Mayor floats overriding state-mandated tax cap
The Nelsonville Village Board on Monday (March 17) approved a $370,000 tentative budget for 2025-26, with Mayor Chris Winward saying she may recommend a vote to exceed the tax cap.
In the proposed budget, spending would rise by 2.94 percent and the tax levy, at $319,130, would increase by $8,600 over 2024-25. That increase represents the maximum 2.77 percent jump that Nelsonville is allowed under the state’s tax cap. By a majority vote, the five-member board can exceed the 2.77 percent.
The village may see increased revenue from higher permit fees approved in December and electricity savings. But fees for the village attorney, Keane & Beane, will rise by 20 percent, to $15,000.
The village has already exceeded its $12,500 budget line for legal services for 2024-25, in part because of a fourth lawsuit filed by a resident seeking to overturn the construction of a home on a property he contends was designated for a park.
Winward said she proposed to Keane & Beane that it agree to a flat fee rather than hourly billing, but “there are concerns that we’re a little too volatile” right now. “They’re going to think it over. It would have to be capped at the hours to make it beneficial to them,” she said.
Nelsonville also has exceeded its $25,000 budget for insurance for its buildings (including the building it leases to Putnam County for a sheriff station) and to protect its elected and appointed officials. The tentative budget increases insurance spending by 13.6 percent, to $28,411.
The proposed budget also includes a 9.42 percent increase for employee benefits and 3 percent raises for court and village clerks and 2.55 percent for the deputy village clerk. “While I squeezed every penny we could out of this budget to have a balanced budget, I squeezed more than I would have liked,” said Winward.
The board will hold a public hearing on April 9 and expects to vote on a final spending plan on April 21.
Village election
Residents cast ballots on Tuesday (March 18) for two trustees who ran unopposed. Maria Zhynovitch (53 votes) was elected to a third, 2-year term and Alan Potts (62) won the seat vacated by Travis Biro. Their terms begin April 1.
Potts served on the board from 2017 to 2019 and ran for a seat in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The other members are Winward, David Moroney and Douglas Anderson. Board members thanked Biro during their Monday meeting.
Healy Road repairs
After considering five proposals, the board accepted the low bid of $414,205 from Sun Up Construction Corp. of Wappingers Falls to repair Healy Road, which was damaged by flooding in the July 2023 storms. Sun Up will widen the road, repatch and crown a section and install catch basins, a drainage pipe, curbs and swales.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover 75 percent of the costs and the state will contribute 12.5 percent, leaving 12.5 percent for the village.
ATVs in the woods
Over the past week, residents have called the Sheriff’s Department to report ATV riders plowing through the Nelsonville Woods, ignoring signs prohibiting motorized vehicles.
Winward said she has contacted state parks staff, alerted local law enforcement and called Haldane because there is evidence riders have driven ATVs on James Pond, which is owned by the school district.
“It’s extremely unsafe for the riders, it’s extremely unsafe for our folks who are walking the trails, it’s terrible to break up the trails and it’s hurting our habitat for animals,” said Winward. “Obviously, this needs to stop.”
Community solar
The trustees reapproved a 21-year agreement with RWE Clean Energy Solutions Inc. for community solar that will save the village 10 percent on electricity at municipal buildings and $400 annually on streetlights. The trustees approved an agreement in November but the village attorney requested changes.
