Dear Friends:

Recently, the Village of Ellenville decided to purchase the five-story building on Canal Street, now owned by Provident Bank, formerly the corporate headquarters of Ellenville National Bank. The Village invited the Town to consider sharing this building with them for the Town offices. A proposal came before the Town Board to conduct a study of this proposal, at a cost of $10,000.

On July 20, the Town Board voted not to expend that money, which means the Town is not at present considering any such move. I voted against it myself and urged my fellow Councilpersons to do likewise.

I would like to explain why I took this position.

First of all, I want to emphasize that the Town is not “against” the Village, or trying to avoid cooperation with the Village where that is feasible. We work closely with Village government on many projects and maintain amicable relationships with Mayor Jeff Kaplan, Village Manager Elliott Auerbach and other Village officials.

At the same time, everyone needs to recognize that the Town and Village have different areas of responsibility and different priorities. For various reasons, moving the Village Hall is a top priority item for Village government. They have to move, and as soon as possible. However, the Town has satisfactory offices at 108 Canal Street, so moving our offices is a very low priority item for us.

Like any business, the Town has limited resources, that is, people and money. We have one Town Supervisor, four part-time Councilpersons most working fulltime jobs and the Town employees. Our revenue comes from taxes and one of our main goals is to avoid tax increases or keep them small.

Our resources, that is, our time and money, are already stretched to deal with the many pressing issues that confront us. At the end of this letter you will find a list of current and future-oriented projects and problems that the Town Council and I are working on. And remember, this list is in addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Town and its employees.

As far as money is concerned, a move to the Provident site would involve the following expenses, at a minimum:

1. The feasibility study

2. Purchase price of the property, shared with the Village

3. Financing costs on loan or bond for purchase price

4. Renovations to the Town portion of the building (architects, designers, contractors)

5. Moving expenses; cost of employee time diverted from other tasks during move

6. Sale of the present Town Hall. (Although this would probably offset most or all of #2, it would take time. Also, any real estate transfer involves expenses: the real estate broker fee, attorney’s fee, filing fees, etc.) The present Village Hall would also be for sale during the same period, creating competition and adding to the difficulty of finding a buyer.

When I took a hard look at the time, effort, and money that it would take to do it right, I had to conclude that now is not the time for the Town to consider moving the Town offices to the Provident Bank building.

Sincerely,
James V. Dolaway, Supervisor
Town of Wawarsing