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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Maybrook’s red deli is demolished Valley Central
Board looks at
$22.7 million
referendum
By TED REMSNYDER
The dilapidated building at 305 Homestead Avenue in Maybrook, also known as the red deli, was taken down on June 18 and is in the process
of demolition.
By LAURA FITZGERALD
[email protected]
The dilapidated building at 305
Homestead Avenue in Maybrook, which
has drawn complaints from concerned
residents, is in the process of demolition.
A demolition permit was issued to
JAIS, LLC, the owners of the property, on
June 10. Village Building Inspector Tim
Ippolito said the building was taken down
on June 18 and the owners continue to
complete site work.
Ippolito said JAIS has a year to
complete the demolition process.
The demolition came at no additional
cost to village taxpayers, Ippolito said,
since the owners paid for the demolition.
On April 3, the village building
department issued a violation notice.
Ippolito stated the property contained
trash, he observed animals entering and
exiting through holes in the building and
there is structural damage to the front
wall. There was also damage to the roof,
siding, gutters and more.
The red deli has been an eyesore for
a number of years, although Ippolito
said property owner rights restricted
the village from forcing the owner to
demolish the building. It was also difficult
for the village to get in touch with the
limited liability company. The business
closed about eight or nine years ago.
Ippolito said the village followed
all federal, state and municipal laws,
respecting the rights of the property
owner. The village also avoided court
action, which would have come at the
expense of village taxpayers.
“We always do our best not to violate
anybody’s rights in situations like this,”
Ippolito said. “This is not Communist
Russia where we force people to do things
against their will.”
Nearby property owner Linda Amodio
said while she is happy the building is
All that remains of the red deli.
being taken down, the process should
have occurred sooner.
Amodio contacted the board in June
of 2016 about the deli, however her
contact dropped off about a year and
a half ago because she felt she wasn’t
getting anywhere. In May 2017, Ippolito
told Amodio in an email chain that a
structural engineer hired by the village
deemed the structure unsafe and the
building was condemned.
“In essence the taxpaying property
owners who maintain their property are
being penalized by not penalizing the
property owners who leave their property
in disrepair,” Amodio said.
The potential public referendum
that could fund major renovations to
the Valley Central High School-Middle
School complex parking lot took another
step towards being realized during a
special Valley Central Board of Education
meeting on June 20. At the end of the
session, which included a presentation
on the potential construction work by
Thomas Ritzenthaler of the CSArch
architectural firm, the board gave the
administration the go-ahead to draft a
resolution in advance of its next meeting
on July 1 that would include $22.7 million
in capital improvements to district
buildings.
At the board’s next meeting, they
could potentially approve the resolution,
and the administration hopes to set a
date for the public referendum vote at the
July 1 meeting, with a possible August
balloting as a potential goal.
The current plan includes the parking
lot upgrade, site work at Montgomery
Elementary School, a concession stand
at the high school athletic field and
more. The drafting of the resolution
is a notable step in a process that has
seen the CSArch representatives and
administration present the board with
various project options over the last year
and a half. “We started the first time in
January of last year, and this has been
the fifth time they (CSArch) have been
here,” Superintendent John Xanthis said.
“I didn’t think we’d get there. But the fact
that we’re there and it includes life safety
and it includes cleaning up the front of
this high school in conjunction with DOT
(Department of Transportation) when
they do the work, it should lead to a much
safer area there.”
If the board approves the resolution
to be sent out for a public vote, taxpayers
would be weighing a plan that would
increase taxes in the district by
approximately 1.16 percent, which
would amount to an approximate annual
increase of $113 per year over 19 years
for a house with an estimated worth of
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