Wallkill Valley Times Jan. 09 2019

Vol. 37, No. 2 3 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2019 3 ONE DOLLAR Vikings pound Port Michelle plays the pearly whites Page 34 Page 2 w w w .W a l l k i l l V a l l e y T i m e s . n e t Meetings sought to shape Shawangunk’s future By TED REMSNYDER The Town of Shawangunk is poised to update its comprehensive plan for the first time since 2003 in order to facilitate zoning changes, and the municipality is looking for the public’s input on how to amend the Montgomery requests joint traffic study document. The town will hold a pair of meetings on Saturday, Jan. 26 at Town Hall at 10:00 a.m. and a 1:00 p.m. session at the Walker Valley Firehouse to gather feedback from taxpayers on potential zoning changes that could shape the future of the town. The meetings will be run by Shawangunk Planner Bonnie Franson and the Shawangunk Town Board will also be in attendance to listen to residents’ ideas. “We’re just going to be there to give support to what they’re doing,” Town Supervisor John Valk said. “But we Continued on page 19 Closed for the winter Vaulting over the competition Concern raised over Town of Montgomery’s new park hours By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Village of Montgomery Mayor Stephen Brescia and Deputy Mayor JoAnn Scheels contacted the Orange County Planning Department to request a traffic study of the cumulative effect of three building projects in the Village and Town of Montgomery. In a letter to David Church, Orange County Planning Departmnet Commissioner, Brescia states he would like to evaluate traffic in the Route 211 corridor in the village. The best way to do this is to evaluate traffic volume through the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process of the three projects in the village and town. “Our thoughts are to require a comprehensive traffic study for the KSH [King Service Holding, Inc.] Project in the Village whereby that developer will take into account the projections for its own project in conjunction with the established Devitt projections and possible those being generated from the Medline Project,” Brescia states in Continued on page 2 Montgomery residents expressed concern about the town board’s decision to close its parks for the winter, a move the board and police department said was needed to ensure the safety and security of the town’s residents. Benedict Farm Park, Community Garden Park, Berea Park, the Rail Trail, Riverfront Park and Twin Islands Fishing Park will be closed from Dec. 1 to March 15. Only Benedict Farm Park and Riverfront Park have gates that are currently locked. The town board passed Local Law No. Seven of 2018 in December, which requires the board to determine the hours of operation annually by resolution. Resolutions do not require a public hearing or public notice. The law also repeals Local Law No. Five of 2009, which sets town park hours as sunup to sundown every day of the year. The town board passed a resolution to close the parks and set new park hours Bond Brungard Miah Frisbie competes on the vault for the Wallkill gymnastcs team. Story on page 36. Continued on page 18 SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL