• Room 407 of the Ellenville Central High School was filled on Monday night as local residents came to hear what each of the village board members had to say regarding the issue of the Napanoch Valley Mall's sale to Wal-Mart.

  Trustee Steve Krulick, a regular contributor to this publication, began the discussion stating his concerns that a Wal-Mart in the neighboring hamlet of Napanoch could have a "considerable negative impact" on the economic health of the village's businesses.

  Trustee Efraim Lopez was very much in favor, claiming that with the loss of Schrade and Burger King, the area needed a new source of jobs as well as a place that could employ a number of the area's young people.

  Deputy Mayor Ray Younger conceded that there were a lot of unknowns involved with the project and cautioned those for and against Wal-Mart to "not act from fear."

  Mayor Jeffrey Kaplan, who represents the mall's owner in the proposed sale, offered an explanation as to how Joe Tso, the mall's owner, came to own the mall and gave his three reasons as to why Wal-Mart was a good idea for the area. First, the current structure is an eyesore and presents first time visitors with a bad first impression. Second, Mayor Kaplan believes that current Ellenville businesses will not be compromised due to Wal-Mart's presence due to the nature of goods they offer. Third, a Wal-Mart would satisfy the needs of the community, particularly the elderly due to the fact that there is, as the mayor said, "nowhere to shop in the village."

  Trustee Teresa Hyatt did not attend the meeting.

  When asked if any of the board members had done any research to support their claims, all of the board members with the exception of Mr. Krulick, said they had not.

  After the trustee comment period, the floor was opened to the audience.

  Irene Morosky said, "We need a store here but we do not need a superstore." She also cautioned that the idea that a Wal-Mart would create jobs is unrealistic and she cited the arrival of ShopRite and the closing of Great American and Grand Union as proof that new large stores cannibalize the workforces of their competition rather than offering new jobs.

  A letter from Joan Kerovpyan, owner of the Image clothing store, was read which asked that a, "Think local, shop local", campaign be funded by the village and that the municipality consider hiring a marketing strategist.

  Joe Logan was in favor of the Wal-Mart on the basis of employing young people and offering local consumers more choices and cheap prices.

  Dick Peters of Peters Market prefaced his comments by saying, "This is a very personal thing for me and my family." Mr. Peters went on to offer several demographic figures that he felt were cause for alarm for small businesses in the area. Mr. Peters made it very clear that he was not interested in personal concern for him or his business saying, "I don't want any 'Poor Dick Peters'. I will do what I have to do to survive." He ended his remarks by telling the board members, "You board members should know all of the consequences – statistics, case studies – your voice is important. You need to know the facts."

  Levi Hecht, a real estate developer in the area, felt that Wal-Mart would be a benefit to the area because its quality of products and service were no match for local merchants.

  Towards the end of the comment period Pat Peters asked the board to vote on a resolution to ask the Town of Wawarsing to adopt a moratorium to allow concerned citizens to educate themselves as to any potential benefits or problems a Wal-Mart Superstore would have on the area.

  The board agreed to have a vote on the resolution at a later meeting.

• Village Clerk Ann Bowler, after having toured the village's proposed building, raised concerns that the village's current plan to occupy the building's basement (or ground level) and first two levels will not satisfy certain space needs for the municipality's administration. She explained that the available storage space would be insufficient to return certain village records back from their location at an Iron Mountain record storage facility.

  Mrs. Bowler's concern comes with a certain amount of urgency as Mayor Kaplan informed the audience that the Town of Wawarsing was reconsidering the village's offer to join them in the five-floor office building.

  Mayor Kaplan explained that his vision for one building housing both village and town would allow for a certain amount of consolidation of services, which would then reduce certain space needs.

• Fawn Morosky and a number of supporters attended the meeting to announce the creation of a Park Committee, which will be overseeing the construction of a new community park within the village. Ms. Morosky, a contributor to the Ellenville Journal, presented her and her group's progress with the village board.

  The project, slated to go out for bid in March, is currently planned for a site off of Berme Road. The park, planned to be 4,800 square feet in size, is being made possible in part by a $25,000 grant the Village of Ellenville received. However, the grant will only provide a portion of the money needed. Fundraising and donations of time and energy by local residents will be essential for the group's "community build" model to be successful.

• On the heels of the Wal-Mart discussion Mayor Kaplan proposed a series of initiatives that he explained would help Ellenville's future growth.

  Kaplan explained that, "Over the past few months we [the village board] have been more reactive than proactive." Kaplan cited the village's arts initiative as one area that he felt the village needed to renew its efforts.

  Included in these initiatives is the creation of a "Director of the Arts" position, which would either be a part-time village employee or a contractor. Cragsmoor resident and regular contributor to this publication, Judy Sigunick, appears to be the main candidate for the position.

  Mayor Kaplan also announced his intention to create a permanent outdoor craft market and farmer's market at the lot located on Center and Market Street; the space originally considered for a proposed "traffic hub" that was several years off. The Mayor felt that a location on Center Street on the western side of Route 209 would be a better fit for the village with a number of public buildings in the same general area.

  The mayor's final idea was to create a memorial to Ellenville's "Greatest Generation" that would honor those businesses people that came to Ellenville after 1945 and invested in the area.

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