1 Hour Town Board Meeting March 13

Well, it took an act of God to have a 1 hour Town Board meeting.... the impending storm and emergency declarations by the state and county...created the urgency to conduct a speedy Town Board Meeting... helped in part by tabling all the Discussions on the Agenda...which is a good thing because one of the discussions tabled is draft of Zoning Code Changes that should be read VERY carefully.

The meeting could have ended a lot sooner if self-congratulatory comments by one council member were made more succintly and included a touch of humility.

A Public Hearing, with a vote held later in the meeting, establishing the Myers Run Drainage District was held with no public comment. The creation of the district was approved.

An ongoing discussion about how best to bond the payments required for the planned paving of 5.82 miles of town roads this season was held - with further discussion required.

The Town of Wappinger has voted to take advantage of the New York State law providing a 10% property tax exemption for volunteer fire fighters and the spouses of deceased fire fighters. It is understood that the Wappingers School District has already approved this exemption. The dedication and hours committed to public service by the firefighters is understood and reflected in the laws passed by the NYS State, Assembly and signed by the NYS Governor .... and now the Town Board of Wappinger. Fire fighters will have to complete forms etc. to be eligible for the exemptions. Those exemptions will be paid for by the remaining tax payers in the Town, like any other exemptions (seniors, disabled etc.) but the increased rates are felt to be less than paying for full-time fire fighters.

The Town Board approved the purchase of a Vactor truck for use by the Town Highway Department (cleans drains).

With no increase in rates, approved the Engineering Service for 2023 (something not discussed during the reorganization meeting at the beginning of the year).

Agreed to pay for $175 Genealogy fee to help with records for Sleight Cemetery. Odes to the wonderfulness of historic cemeteries in the town were given - ignoring the discovery of a tombstone in a local hamlet.

A New Topic, not listed on the agenda was to approve change order request for the work currently underway at the Town Highway Garage. There was urgency in passing the resolution required for the change orders, to ensure continuity in the work that the contractors have underway... rather than waiting and then having to have the work queue up as contractors reschedule their time. The mechanical, electrical, plumbing and general contractor change order requests were approved - for $412,000.

No executive session was held.