Month of December...



Forum at Sullivan West 11/29/07:


Attendance at the third Forum on the state of the Sullivan West Central School District was about the same as at the second forum. About thirty people gathered in the Library on 11/29/07 to learn about, and discuss the fiscal condition of the District. I felt disappointed to find no additional people from Narrowsburg, in spite of the interest expressed at some Town Board meetings.


I know that many, many people are much more aware of the past, and present information about our school district. Much of what was presented was news to me, and it seems like it would be of interest to anyone who pays taxes here. Here are some highlights:


* Many references were made to the "fund balance" which is apparently roughly three million dollars for which we were over taxed and which has not been spent by the District. It was "saved" and often spent to cover operating expenses. This state of affairs was referred to as "very destructive to the District." Of course, it occurred to me that would have been enough money to keep the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley schools open, but no one said anything about that, and neither did I. This "fund balance" causes a yoyo pattern of taxation. This year, our school taxes will be quite low..and we were told that the district will make every effort to spend down the "fund balance" on non-recurring expenses, ie one time improvements, roof at Jeffersonville, additional well at Lake Huntington, etc. People from the audience, especially school board members praised this strategy. It appears it will take three or four years to accomplish this.


* Then there was "foundation aid," the new form of aid from New York State, which is not dependent on how many students are attending, or on the wealth of the district. I asked how it was determined, and no one really knew (amazing!) Basically, they said it had to do with politics,and Wall Street. I believe the laws governing school aid policies are voted on every year, and the only year our financial people are counting on is the one we are in. However, it seems a much better policy that previous ones for small districts like ours.


Toward the end of the meeting, Noel Von Swol brought up "the elephant in the living room," the two mothballed schools. Noel quoted an E- mail from Dr. Hilton, in which he expressed that it was unacceptable to have 4,000+ seats for 1400+ students. Hilton also stated in further correspondence with VonSwol, that he would support whatever policies the community decided upon. Sean Sensiba, and VonSwol seemed to support Dr. Hilton. My impression (just an impression) is that there is no desire to spend money on old buildings...Just like many people feel about houses...get rid of the old, drafty house, and put up a new modular. And no one in the audience challenged or questioned anything. Taxes are low this year, and many of us have STAR exemptions.


So I'm not seeing any community desire to find out if there is any possibility of re opening our two community schools to the younger children, so they can all participate in after school activities, and so their parents can participate in their education. It seems like the brushing aside of the community's input and the failure to allow a vote, and the abrupt closing of the schools, just disheartened everyone. There is a school board meeting this week (don't know the date or time) There will be committee meetings to work out where we go from here, and they are all open to us to observe. There will be further forums. However, as of now, if Dr. Hilton is looking for what the community wants, what he is NOT hearing is any advocacy for neighborhood elementary schools.



Town Board Meeting 12/10/07:


The agenda for the Town Board meeting included a motion to create an Environmental Council, to act as an advisory group to assist the Planning Board and Zoning Board in making decisions on projects in terms of their environmental impact. Those who applied to serve on this Council were asked to attend this meeting and meet the members of the T.B. Nine applications were received, and 7 of those nine people were there, and met the board. (I was one of them, as was Kathy Michelle, Town Clerk. Helle Hendricksen and one other person was not able to be there) The Board passed a motion to accept all nine applications, filling the maximum seats available. The new Council agreed to meet on Feb 4, 2007 at 7:30PM, at which time they will determine their regular meeting date. I will post informal minutes of those meetings on this website.

The Board then proceeded with the rest of the agenda.

A motion passed to increase Building Dept fees on commercial structures, and a fee was set for communication towers.

It was reported by the UDC representative that Dave Forney, Superintendent of our area of the National Park Service was retiring, and his position would be filled temporarily by Sandra Shultz (unless she retires first).

Funds to support the Scenic Byway were approved, and are mostly covered by a grant. Our representative will continue to be David Boyer.

There was discussion of passing a property tax exemption for Cold War veterans. The formula was very complicated. As best I could understand it, seemed like a 15% exemption. All non combat vets would be included. a Public Hearing on this will be held at 6;45 PM December 28, 2007.

A motion passed which approved the Town buying a property, 16.5.7 at tax sale. this is a land locked property adjoining the Town Barn.

Election Irregularities: Even though many people in the rather large audience were present because of concerns about the irregularities in our last election, when the Public Comment period came, only one person raised a question about absentee ballots, and no one else followed up on her question. For those of you who are not aware of the issue, I'd suggest clicking on the link for the story in the Middletown Record. This was followed by Letter to the Editor of the River Reporter by Chris Holden, writing from the perspective of a Republican, and Kevin McDonagh, member of the Zoning Board. Ben Johnson then wrote a response to Kevin's letter. Some folks at this Town Board meeting spoke privately to the letter writers, expressing their support. Essentially, the letter writers were not happy with the Board for accepting the results of an election that was determined by 39 absentee ballots cast by the residents of the Narrowsburg Home for Adults.


Planning Board meeting December 17, 2007:


Missed due to illness and ice. minutes received from Amy...see minutes section This was a short meeting. Highlights are: discussion of Knaubs Farm, on CR 23, and their effort to gain approval for the construction of a farmstand. Drawings were submitted by Gary Packer, Engineer. A Public Hearing on this was set for PB meeting of January 21, 2008. Lisa Dowling was thanked for her service on the Planning Board as she is leaving to join the Town Board. the meeting adjourned at 8:10- PM


By Major Chaos