The Highlands Town Board has hired a code enforcement officer to assist in the Building Department – Moses Pabon was hired for the part-time position for $31 per hour. The town’s Building Department handles all building-related matters in both Highland Falls and Fort Montgomery.

There were 46 applications received for the position, via Indeed, Sullivan said, but only three had the qualifications needed. They were all interviewed before Pabon was selected for the position.

The department came up later in the meeting too, when representatives of both West Point’s Association of Graduates (Erin Helle) and the two restaurateurs who are planning to reopen The Park Restaurant spoke during public comment. The three said they are hoping to soon move forward in their quest to get the restaurant open again; Deputy Supervisor Rich Sullivan said he agreed, and believes they are close, but reminded the three that certain procedures have to be followed. There was some discussion about what documents are needed to move forward in that.

Marko Guzijan, who will operate The Park, also owns the Hudson Valley Food Hall in Beacon, said they are “really excited to get open”.

“We like Highland Falls a lot,” he told the Town Board, “and are very excited to be part of the revitalization of the community. We’ve had people popping in to say hello and tell us stories about The Park.”

Councilman Tyrone King said the community is looking forward to the restaurant being open again.

In other matters from the meeting:
- Councilwoman Nancy Sporbert said the Town of Highlands Ambulance Corps responded to 37 of 40 calls dispatched in January – the three they could not get to were handled by other ambulance services. Sporbert said volunteers are needed to help make sure there are drivers and crews available at all times to handle the medical calls.

- In financial matters, Livsey said $568,999 worth of bills was paid in the previous week. Among the larger amounts were: $457,500 (collected in taxes) for the Fort Montgomery Fire District’s 2025 budget; $47,873 to Lease Servicing Center Inc. for the town’s MACK garbage truck; $27,113 to Rockland County Solid Waste for solid waste in January; $4362 to Orange & Rockland for electricity usage; and $3425 to Beacon Recycling for January.

- Supervisor Livsey said town departments have fallen behind on various trainings, but are now getting caught up with them, including sexual harassment, workplace violence, Right-to-know, blood-born pathogens and driver-specific training.

- Sullivan said that the town’s new water tank – to be located at Corbin Hill – has arrived, in pieces. It will be bolted together and lined with glass, he said, and will hold 195,000 gallons of water.

- Councilman King said he is looking for volunteers to help him in coordinating a Women’s History Month event under the town’s Special Events Committee. Anyone interested can reach out to him. King also said that Highland Falls’ Trevor Rhodes has joined that Special Event’s Committee.

- Councilman Joe DeWitt encouraged those interested in learning about the town’s Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) electricity program can attend a meeting at Town Hall at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 24. It is the final presentation on the topic before it goes into place this Spring.