Stony Point Holds Bimonthly Meeting Tuesday

The Stony Point Town Board meeting kicked off with the town thanking first responders for their heroic actions in a recent Stony Point house fire. “There is no better group than our volunteer fire company, the great Wayne Hose Company,” Supervisor Sherwood said.

On September 19, police and fire crews responded to an apartment fire at 20 River Road. Mary Minella, 62, was trapped in her burning apartment building. She told EMTs that she caught fire while cooking on her gas stove. She was rushed to Westchester Medical Center in Vahalla in critical condition. She was placed in a medically induced coma.

Two officers suffered smoke inhalation after trying to enter the second-floor apartment. They were honored at the last Stony Point Town Board Meeting.

At this meeting, the Wayne Hose Company arrived in fire trucks, dressed in full uniform to honor Captain Curt Wicks, Tom Cass Jr. and Ryan Flood.

“We got a report that somebody was trapped in a building and as we train all the time, that’s what we do, we go in there and save lives,” Wicks told Rockland County Times. “No fire is routine, every fire is different. Unfortunately, this time there was a victim.”

The town board presented the volunteers with certificates of recognition. All attendees of the meeting stood and clapped for the local heroes.

Next in the meeting Supervisor Sherwood announced “we have been getting a lot of renewed interest in economic development in the town… one of the consistent complaints for new businesses that are exploring coming to our town has to do with the substantial filing fees our town has imposed.” Since there is a lot of competition between towns to bring in new business to the area, Sherwood suggested that we explore what other towns charge and possibly update our policies to make us a more competitive choice for local developers.

In terms of the new budget, there will be a budget meeting on October 25 and a public hearing on the preliminary budget November 10. The town struggled, but managed to stay below the 2 percent tax cap.

In the public input protion of the meeting, Susan Filgueras updated the public on the status of a grant being pursued by the Stony Point Town Historical Society. They have been working together the Pyngyp Restoration Committee for 8 months on this grant to help restore the small Stony Point schoolhouse. It was badly damaged during the recent Irene. The parking lot remains unusable to this day.

Governor Cuomo recently revamped the grant program, slowing the process. They still need three legal documents that were not in the prior grant application. Filgueras says she needs a Municipal endorsement, a Authorizing Resolution and a preservation covenant. “The Stony Point Historical Society is doing the leg work, the paperwork and the application work. The town of Stony Point will need to sign the document as the legal owner of the Pyngyp One-Room Schoolhouse.”

George Harris also spoke in the public input portion of the meeting and expressed concerns about a neighbor who is operating a camp out of their local residence. Harris was told that the problem was taken care of, but as of Columbus Day, the camp was still up and running. “My problem is [the neighbor] and no enforcement of the zoning codes”

A man stood up in the back and said “can I respond to that?” Unfortunately he had not signed up to speak in the public input portion of the meeting before the meeting began and therefore could not.

The next town board meeting will be held on October 25 at 7 p.m. in the R.H.O. building.