Orangetown Board Moves Forward On Dispute With County

The Orangetown Town Board held a special meeting Tuesday to meet with five firms that are candidates to provide real estate consulting services regarding the development of the Rockland Psychiatric Center property.

Those meetings were held in executive session. The town board members present (Councilman Denis Troy was absent) agreed to follow up on the interviews at the next regular town board meeting, which is scheduled for Aug. 28.

The town board did conduct other business Tuesday, including another step in its plan to charge Rockland County for the maintenance of street lights, traffic lights and fire hydrants on county roads.

The board approved a resolution approving an agreement to reimburse the Town of Clarkstown "a proportionate share of the cost of legal services" paid to McConough, Bastone & Monaghan, LLP, which is representing the five towns in legal action against the county. Orangetown would play 16% of the cost and has approved up to $7,500 for the time being.

Clarkstown has the law firm on retainer. Orangetown Town Attorney John Edwards said that in most cases like this, a law firm would prefer to deal directly with just one of the towns.

The board also approved a resolution to apply for a NYS Greenway Grant for upgrades to the rail trail in Nyack and Orangetown. This is a relatively small grant, approximately $10,000 to $12,000.

Councilman Tom Morr asked for clarification the town board would still have input regarding any physical changes to the trail.

"This gives us options," Supervisor Andy Stewart said. "Any physical change would have to come to us."

Orangetown Police Retirement

The town council accepted the resignation of Orangetown Police Officer Robert Stevenson effective Aug. 10. The department is now down five officers from what was in the budget.

"We have to talk about when and how to hire," Stewart said.

The members of the board said they expect another retirement later this year.

"He needs to make his budget," Councilman Paul Valentine said, referring to Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty. " We need to give him an idea how many officers he'll end up with."

Councilman Tom Diviny pointed out that with the additional retirement expected this year, the Orangetown Police Department would be down nine officers from where it was when he was elected in 2009.