At the September 14 village board meeting, retiring Ellenville Police Chief Mattracion looked back on his forty years of service to the village, beginning in 1987, when he joined the police as a young recruit.

Back then Pauline Venezia was mayor and Tony Giuliano was village manager. Mattracion noted that he had served under Mayors Auerbach, Younger, Briggs and Kaplan (who chose him to be police chief), and now Mayor Trent. The village, he said, saw a “dirty dozen” managers in that time, but he immediately exempted Mary Sheeley from that term, praising her.

He also recalled George Sheeley, who was another long serving police chief under whom Phil Mattracion began his career. In those decades he was known as “Officer Phil,” and became familiar in the village for practicing “community policing” as learned from Chief Sheeley.

In his remarks, Mattracion observed that during his time as chief, since 2002, 160 officers had served in the Ellenville Police. He noted that the force was one of the most diverse in the entire country and thanked Levi Hecht, who was in the audience, for his help in connecting with the Hasidic Jewish community. He concluded by noting that his years on the D.A.R.E. program had been the most rewarding for him during his career.

Mayor Trent thanked him on behalf of the village board, the police department, and the people of Ellenville for his long service to the village.

This was followed by the award of a plaque and hugs and handshakes. Mattracion’s last day on the job is Friday, September 18.

Spring Street Safety Complaints

Karen Osterhoudt, who owns property on Spring Street bordering number 15 where a shooting took place last week, demanded that something be done to improve public safety on that street.

Osterhoudt said she has seven employees in her building who are concerned after the gunshots rang out. She mentioned her own concern now that Chief Mattraction is retiring and asked who the next chief of the police department would be.

Concerns about drug addicts on both Spring and Warren Street were brought up. The former drive thru behind the former Burger King restaurant was described as a “party space” for heavy drug users. Mary Sheeley, local realtor and former village manager, said the Burger King property is being sold. She pointed to the house next door as the source of the problems and called for it to be “shut down.”

COFFE to Rehab the Canal Office Building

Johnny Frost, president of Citizens of Forward Facing Ellenville (COFFE), presented a plan for the group to take control of the little canal office building on the corner of Canal Street near Berme Road Park. This vestige of the D&H Canal, which once ran through the eastern end of Ellenville, is in need of repair. There is a leak in the roof and water is damaging the interior.

Frost provided the plan which would begin with a lease agreement between the village and COFFE with a mission to rehab the building. The first step would be a temporary roof. Later a roof like the cedar shake original would be put on.

Eventually he suggested the little building could become a “gateway” to Berme Road Park and the rail trail.

Jeff Rubin, from the Historic Preservation Commission, added that the building was saved and repaired by Cathy Terwilliger in 1974.

Trustee Victoria Messner applauded the idea of rescuing the building and putting it to a new use.

Frost concluded by noting that Bill Merchant, Deputy Director of the High Falls Museum will be coming to the October COFFE meeting, October 6. That meeting will be held at the Trudy Farber Center on Center Street.

Wendy’s Dumpster

Charles Ortiz, the owner of a multi-family home at 13 Backman Avenue, appeared to discuss issues with the new Wendy’s restaurant that his property adjoins. That project is approaching completion.

Ortiz, who resides in Middletown, was indignant that he had never been contacted about the change of use from a pharmacy to a fast-food restaurant. He did not know anything about it and did not attend village planning board meetings that went through the application with considerable painstaking.

He said he was aghast at the location of a dumpster for the restaurant which will be right up against their adjoining fence, just feet away from the back of his multi-family house. He noted that eight families live there and complained that they will have to live with the noise of the restaurant and the stench of the dumpster. Formerly, when the property was a pharmacy, the dumpster was in a different location and there were no complaints about it.

Trent said the village would dig into the problem and see what could be done.

Clinton Avenue Bridge

The 27-year saga of the Clinton Avenue Bridge is edging towards a resolution. The issue is the need for the village to buy the four corner spaces around the bridge. Three of them, in private hands, are being bought. The fourth, however, is owned by the New York State A.M.E. Zion church headquartered in New York City.

The hang-up at present is that, in New York State, sales of church property must be reviewed by the Attorney General’s office. That process has begun, Trent said, and paperwork has been delivered to the Attorney General’s office. The saga continues.

Wastewater Plant UV System

Mike Ryman from the village wastewater treatment plant appeared before the board to discuss the need for new parts for the UV system in the plant. New UV bulbs from De Nora are required for the plant.

Ryman noted that they will be 30% off the normal price, but will still cost $47,360. The UV system, he explained, is in a box out in the open and new bulbs were last bought in 2023.