Vol. 36, No. 19 3 WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018
Wallkill’s
brightest
3
ONE DOLLAR
Shop for Mom
Page 20
Page 22-23
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
Walden OKS
$8.4 million
budget
By TED REMSNYDER
A closely divided Walden Village Board
passed the municipality’s 2018-2019
budget by a tight 4-3 margin during its
board meeting on May 1. The council
approved a $8,436,647 spending plan that
includes a 2.59 percent tax levy increase,
a figure which is slightly under the tax
cap. After the proposed budget was not
approved at the board’s April 17 session,
time was short to pass the plan, as state
law mandated that the budget must be
passed by May 1, and if not the manager’s
presented budget draft would have been
adopted instead.
But while the board was deadlocked at a
3-3 budget vote during its April 17 meeting
with Trustee Brian Sebring absent on
that evening, Sebring voted to approve
the budget last Tuesday. Combined with
affirmative votes from Walden Mayor
Susan Rumbold, Deputy Mayor Faith
Moore and Trustee John Ramos, the
majority votes were secured to approve
the budget. Trustees Lynn Thompson,
Larry Kraus and Dan Svarczkopf each
voted no during both budget tallies.
“I was happy that it got passed,”
Rumbold said. “I think it’s an excellent
indication of hard work by the manager
and the department heads to try to
keep us under the tax cap and make it a
prudent spending plan.”
The
adopted
budget
includes
$10,934,027 in total appropriations,
including $8,436,647 in spending for
the general fund, $956,550 for the water
fund, $1,017,150 for the sewer fund and
$523,680 for the library fund. Only slight
adjustments were made to the proposed
Continued on page 41
Thanks for the music
Howard and Judy Garrett deliver one final concert to the senior center
By WAYNE A. HALL
More than 200 classical music lovers
filled the Montgomery senior citizen
center Sunday to say goodbye and
thanks to Howard Garrett for his series
of free music concerts there for some
30 years.
A gifted professional salesman,
Garrett persuaded top flight musicians
to perform in the center often without
them expecting to be paid much.
He almost never failed to book a show.
“This has been my passion for more
than 30 years,” says Garrett. “ But after
31 years, that’s enough. And it’s time for
me to do other things.”
He’s stepping off the podium to spend
time in the blue village Victorian house
where he and piano playing wife Judy
live with a couple of Himalayan cats.
Garrett’s legacy is major, says music
critic James Cotter who reviewed many
of Garrett’s concerts.
“You look back at my reviews - and I
wrote many of them - and you see what
a success this concert series was,” says
Cottter. “There wasn’t much to find
fault with.”
“Garrett introduced music no one
else did around here,” says Cotter. “His
whole purpose was music education.”
There was no mistaking Garrett’s
hearty laugh of satisfaction Sunday as
people lined up at the senior citizen
center to thank him and his pianist wife
Judy for their music. The Garrets do
play piano duets at home but rarely in
public.
“I could have been on stage,” says
Continued on page 41
Judy and Howard Garrett were toasted for his long direction of the Grand Montgomery
Chamber Music series Sunday.
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL