Imagine a business where materials that might have otherwise gone into a landfill are gathered, sold and used. Such a business does exist and until recently, seemed headed for the Ellenville-Wawarsing area. The Hudson Valley Materials Exchange (HVME), operated by Jill Gruber is, "an educational waste prevention organization that fosters business and community development, art and culture, environmental protection, and sustainable living through its services."

HVME is an environmental 501 c (3) organization focusing primarily on the development of effective waste management practices for businesses in the Hudson Valley. Their services include waste assessments, distribution of reusable business waste and workshops illustrating possible uses for their materials. Until recently, they operated a "Community Warehouse" at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, Orange County.

Last year, former village trustee Steve Krulick read an article in the Times-Herald Record that detailed how Stewart Airport's expansion was forcing Gruber and HVME to find a new home.

"Jill put out an S.O.S. asking if anyone knew of a place they could move and I sent her an e-mail saying that the Village of Ellenville was very interested in finding businesses. We had just lost Schrade and this was just before Hydro left," said Krulick.

"This is the kind of business that I would love to see in our area, because it is environmental; it is reuse, reduce and recycle. It also appeals to artists and our arts initiative, which can use the materials. It is also something that works with schools. I saw their Reuse-a-Bus in 2004 or 2005 in Rosendale and then again at the Mountaindale [Junk Jam] junk music festival in 2006. I thought that this is the kind of business, that if I were Economic Development Director, I would certainly want to promote for this area because it is a very 21st Century business," added Krulick.

Krulick says that he introduced Gruber to Village Manager Elliott Auerbach at the Economic Development Conference held at Ulster County Community College in 2007. Auerbach thought it had potential and sought the involvement of Ellenville's Local Development Corporation (LDC). Next, Krulick says that he and Auerbach drove Gruber around the village, giving her a tour of the area. Eventually, a real estate agent was brought in and, according to Krulick, the village made a serious "good faith effort" to bring the Hudson Valley Materials Exchange to the area.

"None of the choices that were available were ideal, except for one or two that wanted to sell, rather than rent," explained Krulick.

As of Friday, January 4, according to Auerbach, the location Jill Gruber was looking at was "outside the village, but it is in the Town of Wawarsing, which is not a bad thing."

At that time Auerbach said, "My last conversation with her was: 'We have selected a location in the town, not the village. We worked very hard to find one in the village but in the end there was no place that could meet our needs that was available to us."

Gruber told Auerbach that she was hoping to move to Aero Tranport's old "location on Route 209 sometime in March with an opening slated in April."

Also on January 4, Steve Krulick stated that "although they've made a tentative decision to move into the old Aero Transport quonset hut on Route 209 North, there are two possible considerations: first, that there still may be a location in the village that allows for village grant money to be used, and there has been no agreement from the village or town to provide any funding if they set up in the town but outside the village."

However, on Monday, January 14, during a brief phone interview with Gruber she stated that the possibility of moving into the Aero Transport building had fallen apart.

"The place that we had hoped to take on 209, the deal fell through, so we are not sure if we are coming to Ellenville or not."

When asked to provide details she declined.

A call to Town of Wawarsing Supervisor Ed Jennings, on January 14, was returned by his office, with the message that he had no information regarding Gruber's possible move to the town and was "unfamiliar" with the matter.

Krulick and others have suggested that, "one reason it may not have come to fruition is that we do not have in place an authority, a person or an entity, that would have been able to follow this thing through from beginning to end, open the door and overcome the antipathy between village and town. In other words, make this happen. Since there is no such person, it was all done through my initial volunteer suggestion. There was nobody who could really marshal this through, such as the proposed joint town and village Economic Development Director."

"I have asked the village to check to see if any building in Ellenville is still possibly available, because it would be the last chance to have something happen in the area. In fact, just tonight at the village board meeting, they approved this quarter of a million dollar micro-grant, which could definitely be applied to something like this. The village is not going to spend money on something outside the village. If we don't give Jill an alternative by the end of the week, it is quite likely it won't happen, and it would have just fallen through the cracks," said Krulick.

"There is still this last minute possibility to suggest to them that we do have a something in the village of Ellenville, and that if there is a space available, they may get the kind of funding not available otherwise," Krulick concluded.

The Hudson Valley Materials Exchange can be found online at: http://www.hvme.com.

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