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Southern Ulster Times , Wednesday , June 8 , 2016
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar .......................................... 12 Craig McKinney ................................ 9 Classifieds ...................................... 34 Crossword ...................................... 36 Highland ......................................... 28 Letters to the Editor ........................ 9 Marlboro ........................................ 26 Obituaries ...................................... 30 Opinion ............................................. 8 Police Blotter ................................... 4 Plattekill ........................................ 27 School News ................................... 24 Service Directory ........................... 40 Sports ............................................ 44
PUBLIC AGENDA
THURSDAY , JUNE 9 WHAT : Plattekill Zoning Board of Appeals WHEN : 8 p . m . WHERE : Plattekill Town Hall 1915 Route 9W , Modena
WHAT : Lloyd Zoning Board of Appeals WHEN : 7 p . m . WHERE : Lloyd Town Hall 12 Church St ., Highland
MONDAY , JUNE 13
WHAT : Marlborough Town Board WHEN : 7 p . m . WHERE : Marlborough Town Hall 21 Milton Turnpike , Milton
TUESDAY , JUNE 14 WHAT : Public Hearing on Highland school budget for 2016-17 followed at 7 p . m . by regular board meeting WHERE : Highland High School 320 Pancake Hollow Road , Highland
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The Southern Ulster Times , ( USPS 022-586 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Southern Ulster Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550
Highland re-vote is June 21
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reduction of $ 133,211 comes from two full time teacher retirements and one full time teaching assistant retirement who will not be replaced , however , health benefits will continue to be paid for these individuals by the district .
Lynch said the district was able to come in just under the cap by using $ 900,000 of fund balance and another $ 319,000 of unexpended funds as well as $ 300,000 of employee accrual money for a total of $ 1.5 million .
Lynch said the increase in a resident ’ s taxes associated with this revised budget is a very close estimate because the district has not yet received the equalization rates nor have the assessments been finalized . A resident with a home assessed at $ 100,000 will see a $ 13 increase in their annual taxes from this year , $ 26 for a home assessed at $ 200,000 and $ 39 for a home valued at $ 300,000 .
If this budget fails , the district will have to go to a contingency budget and cannot present a third budget .
The meeting was not without controversy , however , as resident Jack Marguglio sharply challenged the board on numerous issues . He asked why his request for a list of the complete salaries and benefits has not been fully answered . School Board President Alan Barone said the board does not have to answer any questions during public input , which Marguglio agreed but added “ you are not doing yourself a good service because it seems like you are hiding information .” Barone denied that information is being concealed and every salary of the administrative staff , principals , vice principals , directors , the Superintendent , Assistant Superintendent , the business official and all unit members are posted on the school website . He noted that longevity and all bonuses are included in the posting and that any additional information may be obtained from Administrator Lynch .
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Department of Health and he is hoping the begin construction by the end of this month . He indicated it would take approximately two weeks longer to finish than was previously anticipated ; now slated for the later part of July . He said residents in the affected area have been very patient and although there will be a slight delay “ the project is still moving forward .”
Marguglio pressed the matter , saying this information is important because salaries are a large part of the overall school budget . He said he submitted a Freedom Of Information request to Barone two years ago concerning the salary information but to date he has only received figures up to step 20 and the names of the teachers . He said the figures “ should be right to the penny . This community deserves to know exactly how much every teacher , every administrator makes .” Barone asked what was the purpose of the request , with Marguglio responding “ it is public information .”
Lynch said step 20 is the top salary level .
“ There are other payments but they are not a step above step 20 ,” she said .
Lynch pointed out that the Freedom Of Information Law requires the district to provide items the district already has in their possession .
“ We do not have to create a document specifically as you requested . We have to provide you , which is why it is called public information , but we do not have to create a document that does not exist ,” she said .
Marguglio showed the board a NYS Education Department document on which the Superintendent has to disclose the annual salaries of anyone with a superintendent ’ s title who earns more than $ 130,000 . He said only three individuals in the district are at that level ( Superintendent , Assist . Superintendent and Business Administrator ) while other school districts have many more who are earning at that level , “ so I give you credit for that but the community doesn ’ t know .” He noted that one administrator receives compensation of $ 165,000 and $ 44,334 in benefits for a total of $ 209,334 but he asked what an additional $ 3,500 in remuneration was for . Lynch confirmed that this was for a tax sheltered annuity . Superintendent Deborah Haab indicated that these figures are in her contract ,
Hudson River water to be tapped
Water & Sewer Administrator , Adam Littman informed the board that he would soon be switching to a blend of Hudson River and town reservoir water but by mid-June he expects the system to be on full river water as he has done in the past .
Littman also told the board that in February the violation notice of disinfection by-products was lifted . He said testing continues for Trihalomethanes which is online , but said public input is not a question and answer format .
Marguglio calculated that the three administrators he was referring to were paid a combined salary with benefits of $ 529,693 – “ three people , that ’ s not bad money .” Lynch confirmed this figure .
Marguglio said the school district ’ s enrollment since last May has dropped by 140 students while New Paltz has diminished by 50 and Marlboro by 35 . He added that since September 2011 , according to district records , enrollment has dropped from 2,100 to 1,760 “ while in the meantime the budget has gone straight up . How do you account for that ?” Barone said the district will verify these numbers and release that information in the near future .
Barone eventually cut Marguglio off and asked if anyone else wished to speak . As Marguglio was about to leave , board member Ed Meisel asked if he would stay and listen to others who wished to speak as they had given him the courtesy of listening to him for the past 20 minutes . Marguglio at first declined “ because you people dislike me .” Meisel said he did not , but pointed out that his brother , who accompanied Marguglio to the board meeting , had previously called the school board members criminals who “ should all be led away in handcuffs .” Marguglio responded , “ you misread him ,” which Meisel sharply countered , saying “ No , he said that explicitly .”
Resident David Finch , who himself is a teacher , said he has two young children and praised the board for their work on developing the budget and for reaching out to the Governor to advocate on behalf of the district . He noted that class sizes for first and second graders may have to increase from 21 to possibly as high as 27 students , warning that “ the more kids you stuff in a classroom , the more difficult it is .” He urged the board to keep class sizes as small as possible at this grade level , which he said is critically important .
Lloyd approves water main replacement
[ THM ] that originally triggered the violation . THM are four chemicals that form when chlorine that is used to control contaminants in drinking water interacts with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water .
He said the level is now within legal limits and has been for two consecutive quarters .
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