At the start of its October 7 monthly meeting (see related article), the Philipstown Town Board unveiled a series of plaques on the rear wall of the Town Hall, honoring former Town Supervisors, Town Clerks and Councilmen from 1900 to recent years. Supervisor William Mazzuca, who had worked on the project with Town Clerk Donald McGrath, read off the names of these former public servants. Three former Town Supervisors, Anthony Mazzuca (1980-87), Francis Leahy, (1988-89) and John Ryan (1990-93), stood and acknowledged applause as their names were read. One resident present praised the Board for their non-partisan action of recognizing these individuals and their contributions to the Town.
Acknowledging the contributions of another Town resident, the Town Board unanimously passed a resolution honoring Garrison resident Doug Banker, who is stepping down as President of the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, a position he has held since 1989. The resolution stated that Mr. Banker has always "fought vigorously to preserve the natural beauty of the Hudson Highlands as well as its historic and rural character." The resolution also lauded Mr. Banker’s efforts on behalf of environmental issues effecting Philipstown and his involvement with the Zoning Review Committee and the Pace University Law Center’s Leadership Training program.
Turning to the Y2K Town Budget, the Board set the following dates for budget workshops: Tuesday, October 12, 7:30pm and Tuesday, October 19 at 7:30pm, both at the Town Hall. During the previous evening’s meeting, Supervisor Mazzuca had disputed a recent newspaper article that cited a sharp hike in Philipstown taxes for 2000. Mr. Mazzuca explained that every year department heads submit their "wish list budget" which is then extensively trimmed by the Town Board. He said that this process informs the Board of large items that departments would like to have. This information is helpful during the budget planning process and later in the year, if extra funds become available. However, the proposed budget is always drastically whittled down during the budget workshop process. Supervisor Mazzuca commented that he expects New York State Mortgage Tax revenues to increase "dramatically" this year. He wants to increase the budgeted 1999 $300,000 amount for these revenues to $375,000 for the year 2000, which he termed a "safe" increase. The Supervisor observed that that mortgage tax revenues for only the first part of this year were already $204,000. The budget must be adopted by first Thursday after November’s general election. The Board also set the following Public Hearings on November 3 for budgets: 7:30pm, Continental Village Park District; 7:45pm, Continental Village Water District; and 8:00pm, General. The Board also set a date of October 27 at 7:30pm for a public hearing on the Garrison Fire Contract.
The Board set October 13 at 7:30pm for a meeting with the area Fire Chiefs, Fire Marshall John Noschese and Putnam County Car Two, Jerry Daniels, to critique the EMS response during Tropical Storm Floyd. It was also announced that the October 20 Philipstown Town Board meeting will be held at the Continental Village clubhouse, and will be a meeting between the Board, residents and representatives of Central Hudson, to discuss the company’s response to problems during Tropical Storm Floyd. Supervisor Mazzuca commented that the Central Hudson contact person for Philipstown is currently based in Carmel, even though the utility serves only Philipstown in Putnam County. He is hopeful that this person can be moved to the Emergency Center at the Butterfield Hospital.
The Board also scheduled a workshop regarding cable television service for October 27. The Board is reviewing a proposal by cable provider MediaOne for a new contract to cover the northern and southern tier of the Town. Supervisor Mazzuca commented that the Board has "serious reservations" about a new contract with MediaOne. Two separate cable providers formerly served these areas. The Board also has to formulate its response to the proposed AT&T/MediaOne merger.
The Board added five more people, for a total of eight, to the committee to study large land tracts in Philipstown. The committee now consists of: Susan Bates, Susan Gilbert, Tim Donovan, and Mike Finnegan, all of Garrison; Carl D’Ambrosio, Brian Hackett and Henry Kiel, all of North Highlands; and Jane Rutter of Cold Spring. Councilman Engelbride had also submitted the names of Frank Keenan and Tony Kurdzo for consideration, but no other members of the Board seconded their nomination. Supervisor Mazzuca indicated that this committee would meet "in about two weeks." The Supervisor also distributed maps of these properties that Tim Miller had identified to the Board members. He noted that several of these 90+ properties included school, park, railroad, government and OSI lands.
Responding to a request by the Stadium Restaurant on Route 9 in Garrison for rezoning, Town Planner Tim Miller cited "a lot of problems with the application." He said that the property’s pre-existing non-conformity had been "substantially" added to, and said that the entire matter should be reviewed. The Board agreed to turn the matter over to the Town Planner’s office and Town Attorney Ed Doyle for a review and report.
In a health-related matter, Supervisor Mazzuca said that the Putnam County Department of Health had sent letter to the Highway Department and area police departments, asking them to be on the lookout for dead crows. This is an effort to determine if West Nile-like virus is present in Putnam County.
In another matter, Delmar Karlen of the Garrison Landing Water District questioned how bills the water district had accrued to date would be paid. Supervisor Mazzuca said that after consulting with bond attorney Dempsey, it was determined that the Town should pay the bills.
In the Highway Committee Report, Councilwoman Budney said that Highway Superintendent Roger Chirico had recently met with FEMA regarding storm damage to Town roads. Mrs. Budney said that the DOT had informed her in a meeting that the width of sidewalks in front of the Town Hall would remain the same, with a slightly higher elevation, and with a curb cut for handicapped access. There will be parking spaces available in front of the Town Hall. Guardrails would be installed by November 1 on the upper section of Route 301. The DOT planned to grade Spring Street by that weekend, to provide parking for Charlie’s Deli, whose business has been severely impacted by the construction. Sidewalk width throughout the project will range from three to five feet. At the previous evening’s meeting, Supervisor Mazzuca said he would speak to the Mayors of Nelsonville and Cold Spring about addressing the DOT as a group. Councilwoman Budney said that road and street signs were still disappearing throughout the Town. "This is a safety issue, and an extra cost to the taxpayers every time we re-order signs," stated Mrs. Budney, who asked anyone who witnesses or has knowledge of sign removal to call the Sheriff’s office or the State Police.
Councilman Engelbride reported that the Planning Board was still awaiting word about plans for the proposed Town salt storage shed. Two cellular carriers, Omnipoint and Nextel, came before the Planning Board for permission to put antennas on an existing tower. Both companies were sent back to the ZBA for further review of the proposals. Councilman Merante reported that the CAC had held two workshops to bring the open space maps up to date. Councilwoman Budney reported that the recent October 2 Town cleanup at the North Highlands firehouse, twenty roll-off containers of refuse were collected. The next cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, October 16 at the Garrison firehouse. Councilman Hosmer said that the Town is still in negotiations with OSI for land to be used for the Town salt shed. Supervisor Mazzuca said that he had informed OSI that the Town’s and Nelsonville’s Planning Boards would both require indication from OSI that they were planning on donating this land to the Town, in order for a salt shed plan to be approved. Mr. Mazzuca said that OSI had indicated they would supply such a letter.
The Town Board meets every Wednesday at 7:30 for its weekly meeting, and on the first Thursday of each month at 8:00 for its monthly meeting. These meetings take place at the Philipstown Town Hall, 238 Main Street, Cold Spring, and are open to the public.
