How can New Paltz retain its rescue squad?

New Paltz town council members heard some stark words at their July 22 meeting: if the rescue squad doesn’t get a whole lot more money in the 2024 budget, officers of the nonprofit are going to have to take extreme steps to keep the squad financially solvent. Any of the measures under consideration would impact the level of service that New Paltz residents now enjoy, a level of service that’s unparalleled in the county. 

“I’m back one last time,” said Chief Matthew Goodnow at the meeting. The chief described the dire straits facing the squad. On the income side, the pandemic caused the number of transports to hospitals — which are usually paid through insurance — dropped precipitously. At the same time, there hasn’t been an increase in the town budget line since before the pandemic. Goodnow is also facing wage expenses that are ballooning, saying, “We can’t pay competitively.” The percentage of volunteers in the squad has dwindled, both because volunteering in general is in decline and because learning to be an EMT or paramedic takes significant training; this makes the fact that average wages have risen by $10 an hour or more a much more serious budgeting challenge. A reserve fund that was $600,000 a few years ago is down to a quarter of that. 

Goodnow warned that the rescue squad “will have to leave New Paltz” if more can’t be paid for providing service in New Paltz. Specifically, “come January, we’ll be at the end of our rope.” That could be incremental, or it could be sudden. The chief said that one option would be to start sending out the last ambulance on mutual aid calls. The rescue squad has three ambulances, and with other nearby areas with little or no service at all, calls for mutual aid outside of New Paltz aren’t uncommon. The New Paltz Rescue Squad is able to cover 98.9% of calls within the town — usually in under five minutes — meaning that mutual aid calls into New Paltz are much rarer. With New Paltz as the priority for this local rescue squad, the last ambulance is kept in town, even if sending its crew on a mutual aid call would bring in more money for the cash-strapped emergency service. That last ambulance could be sent out in the future. 

While sending out the last ambulance would get a bit more money, Goodnow also asserted that leaders of other municipalities have asked for the squad to be expanded to cover those areas — and for more money than the present New Paltz contract. “We’re the redheaded stepchild” of emergency services, Goodnow said, and accepting one of those offers might be necessary for the solvency of the nonprofit. “I could be the last chief in New Paltz,” ending a 50-year run. “I encourage you to get quotes” from profit-driven ambulance companies, Goodnow said. 

Council members listened soberly to the briefing, after which Supervisor Neil Bettez made it clear that the message has been received. “We understand what we’re getting,” Bettez said, adding that there will be more on offer to the squad in the 2024 budget. Asked about the possibility of creating an ambulance district for direct taxation of residents, the supervisor said, “We’re open to any way to solve this problem.” 

Irwin interviewed to fill Dan Torres’ seat on the town board

New Paltz town council members continue their interviews of prospective candidates to fill Dan Torres’ seat. Torres, the longest-serving member on the present board, will be exiting the role at the end of August, and the remaining council members need to appoint someone to keep that seat warm until voters can make their own decision in November 2024. Marty Irwin, who served on the town council alongside Torres and supervisor Neil Bettez, was interviewed during the July 22 meeting. Torres has not been in attendance during earlier interviews, and left the room during this one. 

Irwin joined by way of appointment in 2015, replacing Jean Gallucci, who was taking on a new town position which at the time was called comptroller. Irwin successfully secured a full term at the ballot box a few months later, and then unsuccessfully ran for supervisor two years later. Drawing on experience in the construction business, one of Irwin’s priorities was getting a permanent town hall to replace the one on Veterans Drive that was demolished after being branded a “sick building.” That issue still hangs over the town council today, due to the broad array of municipal building issues. Irwin’s work to address replacing an expensive rented police headquarters and a dilapidated courthouse resulted in the present justice center on North Putt Corners Road extended past the 2019 end of Irwin’s term. 

A 20-year town resident, Irwin has also served on town committees, as well as the board of the Wallkill Valley Land Trust. Asked about this interest in returning, Irwin noted that prior experience is an advantage because there’s no training immediately available, as those sessions are timed to benefit those who come in via election. Some of Irwin’s prior relationships with department heads in the government could also be beneficial. 

Bettez recalled that the working relationship with Irwin was a positive one, saying, “We didn’t always agree, but we had no problems.” The supervisor singled out in particular that Irwin was “good with the budget.” 

The last regular meeting in August takes place on the 17th, making that a likely time for a decision to be made. More interviews are expected before that point.

Accessory apartment law tweaked

New Paltz town council members continued to refine a proposed update to the accessory dwelling unit law, with the help of retired code enforcement officer Stacy Delarede. This new version is intended to make it easier for homeowners to build such an apartment into an existing house or elsewhere on the same property — provided that the property owners actually live there. At their July 20 meeting, they responded to feedback received, both through public comment and as formal planning board responses. 

County planning board members are largely in favor of the approach taken, saying that it was in keeping with addressing the housing crisis that has existed for some years. “The minimum term of the rental language of no less than 30 days with proof of rental agreement does an excellent job of effectively banning short-term rentals in these structures, reserving them instead for full-time residents,” wrote Robert Liebowitz, a planner working for the county board. In contrast, town planning board members feel that this minimum term was too restrictive, “and suggested that this period be decreased to allow greater flexibility,” according to a letter written by board attorney Ashley Torre. Similarly, town planning board members suggested scaling back how much time the homeowner needs to be in residence, from nine months in the proposed law down to 184 days, using state tax law as a guide. Neither of those modifications were made. 

One difference between county and town planning boards is that members of the former can require modifications to a plan or a law; these can be overridden if at least four of five town council members agree. Two of three required modifications were thus declined. One was to ditch the minimum parking requirement, which is in vogue in planning circles at the moment. Delarede noted that the area covered is largely rural in character, and parking along roads is illegal during snowstorms; Delarede feels that within a village or city this approach makes more sense. Without required minimum parking, there would be nowhere to put vehicles. The other was to require that all of these new units “have an affordability requirement set to 80% or less of” the area median income. Council members rejected that out of a desire to maximize the number of these units created. Supervisor Neil Bettez noted that there are very limited tax breaks for accessory dwelling units, largely for parental rentals. Bettez would prefer to see state law changed, expanding those tax breaks to include anyone renting one of these apartments to tenants whose income is below 80% of that are median income. Senator Hinchey is said to be open to the idea. 

County planners also want there to be some flexibility when it comes to adding one of these units to a non-conforming lot, provided water and sewer requirements are met. This could include referring the application for site plan review for trickier situations. Council members did agree with this change, but it wasn’t deemed substantial enough to necessitate a new hearing. 

Health concerns raised included a question about radon testing that was raised by a member of the public, and a suggestion to more explicitly lay out the health department approvals needed that came from town planning board members. On the first, Delarede said that requiring more stringent radon testing might require changes to state law. Delarede also believes that the wording around health approvals is clear. No changes were made on either of these counts. 

Planning board members aren’t convinced that it will ever be appropriate for them to check the work of a code enforcement officer, and would like to see language around that possibility shifting to the zoning board of appeals. Again, Delarede sees things differently. Once a new code enforcement officer is in place, Delarede noted, planning board members will be much more experienced than that enforcement officer, who will need to rely on that board in particular. The remit of the ZBA is more narrow, with those board members not being in a position to negotiate creative solutions in unique situations. 

On the town planning board, there’s also a desire to see the size limits scrapped. They cap out at 900 square feet, or 45% of the square footage of an existing building if the unit is constructed therein. Council members again agreed with Delarede, who pointed out that once that minimum percentage hits 50, it’s a two-family home. 

A change council members did adopt from town planning board suggestions was to nix requirements about separate entrances for these units, that must be on the side or around back. For existing homes in particular, that was felt to be unduly burdensome. 

Since the changes weren’t enough to require a new public hearing be scheduled, council members will likely act on this after an attorney reviews the language.