Wawarsing’s new town board met for the first time, held its reorganizational meeting, and discussed some of the pressing issues that the board will have to tackle in coming weeks and months.

First, new members Bill Brown and Mike Moschetta were welcomed. Moschetta said he was ready to “jump in feet first” and was “looking forward to it.” Brown said he was happy to be on the board and expected to get down to work very soon.

Supervisor Terry Houck has worked out liaison duties with both men. Moschetta will be working with the Building Department and will share liaison efforts with Brown on the Highway Department. Brown will work with Councilmember Cassie Spoor on the issue of swimming pools, both the Kerhonkson and the Ellenville one. Brown will work on Ulster County issues alongside Supervisor Houck as well.

Moving to issues; the first thing dealt with was the shift from “Code Red,” the mass notification alert system that has been employed by the town in the event of an emergency, such as a hurricane with associated flooding, to “Text-Em-All.” Councilmember Paul Tuzzolino laid out the pros and cons for this change. Code Red costs the town $7,000 a year and, he noted, “has hardly been used in recent years.” Text-Em-All is only paid for when you use the system. More than that, Text-Em-All offers more flexibility, such as being able to create special smaller lists, to only alert specific areas of the town. Tuzzolino added, “We would have much more control over who texts would be sent to.” The cost would run to 6 cents per call to a user. The board appeared open to the change.

Building Department Engineering Solutions

The town building department is understaffed, with only 1.5 employees. Efforts to hire more building inspectors have yet to bear fruit. However, there are major building projects coming forward to the planning board, in particular Cresco Labs’ giant cannabis grow facility and behind that Somerset Partners’ project involving the defunct Nevele resort property. It will be important for the town to have more resources to focus on these applications. Supervisor Houck announced that the town will call on engineering firm Brinier & Larios for more support in this area. Brinier & Larios is already the town’s choice for engineers, but this will involve a greater degree of close engagement between the town and the firm.

Barbara Road Bridge

The issue of the Barbara Road bridge, urgently in need of repair and currently with two yellow flags from the NYS Department of Transportation, is growing urgent. The issue is more with the abutments than the bridge itself, but either way it is very expensive. The town owns this bridge, which connects to about 12 homes and offers those homes their only way to connect to the outside world. No one is sure exactly why the town owns this bridge, but it does. Supervisor Houck reported a contact with Dennis Doyle of the Ulster County Planning Board in which grants were discussed that might be secured by the town to cover the cost of repairing this bridge. More information is being sought.

Tax Numbers

The town tax receiver, Robin Anderson, presented her 2022 Tax Warrant abstract. A total tax warrant of $15,097,074 for 2022 is forecast, of which $8,678,014 will go to the town and $6,163,62 will go to the county.

Winter Fest

Now that it appears there really will be winter this year, thoughts are turning to reviving Winter Fest. This has usually included games and activities at Lippman Park, including skating on the frozen pond. Crucial, therefore, is sufficient chilly weather to build up a good layer of ice there. Sam Bugna, director of the Ellenville/Wawarsing Youth Commission, will be investigating the possibilities of having a Winter Fest this season.