• Rosemary Melendez of Communication Action, a not-for-profit organization that provides area residents with emergency shelter, rent assistance as well as food and medicine approached the Village Board for a donation of $3,000 to assist in the group's efforts.

  Mayor Jeff Kaplan, citing the village's budget crunch, said that he and the board would review the group's request. Village Clerk Ann Bowler endorsed the group's activities and Kaplan went on to thank Ms. Melendez for her efforts in assisting area residents saying, "Keep up the good work."

• The Village Board, in an effort to reduce fuel costs for the next budgetary cycle, accepted four bids from local fuel companies including County Petroleum, Anderman Oil, Ultrapower and Costco. The board is waiting to award any bids until Ulster County offers its bid to continue supplying the village with fuel.

• There was a melancholy flavor to the portion of the meeting when the topic came up of longtime Village Clerk Ann Bowler's retirement. The Village Board addressed the situation by deciding to place an advertisement for her position in anticipation of her leaving the position though she has given no set date as to when she will leave.

• The Village Board discussed concerns regarding expenses incurred by the village regarding its Code Enforcement (Building Department). The department charges $100 per inspection of commercial and residential properties with more than three apartments but does not require a fee for re-inspections.

  In some situations however, a specific site will require multiple inspections with each time costing the code enforcement officer a certain amount of time. The board discussed the possibility of adding a fee for re-inspection to offset the department's loss of time.

  Another possibility that was discussed was the creation of a fee structure that would be multi-tiered, based on the size of the structure being inspected; i.e. currently, Matthews Pharmacy and Cedar Grove Apartments and Optimum Windows all pay the same fee. Under a multi-tier structure, any business or large complex would pay a fee commensurate to the size of the structure.

• Mayor Kaplan told the audience that during a meeting he attended with Assemblyman Kevin Cahill (D) that included the mayors of Saugerties and New Paltz, Cahill singled out Ellenville as having a unique sense of community.

• Though the Village of Ellenville was not terribly affected by last week's flooding, the incident caused Mayor Kaplan to step up efforts for the creation of a plan that would set guidelines and procedures that various village departments would follow in the event of any emergency.

  The Village Board was very appreciative of all of the village's departments and local volunteer organizations that assisted local residents during last weeks inclement weather.

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