Anonymous said...
What?The only annexation petition filed was regarding the Nepera property and the entire Village Board opposed it.Confused
5:18 PM, February 05, 2009
From The Photo News
May 12, 2005
‘A gesture of good neighborship'
By Bob Quinn
WOODBURY-The Kiryas Joel Alliance announced this week it has withdrawn its petition to annex 87 acres from the Town of Woodbury into the Village of Kiryas Joel "as a gesture of good faith in its desire for improved relations and neighborliness with the surrounding communities."
Pinkus Jakobowitz, speaking on behalf of the alliance at a press conference with town of Woodbury officials and members of SOCA at Work, acknowledged that the sole motive behind the annexation bid was "to help alleviate the great hardship experienced by large middle income families in their quest for affordable housing.
"However, after listening to the concerns of our neighbors during various discussions with leaders of the Town of Woodbury and SOCA-at-Work for the past two months, and after evaluating the current situation as a whole, we have concluded that for the sake of promoting good neighborly relations we are withdrawing this petition for annexation," he added.
The timing of the Tuesday's announcement, noted Woodbury Supervisor Sheila Conroy, was important because on Wednesday, the state Department of Environmental Conservation was to rule on which municipality - the town of Woodbury or the village of Kiryas Joel - would be the lead agency to oversee environmental reviews.
Conroy, like Jakobowitz and Jonathan Swiller from SOCA at Work, acknowledged the spirit of cooperation among the parties. And although the details remain to be worked out, she and Town Councilwoman Lorraine McNeill also discussed the creation of a community panel to continue discussions between the groups.
That collegiality has not always been evident in such discussion.SOCA is non-profit organization comprised of members who are concerned about the potential growth in southern Orange County and committed to fighting the proposed "KJ Pipeline" as well as any future proposals to annex Monroe and Woodbury property into the Village of Kiryas Joel, according to its Web site.
"We can prevent annexation. We can prevent the creation of new villages. But we can only do so if the panic selling stops," the group says on the Web.But on Tuesday afternoon, at the backyard press conference in Woodbury, Swiller also struck a conciliatory tone with the Alliance.
"When the KJA saw that our objection to annexation was based on real concerns, and not blind resistance, they reconsidered the idea of annexation and told us that it was outweighed by their wish to have constructive relationships with their neighbors," he said. "They then offered to drop their annexation plan. This was done unilaterally and was not part of any quid pro quo. And we are profoundly grateful to the Kiryas Joel Alliance who put neighborliness first, and proved that their words were matched by their actions. We view this event as merely the start of an interaction based on mutual respect, openness and fairness on all sides."
Then he and Jakobowitz shook hands.
The issue of growth in Kiryas Joel remains, however. According to a report in the Times Herald-Record, the alliance has not withdrawn the second annexation petition it filed in August n to annex 97 acres of Monroe into Kiryas Joel.
http://strausnews.com/articles/2005/05/18/photo_news/news/1.txt
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41 comments:
Press release written by and submitted by Johnathan Swiller.
I believe the poster was referring to annexation attempts brought before the Village of Woodbury, not the Town.
Given the meticulous manner by which the Village Board has conducted business on behalf of the residents, I believe we may all rest assured that any future annexation attempts would be fought against as well.
Let's hope that the village board fights annexation better than they did with the illegally built water towers.
God help us if they cave in to annexation like they did with the towers!
Let's hope that people like the last poster do their homework a bit better and stop ingoring the the facts!
Fact: the TOWN Board dropped the ball.
Fact: the TOWN Board could have stopped the project early on. Fact: The Village Board negotiated the best possible resolution to the "goose egg" that the TOWN Board dropped on them.
And if you don't want to believe FACT, then try doing your own research....you know, that's when you try to take an EDUCATED, UNBIASED look into things...something that you probably don't know how to do, or simply choose not to do.
Wait a second i thought there were going to be no annexations this village was going to protect us from our neighbors. I thought if there were annexations that the two boards would be a godsend since they would vote together and stand together to stop annexation. Do you mean that was a lie?
To poster #2 -
Thank you. That was my point exactly. While I commend the efforts of Sheila and Lorraine, the Village of Woodbury wasn't even contemplated in 2005 much less incorporated. Therefore, the annexation threat had nothing to do with the non-existent Village of Woodbury.
I also concur with your other thoughts.
To the poster who offered misleading comments - in the future please be more clear!
??????
Wait a minute, what do you mean the town board dropped the ball with the water towers? Didn't it say in the paper that the building inspector didn't know about the towers until they were partially built? And isn't that the same building inspector who was the TOWN building inspector?
Sounds like the village board is trying to make up for their bad judgement by blaming the town. Even IF the town dropped the ball, does that still make it ok for the village board to handle it the way they did? To let them continue to build the towers illegally was just wrong and we want someone who will stand up for our community, not give in to pressure.
What are the other candidates like?
What the hell are you people talking about!
plaguey!!!!
To the 4:43 2/7/09 poster- before you start posting things you obviously have no knowledge of, why don't you FOIL the Town and Village files on the water towers and see exactly what transpired- THEN you can post your apology!
How about that Meyers letter to the Photo News...is he a Ralph disciple or what? Just like Ralph's people to bring up old ideas and try to state them like it's something new! First of all, Mr Meyers needs to understand how the county shares sales tax before making it seem like there is such an easy fix. (Here's a hint Mr. Meyers, talk with Diana and the 3 cities first!) Secondly, how long has the idea been floated for a new Thruway exit/entrance between Harriman and Newburgh? Calhoun has been trying to get that for years, to no avail. (Again Mr. Meyers, perhaps you need to get involved with the Traffic Task Force committee and the plans for the interchange so you don't look quite so stupid!)
I guess Ralph will just keep pushing the nonsense with the hope that someone will listen. Sadly, instead of offering anything new in the form of a remedy or solution, he just keeps preaching the same, tired old bull!
Dear 10:44 poster
I know what I am talking about, the village board signed a contract with the village of KJ AFTER KJ put up the water towers, instead of getting them to take the illegal towers down!!! That's what I am talking about. They were wimps and we need someone to stand up for Woodbury, not sign a contract that lets Woodury pick the color of the towers, wow, what control!!!!
We're all doomed!!!
To:"I know what I am talking about, the village board signed a contract with the village of KJ AFTER KJ put up the water towers, instead of getting them to take the illegal towers down!!! That's what I am talking about. They were wimps and we need someone to stand up for Woodbury, not sign a contract that lets Woodury pick the color of the towers, wow, what control!!!!"
Please let me know the name(s) of the lawyer(s) that you discussed the situation with and what they told you. Ever heard of spitting in the wind???Trying to fight KJ on that particular topic would have cost us taxpayers hundreds of thousands, they would have continued with their construction ANYWAY, and we would have lost! Again, had the TOWN BOARD followed up, the construction NEVER would have started! Instead, they let the horse out of the barn and expected the Village Board to go find it months later!
Did you read the contract? It's more than just the color of the towers moron. Sounds like you've been listening to a certain twit...
You keep blaming the town board but have never exactly stated how they screwed up. A previous poster made the point about the building inspector but you seem to not pay attention to that.
Often people have to rely on name calling when they cant make a point.
and you don't have to talk to a lawyer to have an opinion, unless off course you're on the village board.
A plethora of idiots!!!
We are all doomed!!!!!!!
Look, its simple. The current mayor and her pals ran on the community Party line with the promise of not changing alot of things and keeping taxes low. they have not done either so it is time to get the current mayor and her team OUT!!! She is probably a very nice person but she is not qualified to lead our community. And Lord knows we need someone to lead Woodbury because the Burke man is not doing it either.
Ah, dear Chelmic Woodbury, when it comes to wisdom we suffer a plethora of dearth.
Vote the bums out!
To: "You keep blaming the town board but have never exactly stated how they screwed up." It was stated several times- Big Bad John writes a letter to the admin of KJ and threatens them NOT to build those towers, and then simply forgets about it!!! THAT IS HOW THEY SCREWED UP!!!!
To: "The current mayor and her pals ran on the community Party line with the promise of not changing alot of things and keeping taxes low. they have not done either so it is time to get the current mayor and her team OUT!!!" Please, in your infinite wisdom, what did they change, and just how low do you expect your taxes to be? Really, please answer so that we know you're not just blowing smoke.
Hey Nauga who are you? Or do you have something to hide?
Hahahahaha
My identity was stolen.
Now I don't know who I am.
Mike Q is laying low. He must be planning something really ... We all know he sells REAL ESTATE!! Oh, he must be planning the next set of ZONING changes for the developers. Watch your property value?
Mayors have some executive power, but all votes go before the board.
Queenan is in real-estate (he helps people buy or sell their homes) but he has nothing to do with developers.
All real estate people are evil so when you go to sell your home, don't use one!
Ok 9:33 poster, you kept saying "the Town Board" and now you are saying John Burke. So, what is it?
And as far as the current village board, just look at your tax bill.
And maybe, Robin, you should take a pill.
Ok dip, the Town Board approved of Burke writing the letter, and knew that it was sent- why didn't anyone, someone question it any further.
And are you saying you don't want any tax for the Village? You don't want the Village? What the hell are you saying? Why not question why the Town taxes haven't been GREATLY reduced in that they have lost about 65-70% of their employees? As the Village takes on more responsiblity (again, per the LAW)then why doesn't the Town costs get reduced?
Your arguments just don't make sense...
You're funny! The arguments may not make sense to you so you say they are wrong. How dare anyone disagree with you!
Lets try this again.
The point is, whether or not John did not follow up his letter, despite that, the village board did not do the right thing by entering into an agreement with KJ regarding the water towers! Now KJ knows that all they have to do to get what they want is to go ahead and just do it and the village will just sign an agreement after they do it.
and as far as taxes, again you are trying to blame the town because your village isnt perfect. Since you are so smart, exactly how many employees does the village have and how many does the town have? Don't just throw out percentages which can be used any way you want.
And is that the real reason for the high taxes or is it the EXCESSIVE use of the attorney and other consultants that is the reason for the high taxes?
Since you are so smart you can tell us exactly how much was spent on Rick Golden and why.
And dont forget that pill.
No sense in pointing out fact to you, as it's clear you don't subscribe to that. We can argue until the cows come home, and still disagree. But since you are apparently so very smart, how much does the Town spend on Rich Liberth? And why is the Town Board, including Mr. Queenan, still taking salary increases? Why aren't they freezing their own salaries, or better yet taking cuts to reduce taxes? And when is Mr. Burke going to bargain in good faith for the salaries of the Town employees??(I'd say your use of the word "excessive" would be better if applied to that board!!)And since you seem to be such an expert when it comes to law and engineering, why don't you (assuming you're not already) run for office as a dictator, and then you could run the whole damn Village yourself!?!?!? You seem to have ALL the answers pal, the WRONG answers, but answers just the same!
You really are very funny. Blame the town! blame the town! blame the town! Your diversions will not work.
And for the record Rich LiBerth does not get as much as Rick Golden. Nah nah nah nah!!!! Pal!
Funny
No diversion- just FACT. BTW, did you FOIL their W-2s???
Show Me Numbers & time spent!!! By Rick Goldon vs Rich Liberth. Just numbers, no long stories.
From the approved budgets:
Town Attorney = $150,000
Village Attorney = $115,000
nice try, now get the actual hours BILLED, you can get that by going through the vouchers.
Presenting Part of the truth is just not being truthful.
Liars all!!
So, are they getting more or less than stated by the above poster?
What advice are the attorney's giving?
An attorney is needed at times when a board wants to confirm legal ramifications to protect the residents of Woodbury.
Necessary legal advice is acceptable.
Is the cost of the the Village attorney due to walking the Village Board thru yet another issue of many they don't understand or don't have the time to do the work themselves?
You "wannabe" lawyers who continually post about how much the Village board depends on their attorney should ALL run for office (or perhaps you already are)since YOU seem to think you know so much about legal procedure. The Village itself was unique in it's creation, and thus required/requires alot of legal interpretation.
Most people that step up to the plate to run for public office must attend a classes upon being elected to get even a taste of how things work. Hell, if KNOWING everything about municipal legal procedure was a prerequisite for running for office, maybe .0001 percent of the population would be eligible. Lets see, how many people running right now have attended Town/Village board meetings on a regular basis, enough to have any idea of how things work?? Do you think any one of them will choose to make a legal, binding decision without advice or input from a qualified source, most likely the Village attorney? If so, then they will be jeopardizing the rest of the board and the taxpayers with their actions, and certainly DO NOT deserve to be elected if they are going into it thinking they KNOW IT ALL.
Frankly, it continues to be a learning experience for all those involved. From what I've seen, Mr. Golden presents the board with their LEGAL options, and then they make their own decision. What is so wrong about UNDERSTANDING your options from a LEGAL standpoint BEFORE making a decision that effects a large population? Those complaining about Mr. Golden appear to subscribe to the method of "let's just do it and see if we can get away with it"...a much too costly, self-serving and dangerous ideology if you ask me!
No one disputes that a board should seek LEGAL ADVICE from their attorney. But comparing how our village uses their attorney to how other VILLAGES use their attorney, then you will see where the problem is.
And don't forget to compare the costs.....
The Town attorney at every work session and every board meeting and often has no input unless it is behind a closed door. Is he being paid the same if he does nothing or only when he does someting? For one, I want something for my money!
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