State of the Town Message 2003

Honored guests, ladies and gentlemen:

The Ramapo of my youth with a population of 10,000 residents is far different from the Ramapo of today. On the threshold of a new century with a population of 110,000 residents representing dozens of nations and millions of dreams.

Today, Ramapo faces many challenges, our ability to meet these challenges will greatly shape the face of Ramapo for future generations.

Two years ago, I spoke of forging a partnership between Town Government and our citizens and working together we have produced tremendous dividends.

I thank YOU for YOUR perseverance, determination and passion and especially for your civility - no matter how difficult the issue the citizens of our diverse Town never lose sight of the fact that respect for divergent opinions and the willingness to compromise are the cornerstones of our democracy.

In 2002, together we transformed the impossible into the possible again and again with your help and the efforts of my Councilmembers Ed Friedman, Fran Hunter, Harry Reiss and David J. Stein. We have all been successful.

- One year ago, many thought that stopping the construction of power plants in the Torne Valley would be impossible to prevent, tonight, I am proud to announce that a Riverfront Park will be built in the Torne Valley and not the largest power plant in the United States.

- One year ago, many thought that the Town's Budget shortfalls would be impossible to reverse, tonight, I am proud to announce that the Town of Ramapo has the highest bond rating in Rockland County with growing fund balances - we have restructured and refinanced our debt and amazingly 80% of Ramapo's indebtedness will now be retired within ten years. A fact that Moody's Investor Services and Standard and Poor's highlighted when they awarded us with our high bond rating, which translates into low interest rates that yield tax savings for our residents everyday.

- One year ago, many thought that it would be impossible for the Town of Ramapo to ensure that County-wide revaluations would be fair and accurate, tonight, I am proud to reiterate that we have prevailed, our residents will have fair and equitable assessments.

- One year ago, many thought it impossible for our Town to share sales tax revenue generated within our Town, with the help of Legislative Chairman Ilan Schoenberger and all our Legislators, I am proud to announce that the revenue generated this year will eclipse one million dollars representing tax revenue that will not have to be collected in property tax on the backs of our already overburdened homeowners.

- In 2002, many thought that it would be impossible to keep Avon in Suffern, tonight, I am proud to announce that Avon Corporation will build a 100 million dollar world-class research and development facility this spring in Suffern, continuing a 116 year presence in the Town of Ramapo.

- In 2002, many thought that protecting the Ramapo River, our aquifers and watersheds would be impossible, tonight, I am proud to announce that the largest Public Works Project in the history of Rockland County - the Western Ramapo Sewer Extension will protect the River and our water supply. The Advanced Waste Water Treatment Facility will be state-of-the-art. This treatment facility will be the first Design/Build/Operate Facility in the history of New York State and as a result will save 20 million dollars in construction costs and will be on-line in December 2004.

- In 2002, many thought that the 360,000 pounds of propane stored in Suffern would be impossible to remove. The actions of this Town Board, especially the efforts of Councilmember Harry Reiss - I am proud to announce that after 50 years the propane tanks are gone.

As Supervisor, I am proud of our volunteers, Seniors, Veterans and Youth and most importantly our Employees for their pro-active commitment to making Ramapo a better place to live.

Let me briefly highlight further accomplishments...

- Establishing Public/Private Partnerships to improve Spook Rock Golf Facilities by $800,000 without taxpayer dollars, increase corporate contributions to Ramapo in excess of $250,000; defibrillators in Police cars and public buildings

- Enhanced revenue producing initiatives through grant writing, which will be augmented this year by Grant Writer, Helene Leibowitz

- Creation of the Parks Foundation with new grants in excess of $100,000

- New Lafayette Theater Cultural Arts Program for seniors

- Rescuing Our Youth Coalition to curb teen drinking

- Dedication of Town memorial for World Trade Center victims

- $150,000 in State Grant from Senator Morahan, Assemblymen Gromack and Colman for Veteran's Memorial at Levy Park through the efforts of Bill Farber and the Jewish War Veterans

- $25,000 Grant for preservation of Veterans Cemeteries

- $25,000 Greenway Council Grant

- This year we cut expenditures by $1,100,000 and increased revenue by $749,000

Restructuring the Parks and Recreation Department into separate responsibilities of Parks and Park Development under the leadership of Ed Lockwood as Director and Dan Covert as Deputy Director with the goals of refurbishing Rella Ballfield, Orchard Hills Park, Weldler Park, Children's Park and Gene Levy Park and the construction of the new Riverfront Park with a myriad of recreational opportunities.

Recreation Department under the leadership of the new Director of Recreation, Michelle Antosca, concentrating on recreational activities; 6,000 kids in Summer Camp, expanded the Lifelong Learning & Recreation Academy in Ramapo Central and East Ramapo Schools serving 4,000 kids ages 3 to 103, Recreation on Wheels Program, new portable stage for Cultural and Performing Arts Programs, overseeing the Herb Reisman Sports Complex and our new multi-generational facility in Eastern Ramapo, (a 1.5 million dollar State funded project) and a new Community Center in Western Ramapo.

Anita Finkelstein will guide our new Cultural Center at Town Hall to continue our commitment in celebrating our diversity.

David Fried will direct our new Intergovernmental Relations Office and will be Ramapo's liaison with our three Congressional Representatives, the County and our Villages.

Our new Chief, Ed Dolan, will direct our dedicated, professional "Community Policing" Police Force of 120 Officers with a new emphasis on Traffic Safety, Stopping speeding and stopping commercial vehicles from using our Town Roads and neighborhoods as a cut-through to major roadways. A renewed spirit and commitment for our DARE, Adopt-A-Cop, School Resource Officers, Youth Academy and Citizens Academy.
Helen Travers will Clerk our Justice Court with our three Justices, Arnold Etelson, Rhoda Schoenberger and Sam Colman with a fair and compassionate yet firm enforcement of all our codes and local laws.

Our new Town Attorney Michael Klein, fresh from a victory over the power plants, will direct the Attorney's Office with the retirement of Alan Simon and his Deputy position will be filled by Alicia Crowe. Alicia will be Ramapo's first African-American Deputy Town Attorney.

Scott Shedler will assume the assessing duties in our fair and equitable tradition.

Nat Oberman will continue in a dual role again. This year as Receiver of Taxes in a State award winning office he pioneered and also as Deputy Director of Finance. Both Nat and Scott will benefit from our new technology efficiencies developed by our new Director of Information Systems, Teresa Reeck, a proud member of our Philippine American Community. The Finance and Purchasing Departments will both be directed by Attorneys with great municipal experience in Ilan Schoenberger and Beth Modica. Our Budget Director will be Melissa Reimer, a CPA from Price Waterhouse.

Ted Dzurinko, Director of DPW will spearhead our Compliance Program for the Clean Water Bond Act regulations due by March 10, 2003 and also oversee the new infrastructure improvement to our sewer system in Monsey.

Our new Director of Personnel, Linda Condon, will replace the irreplaceable Norma Menocker. Linda joins the Town from the County Youth Bureau and will corrdinate all the needs of our highly motivated and well-trained CSEA and PBA Unions and our 500 seasonal workers.

Ramapo will continue our commitment to our Youth Counseling Center under the leadership of Joseph Lanzone. Ramapo is the only Town in Rockland County performing this service for our Youth. With our Center in Hillcrest and at the Martin Luther King Center, our Orthodox Program and our new Outreach Program for our Hispanic Community.

In all, the Town of Ramapo will have 12 new Department Heads, 7 of the 12 new Directors are women. In Ramapo, women are rewarded for their expertise and professionalism, half of our Attorneys are women, our Police Force has three new women Officers this year and promotions of women to Supervisory positions and Detective duties, with Kathy McGrath assuming Animal Control duties.

Our Police Force's commitment to diversity is further demonstrated this year by the hiring of 3 African-Americans Officers and one Haitian-American Officer.

Our commitment to our workforce reflecting the diversity of our Community is well-founded in Ramapo, from leadership positions to seasonal workers.

So, my friends, tonight we take a historic step forward.

After 212 years and 50 Supervisors' Administrations, tonight I am very proud to announce that Councilwoman Frances M. Hunter is now the Deputy Supervisor of the Town of Ramapo.

The first African-American Deputy Supervisor in the history of the Town of Ramapo and the County of Rockland.

The new faces working and directing the efforts of the Town will truly shape Ramapo's future and with the guidance of Brian Brophy, Director of Building, Planning and Zoning, we will implement a Comprehensive Land Use Plan with architectural reviews that will balance housing needs and preservation of our neighborhoods.

And finally, this year we will press for the creation of a Critical Water District to assess and protect our precious water resources...

- establish new Twinning Programs in China, Russia, Poland and Spain

Our Town Clerk, Chris Sampson, will coordinate virtual Town Hall efforts to make records management more accessible through the use of our interactive Town website. The Superintendent of Highways, Tom Howard, will launch an ambitious street repaving effort and sidewalk and curb construction program, kicked-off this spring by a 4 million dollar New York State DOT Project at Routes 306 and 59, and sidewalks at Blauvelt, West Central, Ronald and Ellish Parkway.

We will clean our beloved Town of garbage and litter on our streets with a new Recycling Program and enhanced Beautification Program, with the creation of the Ramapo Arboretum/Botanical Garden on the 200 acre Mitch Miller property coordinated by my Confidential Assistants, Phil Tisi and Elaine Silverberg. Their efforts will endeavor to make the face of Ramapo a clean and beautiful vision framed by a new neo-traditional revitalization taking place in Monsey with promenades and walkways, new lighting, benches, fountains and Parks. A place that we all will be proud to call home.

Lastly, I want to thank all the Town workers for their dedication and all the volunteers who service this Town in ambulance and firematic pursuits and our residents who offer their service on the many Boards and Commissions. I thank you all and I look forward to supervising all our efforts into the future and please remember my door is always open to you.

Ramapo, my Town, your Town, our Town that we all love as I have loved ever since my youth. Thank you.
God Bless all our departed residents and all of you and God Bless America!

Christopher P. St. Lawrence, Supervisor
Town of Ramapo

Dated: January 8, 2003