At the January 27 meeting of the Town Board, Supervisor Bob Livsey remarked on a Building Department issue, saying that he had read on social media that the town – via that department – was holding up the reopening of The Park Restaurant in Highland Falls. The building that houses the restaurant is now owned by West Point’s Association of Graduates.

He said that is not true.

Livsey explained that upon inspection, as required by local and state laws for a restaurant to reopen in that location, it was discovered that there was no fire suppression system in the ceiling of the restaurant level of the building.

The owner was told to find a professional to address the issue, by designing a “two-hour fire suppression system”, the supervisor said, “but they seem to think there is no way to do it” and added that AOG had said they could not find a professional for the job.

“We are not holding back the reopening of The Park Restaurant,” Livsey reiterated. “We are just doing things the way they have to be done, per the state and village code.”

Livsey said the initial inspection that found the problem was on December 6.

In another Building Department matter, after the most recent snowstorm (January 19-20) 21 violation notices for failure to remove snow were issued in Highland Falls, Deputy Supervisor Rich Sullivan said. He’s the liaison to the town’s Building Department, which provides code enforcement in both Highland Falls and Fort Montgomery.

“Most of the violations were rectified,” Sullivan said, while praising the work of those in the Building Department.

Sullivan, in his lengthy report, also said the town’s Water Department, under the operation of VRI Environmental Services, was currently looking for a water leak after a spike in water usage over the weekend. He also reported that the Sewer Plant processed an average of 71,000 gallons of sewage in December, and the annual average for 2024 was 86,000 per day.

In other matters from the meeting:

- Councilman Joe DeWitt announced that the town’s Dial-A-Bus will be operating on an abridged schedule from February 3-13, from only 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day. And because of the Presidents’ Day holiday, there will be no bus transportation on February 14 or 17.

- The supervisor noted that he had transferred $61,724 and $11,179 from the town’s consolidated account to the paying to cover bills. Among the larger payments were: $7388 to Cargill Incorporated for deicer, salt and fuel; $4630 to TAM Enterprises for sewer plant well pump services; $3890 to Beacon Recycling for single stream recycling for December; $31,724 to Rockland County Solid Waste for December trash disposal; $4590 to the Highway/Sanitation Employee Association for clothing allowance; $1869 to American Tower Corporation for rental on the Putnam Tower for January 2025; and $488 to I.D.M Medical Gas Co. for oxygen tank refill/rental.

- DeWitt asked community residents to make note of another upcoming E-Waste collection event, planned for Saturday, April 26, when Earth Day will be celebrated locally. The location is to be announced. Livsey also said that Deputy Highway Superintendent Tiffany Montellese is working with Orange County to try to get a household hazardous waste event scheduled in the Town of Highlands.

- From the audience, Fort Montgomery’s Annie Scott asked why more ice skating can’t take place on Garrison’s Pond than the recent one-night FMFD/THPD skating party. The supervisor said: “our insurance company flatly says no ice skating on your lakes”. Scott asked if the town could purchase short term insurance for skating, but Livsey did not indicate that they would.