“We live in the best little town and village…”

Those were the words of Cornwall Public Library Program Director Brenda Goldfarb as she welcomed a full room of community residents (42 to be exact) to last week’s Community Leaders Forum, featuring Cornwall Supervisor Josh Wojehowski and Cornwall-on-Hudson Mayor James Kane. The hour-and-a-half session was a true resident-led question and answer session, with the two answering every question that was asked.

The two started off by addressing the fact that it was first such session for Kane, who got elected in March.

“I expect we will have the same wonderful relationship I had with Mayor Gagliano,” Wojehowski said, saying he feels like the town and village have done “some really great things together” in recent years. “We work best when we work together.”

Kane agreed, saying he and the supervisor have “an established relationship that’s going to continue”.

First up: what can be done to get more parking near Fiddlesticks’. Wojehowski was happy to use the opportunity to encourage those visiting businesses near the Chadeayne Circle to use the 18 free municipal spots at the ambulance building. He also noted that once the Main St. bridge work is completed by Orange County, several parking spaces will return in that area. When the questions turned to ‘what will happen to Main St. parking once the planned hotel opens’ the supervisor said the hotel has some 70 spots available on its property, but will have the option of using valets to park cars further down (toward Town Hall) on Main St.

Another question – more of a comment really – was for the supervisor, about Dollar General. The person indicated, for senior citizens the new store “does not meet our needs” and wondered if there was a way to get a more traditional grocery store. Wojehowski said the DG Mart has a ten-year lease and said he is glad there is a tenant in that large spot in Cornwall Plaza. He also indicated – without any details – that a deli may be coming to Cornwall, and “possibly some kind of smaller market”.

Kane’s first opportunity to speak was about repairs needed on Mountain Rd. – a resident called areas of the pavement ‘bone-jarring’. The mayor did not disagree, and said the road will be repaved once drainage work is done and a culvert replaced. But that concerned another resident, saying that once the road is repaved “it’s going to be a speedway”. Again, Kane did not disagree, and said he would “absolutely look at” the resident’s suggestion of putting in signage that indicates not only wildlife crossing the road, and hikers in the area.

Back to the supervisor, there was a question about how to best get out on to Main St. from Union St. – “could a mirror be put in, or a parking spot on either side be eliminated so we can see to get out?” they asked. Wojehowski said he’d have the town’s highway superintendent take a look.

Kane and Wojehowski both responded to a question about potholes, with both acknowledging the resident’s remarks that “no answer is good enough until they are repaired”.

Kane said the village has filled some of the potholes on state roads within the village, and Wojehowski said he would, again, reach out to Senator James Skoufis, “who has had some luck in helping us get them filled”. Wojehowski also said he knows the county has registered complaints to the state too – “they’re trying to attract businesses and tourists – there’s a level of embarrassment”.

“From Quaker Ave. to New Windsor is a joke,” resident Nancy Bryan said.

There was a question about a condominium development off Shore Rd. in the village for Mayor Kane – with the help of Trustee Bill Braine (Trustee LoriBeth Paliotta and Deputy Supervisor Tim McCarty were in the audience as well) the mayor noted that it’s 17 houses, not condos, “still in the initial phase” of project development.

Another topic was the Treetop Warehouses/Cornwall Commons project, Wojehowski said new work on the town’s Comprehensive Plan will help determine what eventually does go in that area. He put out a plug for a survey the Comp Plan committee has created and introduced Jason Burnham from the committee. Goldfarb passed out a flyer with a QR code to take the survey to all.

There were questions about the bridge on Boulevard (probably late fall or early winter for that installation, Wojehowski said); communication with residents (both municipalities have text/email alert systems residents can sign up to use); getting public yacht racks at Donahue Park (Kane said the town is “97 percent” done with a deal with the Cornwall Yacht Club that will allow for that); selling water to Blooming Grove (Kane confirmed this is true, on a temporary basis – “we are water rich,” he said); and “what effect the Trump cuts are having on Cornwall”.

Both said they have not seen any effects yet, but are monitoring executive orders, FEMA funding, etc. Doug Land, from the audience, asked the question, noting that some AmeriCorps programs that have been cut will affect the NY/NJ Trail Conference maintenance of some local properties.

As the meeting wrapped up, both Kane and Wojehowski thanked the residents for attending, and thanked the library for hosting the event. It’s done at least annually, occasionally twice a year, they said.