Gagliano and Wojehowski spent an evening at the Cornwall Library
“I did not have to twist their arms to get them here.”
Those were the words of Cornwall Public Library Program Director Brenda Goldfarb last Thursday evening as she welcomed about two dozen community members to the second annual Local Leaders Forum at the library, featuring Cornwall Supervisor Josh Wojehowski and Cornwall-on-Hudson Mayor James Gagliano.
The two men agreed that they came very willingly to the session because it gave them a less formal opportunity to chat with residents about issues that concern them.
And the audience had them — the Q&A portion of the 90 minute session included questions on the topics of potholes, the county’s bridge replacement project on Main St., infrastructure, addressing problems on a state versus local level, water, the proposed Treetop warehouse project, the storefront that was previously DeCicco’s, the proposed hotel on Main St., the being-renovated Storm King Golf Course, flooding and even USPS concerns.
Wojehowski and Gagliano tackled it all. But, they started by telling those there that the town and village — and them personally — have a “good relationship”, and the two talk nearly every day.
“Dealing with the mayor and the village is truly the easiest part of my job,” Wojehowski said, adding that there are issues the two work on together, like the ongoing NY Forward grant work.
He also said that trying to find ways together to keep longtime residents in the community — affordability — is a joint concern.
“We’re not afraid to tackle the hard issues,” the supervisor said.
Gagliano agreed. He noted that both Deputy Mayor Jim Kane and Deputy Supervisor Wynn Gold were both in the audience at the event, as was Councilwoman Karen Edelman-Reyes.
“We’ve got great people,” the mayor said. “None of us has everything figured out, and sometimes we disagree. But we work it out. Always remember, each of us is just one vote on a board of five.”
One of those things that the mayor and supervisor do disagree on came up early at the meeting — the state’s plan to line up local elections with state and federal elections. Turnout issues and party lines were among the reasons state legislators made the move, although components of the plan are now being held up in court.
Something the two said they do agree on came up later in the meeting — a proposed hotel on Main St.
“Do we really need a five story hotel,” one audience member asked? “What if it fails?”
Wojehowski said he is “one hundred percent in favor of the hotel,” saying that he believes it will have “no problem filling its rooms”.
He said that people visiting West Point, Storm King Art Center or the Hudson Valley in general are looking for places to stay — “they want to get out in our clean air,” he said.
Gagliano said, not speaking for his board, he also is in favor of it, as are Main St. business operators he speaks to.
“They tell me they need foot traffic,” Gagliano said, “and right now there are only eight rooms for rent, other than Airbnbs, in Cornwall.”
He went on to say that he’s heard residents worry about parking problems, but at a recent municipal conference a New York City planner told him that having a parking problem is “a damn good problem to have” in a community. “I want a parking problem on Hudson St. down in the village,” he added.
Wojehowski said that the proposed project will increase tax payments to the town from about $14,000 now to as much as $800,000 in years to come.
Wojehowski also said that the community working toward the project “looks good for Cornwall”, showing that developers can make projects happen here.
On infrastructure, the two spoke about how significant weather events in recent years — “hyper-local storms”, the supervisor calls them — have been difficult to deal with, but repairs being made because of them are stronger because of what they have learned. For instance, Wojehowski said, the old bridge on Main St. (now being replaced) has a support in the center underneath. That caught debris during storms. The new version will not have that center column.”
He also said the town’s “massive” drainage project in the area of Hasbrouck Ave. will start later this year.
Gagliano spent a great deal of time reassuring residents that while the village has a very safe — “number one in New York State” — water system, he’s working daily to improve it.
“There are 52 miles of water pipes between the town and village,” he said. “Most of that system has been in place since 1895, with the newest pipes going in in 1955. Every week we are repairing a water main break, so we are constantly putting money away to address this problem.”
The mayor said the town and village also, often together “apply for every single grant we can find” for projects such as that. And, he credited the village’s eight-man Water Department for doing a fantastic job for residents.
Wojehowski addressed three projects in the greater town:
About Treetop: “We haven’t heard from them at all since the January 16 public hearing.”
About the DG Market going in where DeCicco’s was: “They’re working on HVAC issues now and it looks like a Labor Day opening,” he added, also saying a Caribbean restaurant is slated to go into that plaza too.
About the golf course: “This time it seems like the real deal,” he said.
And about concerns about the US Post Offices in the community. Wojehowski said he hears the complaints and typically gives those with concerns Congressman Pat Ryan’s office number.
“They haven’t said they are closing,” the supervisor said, “but it seems like across the nation they are looking to downsize.”
