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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, October 2, 2019
VC re-vote on hold?
Continued from page 1
district. The price tag for the first prop was
approximately $10 million, as presented
last week.
Under
the
theoretical
second
proposition, which could only pass
if voters approved prop one first, an
additional $16 million in funding would be
on the ballot for additional construction
items in the district, such as an addition to
the high school that would house STEAM
(science, technology, engineering, arts and
mathematics) classrooms, a greenhouse
and restroom facilities for the football
field. Renovations to the Montgomery
Elementary parking lot could be included
in either the first safety prop or the second
prop.
A new item in the presentation for the
second prop was an additional $3 million
in funding to construct a student pick-up
area for Walden Elementary. The district
weighed new safety proposals for the
school after Walden Trustee John Ramos
requested that the district not overlook
the village’s school in its bond discussions
during a school board meeting this summer.
Walden officials, including Walden Police
Chief Jeff Holmes, were consulted in
the formulation of the proposed Walden
Elementary construction work.
A third proposed prop would set aside
$350,000 in funding to purchase property
adjacent to the High School-Middle School
complex for additional parking, but the
idea had little support among the board
during last week’s work session.
Towards the end of Wednesday’s
meeting, Trustee Melvin Wesenberg got
down to brass tacks on the possibility
of another bond vote this year. “We’re
putting the cart before the horse, are we
willing to offer a bond at all?” Wesenberg
asked the rest of the board. Trustee Sonia
Lewis said she would consider the right
bond package. “I am open to going out
with a bond as long as we’re having these
discussions and we’re all involved and it’s
a bond I can support,” she said. “If it’s
at the end of the day something I can’t
support, then I can’t support it.”
Board of Education President Sarah
Messing added that the council should
be unanimously behind a bond proposal
before sending it to the public. “If it’s a
bond that all seven board members can
agree on, I think we should go out with a
bond,” she said. “We can’t be divided and
go out for a vote.”
As discussion continued on the bond,
Wesenberg announced that he was
opposing it. “To be honest, I’m a strong
no,” he said. “The voters voted against it.
We shouldn’t be doing this. They voted.
They said no. Let the DOT do their work
and it’s a mess that I guess we’ll pay for
later, but they voted.”
Several minutes later, Wesenberg said
he wouldn’t stand against the bond vote if
the rest of the board disagreed with him.
“I’ll follow the will of the board, I’m just
one person,” he said. “I’m not sure. It’s
not like an austerity budget. If the board
thinks it’s necessary, I’ll go along with the
will of the board.”
Trustee Arthur Fitzgerald said that
he could not support the proposal in its
current condition, but would consider the
bond if it was reworked into a form he
found reasonable. Trustee Joe Bond said
that the discussion on the bond should
continue. “What I’m hearing is that
enough people are interested in working
this document to get something that we
agree on and if we can agree on it, then
we’ll go out in December for a vote,” he
noted. “If that’s the case, we should keep
moving forward. If that’s not the case, to
Mel’s point, let’s just stop right now.” The
meeting ended with an agreement to hold
more talks on Oct. 3, but that meeting was
subsequently canceled.
Valley Central Superintendent John
Xanthis has warned against a scenario
that would see the DOT complete its
roadwork on 17K before the district begins
its renovations on the parking lot. “The
new entrance into the high school where
they’re going to put the light wouldn’t line
up with where our road is right now,” he
said. “So there would be a light stopping
the traffic not where the intersection is,
which would be across from the Dollar
General. So that would be problematic.
There would be no alignment. You would
have these new improvements and a new
light and it doesn’t align.”
After last week’s meeting, and before
the second work session was taken off the
schedule, the superintendent said that he
hopes the public will get a second chance to
vote on a bond referendum to fund district
upgrades. “It sounds like they’re willing to
look at it in different propositions, which
I really hope they will,” Xanthis said of
the board. “I’m from the school of thought
that we let the public decide. They said
it was voted down, and I agree with that,
but I don’t think 30 votes is a mandate that
people didn’t want to do that. There were
certainly some mistakes made, but I hope
we get a chance to bring something to the
public and give them a choice.”
Comptroller: Maybrook in moderate fiscal stress
The Village of Maybrook is along
among the local municipalities
experiencing fiscal stress, according
to a report released last week by State
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
“Nearly six million New Yorkers
are living in a community struggling
with fiscal stress. My Fiscal Stress
Monitoring System is designed to
keep the public informed about the
factors impacting local governments’
financial health,” said DiNapoli. “For
those in fiscal stress, effective long-
term planning is critical for charting
a better path. These municipalities
should use the tools my office provides
and engage the public in those difficult,
but important, discussions about
community priorities.”
The latest round of scores, released
September 26, are based on financial
information reported to DiNapoli’s
office by local governments operating
on a calendar year basis (Jan. 1 – Dec.
31). In New York that includes all
counties and towns, 44 cities and 10
villages.
Maybrook received a fiscal score
of 55.8 which, according to DiNapoli,
places it in the category of moderate
stress.
“We (the Village of Maybrook) will
continue to seek economic savings
through grants and maintain services
for the residents,” said Maybrook
Mayor Dennis Leahy. “Our goal remains
the same since it was first brought to
our attention in May 2019 which is to
watch over our spending and continue
to promote economic development in
the Village of Maybrook. Economic
development will increase revenue and
lessen the tax burden on the residents.
We will continue on this path and follow
the necessary steps to be removed from
the Moderate Fiscal Stress list.”
The City of Amsterdam, with a
fiscal score of 85.0 was atop the list of
municipalities experiencing significant
fiscal stress. The City of Poughkeepsie
was also on the list of communities
experiencing Significant Fiscal Stress.
The Village of Walden, with a fiscal
score of 36.0 received no designation,
as did the Village of Montgomery, with
a designation of 9.6. Also receiving
no designation were: Crawford, 3.3;
Gardiner, 3.3; Town of Montgomery,
0.0; and the Town of Wallkill, 3.3.