Haverstraw village has scheduled a public hearing for a plan to expand a sober house on Hudson Avenue. The facility is operated by Open Arms, an agency that provides residential treatment services for newly recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.

If approved, the state Department of Mental Health would finance the renovation project. Advocates of the project say it’s a good thing for the community because the existing rundown building would be beautified as part of the project.

But a group of residents have been opposing the plan, saying that the expansion would be unfair to Haverstraw village residents because the community already has other drug rehabilitation facilities and group homes.
The hearing will be at 8 p.m. Sept. 21 at Haverstraw Village Hall at 40 New Main Street.

On Veterans Day, Haverstraw town in conjunction with the North Rockland school district will be dedicating the bridge on American Legion Way in Thiells to all the men and women who have served the country.

The dedication ceremony will take place following the Veterans Day service at Calico Hill in West Haverstraw, which will start at 11 a.m. Haverstraw town Supervisor Howard Phillips said the bridge dedication would start at about noon.

The old bridge was condemned in fall 2005 because of structural problems, leaving the North Rockland school district’s Fieldstone Secondary School and Willow Grove Middle School without an emergency route in or out of the facilities.

The bridge is also the primary access for the Hudson Valley Developmental Disabilities Service Office, an agency under the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and the new American Legion Leo Laders Post 130.

The bridge has been open since August.

Call Haverstraw Town Hall at 845-429-2200 for more information about the bridge dedication.

I stopped by Admiral’s Cove Marina in Haverstraw last week to see some happy faces of North Rockland Rowing Club members: The club held a dedication ceremony of the club’s new dock, which would be used by club members, including North Rockland High School crew team.

I met club members for the first time on Aug. 9, 2005. It was my second day on the job with the Journal News, covering north Rockland.

Members spoke before the Stony Point Town Board, lead by former Supervisor A. Douglas Jobson, and asked about status of their proposal to build a boathouse on a town park.

The club was just established by parents of North Rockland High School crew team members to support the high school crew team.

Parents said that having a boathouse was very important to protect the team’s expensive gears. They were hoping to build it in a location near the Hudson so that children can launch their boats safely and conveniently.

Since then, the project took many unfortunate turns. When a new administration took over the Town Board in January 2006, the plan basically went back to stage zero, as Supervisor Phil Marino and Town Board members expressed their concerns on building a permanent structure for a private club on a town property.

Club members repeatedly told the town that the boathouse would be dedicated to the town so that it would be a part of town property. But the town did not buy the club’s argument, and eventually the project died. Meanwhile, the crew team’s boats on a boat rack left outside of the Fieldstone Secondary School — because they didn’t have a boathouse — were vandalized.

The club’s attempt to place a dock in a Stony Point town park did not go through, either.

But after nearly four years, the club finally found a home in Haverstraw village. Though the club still doesn’t have its own boathouse, they have a dock, which cost about $27,000. Jerry Rodriguez of North Rockland Rowing Club said major part of the cost was covered by the state grant procured by state Sen. Thomas Morahan (R-C, New City). A $5,000 grant sponsored by Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun (R-C, Blooming Grove) was also used to finance the cost. Rodriguez said the club was hoping to build a boathouse somewhere near the dock, although he didn’t know where yet. Rodriguez said he was grateful that Haverstraw village Mayor Michael Kohut and Ginsburg Development Companies, owner of the marina, stepped up to the plate to help the club and the high school crew team.

Jobson was one of the dignitaries who attended the dedication ceremony, which I arrived too late to see ribbon cutting.

“Jerry invited me down. I’m glad to see they’ve finally got plenty of space to work out,” Jobson said. “It’s been four years.”

Here’s the newest Rockland podcast.

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Here’s the Week in Review, ladies and gentlemen.

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Strange accidents, education assessments, police indictments AND MORE in this Week in Review. Watch … if you dare.

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9:31 p.m., Thursday, July 24: At this moment, I am on my way to Morristown, N.J., to see my first EVER nephew, born 7:20 p.m., weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Shai Rubin, welcome to Earth!

Oh, and here’s the Week in Review…

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Two more charged with burglary in Haverstraw, bringing total to 4

312 step out for glory

The Haverstraw village board this week told Bruce Kanner, one of the owners of the former Empire State Chair Factory, that the village decided not to adopt a local law limiting the village’s powers under eminent domain.

The chair factory’s 10-acre waterfront property was recently condemned by the village, despite court challenges by the owners.

Kanner has been pushing for the local law to be adopted so that no other property owners would have to go through an ordeal similar to his.

Nationwide, 42 states and some local communities, including Yorktown in Westchester County, have adopted legislation limiting the economic development portion of the eminent domain laws.

There were many major breaking stories out of Rockland this week, check them out on the Week in Review.

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Filing of petitions for the Sept. 9 primary election has started today, and Ricky Sanchez, a Democrat of Haverstraw village, has already filed his petition to run for a village trustee seat, according to the county Board of Election’s Web site.

Two trustee seats are up for re-election on the Haverstraw village board.

Haverstraw village Mayor Michael Kohut said that two incumbents — Trustees Francisco Batista and Emily Dominguez, both Democrats — are going to run for re-election.

Another Democrat, Zahira Serrano-Rodriguez, who unsuccessfully ran for a trustee seat last year, is also seeking to run for a trustee seat.

Petitions for the primary need to be filed by July 10.

Haverstraw town moved forward with switching six police officers’ pension plans so that they can get full benefit after 20 years instead of having to work until they are 62 years old.

It took about 15 years for the officers to notice that their retirement plans were different from what other officers have. And in 2004, the Policemen’s Benevolent Association started negotiating with the town to change those officers’ 35-year retirement plans to the 20-year retirement plan, which would require the town to put a higher contribution.

The town was not forthcoming in the beginning, saying that the town did not make mistakes but those officers did when they applied for their pension plans.

The PBA representatives argued that the town had plenty of time to notice the mistakes but did nothing.

But the town has recently held two special meetings to prepare for the state Legislature to pass the home rule legislation to enroll six police officers in the 20-year retirement plan. The home rule legislation is a necessary step to make the changes.

The bill passed the state Assembly and Senate, though it still needs to be signed by the governor.

Haverstraw Town Board this week appointed West Haverstraw Village Justice John K. Grant to town justice to fill the unexpired term of Thomas Walsh, who was recently appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson to serve as an interim judge of the Rockland County Surrogate Court.

This creates a need for West Haverstraw village to appoint someone to fill Grant’s seat because Grant will have to resign from his village position to become town justice.

West Haverstraw village Mayor John Ramundo said today that the village was reviewing a number of applications for the village justice position.

This type of domino effect is not unusual in Haverstraw town and the two villages in the town.
When Haverstraw town Justice Charles Apotheker won a seat on the County Court in November 2006, Walsh, who was Haverstraw village justice that time and ran against Apotheker on the Democratic primary, succeeded Apotheker’s town seat. To fill Walsh’s vacancy in the village, Ronald Decaprio was appointed to the position.

Grant himself was appointed to the West Haverstraw seat in February 2007 to fill the unexpired term of Tom Zugibe, who stepped down to run for district attorney.

Confused?
I know. It’s hard to keep track of these changes because they happen so quickly.

Its details remain secret because it’s a surprise, but the four town supervisors in Rockland have been meeting twice a week since the beginning of this month to practice their performance — singing and dancing — under the direction of two accomplished Broadway dancers.

“This Sunday night is our big performance,” said Stony Point Supervisor Phil Marino, while we were talking about various town businesses at his office this morning.

Along with Supervisors Howard Philips of Haverstraw, Alexander Gromack of Clarkstown, and Thom Kleiner of Orangetown, Marino will perform to raise funds for United Hospice of Rockland at its 2008 Gala at the Colonial Inn in Norwood, N.J.

Marino said he was excited about being part of the fundraising event because of his experience when his and his wife’s fathers were under the care of hospice.

“I can’t say enough nice things what hospice does. … It’s an honor and blessing,” said Marino, adding that he had some muscle sores on his body as a result of the recent practice.

Marino said the four supervisors and other dancers will practice this Saturday and will have a dress rehearsal Sunday prior to the event.

Connie Grunfeld of United Hospice of Rockland said she wouldn’t reveil the details of the performance, but for those who were interested in watching the show, tickets — $195 — for the gala were still available. But they would have to make a reservation by tomorrow (Friday) by calling her at 845-634-4974, she said. The door will be open at 6 p.m. and the dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m. The supervisors will perform about 8 p.m.

Photo by Vincent DiSalvio / The Journal News/LoHud.com 

The anti-drinking and drug message while driving will  be demonstrated for Fieldstone Secondary School 9th-graders with two mock car crashes on Tuesday at the West Ramapo Road campus.

The volunteer victims will be covered in red – for blood – and trapped inside a crushed car, requiring firefighters to cut open the vehicle. A medical helicopter will land to show how personnel transfer the victims to the hospital. And capping off the lesson will be a Hearst carrying the casket with the victim(s) to the cemetery for burial.

And Fieldstone School Resource Officer Henry Sirakovsky is looking for volunteers, preferably students, to spend time in the casket.

The hour-long simulated crash and responses is to emphasize to students the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol – and an general message  not to drink and use drugs in ny case. Some schools have left a crushed car on the campus as a message.

The mock crash at Fieldstone will be held at 9:50 a.m. and again with a second car at 1:05 p.m. Sirakovsky, who will moderate,  organized the mock crash with school officials and Students Against Destructive Decisions. And the rain date is Thursday.

Haverstraw Village Clerk Emma Velez told me yesterday that she wanted to remind residents that Village Hall at 40 New Main St., has been offering extended business hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. the first and third Mondays every month. The Building Department will be open until 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month.

The village started offering extended hours last month to “make village government more accessible to the people,” said Mayor Michael Kohut.

Velez said residents still didn’t know about the extended hours because not so many people were taking advantage of it.

Call Village Hall at 845-429-0300 for more information.

Haverstraw town announced this week its plan to improve court security, using the grant the town recently received from the state Office of Court Administration.

Towns and villages in the county have been awarded the state grants ranging from $2,000 to $29,000. Haverstraw town got the second highest amount, $24,826.

Haverstraw town Supervisor Howard Phillips said part of the grant, about $5,000, would be used to purchase a walk-through metal detector. The rest of the money will be used to finance reconstruction of the bench.

A judge and a court clerk at Haverstraw town Justice Court are currently sitting at the same level with all other people in the courtroom. County Judge Charles Apotheker, who has served as a Haverstraw town justice for 26 years before being elected to the county position in 2006, said the current bench at the Haverstraw court was in a “strangle distance,” and it needed to be elevated for safety reason.

Achieving court safety will cost the town more than the grant money.

Phillips said the cost for the bench reconstruction project would exceed the money from the grant. Also, to operate the metal detector, the town would have to hire two more part-time court officers. Annual salaries for the two part-time court officers would be between $8,000 and $10,000, he said.

Apotheker said he was suggesting town supervisors and village mayors to consider lobbing state representatives to pass state legislation that would allow local municipalities to add surcharges on top of fines.

“There are many penalty assessments added onto fines, and most of them, I think all of them, kept by the state,” Apotheker said. “They could consider passing a law, statewide, that would provide another penalty assessment that goes back to the towns and villages for them to pay for the cost of security.”

The Stony Point Police Department will hold a  promotions ceremony on Wednesday while the Havestraw Police Department will host its second annual awards ceremony on Monday night.

The Stony Point Police Department promotions ceremony  starts at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Town Hall, 74 E. Main St.

Ed Finn, an officer since 1986, will officially be made detective sergeant in charge of the detective bureau. Dan Hylas, a detective since 2006 who joined the force in 1989 from the NYPD, will become a patrol sergeant.

The department also plans to promote an officer to detective. That decision will be made before the ceremony. The department also will publicly welcome Officer Kurt Mulligan, a lifelong town resident and a volunter firefighter.  Mulligan joined the  force on March 3o from the Mount Vernon Police Department.

At 8 p.m. Monday,  the Haverstraw Police Department will host an awards ceremony in Haverstraw Town Hall, 1 Rosman Road, Garnerville.  Up to 15 officers will be given awards for their efforts during 2007.

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