Wallkill Valley Times Feb. 20 2019 | Page 2

2 Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, February 20, 2019 IN THIS ISSUE Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . 8 Montgomery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Pine Bush. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Police Blotter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 School News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Service Directory. . . . . . . . . . . 26 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Walden.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 PUBLIC AGENDA WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 Town of Montgomery Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 110 Bracken Road, Montgomery. Shawangunk Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 14 Central Ave., Wallkill. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Montgomery Town Board Audit/Work Session, 6 p.m. Town Government Center, 110 Bracken Road, Montgomery. Wallkill Board of Education, 7 p.m. Leptondale Elementary School. Shawangunk Town Board, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 14 Central Ave., Wallkill MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Valley Central Board of Education, 6:30 p.m. Administration building, 944 Route 17K, Montgomery. (Budget workshop). Town of Montgomery Planning Board, 7:30 p.m. Town Hall, 110 Bracken Road, Montgomery. HOW TO REACH US OFFICE: 300 Stony Brook Court Newburgh, NY 12550 PHONE: [phone], FAX: [phone] Emails may be directed to the following : ADVERTISING [email protected] CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS [email protected] TO REACH THE EDITOR [email protected] FOR THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT [email protected] PUBLIC NOTICES [email protected] WEBSITE www.timescommunitypapers.com The Wallkill Valley Times, (USPS 699-490) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh, NY 12550, with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY. Single copy: $1 at newsstand. By mail in Orange, Ulster or Sullivan Counties: $40 annually, $44 out of county. Periodicals permit at Newburgh, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallkill Valley Times, 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550. Bat box is scout’s Eagle project By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Noah Cabrera, Troop 4031 life scout, is giving local bats a helping hand through the installation of bat boxes throughout Montgomery. Cabrera will install approximately 15 boxes for his eagle project, providing valuable nursery habitat for a beleaguered bat population. Cabrera approached the Montgomery town board on Feb. 7 to request permission to install about 10 boxes in Benedict Farm Park. Cabrera also plans to install one box in Riverfront Park in the Town of Montgomery, five in Walden and two in Maybrook. Cabrera said each box will provide shelter for about 100 young bats or more, depending on the size of the box. According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, bat populations have declined by about 90 percent across New York State since 2006 due to habitat loss and White Nose Syndrome—a fungal infection that has killed millions of bats across North America. Bats are a valuable pollinator, reduce the spread of West Nile Virus, Zika virus and malaria by eating carrier insects. One Life Scout Noah Cabrera will install bat boxes in the Town of Montgomery (pictured above) for his eagle scout project. bat can eat more than 1,000 mosquito-sized insects an hour and bats eat insect pests that save the U.S. agricultural industry billions of dollars annually. According to a Boston University Study, bats may be extinct in New York by 2030. Cabrera has always had an interest in environmental cleanup activities and wanted to do something when he learned of bats’ decline. “My whole life, I’ve always had an interest in benefiting the environment,” Cabrera said. Cabrera plans to have to boxes installed by April 31. The project is one piece needed to achieve the William Hornaday Award, a conservation award that is one of scouting’s rarest honors with approximately 1,200 awarded in the past 100 years. Cabrera and the Walden Humane Society will host a soup night fundraiser on Feb. 23 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Brick Reformed Church. Proceeds will benefit the project. All you can eat soup, bread, drinks and dessert will be available for $8 per person. Visit the Human Society of Walden’s Facebook page to learn more. Orange County Airport looks to the future By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] The Orange County Airport is preparing for future growth by discussing municipal water and sewer systems with the Town and Village of Montgomery. The airport is currently in negotiations with the Village of Montgomery to obtain municipal sewer access, which would be more efficient than the septic system the airport currently has. Orange County Airport Director of Aviation Edward Magryta approached the Montgomery town board to ask for a potential Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) for water and sewer services if IMA negotiations with the Village of Montgomery fall through. Even though the airport is in the town, the distance from the airport to the village is shorter than to the town hookup at the end of Neelytown Road. Magryta said the airport received an $800,000 New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) Aviation Bureau grant in 2007 for the purpose of sewer infrastructure. However, the grant expires in April and the airport needs to demonstrate it has municipal support to receive more grant money from the state. The county also has the bonding authority for $600,000 for the purpose of sewer installation. The airport is waiting on a $1.5 million DOT Aviation Bureau state grant that would contribute to water services. The county has also preemptively pledged $900,000 in bonding authority for water services. However, Magryta said the possibility of new developments on Route 416 could bring town water and sewer service even closer to the airport. Magryta is still optimistic the airport will be able to negotiate an IMA with the village. He approached the town to make sure all the bases are covered for the grant funding. “I do think there is a strong possibility that we will be able to link up in the village. Our scenario here is that we don’t want the grant to expire,” Magryta said. “If there is an opportunity with the town as a backstop with this grant funding, we certainly don’t want to let that go by the wayside and then lose the $800,000 that is available to us.” A municipal connection is more efficient than septic, so acquiring an upgrade in systems is crucial to the airport’s growth by attracting private investment interesting in building more hangars and businesses. “We can build more with less land because these hangars will not require their own septic systems,” Magryta said. The Orange County Airport does not manage commercial flights, instead attracting private aircraft enthusiasts and business travel. Proposals for large-scale development in the area might increase traffic in private businesses using the airport for quick trips in and out of facilities. Medline Industries, Inc. has proposed a 1.3-million-square-foot warehouse just across from the airport, on the east side of NYS Route 416 and north of Interstate I-84 (I84). Project Sailfish, a proposed 1-million-square-foot warehouse for an undisclosed tenant, is eyeing the plot of land near I-84 and the intersections of NYS Route 17K and 747.