MONTICELLO – In a resolution introduced by Chair of the Legislature, District 2 Legislator Nadia Rajsz, David Schneyer was appointed to the Sunset Lake Local Development Corporation (LDC) during the full board meeting on Thursday, January 25 by a unanimous 8-0 vote. 

District 5 Legislator Cat Scott abstained from the vote due to being on the board of the LDC. Sunset Lake is currently the management company that oversees the Adult Care Center in Liberty. 

This appointment was needed because of two vacancies on the Sunset Lake LDC board, left by the resignations of Chair Lowell Feldman and Vice Chair Bill Chellis. A resolution had originally been brought forward to the Executive Committee, in which both vacancies would be filled and to be held for a period of three years by Scheyer and Town of Callicoon resident Lou Setran. However, this resolution was tabled during Executive Committee, before Rajsz introduced the new resolution via a handout to fill one of the vacancies by Schneyer during the full board. 

The reason that both vacancies were not filled at this time is that, according to Schneyer, there is a conflict of interest being worked out with Setran, as he currently has a resident involved at Sunset Lake. Schneyer said that if it is determined that Setran cannot serve on the board due to a conflict of interest, they will hopefully find a fifth person to fill the spot. A resolution was passed by the Legislature in 2020 to increase the number of Board Members on the LDC from three to five members. 

Schneyer has a long background in healthcare, as he worked for Crystal Run Village, Inc. for 43 years, where he worked at their Fallsburg campus which had 182 beds, and other facilities such as Middletown which had 95 beds. In addition, he has also been a firefighter with the Fallsburg Fire Company and is currently an ambulance member with Fallsburg Ambulance. He also spoke about being involved with the pilot program that brought defibrillators to the county. 

“I am bringing my knowledge of how we ran our facility [at Crystal Run] to Sunset Lake,” Schneyer said. 

Schneyer told the Democrat that after he retired from Crystal Run, he got bored of it and started working as a casino dealer at Resorts World Catskills in Monticello when they opened in 2018, where he still works now. He said that the benefits there are great, and he is thinking of moving to part-time within the year. 

“I like to stay active and involved in the community,” he said. “I was also the President of Daniel Pierce Library [in Grahamsville] and am now the Vice President there.”

Sunset Lake LDC is not going to be involved with the day-to-day operations of the Care Center, but Schneyer said that they will deal with the management and operations of the grounds while making sure that everything is up to par. 

“The Legislature has to decide if they want it to continue to be privately run or move back into the hands of the County to run,” Schneyer said. “From what I understand, it would be a major tax increase for every resident of the county if the county runs it. Some legislators want it county-run, while others want it private. That’s what they have to decide.”

Sunset Lake LDC holds

first meeting of 2024

Following the full board meeting of the Legislature, the Sunset Lake LDC then held its first meeting with its new board. The LDC board is currently made up of County Coroner Albee Bockman, Elwin Wood, Scott and Schneyer as they await either Setran’s conflict of interest issue to clear up, or another fifth person to be appointed.  

“I have known Albee [Bockman] for over 40 years as we both worked in ambulance corps,” Schneyer said. “So it’s good to bring that relationship to this board.” 

The meeting began with nominations for Chair and Vice Chair of the board. Bockman nominated Wood for chair, which passed unanimously. Bockman then made the motion to nominate Schneyer to Vice Chair, which also passed unanimously. 

The LDC Board also decided on their meeting dates for this year - the third Thursday of every month at 1 p.m. which will be following the full board Legislative meetings.