Goshen signs on with Time Warner

GOSHEN — Goshen town officials approved a new franchise contract with Time Warner Cable. The contract is renewed every ten years. In this contract, the cable company is giving the town a 5 percent reimbursement for expanding and maintaining infrastructure. In the past, Time Warner gave the town 3 percent compensation for maintenance and put the remaining 2 percent in a Time Warner fund for additional work for new customers. The town will benefit from an unspent $370,000 that had accumulated in the Time Warner fund. Of that, Time Warner will keep $120,000, and 60 percent of the remaining $250,000, or $150,000, will go to the town. “The cable company wants the roadways kept clear of growth so they don’t have to do it,” said Supervisor Doug Bloomfield. “This is a good deal for them because they don’t have to hire people or buy machinery, and it’s good for the town because it helps defray the cost of machinery.” Town officials are considering buying a tractor with the compensation funds. Another resignation on planning board Town officials accepted the resignation of longtime board member Raymond Myruski from the Goshen Planning Board. Myruski has changed his residency to the state of Florida and can no longer serve on the board. The board appointed Giovanni Pirraglia to fill his place. Pirraglia has served on the Assessment Review Board, acting as its chair last year. His term is effective Feb. 1, 2011 and ends on Dec. 31, 2012. Another longtime planning board member, Mary Israelski, resigned last September. The town will now advertise for appointees for the Environmental Review Board, Assessment Review Board, and the Ethics Review Board. Home alarm registration to be required Residents with a home alarm system will be required to register their alarms with the town clerk and pay a fee. Town of Goshen Police Chief Dennis Marsh will send a letter to residents informing them of the change, along with the fines to levied for false alarms. “False alarms can become a real burden to the police department,” said Supervisor Bloomfield. Resident Joel Markowitz asked if town officials would also be using a security system for access to their meetings, noting the security system for screening people who entered village hall at the last village board meeting on Jan. 10. Bloomfield said there will be no changes, and that meetings will be left just the way they are. However, he noted that a security plan for town hall and its employees has been developed and sent to Public Employee Safety and Health, a New York State Department of Labor agency. “There is a vulnerability based on what we do for a living,” said the supervisor. “Maybe we’ll change our minds, but based on personnel input, we’re leaving things as they are.” In other business Bloomfield announced that Councilman Ken Newbold’s brother, Raymond, died suddenly at the age of 61. He was buried on Jan. 15, 2011. Raymond lived in Lewes, Delaware. He leaves a wife and eight-year-old son. Councilman Lou Capella added comic relief to the Jan, 13 meeting when he mimicked his mother’s Italian/American accent when she commented “How 'cleana’ the streets are” after the snowfall. Mrs. Capella lives in Edison, N.J. Councilman Newbold commended the highway department on the great snow removal job. “They work hard for us,” he said.