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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Ryan’s listening tour makes
a stop in Plattekill
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan addressed the Plattekill Town Board on July 17.
By MAX FREEBERN
After roughly a month in office, Ulster County
Executive Pat Ryan made his eighth town meeting visit
at the Plattekill Town Hall on July 17. Ryan is taking
a grassroots approach to grasping the county reigns,
looking to local officials and residents in Ulster’s 24 towns
to set goals for the future. Although only four residents
attended, board members shared their concerns about
increasing rates for town health insurance, the opioid
crisis and the struggle to find a steady town assessor.
“With so much chaos, and with little progress on the
national level, it’s on the county level that we make things
happen,” Ryan said. “When you live in a small town, you
are part of the community and need to take care of it.”
Town employees’ currrent plan includes general health
insurance as well as dental and vision coverage. After
Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a two-percent increase
cap on local property taxes each year, it is becoming more
difficult to provide ample coverage. Over the past five
years, Town Supervisor Joseph Croce claimed that the
town experienced double-digit increases in the annual
fees.
“If you keep increasing the cost of town government,
which has very few avenues for revenue, it makes it
difficult to come up with the money for the budget,” Croce
said.
The town’s Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)
helps pay for qualified medical expenses that aren’t
already covered under the town health plan. Croce says
family and spousal health plans are allotted roughly
$4,000 a year, while single users are given around $2,000 in
HRA funds. Ryan and Croce expressed similar interest in
signing town employees up to the county health coverage
to cut costs. This move wouldn’t be too unfamiliar,
since the town subscribed to the county’s workers’
compensation program over a decade ago, which provides
financial support for injured employees.
On a more somber note, Ryan and board members
discussed ways to combat the ongoing opioid epidemic
in Ulster. According to the 2018 New York State Opioid
Annual Data Report, Ulster County ranked highest
in overdose-related deaths in New York State in 2016.
Although the town already cooperates with the Ulster
Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT)—
focusing on the trafficking of cocaine, heroin and other
dangerous narcotics—Croce felt that they have yet to reap
significant benefits from the program.
“Grants [from the state] represent a response to the
issue,” said Board Member Dean Degraw. “It doesn’t help
prevent the issue or help while it’s happening.”
Plattekill currently has no drug rehabilitation centers.
Additionally, the town’s entirely part-time police force
does not have the resources to police for opioids as
thoroughly as they would like. Croce hopes that money
earned from state-funded grants and URGENT could help
provide more officers hunting drugs and dealers on the
streets. Ryan also spoke of potential plans of “stabilization
centers,” where people struggling with addiction or other
mental ailments can be housed and evaluated before being
brought to the proper facility. Currently, law enforcement
can only hospitalize these people, and often see them
released within hours without any guidance. Ryan and
Degraw agreed that the state of mental health care in the
county needs serious reconsideration.
Next came the issue of establishing a permanent
assessor for the town: the assessor evaluates the value
of property within the town. Croce explained that, while
the current assessor Matthew Sabia has done well, he can
only work part-time since he is Rhinebeck’s assessor as
well. Ryan and members toyed with the idea of creating
either a regional (who would represent a few towns) or
a county assessor to ensure the position is always filled.
Ryan understood Croce’s hesitancy to give this job to the
county, but the idea isn’t off the table.
“People want to go to their own town hall and know
that someone who knows the area is doing the job,” Ryan
said. “They want to be able to come down and look them
in the eyes.”
The next Plattekill Town Board Meeting will be held on
August 7 in the Town Hall at 7 p.m.
P olice B lotter
Town of Lloyd
Jeanette N. Wright, 30, of Highland, was
arrested July 26 and charged with felony Criminal
Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd degree,
felony Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument
2nd degree, Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 2nd
degree, Obstructing Governmental Administration
2nd degree and Unlawful Possession of Marijuana
after the vehicle she was operating was stopped for
traffic violations on Tillson Ave in Highland. Wright
was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Rizzo
and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $10,000
cash bail or $20,000 insurance bond and is due back
in Town Court July 30.
Ethel A. Davis, 49, of Saugerties, was arrested
July 29 on an arrest warrant for Criminal Possession
of a Controlled Substance 7th degree and Criminal
Impersonation 2nd degree. She was arraigned before
Town of Lloyd Judge Elia and released and is due
back in Town Court Aug. 1.
Destiny M. Johnson, 20, of Kingston, was arrested
July 25 and charged with Reckless Driving. She was
released on tickets and is due in Town Court Aug. 8.
Ulster County Sheriff
Members of the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement
Narcotics Team M (URGENT) report the execution
of a search warrant on a suspected drug distribution
house in the Forest Park Trailer Park in the Town of
Plattekill.
Last Friday, URGENT,
along with the Ulster County
Emergency
Response
Team and Plattekill Police,
executed a search warrant
at 381 Ellen Street, following
a long-term investigation
into ongoing drug sales from
the residence. The search
yielded approximately 38.6
grams of powder cocaine, 8.7
William Lowers
grams of crack cocaine, 1.8
grams of heroin, 250 tablets
of Xanax, as well as drug paraphernalia consistent
with the weighing and packaging of narcotics for
sale.
URGENT is also currently seeking the principal
occupant of the residence, William G. Lowers, 40
who was not at the residence at the time of the
search warrant execution.
This investigation remains open and several felony
charges are pending. Anyone with information as to
Mr. Lowers’ current whereabouts is asked to call
845-338-3640. Calls can be kept confidential.
URGENT was assisted by the Town of Plattekill
Building Department.
The following agencies have members assigned
to URGENT: Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, Ulster
County District Attorney’s Office, Ulster County
Probation, Town of Plattekill Police, Village of
Ellenville Police, Town of Shandaken Police and the
United States Department of Homeland Security
Investigations.