City Council Increases Fines for Property Owners

By Valerie Lopez

NEWBURGH – The Newburgh City Council held its first council work session and meeting of the month to discuss the ongoing projects in the community and to address the budget for the first quarter.

The first quarter budget conducted by City Manager, Todd Venning, concluded a 23% decrease in police spending and a decrease in the fire dept. by 37% from last year’s first quarter. This was due to cutting down spending on overtime.

An ordinance was approved to amend Chapter 190 – “Responsibilities of Owners and Occupants”, to increase the penalty for code violations to property owners who fail to comply from $250 a day to $1000 a day. They will also be required to appear in court and failure to appear will result in a bench warrant. The council agreed- that enforcement is needed as the buildings did not get this way over night, but by years of property owners falling under the radar with no repercussions. The council is determined to clean up the buildings in the community and hold property owners accountable for safety hazards that could potentially be a danger to tenants.

The first executive decision approved was to delete one Executive Assistant to the City Manager position and to add a Chief of Staff position in the office. They approved the deleting two Senior Account Clerk positions and adding one Junior Accountant and one Account Clerk position in the finance department.

Next, the council addressed a license agreement with Strongroom for use and access to the Dutch Reformed Church on 134 Grand St. The local artist and business owner, Liz Nielson, will be installing a light installation and a subtle pulse sound installation mimicking a heartbeat. They expect to install on May 31.

Another project approved was a letter of support for the proposed E-Bike project for the NYSERSDA clean neighborhood challenge. ICF, Inc. has partnered to provide an e-bike library program for the city where citizens can rent out an e-bike at no cost for a week to increase their mobility. The e-bikes will be located on Williams St. right by AVS.

A highway safety grant was resolved to authorize the city to apply for a New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee 2023 Highway Safety Program grant for $20,000. The grant will provide a bike rodeo to teach children the right way to ride a bike.

The last ordinance item approved was the sidewalk cafe permit applications for 2022. The permits sent for cafes to allow outdoor seating in the street during the pandemic have expired, however, cafes and restaurants can still apply this year to have tables and chairs on the sidewalk adjacent to the business.