The Highland Falls Village Board has approved a request for the James I. O’Neill High School Homecoming Parade to take place on Main St. at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The parade, which steps off from West Point’s Buffalo Soldier Field, is hosted by the school’s Parent Teacher Student Committee (PTSC) and is an annual event.

The event time approved by the board is 4-6 p.m. – once the marchers get to the municipal parking lot across from Sacred Heart school there is typically a brief pep rally. Marching in the parade are athletic teams, student groups, school administrators, coaches and others.

Mayor Jim DiSalvo encouraged residents of the community to go to that area of Main St. on September 30 to support the student athletes.

In other business from last week’s Village Board meeting:
- The board authorized the lease-to-purchase purchase of a 2027 Dodge Durango AWD Pursuit, and a 2027 Dodge Ram 4WD 1500 Tradesman 4x4 Crew Cab. The vehicles, which will cost a total of $36,572 per year for four years, will be replacing two 2017 Highland Falls Police Department vehicles with high mileage, Chief Jason Torpey said. DiSalvo said that this will be the first pickup truck the department has had, and while he was initially unsure about the purchase, he said situations like the 2023 flooding in the community, and frequent heavy snow in the winter, led him to believe it was a good plan.

- A budget transfer in the amount of $1555.31 was approved (general fund to workers compensation); a three-day training with a cost of $580 for registration and meals and $189 a night for lodging was approved for DPW Working Leader Matthew Troy; and a low bid for a fencing project at the new walking trail – Highland Falls Preserve – was approved at the request of Scenic Hudson.