T IMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Vol. 35, No 31 3 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017
3
ONE DOLLAR
Dancing
under
the stars Help for
Humane
Society
Page 12 Page 16
www .W allkill V alley T imes . net
Montgomery honors a hero
Maybrook
eager for
economic
development
By RACHEL COLEMAN
Photos by Torin Olsen
The body of Marine Gunnery Sgt. Mark Hopkins arrives at the Stewart Air National Guard base last Wednesday, prior to Thursday’s funeral
in Montgomery.
By MELANIE ZERAH
Gunnery Sgt. Mark Hopkins was killed
July 10 in the crash of a military plane.
The Goodwill Church of Montgomery
held an emotional goodbye last
Thursday to a decorated military man
and pillar of his community.
Gunnery Sgt. Mark Hopkins lost
his life July 10 along with 15 other
military servicemen in a plane crash
in Mississippi. The plane was bound
for California, transferring servicemen
based from Stewart Air National Guard
Base and North Carolina.
Goodwill Pastor John Torres began
the ceremony as a Marine honor guard
escorted the flag-draped, walnut-colored
coffin into the church.
Hopkins had been at the church
with his wife Patricia the day before
the tragedy. Since he had seen him so
recently, Torres said that upon hearing
the news of the crash “it couldn’t be
Mark that died.”
“There were 16 families who probably
had that same thought,” Torres said.
“I kept saying ‘it’s not him,’ but still, it
was him.”
Torres invited the congregation to
relax, encouraging all to renew their
faith in God, and to release the feelings
of anguish that may come with their
grief.
Continued on page 2
“I see no end in sight here,” said Brian
Rivenburgh during a public hearing
before the Maybrook Village Board last
week.
Rivenburgh owns a commercial
property—the former Panera Realty
building in Maybrook—and was
seeking relief from the moratorium on
development in the B2 district.
After purchasing and partially
renovating the property, Rivenburgh said
he listed it for sale about four years ago.
He advised the board that buyers are
only interested if it can be rezoned to
residential. In order to take the matter to
the ZBA, the moratorium would have to
be lifted or he would have to obtain relief
from the village board, first proving that
the moratorium has created a hardship
for him.
The parcel however, sits squarely in
the area of the village that is the focus
of economic development efforts. When
asked if the move would fit in with those
plans, Deputy Mayor Robert Pritchard
said “Absolutely not.”
The public hearing was the first
time Rivenburgh had spoken with the
board in a long time and he admitted
he was not aware of the status of their
economic development efforts, only that
he continues to see blighted properties
surrounding his own, making it harder to
sell his property.
“Until something happens to these
Continued on page 3
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL