TIMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Vol. 34, No 6 3 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
Living
museum
Page 20
3
ONE DOLLAR
Miss Teen Puerto
Rico is from
Walker Valley
Page 26
www.WallkillValleyTimes.net
Valley Central ponders aid loss
By JANE ANDERSON
All but one of the delayed reports that contributed
to a loss of $929,000 in state aid have been submitted to
the state, but the anticipated penalty has yet to be determined, according to Valley Central’s business chief.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Lisa Raymond
told the Board of Education on Monday that only one
Happiness
is a warm
puppy
report was awaiting signatures by Board President Brad
Conklin and Interim Superintendent John Xanthis. She
said a litigation determination between Valley Central
and an insurance company needs to be finalized before
that happened, and that the report will be submitted as
soon as it is signed. The litigation resulted from a contractor going out of business.
Six final cost reports, for a capital project that was
done between 2008 and 2011, were not submitted on time.
In addition, Valley Central won’t be getting as much aid
for privately placed special-education students as anticipated, because the district had overestimated the number
of students who would be placed. As a result, the district
will not receive a total of $969,000 in state aid that was
Continued on page 37
Reptile Habitat
FedEx project
approved in
Montgomery
By RACHEL COLEMAN
Shawangunk needs to
fortify animal shelter
for cold weather
By TED REMSNYDER
The winter months can be an arduous
time for local residents who have to deal
with treacherous road conditions and
frigid nights, but man’s best friend also
has to contend with the harsh weather.
Dogs who aren’t lucky enough to have
a home are particularly vulnerable this
time of year. At the Town of Shawangunk
Board Meeting last Thursday at Town
Continued on page 4
Photo provided
East Coldenham Elementary School was recently transformed into a tropical reptile habitat
thanks to the EC PTA. Families were treated to a presentation from Rusty Johnson, star of
the Travel Channel’s show, Hotel Amazon, and got up close and personal with some scaly
friends. More photos on page 36.
A massive FedEx Ground facility was
approved by the Town of Montgomery
Planning Board on Monday.
As snow quietly fell outside, it was
nearly as quiet inside the sparsely attended planning board meeting, as the board
voted unanimously in favor of the multimillion dollar project.
The facility is more than 248,000 square
feet in size and includes 63 loading docks,
all perched on less than 44 acres on
Neelytown Road, alongside the existing
FedEx Freight facility.
The proposal had previously drawn the
attention of the Hudson Valley branch
of the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers, IBEW 363. During the
public hearings, members of the union
flooded the meeting room beyond capacity as they asked FedEx to employ local
labor during construction.
On Monday, as the Planning Board
reviewed its decision to make a negative
declaration as to SEQRA and grant the
Continued on page 5
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL