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  [Special Joint Meeting of Village Board and Town Council Regarding Water Master Plan]:

  View Recorded Video of Meeting

  Dear Residents and Friends of the greater Cornwall area,

  Tonight, Thursday, September 21, 2023, beginning at 7:00 p.m., inside the Edward C. Moulton, Jr. boardroom located at Village Hall, 325 Hudson Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, the Village Board will be joined by the Town Council for a special meeting related to a preliminary review of a DRAFT water system master plan (prepared by the Village Engineer).

  This meeting is the third joint session of recent vintage and will serve as an opportunity for the board and council to have a first look at exactly where Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson stand related to our aging, failing, and crumbling water system infrastructure. Presentations from Village Engineer Jason Pitingaro and Water Superintendent Michael Trainor will kick things off. Afterwards, the two elected bodies will engage in initial talks regarding the current state of our infrastructure and potential paths forward.

  The meeting is scheduled for two and one-half hours and is OPEN to the public, space available. It will also be livestreamed and remotely accessible to witness in real time via a link to be provided on the Village website and Facebook page. Those unable to join can also access archived video of the proceedings to be posted later to our YouTube page. There will also be a limited period towards the end of the meeting for public comment for those in attendance.

  Please understand – this is the INITIAL unveiling of the draft plan. Every issue will not be resolved tonight. This meeting is designed for the Village – which controls the greater Cornwall area’s water system infrastructure (to include 16,000 customers, 52 miles of subterranean water mains, five reservoirs and attendant dams, a well field, and treatment facilities) – to lay out focused priorities for repairs, remediation, and upgrades to a water system introduced in 1888. 

  Full transparency is the goal, followed by prioritized “action items.” Exists no panacea of solutions or bottomless pot of funding to solve every crisis now. But we would be derelict in our duties as custodians of our community’s precious resource not to begin to address them soon – as opposed to continuous kicking of the metaphorical can down the road. Let’s begin the process of proactivity and cease the reactionary posture. There are only so many band-aids we can apply to our system. Join us tonight or tune in later to hear the discussion regarding our future.

  On behalf of your Village Board,

  James A. “Jimmy” Gagliano

  Mayor

• Village Board Meeting

  NOTICE REGARDING BUSINESS MEETING

  Notice is hereby given that in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Board of Trustees will hold their March 23, 2020 Business Meeting via teleconference at 7:00 p.m.  Draft minutes will be made available to the public as soon as possible.

   

  BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

  VILLAGE OF CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON

  Jeanne Mahoney

  Village Clerk

• Joint Public Statement from Town of Cornwall and Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Boards

  For Immediate Release                                                                                             May 19, 2022

  Subject: Proposed 3-Year Contract Between Cornwall and the New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NWVAC) for Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Services

  As most residents understand, individual municipalities are responsible for providing and maintaining an effective and sustainable ambulatory service to their communities. Of recent, it has become more difficult to provide this critical volunteer service due to soaring costs and the dwindling number of available volunteers. This issue has been a topic of debate within the New York State legislature recently, with legislation introduced to establish EMS (the provision of urgent pre-hospital treatment and transport for medical care) as an “essential service.” Long overdue, this effort could potentially reconfigure how ambulatory services are administered across New York State. Unless and until the County and/or State elect to make certain changes, municipalities must seek effective methods to sustain and improve services. Experts contend that the paradigm is evolving and that mergers, or consolidation, exist as an intermediate solution.

  For over a year, New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NWVAC) has contracted with the Town and Village to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services to Cornwall residents for a fee, while Cornwall Volunteer Ambulance Corps (COVAC) provides Basic Life Support (BLS) coverage for a fee, as well. ALS includes the highest level of emergency medicine – paramedic-level treatment – and NWVAC (or another EMS provider with ALS capabilities) has long answered calls within Cornwall for mutual aid, bereft of a contract. COVAC, staffed with Emergency Medical Technicians, or EMTs, has remained a fixture in our community since 1955.

  A number of years ago, COVAC made the request to bill patients directly and a decision was subsequently reached to dissolve the “ambulance district” overseen by the Town. By billing insurance providers directly, this was to be a more efficient process that allowed for the Corps to remain solvent without monies allocated from Cornwall. The global pandemic and an attendant paucity of available volunteers has made staffing across the past several years a concern. This, coupled with significant debt accrual resulted in COVAC’s appeal for subsistence from the taxpayers – which the Town and Village jointly agreed to support.

  Despite the provided financial support, there continue to exist a number of issues that have not been resolved, as relates to the professional administration of ambulatory services to our residents. Public safety is of paramount concern. Both the Town Supervisor and Village Mayor have met privately with COVAC leadership and members of COVAC’s elected board and operational membership appeared before a joint boards’ special meeting on January 11, 2022.

  While COVAC maintains they have mitigated their insolvency issues and improved their first-call response rates, it is the consensus of both boards that NWVAC – widely regarded as the “gold standard” for local ambulatory care – will be contracted to cover both BLS and ALS responsibilities for Cornwall residents. This assumption of responsibilities can be considered a consolidation. Current COVAC members who wish to continue to serve Cornwall residents may interview with NWVAC, and be afforded opportunity to operate out of 1 Clinton Street location, be attired in Cornwall EMS uniforms, and respond to Cornwall service calls in a Cornwall-branded ambulance. This serves both professionalization and training standardization efforts.

  On balance, we believe that this decision for establishment of a contemporary public/private partnership model -- created and supported by multiple municipalities, including Town of New Windsor, Town of Cornwall and Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson -- will ensure our residents receive the high-quality emergency medical care they deserve. NWVAC enables Cornwall leadership to remain confident in the model’s financial viability and sustainability, administrative transparency, leader oversight, and accountability while serving as an example for the region.

  This was not an easy decision. Careful consideration was given to all impacted equities. Town and Village elected officials reflected deeply on the many decades of selfless service that COVAC and its volunteers have provided to our community; indeed, it is an honored local institution. But the primary responsibility of public officials is ensuring their constituents are afforded best available services for their hard-earned tax dollars. In our estimation, the proposed three-year contract with NWVAC ensures this. Know that we have explored innumerable options to guarantee confidence in the provision of EMS. And we have reviewed a number of similar municipal consolidated-services agreements. This is the best path forward for Cornwall.

  On Thursday, May 26, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., inside the Edward C. Moulton, Jr. Village Board Room, located at Village Hall, 325 Hudson Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 12520, the Town and Village boards will convene a joint special meeting to address this matter publicly. Meeting will be publicly-noticed and contract provisions will be disclosed. The public will be afforded an opportunity to speak and boards will address some factors that led to this decision.

  On behalf of the Town and Village Boards,

  Joshua Thomas Wojehowski
  Supervisor

  James A. Gagliano
  Mayor   

• Village Board Notice of Public Hearing

  PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Village Board of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson will hold a public hearing on May 20, 2019 at 7:00 P.M., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard at Village Hall, 325 Hudson Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 12520 on a local law to amend Village Code Chapter 155 to designate “No Parking” and “No Standing” areas on Mountain Road.

  A copy of the proposed local law is available for review [here] and at the Clerk’s Office located in Village Hall at the address listed above, during normal business hours. Written comments may be submitted prior to or at the public hearing. Oral comments may be made at the public hearing. Persons may appear in person or by agent. The Village Board is the Lead Agency pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) for this Unlisted Action.

  The Village of Cornwall-on Hudson will make every effort to assure that the Public Hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Anyone requiring special assistance and/or reasonable accommodations should contact the Village Clerk.

  Dated: April 15, 2019

  BY ORDER OF THE VILLAGE BOARD OF
  THE VILLAGE OF CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON
  BRENDAN G. COYNE, MAYOR

  RESOLUTION OF ADOPTION OF LAW DESIGNATING NO STANDING AND NO PARKING AREAS ON MOUNTAIN ROAD

• Outdoor Lighting Law

  VILLAGE OF CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON

  County of Orange, State of New York

  RESOLUTION OF THE VILLAGE BOARD OF THE VILLAGE OF CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON ADOPTING A LOCAL LAW REGULATING THE INSTALLATION AND USE OF OUTDOOR LIGHTING WITHIN THE VILLAGE

   

   

  Introduced by:            Deputy Mayor James P. Kane

  Seconded by:              Trustee Kenneth A. Schmidt

  Date of Adoption:       May 18, 2020

             

  WHEREAS, a resolution was duly adopted by the Village Board of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson on September 16, 2019, designating the board as Lead Agency and scheduling a public hearing to be held by said Governing Body on November 18, 2019 at 7:01 p.m. at Village Hall to hear all interested persons on a proposed Local Law authoring the Village to adopt regulations that set standards with respect to the installation of outdoor lighting, including standards that would minimize glare and impact on nearby residential properties, within the Village; and

  WHEREAS, on September 16, 2019, the Village board, pursuant to part 617 of the implemented regulations of Article 8 of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), preliminarily determined that the adoption of said proposed Local Law was a Type I action; and

  WHEREAS, said public hearing was duly held on November 18, 2019, at or about 7:01 p.m. at the Village Hall, and all parties in attendance were permitted an opportunity to speak on behalf of or in opposition to said proposed local law, entitled “Regulating the Installation and Use of Outdoor Lighting within the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson” (the “Local Law”); and

  WHEREAS, after considering comments received from the public, the public hearing was extended on the successive dates of December 17, 2019, January 27, 2020, February 24, 2020, and March 23, 2020, at which time the Village Board referred a full record of the revised draft local law to the Village Planning Board and the Orange County Department of Planning in accordance with GML § 239-m, and extended the public hearing to April 20, 2020; and

  WHEREAS, by correspondence dated April 20, 2020, the Planning Board advised the Village Board that it had no further comments with respect to the local law; and

  WHEREAS, on April 20, 2020, the Village Board conducted the public hearing on the local law, closed the public hearing for further comment, except for receipt of written comments from the Orange County Department of Planning; and

  WHEREAS, by correspondence dated May 1, 2020, the Orange County Department of Planning advised the Village Board that the adoption of the proposed local law would not result in any significant intermunicipal or county-wide impacts, and had no advisory comments with respect to the local law; and

  WHEREAS, notice of said public hearings were duly advertised in the official newspaper of said Village, and noticed according to law; and

  WHEREAS, the Village Board of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, has reviewed the draft local law, long form EAF and comments from the public, and after due deliberation thereon;

  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT:

  1. the proposed local law is classified as a Type I action under SEQRA; it has no significant adverse environmental impacts and the Village Board issues a negative declaration thereon;
  2. the adoption of the proposed local law is in the best interests of the residents of the Village, and the Village Board hereby adopts said Local Law No. 1 of 2020, amending Chapter 172 of the Village Code, to add new Article XV, entitled “Regulating the Installation and Use of Outdoor Lighting with the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson”; and
  3. the Village Board hereby directs that the Village Clerk enter said Local Law in the minutes of this meeting and in the Local Law Book of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, and to give due notice of the adoption of said Local law to the Secretary of State of New York.

   

  Upon Roll Call Vote:

  Mayor Coyne:                         Aye                             Trustee Schmidt:                     Aye

  Deputy Mayor Kane:              Aye                             Trustee Gagliano:                    Aye

  Trustee Carnright:                   Aye    

  Vote:  Resolution Carried by a vote of 5 to 0.

   

  LOCAL LIGHTING LAW

• April 20 Business Meeting

  April 20, 2020 Business Meeting

  Due to public health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, the Village Board will NOT be meeting in person. In accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order 202.1, the meeting will be held via videoconferencing and a telephone conference call. A transcript will be available at a later date. The public will have the opportunity to hear the meeting live and provide comments. At 7 p.m., the public can watch the live meeting online via the GotoMeeting App.

  If you have a computer, tablet or smartphone you can register, log in and see the video and hear the audio of the live meeting. You can access the GotoMeeting at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/421978749 and click “Join Meeting”, and enter ID: 421-978-749. You can also listen by dialing +1 (571) 317-3112 and entering access code 421-978-749. Comments can also be provided via e-mail before and after the meeting to the Mayor, Brendan Coyne, at [email protected], and Village Clerk, Jeanne Mahoney, at [email protected] . The Village Board will also accept written comments up to and until May 1, 2020; they can be e-mailed to the above addresses as well.