The Shawangunk Town Board recognized the Vision of Wallkill’s Sparkle & Shine Award winners at its January 5 meeting.

A couple of weeks before Christmas, local businesses and residents turned on lights in yards and storefronts for the annual Sparkle & Shine holiday decorating contest.

Supervisor John Valk thanked the organizers of the contest and all the award winners who attended the meeting for taking the time to make the Town of Shawangunk look so festive during the holiday season.

Winners in four categories were announced at the Town Board meeting.

Traditional Lighting winners were: First place: The Kilpatrick family at 71 Bona Ventura Avenue; Second place: The O’Brien family, 119 Viola Street; Third place: The Chumas family, 11 Berry Street.

Creative Lighting winners were: First place: The Parker family at 1365 State Route 208; Second place: The Quick family, 37 Haessig Glen Road; Third place: The Conboy family, 2 Apple Lane.

The Parker family’s winning entry featured a colorfully decorated front yard, mixing a nativity scene, a large Santa blowup and lights wrapped on trees to frame the artwork.
Motion Lighting winners were: First place: The DeGroodt family at 2929 New Prospect Road; Second place: The MacEntee family, 757 Plains Road; Third place: The Conklin family, 337 Plains Road.

DeGroodt’s prize winning motion lighting featured brilliant lights with a patriotic show along the road. The MacEntee family’s motion lighting was a captivating LED light show.
Winners in the Business category were: First place: The Christmas Tree Lane farm; Second place: Brattesani Designs; Third place: Hudson Valley Chocolates.

Reorganization
In the reorganizational part of the meeting, Councilman Adrian DeWitt was reappointed the Deputy Supervisor.
DeWitt has announced he is seriously considering running for Supervisor if Valk retires at the end of this year as expected.

Valk was reappointed the Budget Officer.

The Wallkill Valley Times was designated as the Town of Shawangunk’s official newspaper.

Richard Hoyt was approved as the Town Attorney; Robert Wallner was appointed as the town’s Building Inspector, Code Enforcement Officer and Stormwater Officer; Hoyt was also appointed as the attorney for the Wallkill Water and Sewer District and Brinnier & Larios was appointed as the engineer for the Wallkill Water and Sewer District.
The accounting firm of Cooper & Arias was appointed the Auditors for the 2022 town records.

Jane Rascoe was appointed the Town Tax Collector and Craig Ross was appointed as a part-time fire inspector.
Sal Patella, John Szarowski and Dennis Arluck were given three-year terms on the Town Planning Board. Peg Hillriegel was appointed to a five-year term to the Assessment Board of Review.

Dave Haldeman, Hal Choney and Dave Thompkins were appointed for two-year terms to the town’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC). Haldeman was appointed as the chairperson of the EMC and was named as the town’s representative on Ulster County’s EMC.

Arluck was appointed as chairman of the Town Zoning Board of Appeals and Mark Watkins was appointed as the chairman of the Planning Board. Watkins was also named as the town’s representative on the Ulster County Planning Board. Richard Barnhart was approved as the alternate.
Gerald Marlatt was reappointed as the town’s part-time Police Chief.