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Legislator Tamagna Talks to Cold Spring Board About County's Relationship With Village
by Kevin Foley
Putnam County Legislator Vincent Tamagna enlivened the regular monthly meeting of the Cold Spring Board of Trustees on March 11, 2008 with an appearance in the Village Hall clearly intended to counter recent criticism that the village is short-changed and even ineffectively represented at the county level.
After sitting through the routine reports of the various village departments, Tamagna spoke before an unusually crowded audience for a meeting with no matter of controversy before it. Approximately twenty-five people listened attentively as Tamagna sought to place the issues of revenue sharing, county expenditures and the realities of the legislative process in a different context from the one generated at a trustee workshop meeting on February 19.
At that meeting, the trustees and members of the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce complained that the County was stingy when it came to funding projects for the Cold Spring and Philipstown area, despite the revenue generated through tourism in the western end of the county. The discussion that night was sparked by a letter from the County to Mayor Anthony Phillips canceling a $7,500 annual appropriation for garbage pick-up on the usually busy tourist weekends on Cold Spring's Main Street. At the same meeting there were calls to have meetings with county officials, in particular Legislator Tamagna.
Just before Tamagna began his presentation Trustee Seth Gallagher, who has been vociferous on the issue of revenue sharing, asked Comprehensive Plan Special Board chair, Carol Casparian, if the board had arrived at a final figure on the amount of sales tax generated in the 10516 area code. She replied it was approximately $544,000, a figure Gallagher found low.
For his part, Tamagna cautioned that the sales tax figures can be difficult to sort out, indicating that transactions such as purchasing a car in Connecticut ultimately result in sales tax attributed to the zip code when the car is registered. He also pointed out that while Philipstown surely carried a tourism burden, the revenues didn't compete with those from big box stores in the other end of the county. "We're small but mighty,' declared Tamagna.
"I really do want to help the village; any trustee who has a concern or an idea can call me," said Tamagna, who then added he liked to follow the chain of command so he personally went through the mayor when dealing with village matters. Seth Gallagher bristled at what he heard as a suggestion that trustees would have to go through the mayor in order to work with Tamagna. But Tamagna, apparently eager to avoid conflict, said he wasn't saying that and urged Gallagher to call directly.
As to sales tax revenue sharing with localities, Tamagna recalled that he had voted for it in 1998, but it didn't pass the county legislature. And then it when it did pass in 2000, it was vetoed by County Executive, Robert Bondi, who Tamagna said remains adamantly opposed to the idea.
Tamagna then referred to the "real tight budget crunch" in both the state and the county stemming in large measure from the national economic problems arising from the housing and credit markets as reason not to expect any positive change in the local funding picture in the near future.
"Everything government does costs money, and now we have people in the county who cannot afford their mortgages or have lost their jobs," said Tamagna emphasizing that the strains on county services are worst during difficult economic times when it is also most troublesome to raise revenue.
Tamagna also said he thought it important for people to appreciate that the bulk of county expenditures went to provide social and health services that are mandated by the state government and that residents of western Putnam were as much a part of that process as any others. "You get all those services; the county does a great job in this regard," he said.
The Legislator added that while County Executive Bondi had all but eliminated partnering initiatives with localities, there were still some examples wherein local governments benefited from the relationship with county officials. He pointed to cooperation between the county Highways and Facilities workers and Cold Spring employees on sharing storage, equipment and supplies as an example. Grants to local organizations, support for libraries and the creation of the Main Street trolley were all offered as evidence of county largesse.
In response to questions as to why the trolley was driven back and forth from Cold Spring all the way to county storage in Carmel, Tamagna said it was due to restrictions on operation from the federal government, which provided the bulk of the funding.
Tamagna said Mayor Phillips would join him in petitioning the Economic Development Committee of the county legislature to renew the recently cancelled $7,500 for garbage pick up. He said he was optimistic it could be restored.
Tamagna invited the trustees to come to the Legislature "to join the discussion" and advocate for issues such as recycling. Gallagher retorted that he had tried to attend a county meeting on recycling only to be told only town officials were welcome. Gallagher urged that the County consider having some public hearings or other meetings on the western side of the county so residents could feel more connected to the process.
Tamagna also suggested creating a Philipstown council of government, which would include school district officials as well as town and village representatives to met with him quarterly to discuss common issues and find ways to save money through shared services and collective purchasing power. "If we do this, we and the area residents will all come out ahead," he said.
Summing up his political position in the county government Tamagna pointed out that Philipstown was the only Putnam County town with just one representative in the legislature. "That means I need to convince four other members to get a majority on any matter, while the others start out with two or three votes on many things," he said.
In other business, the trustees and Mayor voted to approve a number of events on village property recommended by the Recreation Committee including the summer music series, softball games, a clambake and a May 17 event entitled "A Village Treasure Hunt", which will include both Main Street merchants and resident yard sales.
Carol Casparian announced that two reports by the Special Board Infrastructure and Public Services Working Group on new firehouse sites and the water, sewer and storm water systems are available to the public at the Village Hall or the Butterfield Library.
Greg Phillips, Water and Sewer Department head, said that the recently proposed sewer rate increase would be part of a previously announced March 25 public hearing on changes to the village code.
And Ralph J. Faloon, Assistant Building Inspector, reported he would coordinate the village's participation in developing the county Hazard Mitigation Plan, which involves identifying potentially hazardous situations and applying for grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to correct the conditions.
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