Tom Rocco and Rebecca Rotzler win Village Board seats
Tom Rocco and Rebecca Rotzler were elected to the two open seats on the New Paltz Village Board tonight, with Rocco securing 335 votes and Rotzler — one of the three write-in candidates — with 252. Former New Paltz School Board president Don Kerr received 180 write-in votes, local business owner Jonathan Cohen — who...
New Paltz Village Board votes to make mayor’s position part-time; West threatens to resign
Routine budget talks in the Village of New Paltz quickly devolved into a heated conversation on April 17, when discussion turned to a potential $13,000 raise for the mayor. Mayor Jason West had proposed to raise the mayor’s salary to $48,000 a year, up from $35,000. Trustees instead voted to roll back their own raises...
New Paltz Village Board candidates unveil their platforms
There are four candidates vying for two positions and a four-year term on the New Paltz Village Board on May 7. Two of the current trustees, Stewart Glenn and Brian Kimbiz, have declined to run for another term, leaving two seats open. The four candidates include former deputy mayor Rebecca Rotzler, former School Board president...
Village of New Paltz seeks to make parking requirements more elastic
The New Paltz Village Board’s proposed amendment to its parking requirements for primarily the business districts raised concern from several residents at last week’s public hearing. The board, with recommendations and input from the village Planning Board, proposes to amend the code to allow the current parking requirements known as Schedule C to be used...
New Paltz’s village building inspector resigns
Kathy Moniz, a longtime Village of New Paltz employee and the current building inspector, has resigned. Village Board members voted last week to accept the building inspector’s resignation. Mayor Jason West, who helped promote Moniz to inspector during his first administration, said that he was voting “with regrets” on the resignation, but noted that she...
Moxie Cupcake move stalled by New Paltz Village Planning Board pending payment of consultants’ fees
Despite enormous support from fellow business-owners, Family of New Paltz and members of the community at last Tuesday night’s Village Planning Board’s Public Hearing on Moxie Cupcake’s application to move to 184 Main Street, the Planning Board shut down any action on the pending application once again. Josie Eriole, owner of Moxie Cupcakes, a fair-trade,...
New Paltz Finance Committee meets with the public to explain consolidation costs savings
The New Paltz Consolidation Finance Committee, which studied a proposed municipal merger in New Paltz, squared off with a handful of critics and concerned citizens on Monday night. It was the first in a series of meetings to explain their somewhat controversial conclusion that New Paltz would have saved $1.62 million if the town and...
Rhoads resigns as deputy mayor
What was slated to be a ho-hum New Paltz Village Board meeting with only one agenda item quickly turned to an all-out attack on mayor Jason West by his four trustees. Following the public comment portion of the meeting, deputy mayor Sally Rhoads read a statement that she was resigning as Mayor West’s deputy mayor,...
New Paltz officials to discuss consolidation vote
Despite the protests of Mayor Jason West, a majority of the New Paltz village and town boards agreed to take one step closer to consolidation. They agreed to officially vote on what shape a merged “townwide village” government would take at their Jan. 24 meeting. “The truth of the matter is, is that the work...
New Paltz could save $1.6M if town, village merge, officials say
The final financial study of a consolidated New Paltz is in, and it seems to spell good things for both the village and town. According to Deputy Mayor Sally Rhoads, that report shows $1.62 million in projected savings if the two municipalities merge. “Obviously, finances are a key ingredient to our determination as a community...
New Paltz supervisor Susan Zimet and Mayor Jason West share their vision for 2013
After her first year back in the Town of New Paltz supervisor’s chair, Susan Zimet has some big hopes for 2013. As many people in town might guess, consolidation is a big goal for her — as is controlling municipal spending. However, in the short term, New Paltzians already have some clues about what’ll appear...
Year in review for the town and village of New Paltz
After a tense election, where incumbent Supervisor Toni Hokanson bowed out of the running in the Democratic caucus won by her former ally Susan Zimet, town government in New Paltz began 2012 with three new faces and a chance for a fresh start. Newly re-elected Zimet — who’d previously served as supervisor from 1996 to...