Wallkill Valley Times Aug. 21 2019

Vol. 37, No. 34 3 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2019 Copper Bowl Air Show returns Page 32 Page 14 3 ONE DOLLAR w w w .W V T I M ESON L I N E . c om Medline meeting packs VC Employees, residents and county’s largest players turn out of jobs to be created would be $37,000 before bonuses and the annual salary range of jobs to be created is $33,000 to $69,000, according to Medline’s application for assistance with the Town of Montgomery Industrial Development Agency (IDA). With benefits and bonuses, the estimated salaries are $50,000 for production, $77,000 for drivers, and $137,000 for management. Several Medline employees spoke to express their support for the project, stating they would like to stay in the area rather than move if the company could not find a suitable site in the county. “I’m very excited about Medline wanting to stay in Montgomery and I’m happy that Medline wants to protect my job and keep me here,” Medline employee Allan Malansun said. Continued on page 4 Continued on page 4 Richard Phelps Montgomery residents turned out in force to express their concerns and a crowd of Medline employees expressed their support for a proposed 1.3-million- square-foot Medline Industries distribution center in a packed public hearing on Aug. 13. Located on the east side of NYS Route 416 and north of Interstate I-84, the warehouse is proposed in the Town of Montgomery, just outside Village of Montgomery limits. The building will replace the outgrown 500,000-square- foot facility in Wawayanda, which employs 320 workers, according to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Dmitry Dukhan, Vice President of Real Estate for Medline, assured residents the company would be a good neighbor to the Village of Montgomery and a fair employer. “Medline Industries is a fourth generation, privately held manufacturer and distributor of Medline products and services. We are the largest provider of full-spectrum healthcare services for the full continuum of health care,” Dukhan said. “This project by far is the biggest investment we have ever made in the community.” Medline plans to create 360 new jobs over a period of seven years, with a total of 700 jobs at full capacity. About 10 jobs will be office related, 50 will be drivers and the rest will be warehouse jobs, according to the DEIS. Dukhan said Medline estimates about 250 new hires will come from the Town of Montgomery and the surrounding area. The average estimated annual salary By TED REMSNYDER Valley Central voters flocked to the polls on Tuesday to decide the fate of the school district’s proposed $22.7 million bond referendum package, but local taxpayers got a chance to voice their opinions on the proposal in advance of the balloting during a public hearing on the project during a school board meeting on Aug. 12. The district’s The Traffic, Safety and STEAM (science, t e c h n o l o g y, Traffic, Safety engineering, arts and mathematics) and STEAM Bond proposal would Project fund a number of (Unofficial results) items if approved, YES 555 including the renovation of NO 585 the High School- Middle School complex parking lot, the construction of a STEAM classroom, a concession stand near the football field and a pool dehumidification system for the high school pool. Resident Fran Gallaway expressed her dismay at the price tag for the project, noting that she wished the Board of Education had chosen a project with a smaller scope of work. “I came to a meeting in April and I seem to remember there were three presentations there in regards to this project,” she told the board. “There was a high of $22 million and then there was a low of about $8 million that was stripped down. Then there was the middle of the road. I left that meeting with high hopes that the board and Mr. (Valley Central Superintendent John) Xanthis would consider the taxpayers, but obviously when I saw this I said, New York State Senator James Skoufis addresses the Town of Montgomery Planning Board during the public hearing on the Medline Warehouse’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement held in the Valley Central Middle School cafeteria to a standing room only crowd. By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Valley Central bond fails SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL