Next session to start with Spectrum hearing
The Village’s Board’s Monday, March 18 meeting will start with a public hearing on a 10-year contract with Spectrum (Charter Communications). The contract allows Spectrum to operate here but is not an exclusive contract, Attorney Alyse Terhune confirmed at the meeting. It was also noted that Spectrum pays annual franchise fees of five percent to the village.
The hearing is at 7 p.m.
Spectrum came up at another point of the meeting, too, when it was asked if the equipment to televise board meetings was part of the contract. It is not — that is part of the Town of Highlands contract with the utility.
The village, like the town, is currently exploring streaming board meetings — it’s unclear if they will still be broadcasting them live if that happens.
In another matter from the meeting, both Mayor Joe D’Onofrio and Trustee Jim Ramus reported on a recent meeting on Mountain and Mearns Avenues regarding drainage. The session was with NYS DOT officials, and both Ramus and D’Onofrio expressed that they believe they have finally been able to see the problems that drainage coming off Rt. 9W is causing.
Also from the meeting:
— The resignation of full-time dispatcher Cariann Pettit was accepted with regret, as of February 14. A part-time dispatcher, Anastacia Krieger, was hired.
— The board okayed Mayor Joe D’Onofrio signing a DPW contract with the ‘Supervisors Association’. The contract covers just one person.
— A donation of $500 for the Highlands United Youth’s Family Fun Day was approved — the money comes from a fund endowed by donations to the village by the firm which collects donated clothing at Walgreens.
— Bills and claims in the amount of $288,616 were paid, including $6904 in legal fees, $66,000 to the firm which manages the village’s Section 8 Housing Program; and $5850 to the firm that manages the village’s money.
— The organizers of last weekend’s St. Patrick’s Parade — George Fallon, Peter Carroll, Maria Pelella and Jeannette Scott — were thanked for their hard work.
— D’Onofrio reported that another $500+ monthly check had been received as reimbursement for electric car charging in the municipal parking lot across from Sacred Heart Church.
— Quite a few events on village property were approved, including an American Water cleaning of Highland Brook as part of Riversweep on Wednesday, May 1; the town’s annual Easter Egg Hunt at Roe Park on Saturday, March 23; Little League play on the big field at Roe Park from April 1-June 30 (due to flood damage at the Little League field); the Sanitation Department’s annual E-Waste collection event in the municipal parking lot on Saturday, April 20; Highlands United Youth’s Family Fun Day in and around Roe Park on Saturday, June 1; and the Juneteenth parade and celebration on Main St. and at Memorial Park on Saturday, June 15.
