If you’ve been grappling with property tax bills, fear not. The Rosendale Town Board waived late fees for these bills in light of late deliveries from the post office.

“The trouble of the mail is out of the town’s hands so we want to be as accommodating as possible,” said Councilman Ernest Klepeis.

Rosendale isn’t alone with this struggle, as long delays like this are widespread for the federal mail service’s millions of patrons. The least the board thought it could do was snuff out unnecessary penalties.

Property tax bills were mailed out on January 4 and they were supposed to be due back by the end of the month. However, some Rosendalians didn’t receive their checks until the third week in January. New York State Real Property Tax Law allows municipalities to give residents leeway with payments if it is to their benefit. The system worked in the people’s favor this time.

This time around, Rosendale Deputy Supervisor Kenneth Hasset took the reins of the meeting. Supervisor Jeanne Walsh was out sick, and the other board members wished her a speedy recovery. Councilman Matthew Igoe was also absent, attending to duties with the highway department.

Iron Mountain Dispute

After Iron Mountain LLC protested its initial 2020 property value assessment for allegedly being too high, the town found that it was cheaper to settle the dispute outside of court.

“The town’s revenue loss from that property is less than the cost it would be to further litigate this to receive the full assessment,” Klepeis explained.

For those who don’t know, Iron Mountain Inc. is a storage and information management company which calls a retired limestone cave on Binnewater Road in Rosendale its home. While the facilities mainly store paper documents and tapes today, the space once held antiques, celebrity memorabilia and master recordings from Sony Entertainment Studios, according to Insider Magazine.

The initial property assessment of $4.6 million was reduced to $3.6 million after the resolution was passed. Hasset explained that the town would only earn $5,300 less in this case: a small price to pay compared to the “tens of thousands” of dollars he estimated the legal battle would have cost.

Police Commission Appointments

Current Rosendale Police Commission members Anthony Stenta and Joe Hafner were reappointed to serve on the commission until the end of 2021. They are joined by Walsh and Rosendale Police Chief Scott Schaffrick, as well as Peggy Dingman who serves as the clerk.

In the Rosendale Community Police Reform Committee’s (RCPRC) recently released “Reform and Reinvention Report” draft, Stenta is described as a Rosendale resident and former business owner; Hafner, another town resident, is also a former member of the Rosendale Police Department (RPD) and is now an assistant chief of the Bloomington Fire Department. Hafner was reappointed despite RCPRC draft recommendation 9.3, which suggested that the town board remove any commission members with a law enforcement background.

“This is a volunteer position and people don’t volunteer for something they are not interested in,” Councilman Christopher Pryslopski said. “The town is depending on volunteers and, prior to this point, only people with ties to law enforcement have been interested.”

He added that he doesn’t think having a law enforcement veteran on the commission is a bad thing. Pryslopski believed that the commission should have a diverse collection of expertise and experience and felt that the law enforcement perspective could be useful.

Committee Report

Rosendale is in need of volunteers for a number of boards within the town government. Councilman Pryslopski said that the Environmental Commission is looking for three new members and more are needed. You can reach out to the town clerk at townclerk@townofrosendale.com to inquire further.

The “Rosendale Police Reform and Reinvention Report” draft was recently made public by the RCPRC (visit bit.ly/2ZluUI9 to read it). It contains all of the suggested changes the commission is asking the town board and RPD to make. The deadline to submit comments on the draft is February 22. This is the last chance for folks to weigh in on the proposed reforms before it goes back to the town board for final review and off to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April.

The next Rosendale Town Board meeting will be held on March 9 at 7 p.m. For information on how to access the meeting, visit the Rosendale Facebook page.