As January comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to update the town on some of the issues being handled out of the supervisor’s office and town board. Over the past couple weeks I have interviewed several applicants for the position of part-time building inspector and part-time building clerk within our building department. It is critical that this office be fully staffed and ready to handle the needs of our residents as they apply for building permits and utilize other building department functions.
Last week, we submitted a grant application for more than $3 million dollars to replace the closed Jayne Street Bridge located in the Village of Florida. I have been meeting with our water and sewer department regularly to assess the condition, needs, and plans for our many water and sewer systems town-wide. The water and sewer systems are a highly complex issue and of utmost concern and priority for the town board. I am in the process of finding grant money to replace our outdated metering system with current technology which will not only make the process of reading meters more efficient, but it will also help residents identify leaks within their homes more quickly, preventing costly water bills. I have met with Orange & Rockland to finalize plans for improving a local substation near Kings Highway, which will improve long-term infrastructure and electric stability.
Over the past couple weeks, I have been working with Archtop Fiber, who recently acquired Warwick Valley Telephone. Archtop has been investing millions locally to run fiber optic internet throughout the entire town. This will not only provide the highest internet speeds possible but will also create much-needed competition for internet pricing among local providers.
The town board has recently begun the process of developing code revisions necessary to regulate battery storage developments within the town. Battery storage has become a much needed infrastructure component as O&R struggles to meet the demands of our energy grid, and this storage development is inevitable. However, we need to ensure situations like the battery storage fire that occurred on school property does not occur again. The town board is also continuing work to tighten up our short-term rental laws and the poorly executed marijuana dispensary laws from New York State.
Finally, we are assessing the flooding issues throughout the town, including Penaluna Road, State School Road, Upper and Lower Wisner, as well as the entire Pine Island area into Florida. The flooding issues appear to be getting worse and worse over time, and we are prioritizing flood mitigation efforts town-wide.
Jesse Dwyer, Supervisor
Town of Warwick