possessed the gun.
Hoovler thanked the City of
Newburgh Police Department for their
investigation and the arrest of Blue.
The case is being prosecuted by Chief
Assistant District Attorney Christopher
P. Borek.
“The narcotics trade inevitably leads
to the possession of illegal weapons and
violence,” said Hoovler. “My office will
seek severe prison sentences for anyone
who possesses an illegal handgun on
our city streets. City residents have
the right to walk their streets without
fear of facing someone with an illegal
handgun. I commend the city of
Newburgh Police Department for their
investigation and apprehension of this
defendant.”
other owns it, he said. “Someone needs to
take up the mantle of responsibility.”
Minuta also wants to see a reduction
in property taxes. “Homeowners are
demanding it,” he said. “There are two
ways to reduce taxes. One is to lower the
tax levy. If you can’t do that, you need
to bring in businesses... by bringing in
larger tax payers into the area, that can
displace the levy.”
However, not all projects offer a benefit
to the community, he said. “The Ridge is
a particularly difficult project,” he said,
speaking of the proposed Ridge Hudson
Valley shopping center.
Waterstone Retail has proposed
a 20-year pilot agreement for the
$161.5-million project. “The 20 years is
after they’ve completed construction,”
Minuta said, with possibly three phases
of construction at the 122-acre site at
Union Avenue and Interstate 84.
“Under what they have proposed, they
are not paying their fair share,” Minuta
said. “They asked for a $38-million bond
through the county IDA. The idea of
a pilot is ‘payment in lieu of taxes.’
The developer comes in and pays the
municipality. In this case, they’re asking
for money and a tax reduction.”
Supporters have lauded the project
for its jobs and sales-tax potential.
“They’re bringing in businesses that
already exists in the town - ShopRite,
Marshalls, PetSmart,” Minuta continued,
and these businesses will need to move
from their current locations.
“If they move to this space, we’ll have
white elephants,” Minuta said, refer ring
to empty spaces left over from companies
moving out. “The fact is, you’re displacing
the tax gain,” he said, and “vacant spaces
will file for tax certiorari.”
“They should do one of two things,”
Minuta asserted. “Either they build the
project with their own money or reduce
the scope of the project so that it meets
their budget.”
The county should continue to focus on
the opioid epidemic, Minuta said. “How
do we get them help?” he said, stressing
the importance of rehabilitation services.
Prescriptions of pharmaceuticals play a
critical role in the problem, he said. “Our
pharmaceutical companies are pushing
this,” Minuta said. “Not every kid who
breaks their arm needs an opioid.”
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www .STLUKESCORNwALLHOSPITAL. ORg
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