TZ Basketball State Champions Honored at Town Hall

The Tappan Zee High School Girl’s Basketball team was honored by the town of Orangetown on the evening of April 21st to celebrate their recent state championship win. It’s the first time the TZHS girl’s team has won a state championship. A parade was thrown in their honor where they walked from the high school to the Orangetown Town Hall to be awarded by the town board with certificates. Coach Riley Chevrier and assistant coaches Darrel Flynn and Sarah Kukla were honored with certificates along with the team they lead. 

Later in the meeting, the town board spoke on their plans to reinstate the old county level contractor licensing requirements on a town level. Tom Diviny, recently hired as a legislative assistant for the town of Orangetown, collaborated with Town Attorney Rob Magrino to construct the bill. This comes in response to the recent bill, voted on by the Rockland County Legislature, that drastically dumbed down the requirements for those seeking a home improvement contractor’s license in the county. 

The legislature has been under heavy criticism for their 14-1 vote in favor of passing the bill into law. Introduced by Itamar Yeger, the bill strips many of the requirements and provisions required in Rockland County for those seeking a home improvement contractor’s license. The meeting in which the vote took place saw a public hearing that lasted over an hour and a half, with the majority of those speaking against the proposed bill. 

At the town board meeting, members of the board vocalized their frustration and confusion at the passing of the bill at the county level. During public comments, a suggestion was made that the town board of Orangetown should write a letter to the County Legislature to express their bewilderment and disapproval. Members of the Orangetown community spoke during public comments to express their own disapproval for the new bill. The general consensus was that the old county laws guaranteed a level of professionalism and trust that the new stripped down requirements do not  satisfy.

Many members of the public expressed their appreciation for Tom Diviny, the lone voice against the proposed bill in the legislature. A public hearing and vote is going to be scheduled for the next town board meeting on May 5th. Any updates or changes will be posted on the town’s website, https://www.orangetown.com/