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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, October 9, 2019
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . 8
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Police Blotter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
School News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Service Directory. . . . . . . . . . . 34
Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Walden.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Walker Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
PUBLIC AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9
Town of Crawford Planning Board, 7
p.m. Town Hall, 121 Route 302, Pine Bush.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15
Valley Central Board of Education,
6:30 p.m. Administration building, 944
Route 17K, Montgomery.
Walden Village Board. 6:30 p.m.
Bradley Assembly Room, Village Hall.
Maybrook Village Board, 7 p.m. Village
Hall, 111 Schipps Lane.
Town of Montgomery Planning Board,
7:30 p.m. Town Hall, 110 Bracken Road,
Montgomery.
Gardiner Planning Board. 7 p.m. Town
Hall, Route 44-55, Gardiner.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16
Shawangunk Zoning Board of
Appeals, 7 p.m. Town Hall, 14 Central
Ave., Wallkill.
HOW TO REACH US
OFFICE:
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Newburgh, NY 12550
PHONE: 845-561-0170, FAX: 845-561-3967
Emails may be directed to the following :
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[email protected]
FOR THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT
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PUBLIC NOTICES
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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.
Montgomery launches Historian of the Month
By KERRY BUTRICK DOWLING
The Village of Montgomery is looking
to preserve historical artifacts for years
to come as it launches its new Historian
of the Month initiative. At the Tuesday,
October 1 Board of Trustees meeting,
Village Historian Brian Fitzpatrick
shared the exciting announcement and
introduced the first young historian, Sarah
Samuelson, to the Board of Trustees. The
documentation from the initiative will be
part of the Village Museum.
With upcoming projects such as City
Winery and ever changing movement in
the village, Fitzpatrick shared that the
idea is to keep the present documented for
future generations. Fitzpatrick expressed
that the initiative is a “work in progress”
with the goal of documenting history and
making it digital.
From photographs and news articles
to restaurants menus and real estate
prices, Fitzpatrick talked about the
need to document these relics for future
Sarah Samuelson was sworn in as the first Village of Montgomery Historian of the Month at
the October 1, Board of Trustees meeting. From left to right Mayor L. Stephen Brescia, Village
Clerk Monserrate Rivera-Fernandez, Sarah Samuelson, mother Jane Samuelson, and Village
of Montgomery Historian Brian Fitzpatrick.
generations. “Who was that person? What
was that building? It’s pretty incredible if
you can capture it all,” he explained.
Fifty years down the road, future
generations will be able to look back and
explore the past. The Historian of the
Shawangunk anticipates 1.53% tax increase
By TED REMSNYDER
Shawangunk presented its tentative
2020 budget during its Town Board
meeting on Thursday night, and the
proposal would see the municipality
stay within the state-mandated tax cap
for the ninth consecutive year. During a
budget work session following the Oct. 3
regular meeting, the board examined the
proposed budget’s general fund, which
includes a 1.53 percent increase over last
year’s tax rate.
Under the tentative spending plan, the
general fund would include $2,966,614 in
spending, with $2,317,135 earmarked for
the Highway Department and $1,024,396
allocated for the sewer district. In the
tentative budget, $4,705,359 would be
the total amount raised by taxes after
expenses, reserves and unexpended
balances are subtracted.
The final budget is not expected to
go over the state’s two percent tax cap.
The board will cover the highway portion
of the budget during another workshop
after its next meeting on Oct. 15. “We’ll
have the hearing on the first Thursday
in November, and we’ll probably adopt
it then,” Shawangunk Town Supervisor
John Valk said. “The plan is not to go
over the tax cap. We’re going to be below
the tax cap. That’s our goal and it always
has been.”
A recent bond refinancing is set to
put a significant chunk of change in
Shawangunk’s coffers. Over the summer,
the board approved the refinancing of the
bonds the town issued in 2009 to fund the
construction of the Town Hall. In July, the
board voted to refund the bonds and they
were subsequently resold. “They sold the
bonds at the lower rate,” Valk said. “The
old bonds will be called November 1st
and the bank is holding the money in
escrow from the new bonds. That’ll repay
the old bonds on November 1st. So we’re
exchanging the 25-year bonds for 15-year
bonds at a lower rate. Also, the sewer
bonds will be paid off altogether after 10
years because we have the revenue in the
account.”
The town will save $35,000 next year
on the bond refinancing, with an expected
total savings of approximately $500,000
over the course of 15 years. The money
is scheduled to be placed in the town’s
reserve fund. “That’s our plan,” Valk
said. “It came from this building (Town
Hall), so we want to put it back into
other buildings. It’s in the budget for
buildings, paying debt service. If we can
fix buildings with it, it’s found money.”
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan
is scheduled to attend the board’s next
meeting on Oct. 17, as the county official
has been visiting local municipalities this
year to speak with elected officials and
residents, and Shawangunk is next on his
agenda.
Month will be able to take photographs,
find posters/advertisements, and other
current items to share for the month.
“It has a lot of value at the end of the
month when you put it all together and
document it,” Fitzpatrick expressed.
Hearing date set for
Farmhood Fields
The Crawford Zoning Board
of Appeals held hearings for two
properties on Wednesday evening.
They tackled issues related to
Farmhood Fields and two area
variances on 161 County Route 17.
The hearing on Farmhood
Fields discussed an appeal of a
stop work order and notice of
violation and order to remedy for
failure to obtain a building permit
prior to construction of a 120-foot
x 18-foot barn.
In addition, there was also a
hearing in regards to two variances
on Judith Greengus and David
Perlstein’s property on 161 County
Route 17. The hearing discussed
an area variance of 55 feet for
front yard setback for replacement
of front porch and area variance
of 20 feet for front yard setback for
addition to house. Greengus and
Perlstein are eager to receive their
variances.
Both matters will be discussed
again during a public hearing on
Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Crawford
Town Hall.
- Connor Linskey