MAMAKATING — During Mamakating’s most recent town board, boardmembers approved their preliminary budget.

The public hearing for the budget is scheduled for November 4 at 6 p.m. in town hall.

Copies of the proposed Budget are available for public inspection at the office of the Town Clerk.

Aside from the budget, Councilman Gary Forthoffer, during the last town board meeting, attempted to make a motion to move $20,000 to assist the highway department in paying for parts.

Over the last few meetings, there has been discussion about the parts budget.

Highway Superintendent Rob Hufcut has gone over his parts budget but insists that all repairs were necessary, and “no money was wasted.”

Hufcut claimed that he notified Town Supervisor Janet Lybolt last year that more parts were needed for this year, but she insisted that he stick to his budget.

Lybolt has also said that the highway department has 50 percent of the town’s entire budget, and the town cannot sacrifice all the other departments’ funds.

The town’s seven other departments combined operate on 50 percent of the overall budget, and they are important too, Lybolt has said.

The board voted to move $20,000 from the General Fund to the Highway Fund to cover the debt. Lybolt said this has never been done before and “not a usual transfer.”

Lybolt claimed that moving money around in this way could spark an audit. Hufcut, after the meeting, said he was grateful that Lybolt moved the money, but he had to fight for it and the needs of the town.

He also claimed that other highway departments have 60-70 percent of their town budgets because needs outweigh the wants.

Deputy Supervisor Eileen Rogers also spoke up to clear some misinformation that was spreading about the Mamakating Environmental Education Center (MEEC) mural.

Rogers said that director of the MEEC, Jackie Broder wanted to emphasize that the MEEC contracted mural was 100 percent funded by Orange and Rockland. No taxpayer money will be spent on this mural, Rogers said. In addition, Broder did an extensive search for local artists for the mural, but because it is educational, the work needed to be precise.

Three artists showed interest, and one dropped out, so Kevin O’Neill was chosen, Rogers continued.

O’Neill teaches art at Marywood University, has a Master’s in Fine Arts in design, and a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in illustration, so Broder believes that he is qualified to paint the mural.

Rogers said that any other questions can be directed to Broder at (845) 644-5014.

Power outages
Supervisor Lybolt said that the problem with power outages is still occurring in town. These brief outages, called Trips, are still occurring daily, and Orange and Rockland Utilties Inc. (O&R) is working to pinpoint the problem, Lybolt said. She said that she has been in close contact with the O&R manager, Kelly Rolo, because the work that they have already done has not fixed the problem.

Daphne Hodgson spoke during public comment about the problem. She said the issue is worse than Lybolt described because she lost power four times that Friday and missed an appointment the day before because her power went out in the middle of the night and turned her alarm clock off.

She asked if there was anything she could do to put pressure on O&R. Lybolt replied that Hodgson could call them. Councilman Jim Carney stated that calling was a “waste of time” because the caller will just get a recording.

Lybolt said that Rolo is working on pinpointing the problem, but Hodgson could try the public commission.
Councilman John Lacey also said he has lost power every night for the prior four nights for less than five minutes at a time. He said in the past, he has had to buy a new stove because the circuits burned out due to outages.

Adrienne Jensen stated that there is power in numbers, and she wanted to discuss what could be done with Hodgson after the meeting.

Hufcut told Hodgson after the meeting that he knows O&R is working on it because he sees them working on the poles every day.

Hodgson said that people pay for services, and they are not getting quality service, and as for cable and electric, there are limited options in providers. Even if customers are dissatisfied, they have no choice but to stay with Spectrum and O&R, Hodgson said.

Seniors’ Club
In a bit of positive news, Councilman Lacey announced the growth of the Seniors’ Club at Town Hall. The program has picked up again after a long hiatus due to COVID, and Lacey said membership has grown from 32 members to 98 with expectations of surpassing 100 members soon. The Seniors’ Club is also planning their first trip to Villa Roma on November 3 and other activities.