New Paltz town board delays appointments

New Paltz Town Council members conducted interviews at their January 18 meeting, both to fill a vacancy in their own number that’s been open for months, and to hire a new recreation director. No decision on either position was made before adjourning. 

Former council member — and current deputy supervisor — Alex Baer was interviewed, as was active community volunteer Amanda Gotto. Gotto served a full seven-year term on the planning board, and contributed a significant number of hours to the town’s climate-smart initiative through research, writing grant applications and conducting outreach. A contribution that was especially highlighted was the creation of a natural resources inventory that can be used in planning and environmental decisions. While Gotto’s political experience has been limited — carrying petitions for some current council members was mentioned — running for a full term wouldn’t be out of the question. 

Baer lost a primary challenge last year to Kitty Brown after serving one term, and earlier this month was appointed by Neil Bettez as deputy supervisor. Choosing someone who isn’t on the council is unusual, but not illegal; at the time, Bettez justified the decision by explaining that a supervisor needs someone that they can trust. Baer lifted up working on pay equity for female employees as a highlight of those four years in office, and spoke about the need to balance the traditional character of the community with the inevitable forces for change. 

Brown used Baer’s interview as a way to discuss the role of liaisons to various groups and committees in the community, noting that the minutes of the planning board did not show that Baer ever attended meetings and that the community improvement team might not be meeting at all. Brown’s belief that having liaisons in attendance at meetings fosters clearer communication has been expressed before. When planning board members attended the September 15, 2022 council meeting, chair Adele Ruger spoke about how much more helpful it is when a liaison attends a meeting, rather than watching it later online. 

The supervisor, who back at that 2022 meeting told Ruger that inviting Baer to attend specific meetings should be good enough, didn’t accept Brown’s evidence of Baer not being listed in the minutes as relevant, noting that meetings can be watching online “if you understand how youtube works.” 

According to Bettez, the only candidate interviewed last year for the open seat who hasn’t since withdrawn their interest is former council member Marty Irwin.

Council members also interviewed Justin Hillborne, an employee at the youth program, for the position of recreation director. Hillborne spoke about attending that program as a child, and ultimately returning to New Paltz after college to work under Jim Tinger there. Hillborne’s established connections with Tinger, as well as Phoenix Kawamoto in the community wellness office, were lifted up as making it easier to collaborate on ways to enhance the recreation programs offered through town government to residents of all ages. 

The supervisor was asked over the weekend if any other candidates are expected to be interviewed for the recreation director position, but no response was immediately forthcoming. 

After spending about 40 minutes in executive session, council members emerged and made no decision on either the council or recreation director appointments. Town council member Dan Torres left that seat open in August. By comparison, when Hurley council members were faced with a resignation in December and another in January, each position was filled at the very next meeting. 

Town board is wary of proposed warehouse

Activists seeking allies against a proposed warehouse in Plattekill came to the town council meeting in New Paltz on January 18. While New Paltz is not an adjacent community, opponents of the proposed ten-acre building pointed out that truck drivers going to or from its 75 loading docks would likely be using Putt Corners and Ohioville roads, as well as routes 32 and 208 to drive between the facility and the Thruway. 

Council members agreed that there are many questions left unanswered about this project, and were especially skeptical of the traffic study that shows that there would be no significant impacts despite a projected 207 truck trips daily. A letter of concern will be sent to the Plattekill and county planning boards. 

Housing volunteers sought

Members are needed to populate a housing-smart committee, individuals who would be tasked with shepherding the Town of New Paltz through the county’s housing-smart program. While the specifics are still unclear, complying with various steps is expected to provide incentives that could open the door to housing-relating funding. Those interested are invited to contact the supervisor’s office. 

Joint meeting is on

Members of the New Paltz town council and village board will meet jointly for the first time since June, 2021, at which point they could not agree on regular meetings any longer. The purpose of the meeting planned for Wednesday, January 24, 7 p.m., at village hall, is to look at Mayor Tim Rogers’ proposal to revisit combining local governments in New Paltz — by forming a coterminous arrangement, if Rogers’ plan comes to fruition. Under that scheme, which is used in a half-dozen other communities around the state, the village border would be stretched to match that of the town, allowing the more flexible state laws about villages to hold sway most of the time. For circumstances that require acting as a town council, the same set of elected officials would be empowered to do just that. 

Rogers and Supervisor Neil Bettez came into power just after the last bid to reorganize the governance of New Paltz collapsed. Supporters at that time needed to get some tweaks to state law in order to be eligible for funding that Andrew Cuomo — then the governor — had dangled to entice local leaders to reduce the number of governments. State legislators may not have acted because it was clear that there was not consensus in the community at that time. Several other attempts have been made, starting in the 1940s, including two attempts to dissolve the village which were rejected by voters in decades past. 

In agreeing to attend, Bettez said that it’s important to agree on the facts, and that in the supervisor’s mind this would require updating the study that was prepared the last time around to determine what would be saved, and how the lives of residents would be impacted. 

“The [fact sheet provided by Rogers] leaves me with a lot of questions,” said Julie Seyfert-Lillis. 

“We owe it to the voters to have this discussion,” said Bettez. It happens about every ten years,” and eventually will probably get done, in one form or another.