By Nathan Mayberg
WURTSBORO — December 31, 2004 – At the Mamakating Town Board’s year-end meeting this past Wednesday, Supervisor Charles Penna disclosed that the town’s highway department was beginning the new year with a deficit of approximately $225,000 due to the flooding in Westbrookville this year. However, he said he expects the town to be fully reimbursed by federal agencies.
A cell tower may be on its way behind the town barn. Penna said he has received a request from a phone company to install the tower. Other phone companies will be able to use it, and he expects at least two companies to share the tower, which could bring the town $12,000 a year in revenue for each company that uses it. Town Attorney Richard Stoloff estimated that a cell tower could reach between 140 and 175 feet high.
One local resident complained about the lack of lighting at the turnoffs onto Route 17 off Route 209. There was a head-on collision there last week. Penna said he would get to work on it.
The town accepted an insurance plan for its employees, which will cost $80,116 for 2005. The town only received one bid.
The board’s annual reorganizational meeting January 4 should include more fanfare than usual.
The board will hold an early work session beginning at 5 p.m. to discuss a range of issues, including the future tenure of Planning Board Chairman John Piazza. The business meeting will commence at 7 p.m.
The board will set the new dates and times for its business meeting, which have been under fire for coinciding with the same days as the planning board meetings. The planning board currently has two mega-projects in front of it, the maitake mushroom factory and the Shawangunk Resort.
The planning board is scheduled to meet January 11 to further discuss the mushroom factory. The board could make a decision as to whether it believes the company’s environmental impact statement is complete.