Good news, bad news at the village meeting

MILLBROOK — The public portion of the Millbrook Village Board meeting on Dec. 15 contained good news for village and town residents on the reliability of electrical power. Representatives from Central Hudson reported for 45 minutes on upgrades to the system.

Electrical power has been upgraded to three phases, additional feeds have been added from the Shunpike and along Route 42/82 and all lines are running along the roads to be more accessible. Much of the work was done over the summer in conjunction with tree trimming along the roads and the result should be fewer electrical outages.

VRI reported that as part of the shared services grant, upgraded comprehensive management software will allow the village to monitor all aspects of its underground infrastructure, including pipes, valves, maintenance, etc. Mayor Laura Hurley commented that this information could be used for planning future enhancements to the system.  

An audit of the village annual report for 2009-10 and the court operations was very positive, according to those present. Hurley encouraged the Village Board to reflect on the town of Washington’s current draft vision statement, which included references to the village of Millbrook. She asked the trustees to be prepared to discuss how to work with the town on comprehensive planning at the village’s annual organizational meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 5.

The executive session, held after the public meeting adjourned, centered on negotiations with the Colomello family, whose home is adjacent to Village Hall and was impacted by an oil spill. Subsequent remediation activities have been unsuccessful and the village is being sued in two actions.

Represented by Alan Rappleyea, the Colomellos are seeking minimum damages of $700,000. The village is continuing negotiations with Al DeBonis, whose house sits next to the Colomellos’, regarding a settlement.

The saga of the Thorne Building continues as well. Under dispute now is the original lease signed between Michael and Erica Downing and the village. The original lease was to have been modified to reflect the village turning over all renovation responsibilities to the Downings; however, the Downings could not produce evidence of funding to complete the project and lease negotiations broke down.

The current position of the village is that the Downings are not in compliance with the original lease and that it is now null and void. The Downings, also represented by Rappleyea, dispute this and maintain that the first lease is still valid.

“We wanted them to be successful, but they just don’t have the funding to see it through,� Hurley commented.

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