Edgar Rodriguez appointed to New Paltz town board seat

After conducting five public interviews and meeting behind closed doors for two hours, New Paltz Town Board members appointed Edgar Rodriguez to fill the next few months of the term from which Dan Torres resigned last August, in a seat that was fleetingly occupied by Amanda Gotto prior to Gotto becoming appointed interim supervisor. There may be a summer scramble to get listed as a candidate to be elected replacement during the final year of Torres’ term, but that might be the last unexpected change in town government for now. However, the electoral terms of all town officials are about to be shifted to ending in even-numbered years, thanks to a law passed in 2023. 

Rodriguez was interviewed and appointed at the June 20 board meeting; also interviewed that night were Steve Greenfield and Bob Gabrielli. On June 6, council members heard Izzy Defino and Ray Lunati explain their own qualifications for the job. Rodriguez spoke about longstanding ties in the community, including to those who live here undocumented, and promised to apply governmental and budgetary experience from serving on the local school board to this job. As with the others who were interviewed, Rodriguez did not appear to quail at the considerable time commitment required for a job that pays about $8,000 a year. In addition to two semimonthly board meetings, town council members are expected to attend meetings of some other bodies as a liaison, to research questions and review information about questions discussed at public board meetings, and to review vouchers for approval — a process that can take several hours each time, usually on a weekend. 

Discussing which candidate to appoint took up some portion of an executive session that lasted about two hours; the entire meeting took around three and a half to complete. At the end, Kitty Brown joked, “Next time we’re gonna give all the heavy lifting to Edgar.” 

Battery law charges up residents

There were some worried faces in the audience during the June 20 New Paltz Town Board meeting. They were worried that a battery storage law being considered could cause environmental problems on Brouck Ferris Road, if approved as written. Those concerns jibe with some raised by planning board members, and the siting of commercial battery systems — designated “tier 2” in industry standards — will be given additional scrutiny. Regulation for tier 1 systems, which are intended for installation in homes, will likely be discussed at a public hearing in the coming months. 

Battery storage systems are needed to facilitate the transition to relying on renewable energy, since renewable sources tend to be intermittent ones like wind and solar. The largest systems, tier 3, are not being contemplated in town as those are managed as part of the electricity grid infrastructure. Commercial tier 2 systems built in a residential zone need to be installed not too far from a substation, because the proposed law would require a connection into the grid. In New Paltz, the only substation is in Ohioville, and the number of locations that are large and flat enough to build one is limited. Goals set at the state level are for there to be 6,000 megawatts of storage capacity by 2030. 

Neighbors of a site being considered — a parcel between Route 299 and Brouck Ferris Road — raised concerns including the risk of fire. The lithium ion batteries that are state of the art can catch fire due to high heat or humidity, or flooding, and these are all conditions which are likely to occur, neighbors say. Similar fires in other parts of the state and country have resulted in long-term closure of some battery facilities, they asserted. 

Planning board members also have concerns, and have recommended splitting the model law in two. Speaking for those volunteers, Jane Schanberg said that they feel that the first part, covering tier 1 systems, could be approved as a standalone bill, but that the review of the impact of tier 2 systems should be undertaken in the context of a comprehensive energy plan for the town. Planning board members are clear that tier 2 systems should only be permitted in commercial zones, and want to see a mechanism established for paying for the decommissioning of these facilities, at such time as they are obsolete. A specific suggestion lifted up was to explore constructing such a facility on some of the brownfield site that is slated to be partially used for a county emergency services center, off Paradies Lane. 

The planning board attorney drafted a law to cover just the tier 1 residential systems. Once that’s been reviewed again by the town council attorney, it will be possible to schedule a public hearing on that portion of the law. Efforts to create a comprehensive energy plan will now begin.

No guns for sale to cops

New Paltz Town Board members rejected a proposal to offer old police shotguns and handguns for sale to current New Paltz police officers, who would have to pay the market rate. The plan, recommended by police commissioners, would have seen any remaining guns destroyed. 

“I would like for the town not to profit off the sale of guns,” said Esi Lewis, who appeared to capture the sentiment of all board members. In addition to that broad ethical implication, another concern was that those guns could be legally sold again, and that any gun in the private market has the potential to be used in a crime. The motion, once made, was unanimously rejected. 

Wrap-up

New Paltz Town Board members, who appeared to be operating in crisis mode since Neil Bettez left on May 3, resolved several lingering issues at their June 20 meeting, ranging from contract negotiations to the resignation of Amanda Gotto — from a town council position, specifically. Gotto had resigned a month after being appointed to the town council, following advice — allegedly provided by an attorney with the Association of Towns of the State of New York, who has yet even to acknowledge a request to confirm provided such guidance — that this move was necessary in order to be considered for the role of interim supervisor. Now in the supervisor’s office, Gotto opted for recusal rather than participating in that vote. Other resignations included that of town equipment operator Joseph Hafner and Alex Baer, as deputy supervisor. Council members also approved paying Baer for acting as supervisor, at a per diem rate based on the annual salary for that position; that vote was taken without discussion. 

Rather than ponder several questions about a proposed town-village intermunicipal agreement to pay for a consultant to study consolidation of the two governments, council members are game to speak with their village colleagues directly instead. The next town meeting isn’t until July 18, but if they are able to secure time on the June 26 or July 10 village agenda, they could post notice of a town meeting at the same time, and act after such a discussion. 

Other items addressed included finalizing the contracts for the new chief of police and lieutenant, hiring a new full-time police officer, and continuing to pay a temp agency for providing help in the assessor’s office. Gotto also announced that Kitty Brown is now the deputy supervisor, reprising a role that Brown held during the Hokanson administration.