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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Montgomery pledges to say the Pledge
By JANE ANDERSON
You could say the village of Montgomery unofficially
predates the United States: its first residents settled
along the Wallkill River there in the early 1700s. Known
for its landmark historic buildings, the village prides
itself on traditional values.
So when Trustee Michael Hembury got word of a local
town’s recent action to do away with reciting the Pledge
of Allegiance before some of its meetings, he was having
none of that. He requested that a resolution be added to
the Village Board’s April 5 agenda that states the village
will resolutely recite the Pledge before each Village
Board meeting. The resolution passed unanimously. As a
result, the board meetings in the village– which predates
the recitation itself, since the Pledge of Allegiance wasn’t
written until 1892 - will continue to begin with the handover-the-heart pledge.
In March, the Town of New Paltz Planning Board
voted 4-3 to not begin their regular meetings with the
Pledge of Allegiance. The New York Post quoted one
member as calling it as “total waste of time,” while
another board member offered that reciting an oath to
the US flag “goes against the principles this country was
founded on.”
The Montgomery’s Village Board’s April 5 meeting
also included a proposal by Jake Wehr, a Boy Scout
with Troop 386, to make improvements at the Veterans
Memorial Park as part of his Eagle Scout project. Board
members told him they appreciated the help and that
they couldn’t wait to see his plans.
Board members were surprised, during a public
hearing on the village budget, to find that the proposed
tax-levy increase was 7.1 percent, not the 0.071 percent
they had thought it was. Within a week, the board
VILLAGE of WALDEN RESIDENTS:
hydrant flushing
VILLAGE OF WALDEN
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Village of
Walden will be flushing fire hydrants during
the month of April. Your water may be
discolored, but it will be safe to drink. Use
caution when doing laundry, particularly
white and light colors, as discoloration may
occur.
If you have any questions or
concerns, please contact the Village
of Walden Water Department
between 7:00 am and 3:30 pm
Monday through Friday at
778-2177 (ext. 1522)
John Revella
Village Manager
re-figured the budget; among the revisions were the
elimination of a proposed $61,600 police sergeant
position, an infusion of $62,000 from the village surplus,
and a reduction of the proposed salaries for the mayor