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TOWN OF ORANGETOWN
REORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
JANUARY 3, 2012
This Reorganizational Meeting was opened at 7:45 p.m. Supervisor Stewart presided and the Town Clerk called the Roll. Present were:
Councilman Denis Troy
Councilman Thomas Diviny
Councilman Thomas Morr
Councilman Paul Valentine
Also present: Allan Ryff, Deputy Supervisor
Charlotte Madigan, Town Clerk
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John S. Edwards, Town Attorney
Teresa Kenny, First Deputy Town Attorney
Suzanne Barclay, Deputy Supervisor of Operations
Charles Richardson, Director of Finance
James Dean, Superintendent of Highways
Robert Simon, Receiver of Taxes
John Giardiello, Director of OBZPAE,
Aric Gorton, Superintendent of Parks-Rec & Building Maint.
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: Cub Scout Pack 22
Star Spangled Banner: Brianna Brickman of Nyack High School
Invocation: Msgr. Jack O’Keefe of St. Margaret’s Church
Benediction: Rabbi Daniel Pernick of Beth Am Temple
God Bless America: Mary White, Nyack Village Clerk
The Honorable Richard C. Finning administered the Oath of Office to:
Andrew Stewart, Supervisor
Charlotte Madigan, Town Clerk
James Dean, Superintendent of Highways
Thomas Morr, Councilman
Paul Valentine, Councilman
Patrick J. Loftus, Town Justice
Supervisor Stewart made the following appointments:
Allan Ryff, Deputy Supervisor
Suzanne Barclay, Deputy Supervisor of Operations PT
Charles Richardson, Director of Finance
Mary Cardenas, Town Historian
Congressman Eliot Engel congratulated his colleagues and he spoke about the importance of working together. He pledged to work closely, with the Town Board, in order to bring federal funds to Orangetown, and to do the job that the people elected everyone to do.
Senator David Carlucci, Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, Rockland County Clerk, Paul Piperato; Rockland County Highway Superintendent, Charles (Skip) Vezzetti; and Rockland County Sheriff, Louis Falco were recognized by Supervisor Stewart.
State of the Town: Supervisor Andrew Stewart
Good evening, my name is Andy Stewart and I’m honored to address you tonight as your newly elected Town Supervisor, Tonight we are celebrating democracy and rallying together to defend the interests of Orangetown people at a very challenging time.
Our town, like our country, is dealing with an economic recession that has left many people disconnected from their communities and neighbors and facing multiple stresses at home and at work. With so much on their plate, fewer and fewer people are participating in local elections and volunteer community service activities, and many are losing faith in government. So there is no question that for me, and for the other members of the Town Board, the next few years will not be easy sailing.
We have our challenges: high taxes, empty storefronts, traffic, flooding, loss of historic scenery to tacky strip mall development, crime, and the appearance of political favoritism in government decision-making. We have to figure out what to do with the vast Rockland Psychiatric Center lands, how to handle skyrocketing pension and health care costs for public employees, and what to do about our golf program’s hemorrhaging of over a half-million dollars a year. We have to compete with other places, including our neighbors in New Jersey who offer lower taxes, for business investment and the tax revenues this brings.
But despite the difficult times we face, I am optimistic about our ability to do right by the people of our town. That’s because the bottom line is that Orangetown is in very good shape overall.
Fortunately, Orangetown brings amazing assets to the table that will help us meet these challenges. Simply put, we can work together. Our Democrats are also fiscal conservatives, and our Republicans tend to be socially and environmentally progressive. For me personally, my greatest source of pride in election as town supervisor is in knowing so many republicans crossed party lines to vote for me, and did so WITHOUT abandoning their principles, while at the same time the historically more liberal river villages saw my candidacy as a chance to feel more connected to the rest of Orangetown. While political paralysis grips Washington DC and Rockland County government faces a debt crisis, here in Orangetown we will work together to advance the public interest in practical ways that will improve the quality of life for town residents while keeping taxes from increasing at an unsustainable rate. In short, there is no such thing as a democratic of republican sidewalk.
My goal here is not to provide an exhaustive “State of the Town.” That would be presumptuous at this point and material better suited for a written Annual Report. I am more interested in sharing with you how impressive and exciting experience I have had meeting with all of the Town department heads over the last few weeks. If my comments motivate you to learn more or get involved, I will be happy. Remember: Orangetown government has roughly equal numbers of paid employees and volunteers involved on land use boards and advisory committees such as environmental, sanitation, recreation, substance abuse and so on, working with our town employees on local projects. Here are a few snapshots of our town and how you can help:
Town Hall – here I’m lumping together the Town Clerk, Tax Assessor, Receiver of Taxes, Town Attorneys, the Justice Court, the Finance Department and the IT guys in the basement. The bottom line is this: this is a no-frills operation where the focus is on customer service. As beautiful as this new court room is, a tour of the building proves that Orangetown is too sensible to waste money on expensive decorations, preferring instead to tack children’s artwork to the walls in the hallway and display maps of the Sparkill Creek and the history of the town. We live within our means and focus on what’s important. You can help by reviewing the town website, sending suggestions about how we can better communicate town services and signing up for the town email list for occasional updates about town affairs. You can also help by joining the planning process for the Rockland Psychiatric Center lands – I will be organizing tours for myself and interested parties and invite you to come along.
The parks department – Since I am too out of shape to play soccer, the only sport I really love, besides ping pong, that is, I signed up for the adult volleyball on Thursday nights at Pearl River high school. This is just one of the many recreational options parks superintendent Aric Gorton and his staff make available to adults and kids. I’m particularly impressed by the partnership between the Town and the Orangetown Mighty Midgets to build the beautiful soccer complex on Veterans Memorial Drive, and only regret that the facility did not yet exist during my brief stint as an OMM coach several years ago. You can help by talking up our programs and suggesting ideas for new ones.
The police department – I have had several meetings with Chief Kevin Nulty and our County District Attorney to discuss the county wide narcotics taskforce. I’ve also read the recent independent study that praised our police department performance while making sensible recommendations for controlling overtime and other costs. I’m impressed with Chief Nulty’s commitment to community policing and the collaboration of our police with neighboring towns to track down criminals operating locally and internationally. Drug dealers beware! You can help by reporting suspicious activity and getting involved in neighborhood watch.
The Building Department: located in a modest building attached to the Orangeburg Library, these folks have adopted a new computer system that enables more efficient monitoring of code enforcement, land use planning and construction activities. As a member of the planning board over the last two years, I have seen first-hand that these public meetings are where democracy really happens. This is where developers and neighbors meet face-to-face to reconcile their private needs and rights within the law, and make decisions with impacts for future generations. You can help by coming to a meeting of a land use board, asking questions and making comments. You can also download the town’s comprehensive plan, and recent updates, from the town website and join on-going discussions of the town’s future development.
Sewer and Engineering – With 47 pump stations all over town connected by many miles of underground pipes all leading to a plant that can treat over 12 million gallons per day, the sewer and engineering department has a big job. They’ve succeeded in meeting state pollution regulations and thus avoiding steep financial penalties, while moving forward on preventing sewage backups and overflows that can pollute basements and local streams. One thing you can do to help – make sure the gutters and downspouts coming off your house and your neighbors and local businesses are NOT connected to the sanitary sewer system because excessive rainwater can cause overflows and adds to the cost of treating actual sewage.
Highway Department – Over ten years running Keep Rockland Beautiful, I have gotten to know the highway department pretty well. We should all take a moment to appreciate the fact that without these town employees keeping our roads clear of snow, leaves and potholes, and keeping our drainage systems flowing, all other activities would come to a grinding halt. You can only surf the internet for so long before making a trip to the supermarket – then you need a road. You can help by following the leaf pickup schedule and shoveling the sidewalks by your house. Also, come to the highway department Open House in May to learn about and admire the heavy equipment. You might learn something new. One thing I didn’t know, for example, was that our snowplows are made out of rubber, or at least the part of the plow that hits the road is rubber. This replaceable rubber part is soft on pavement, helping to preserve our investment in roads, and enables drivers to zoom right over raised manhole covers without the bone-jarring experience of hitting them with a metal edged plow, thus completing their routes more quickly and safely.
In summary, and apologies for this bad pun but I just can’t resist, local government is where the rubber meets the road. It’s where you have the most opportunity to participate in decisions and actions that directly impact our community’s health, environment, prosperity and identity. It’s probably the best functioning part of our country’s government, and it gives the most “bang for the buck” in terms of taxes and services. It’s where Republicans and Democrats, Independents and Conservatives, rich and poor and middle class and all residents can find common cause in maintaining the basic infrastructure of modern life. But local government is only as good as we make it. Most of the folks in this room already know this, but please tell your friends – get involved, you can make a difference, you ARE Orangetown, and together we can find a brighter future.
And now, a few words of thanks:
First, to my wife Rachel, a sociologist who just published a book about health care policy and the screening of new born babies for genetic diseases. Thank you, and thank you Jonah and Talia, our kids, for your support and forbearance during the madness of campaign season, and your understanding that if my work takes me away for a lot of evening meetings, you are never far from my heart. This goes for my “in-laws” Lenny, Susan and Naomi, as well as good friends and indispensable volunteers like Mark, Stan and Amy and other friends and relations too numerous to mention by name.
Thanks also to my Dad, up in NH where I grew up, and to my Mom, who is planning to finally move back east from her long and successful sojourn as a real estate broker in New Mexico. Come invest in Orangetown!
Thanks to Brianna for singing the National Anthem, Scout Pack 22 for leading the pledge and the amazing David Ellenbogen for his acoustic guitar music in the lobby. Thanks also to Mary E. White, an accomplished gospel vocalist who is also Village Clerk in Nyack, who will shortly lead us in the singing of God Bless America.
Congratulations to all the newly elected public servants – I have the utmost respect for your commitment and great confidence that we will work together successfully to preserve Orangetown’s quality of life, provide vital services and increase efficiency and transparency of government.
Most of all, thank you, the diverse “public”, whether you live by the Hudson River or the Hackensack River, the Sparkill Creek or Pearl River (which we all know is actually called Muddy Brook), or somewhere in between. Thank you for caring enough to be here, for the work you do creating homes, building businesses, fighting fires, caring for kids, the elderly and the environment, for being both practical and spiritual and always remembering it’s what you give, not what you get, that is most important.
Thank you – I have spoken enough and we all need to remember that local government really works when people speak up and elected officials listen – the heart of our public meeting process. Having said that, however, I would like to invite my fellow members of the Town Council to make and comments they would care to make.
Thank you!
Councilmen, Morr and Valentine; Charlotte Madigan, James Dean and Patrick Loftus thanked everyone for their vote of confidence and wished everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Councilman Troy and Diviny look forward to working with the newly elected officials for the benefit, growth and best interest of the Town.
RESOLUTION NO. 1 OFFICIAL UNDERTAKING FOR ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS
Councilman Diviny offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Valentine and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, to approve the Official Undertaking to be filed in the Rockland County Clerk’s Office, for elected and appointed officials, officers and employees, as the Town Board may require, for the faithful performance of their duties and the prompt and proper account for paying over all money received by said employees in their official capacities.
Ayes: Councilmen Diviny, Valentine, Troy, Morr
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
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RESOLUTION NO. 2 2012/MARRIAGE OFFICERS
Councilman Morr offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Troy and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the following are designated as Marriage Officers for a one-year term, effective January 1, 2012, at no salary.
Supervisor Andrew Stewart Town Clerk, Charlotte Madigan
Councilman Denis Troy Councilman Thomas F. Diviny Councilman Thomas Morr Councilman Paul Valentine
Ayes: Councilmen Morr, Troy, Diviny, Valentine
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 3 ADOPT/BALANCE OF 2012 TOWN BOARD MEETING CALENDAR
Councilman Diviny offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Troy and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the balance of the 2012 Town Board Meeting Calendar is hereby adopted as follows:
02/09/12 Police Commission – Workshop
02/16/12 RTBM/Audit
03/08/12 Police Commission – Workshop
03/15/12 RTBM/Audit
03/22/12 Workshop
03/29/12 RTBM/Audit
04/19/12 Police Commission – Workshop
04/26/12 RTBM/Audit
05/10/12 Police Commission – Workshop
05/17/12 RTBM/Audit
05/24/12 Workshop
05/31/12 RTBM/Audit
06/07/12 Police Commission – Workshop
06/14/12 RTBM/Audit
06/21/12 Workshop
06/28/12 RTBM/Audit
07/19/12 Police Commission – Workshop
07/26/12 RTBM/Audit
08/16/12 Police Commission – Workshop
08/23/12 RTBM/Audit
09/06/12 Police Commission – Workshop
09/13/12 RTBM/Audit
09/20/12 Workshop
09/27/12 RTBM/Audit
10/04/12 Police Commission – Workshop
10/11/12 RTBM/Audit
10/18/12 Workshop
10/25/12 RTBM/Audit
11/08/12 Police Commission – Workshop
11/15/12 RTBM/Audit
11/29/12 Workshop
12/06/12 RTBM/Audit
12//13/12 Workshop
Regular Town Board/Audit Meetings will begin at 7:30 p.m., Police Commission Meetings at 7:00 p.m., and Town Board Workshop Meetings at 8:00 P.M. All meetings are on Thursdays.
Ayes: Councilmen Diviny, Troy, Morr, Valentine
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 4 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPERS
Councilman Valentine offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Troy and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the Journal News and the Our Town are designated as the official newspapers for the Town of Orangetown, pursuant to NYS Town Law Section 64 (11).
Ayes: Councilmen Valentine, Troy, Diviny, Morr
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 5 2012 BANKING DEPOSITORIES
Councilman Troy offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Diviny and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the following banks are designated as banking depositories for the Town of Orangetown:
First Niagara/HSBC Provident Bank MBIA
JP Morgan Chase TD Bank Key Bank
Ayes: Councilmen Troy, Diviny, Morr, Valentine
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 6 2012 RECEIVER OF TAXES BANKING DEPOSITORY
Councilman Morr offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Valentine and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that Provident Bank is designated as the banking depository for the Receiver of Taxes.
Ayes: Councilmen Morr, Valentine, Troy, Diviny
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 7 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)/PUBLIC HEARING DATE
Councilman Troy offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Morr and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that a public hearing to hear public comments on community development and housing needs, for the 2012 Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) is scheduled for January 24, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.
Ayes: Councilmen Troy, Morr, Diviny, Valentine
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 8 AUTHORIZE/PAY UTILITY BILLS
Councilman Troy offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Valentine and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the Finance Office is hereby authorized to pay utility bills prior to a Town Board Audit, to avoid late payment charges.
Ayes: Councilmen Troy, Valentine, Diviny, Morr
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 9 APPOINT/REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS/CHARLOTTE MADIGAN
Councilman Morr offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Valentine and was unanimously adopted:
Resolution No. 9 – Continued
RESOLVED, that Charlotte Madigan, Town Clerk, is hereby reappointed Registrar of Vital Statistics for a two-year term, effective January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013.
Ayes: Councilmen Morr, Valentine, Troy, Diviny
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 10 AMEND TOWN’S PROCUREMENT TRAVEL POLICY
Councilman Troy offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Councilman Diviny and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the Town’s Procurement and Travel policy is hereby amended to reflect a mileage reimbursement rate of 55.5 cents per mile, as determined by the Internal Revenue Service.
Ayes: Councilmen Troy, Diviny, Morr, Valentine
Supervisor Stewart
Noes: None
* * *
RESOLUTION NO. 11 ADJOURNMENT
Councilman Troy offered the following resolution, which was seconded by Supervisor Stewart and was unanimously adopted:
RESOLVED, that the Town Board adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Ayes: Councilpersons Troy, Diviny, Morr, Valentine
Supervisor Whalen
Noes: None
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Charlotte Madigan, Town Clerk