The Newburgh Town Board has asked Town Attorney Mark Taylor to look into a Central Hudson Gas & Electric rate increase that reportedly takes effect before it has been approved by the New York State Public Service Commission.

“That’s a little sneaky,” Deputy Supervisor George Woolsey said this past Wednesday after pointing out that Central Hudson had run a full page legal notice on page 72 of the July 14, 2010, edition of the Times Herald-Record.

In the legal notice, Central Hudson announces a series of changes that it filed to its electric and gas rate schedules on June 30, 2010.

“The revisions implement rate changes which will be phased in over three years, the first of which become effective July 1, 2010 on a temporary basis, subject to review and approval by the New York State Public Service Commission.”

Newburgh Town Supervisor Wayne Booth and members of the Town Board expressed surprise that Central Hudson could institute a retroactive rate increase before the Public Service Commission had had time to act on the application.

“I just don’t know the legality of them doing that without the approval of the Public Service Commission,” Booth said Tuesday afternoon.

In other town business, the Town Board authorized the expenditure of $9,975 for the installation of a one-camera security system for use at its Chadwick Lake park facility. The winning bidder is CDR Electronics Co.

The auto-tracking Bosch digital IP camera will be mounted on a pole at the park, providing 360-degree photos of the park. The images will be visible in the Chadwick Lake gatehouse as well as the dispatch room at Town Police Headquarters.

Purchase of the security system was particularly timely. There had been a break-in at Chadwick Lake the prior weekend, during which locks were broken and soda machines vandalized.

The Town Board also heard that the town’s summer camps couldn’t be any more successful. Parks Supervisor Robert Petrillo reported that summer camps are 100 percent full and there are waiting lists for all dates.

“People have been telling me that we have the cheapest camps around,” said Deputy Town Supervisor Woolsey.

In other action, the board:

Reluctantly accepted the fact that it will have to pay $4,705.98 for updating its General Codes. This is an unfundated mandate from the county that it has had to bear for the past three years;

Agreed to sign a contract with Orange County to participate in a Department of Emergency Services Automatic Vehicle Dispatch System. The devices, which will be installed in every police vehicle, show where each vehicle is at any given time. The system is funded by the county;

Reappointed Joseph Lecaroz to the Assessors Board of Review. Mr. Lecaroz, a retired teacher at Fostertown School, has been a member of the Assessors board since 1988;

Appointed Justin O’Keefe as a Water Department maintenance worker to replace a worker who passed away. As a Grade 15 maintenance worker, O’Keefe will earn $17.82 an hour;

Approved the expenditure of $2,220 for software for a recently purchased Dell computer. Inadvertently, the software costs had not been included in an earlier board action. The board also approved $85.58 for installation of the software by the town’s computer contractor, Fred Lewis;

Approved an expenditure not to exceed $3,600 for an air conditioner recycler for town vehicles;

Authorized the town Highway Department to seek offers for non-essential large-diameter logs the town has ended up with following the severe February storm. The town will seek to sell the logs to the highest bidder;

Is considering a final amendment to the zoning law that will more clearly delineate what constitutes “front yards” that face I-87 or I-84;

Transferred $3,500 to the Building and Grounds budget line to pay for a steel-frame door between the Courts and the Water Department and then voted to buy the door from Mike’s Doors.

By ALLAN GAUL
agaul@tcnewspapers.com