|
New Nelsonville Mayor Presides over First Meeting
2007 budget calls for 5.4% tax increase
by Maria Theodore Leiter
There's a new Mayor in the Village of Nelsonville. On Monday, April 9, 2007, the Village held its annual reorganization meeting and budget hearing under the management of William Merando, who was elected in March.
Merando is familiar to the residents of Nelsonville, having previously served as Mayor from 1999 to 2003. He is also a familiar face in Cold Spring, serving seventeen years for the Village as Highway Superintendent and Water and Sewer Commissioner. Merando retired from the Highway Department after suffering a brain tumor. He is also the husband of Philipstown Town Clerk Tina Merando. They have been married thirty-four years and have one daughter, Gia.
"It feels good working with people," said Merando in an interview following the meeting. "I'm always around every day looking for problems."
Trustee Anthony Merante, was also reelected for another term. Both men ran unopposed. Merando received 83 votes and Merante received 75. There was also one write-in vote for outgoing Mayor Dul.
During the reorganization meeting, Merando made the following appointments: Trustee Tom Corless was named Deputy Mayor; Trustee Anthony Merante was named Street Commissioner; Merando will serve on Personnel, as Liaison to the Village of Cold Spring and the Greenway; Corless will serve on Building Maintenance and as Emergency Services Liaison; Merante will serve on Recreation and as Liaison to the Town of Philipstown; the entire board will serve on the auditing committee; and Pauline Minners will serve as Village Clerk/Treasurer, Records Access Officer, and Court Clerk. George Duncan was named Building Inspector and Stephen Tomann was named Acting Justice. M&T Bank will be the official bank and the Putnam County News & Recorder will be the official newspaper.
The Board changed the monthly meeting date to the third Monday of each month at 7:30 in the Village Hall. The reimbursement rate for vehicle miles was set at .31 cents per mile.
During the regular meeting, Merante requested that the Board approve payment of $250 to the Hudson Highlands Land Trust for the creation of a digitized map of the Village.
"The current zoning map was a copy of a copy of a copy, ad infinitum," he said. "It was very hard to see the lines. I went to the HHLT to ask for a new map, they said they would do it for $250, which I think is a good price."
The Board approved the expense.
Merante also shared his frustration over the slow pace of receiving the long promised $250,000 grant for street projects. He mentioned that the problems on Fishkill and Pine were especially in need of attention.
"By the time we get the money, its going to be too expensive [to do the road]," he said.
Minners explained that work on the proposed projects cannot be done until the New York State Department of Transportation gives the approval because they will require engineering reports before work can begin. Merante said he would be writing letters to try to speed up the process.
Healy Road resident Dennis Meekins said that he would be doing some landscaping on his property and was aware that the Village has planned to do culvert work on the street. He said he wanted to try to coordinate his project with the Village's work. Minners explained that that work would be done under a separate grant application that was requested from Assemblywoman Sandy Galef. They have not heard anything regarding that grant as of yet.
Merante suggested that maybe some of the work could be done using CHIPS money, which requires initial outlay by municipalities before being reimbursed.
Merando advised that the residents of Moffat Road were circulating a petition opposing the County's proposed widening of that road. The project will include some properties being taken by the County via eminent domain prodeedings. Residents were scheduled to meet with the Town Highway Department at Town Hall this week.
Based on some complaints from residents, Merando recommended that the Village remove the planted bushes from the triangle at the foot of Fishkill Road and Route 301.
"A lot of people complain that they can't see and it becomes a garbage receptacle," he said. He is going to get estimates for the removal of the shrubs.
Trustee Corless said that he would request help from the County in sweeping
up Main Street before the Memorial Day Parade.
There was also a discussion regarding the condition of the bridge on Peekskill Road, which seems to be making noise as vehicles drive over it.
The Board approved a resolution authorizing the Mayor to contract with the County to print the annual tax bills. They also approved an increase in the Village's annual contribution to the Fish and Fur Club from $800 to $1000 for the annual children's fishing day. Merando said that the fish will cost them $1,000 this year.
Following the regular meeting, the Board held its budget hearing.
The Village budgeted $291,380 in expenses and $32,350 in revenues for 2007. Minners said that $50,000 would be taken from the fund balance. That amount would be earmarked for an engineering report that will be required by the DOT in connection with the $250,000 grant, which is an 80/20 grant. "When the acceptance letter comes in, we have to show that we have the money to pay for the engineering study," explained Minners.
The fund balance as of March 30 was $133,000, explained Minners, but after paying the remaining bills due for the fiscal year, she expects the balance at the start of the new year (May 1) to be approximately $100,000.
In order to cover the remaining $209,030, the Village will have to raise taxes this year by 5.64%. The new tax rate would be 4.97 per thousand dollars of assessed value.
Minners attributed the increase to a $1,192 increase in the garbage collection contract and the $2,000 increase in Health Insurance costs.
In addition, salaries were increased for the Court Clerk from $5,670 to $5,953, for the Building Inspector from $4,176 to $5,000 and for the Village Clerk from $25,830 to $27,122. The office assistant rate was increased from $11.00/ per hour to $11.50/per hour. Mortgage tax revenues were slated to increase by $5,400, an 81.8% increase and Interest Earnings by $1,000, a 66.7% increase.
The Board unanimously adopted the 2007 budget.
| 
