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Wallkill Valley Times , Wednesday , April 26 , 2017
Shawangunk employees design their own truck
By RACHEL COLEMAN
“ We ’ re very proud of it ,” said Shawangunk Highway Superintendent Joseph LoCicero .
LoCicero pitched the purchase of a unique truck to the Shawangunk Town Board on Thursday — one that had been specially designed by actual employees of the town ’ s highway department .
The truck is an International tandem dump truck with a snow plow ( the plow comes off when the snow finally stops ), which isn ’ t unheard of , but this truck will feature stainless steel and aluminum wherever possible — including a stainless steel dump body . LoCicero explained that this change alone will help the truck last longer .
While the department is now pursuing better cleaning and maintenance methods to keep the town ’ s vehicles in good condition , the damage has already been done to many of them .
Amid grief , Walden trustees conduct business
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to identify cuts throughout the original budget proposal , which included an 11.63 percent tax levy increase . “ We worked through line-by-line to find areas to prioritize and to see if there were areas where we could scrape down and do without for a year ,” Revella said . “ We also looked for any more efficiencies we could come up with , and we did . That helped a lot . We had to recalculate revenue sources to make sure they were accurate , and we came up with an overall budget that came down to 2.75 without using any fund balance .”
The budget includes a 2.72 percent tax rate increase , and the increase for a home in the village assessed at $ 150,000 is $ 63.75 . The total budget contains $ 7,725,203 for village operations and $ 389,007 for the public library . The spending plan is up 2.8 percent over last year ’ s $ 7,888,793 total , and utilizes no fund balance for the second consecutive year . “ It took a lot of work on behalf of the department heads and the board and the manager ,” Walden Mayor Susan Rumbold said .
Revella was pleased to keep the levy increase under the cap , but contends that the cap metric is not the be-all endall it ’ s frequently portrayed as . “ It ’ s a stigma to pierce the cap ,” he said . “ It really means nothing . It doesn ’ t give us any benefit to pierce it or not , it ’ s the public perception of what piercing the cap is . The governor and the state tout it as some kind of magic shield , but it really isn ’ t . If you force yourself to be under this magic number every year , but you have needs , you ’ re not really meeting the needs of the public . Then they ’ re going to end up paying for it if you keep putting it off , where eventually something ’ s going to happen and you don ’ t have a choice . Then you get to a point like a couple of years ago in Newburgh when they had to do a 40-something percent tax increase . I don ’ t want to be in that position .”
“ Every truck we have , the dumps are rusting ,” said LoCicero . “ One is only a year old .”
The truck will also feature a bigger transmission , air ride and other improvements . The board was happily surprised with the information that this dream vehicle will actually cost less than the “ run-of-the-mill ” design , according to the bids .
“ They ’ re very excited ,” said LoCicero of the highway department ’ s employees . “ It ’ s probably the best truck we ’ ve ever had .”
Town Supervisor John Valk advised the board that a truck will be coming off this year , so they could “ fit it into the budget .” He explained that they could also defer the first payment to 2018 , when they expect to make their last payment on the Gradall vehicle .
The purchase was approved , at a cost of $ 239,871 , with two abstentions .
LoCicero also noted that the department is currently focusing on spring cleaning and taking a look at the town roads . After some deliberation , he has decided that this year the department will be focusing their efforts ( and money ) on repairing roads in the hamlet . “ It ’ s been a long time ,” said LoCicero . Police Chief Frank Petrone advised the board that the new police vehicle is in service and the old one is to be relabeled and used for animal control .
He also announced that Officer Donald Corso will be recognized on April 29 with a special award for his efforts with the town police and Ulster County Sheriff ’ s Department on DWI enforcement .
Supervisor Valk took the opportunity to publicly thank Joe Vogel for his donation of time and services to repair the plumbing at the Verkeerderkill Park .
It was also noted that the Parkview House is pursuing a liquor license with the NYS Liquor Authority . Work is reportedly continuing on the business
The village had zero growth factor last year and ended up piercing the cap , but the 1.01 figure allowed the council extra room this budget season as they honed their plan . “ That ’ s a very high number , the only one bigger in Orange County was Kiryas Joel ,” Revella said of the growth factor . “ It lends credence to the proper planning and economic development promotion of the village as a great place . ” The approved budget calls for $ 4,634,841 to be collected in property taxes to cover village operations . “ We ’ re trying to be fiscally responsible , fiscally conservative and prudent ,” Revella said . “ We want to do the right thing for the taxpayer . I also don ’ t want to have a huge surplus , because that means I took too much money from you as a taxpayer .”
The total Police Department budget in the plan that was approved on April 18 is $ 1,341,659 ( up from the $ 1,311,940 allotment found in last year ’ s adjusted budget ). The Parks and Recreation line of the budget is down from $ 111,900 in the 2016-2017 adjusted plan to $ 110,446 this year , while street lighting is down from $ 80,000 last year to $ 55,000 in the newly approved budget .
The death of a beloved member of the Walden Village Police Department shook the community this week , as James , 31 , had been part of the department since 2007 . “ It ’ s devastating ,” Rumbold said . “ In addition to being a wonderful police officer , he was an extraordinary human being . The community in our police department will feel the loss of Dustin for many years to come .” Local police departments lent a helping hand in Walden ’ s time of need . “ We ’ ve been overwhelmed by the response from all of the local police agencies who ’ ve come in to help with patrolling the village so that our police department could tend to the services for Dustin ,” the mayor said . “ We ’ ll just never be able to thank them enough for everything they ’ ve done for us .” and residents at the meeting voiced hope that the Parkview House would soon open its doors .
Ulster County Legislator Kenneth Ronk updated the board on the Wallkill Bridge , stating that the bid on the project will be awarded “ relatively shortly ” and he is sure that the work will be able to start on time this summer .
In other business , the town board has received the annual audit , however discussion was tabled for the next town board meeting on May 4 . A proposed one hour parking sign in front of a business in the hamlet — as well as the resulting issue of parking enforcement — was also tabled for the next meeting .
A public hearing was set for May 18 , 2017 at 7 p . m . for the proposed stormwater drainage district of the Leonette Subdivision .
Police Blotter
Maybrook Police
Joseph Otero , 25 , of Maybrook , was charged March 17 , with aggravated unlicensed operation 2nd / three or more suspensions , unlicensed operator and failure to observe traffic control device . He is due back in Maybrook Court on May 9 .
Andrew Kasbarian , 25 , of Maybrook , was charged March 21 , with criminal possession of marijuana fourth degree and no / inadequate plate lamp . He is due back in Maybrook court on May 9 .
James Terpening , 20 , of Walden , was charged March 29 , with criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th . He is due back in Maybrook court on May 9 .
Jennifer Viglietta , 47 , of Maybrook , was arrested April 9 during a domestic dispute and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and attempt aggravated harassment in the second degree . She is due back in Maybrook court on May 9 .
Paul Lopez , 29 , of Kingston , turned himself in April 11 on a Maybrook warrant . He is due back in Maybrook court on May 9 .
Joseph Salomone , 31 , of Maybrook , arrested April 13 during a domestic dispute and charged with endangering the welfare of a child , assault in the third degree / intent physical injury , menacing second degree , criminal possession of a weapon fourth degree and reckless endangerment in the second degree . He was remanded to the Orange County jail on $ 1000 cash and $ 1000 bond . He is due back in Maybrook court on May 9 .