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Novartis property’s new owner: ‘No plan for housing’

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Novartis Photo/LoHud

“One of the questions concerning the future of the vacant Novartis property is whether a sprawling housing development could spring up on the 162-acre campus.

The village’s mayor and the former pharmaceutical manufacturing plant’s new owner insist that’s not going to happen.

Amy Mele, an attorney for Suffern Partners LLC, which bought the site last week for $30 million, said the company had “absolutely no plan for any housing whatsoever.”

She also emphasized that the entire parcel would remain on the tax rolls. [Read more…]

Spring Valley Tax Insanity

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Steve White

Three Spring Valley trustees have caused a tax catastrophe for the village.
Almost 2,000 taxpayers had a double-digit increase in 2017! Over 700 got a 50% increase in one year, and for 200 unlucky homeowners taxes more than doubled!
How did this happen? Trustees Grossman, Fonvil and McGill abolished the Assessor’s Office, and gave the job to the towns of Ramapo and Clarkstown.
This was done over the objections of village trustee Emilia White.
Last November, The Journal News quoted trustee Emilia White: “I don’t know how anybody in their right mind would think of giving the town of Ramapo the job of assessing the village’s property while the town itself is under investigation for fraud.” [Read more…]

Tax Watch: Spring Valley tax mess gets messier

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Spring Valley homeowner Steve White says the loss of the village’s assessor has led to a shift in the property tax burden from commercial property owners to homeowners. (Photo: David McKay Wilson/The Journal News)

“The property-tax mess that has engulfed Rockland County’s biggest village this summer just got messier.

It’s a mess that involves inaccurate tax bills sent to every Spring Valley property owner, a consolidation of assessor services encouraged by the Cuomo administration that went horribly wrong, and unprecedented tax breaks available to just one part of the village.

It’s a tale of two villages.

Those living in Spring Valley’s Clarkstown section will absorb the full tax impact of increases caused by the consolidation effort, with some seeing their village taxes double or even triple to as much as $4,600. [Read more…]

Brinn named interim Ramapo supervisor

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New Hempstead Mayor Frederick Brinn

At a special meeting of the Ramapo Town Board this evening, New Hempstead Mayor Frederick Brinn was named as the interim Ramapo Town Supervisor, beginning Monday June 26 through December 31, 2017. The vote was 3-0 approving the appointment. Those voting were Yitzy Ullman, Brendel Logan-Charles, and Michael Rossman. Councilman Patrick Withers was absent.

Brinn will begin next Monday, temporarily leaving his position as New Hempstead Mayor.

Michael Castelluccio
Preserve Ramapo

CUPON Chestnut Ridge Meeting Monday June 12

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The monthly meeting of the Chestnut Ridge CUPON will take place Monday, June 12, at 7 pm at 26 Red Schoolhouse Road.

The agenda includes discussions of:
The upcoming ERCSD school budge vote;
Petitions for the Village;
Ongoing construction  and properly licensed contractors performing the construction;
Increasing member and citizen participation in the Village;
and November Elections.

Ramapo dirt pile fallout: Sewer board awards contract to remove soil

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Piles of dirt at Sloatsburg Community Field (Photo: John Meore/The Journal News)

“Contaminated soil left untouched for years in a park and other locations in Ramapo is finally on track to be removed.

The board for the local sewer district awarded a $445,625 contract last week to a New Jersey company to dispose of thousands of cubic yards of soil piled in Sloatsburg’s Community Field and three locations in Hillburn. [Read more…]

Ramapo’s first town board meeting of the new era

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Damaged Children's Park sign

It was supposed to be the first post-St. Lawrence Ramapo Town Board Meeting, but it was more like three meetings than one. Beginning at 7 pm, part one opened with a loaded agenda of 59 items to be discussed in the workshop phase. The hefty backlog was due to not having any meetings since late March. St. Lawrence was a little too preoccupied at the time with questions of his political survival and prison issues to keep to a regular schedule. Then, about an hour later, and after a brief executive session, part two revisited the 59 items, and the board members voted on or tabled each of the decisions. And then, again about an hour later, the public was given its chance to speak in the Public Participation Period. And many did—some expressing hope, some spilling leftover bile, and some presenting specific, concrete propositions as to how the Town should now move forward. [Read more…]

Spring Valley trustee Vilair Fonvil arrested on corruption charges

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Vilair Fonvil with his attorney Ken Gribitz Photo: John Meore/The Journal News

“Spring Valley village Trustee Vilair Fonvil was arrested Tuesday on corruption charges accusing him of running a scheme to pocket money meant to pay for busing village children to camp last summer, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe announced.

Fonvil was charged with four felonies: receiving reward for official misconduct; corrupting the government; grand larceny as a crime of public corruption; and money laundering.

Fonvil, 54, whose address was listed as 23 Devon Drive, West Orange, New Jersey, surrendered Tuesday morning to members of the District Attorney’s Office Special Investigation Unit. [Read more…]

Spring Valley contends with ballooning legal fees

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“The village’s legal fees have skyrocketed in recent years, caused by lawsuits filed by ex-employees and strife on the Board of Trustees, and the village is facing hefty daily fines due to its failure to submit state reports.

In 2014, the village’s legal fees were approximately $155,000, according to village documents. The next year, that number jumped to $233,000.

In 2016, legal fees rose to $323,500. The village has racked up about $404,000 in legal fees so far this fiscal year. [Read more…]

Did Ramapo sidestep bids to get soil cleanup job?

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Piles of dirt at Sloatsburg Community Field (Photo: John Meore/The Journal News)

“The chairman of the local sewer district raised serious questions over how the Town of Ramapo received a lucrative contract to remove contaminated soil for the district.

Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann, who is also the chairman of the sewer district’s board, said Ramapo was never one of the original 11 bidders in 2011 for an $800,000 contract to remove four piles of contaminated soil in Sloatsburg and Hillburn. [Read more…]