News from Town Hall

by Laurie Willow

Town Budget: as The Gazette went to press, the Town Board was working on the budget for 2015. As usual, the biggest job for the Board is to fund all the New York State mandates without raising taxes above the two percent ceiling. The challenge for every city and state is affording to maintain its infrastructure, which is always in a state of deterioration. For instance, the Clove Road Bridge needs to be rebuilt. The town will have to find money for this project and other town roads from grants, bonds and tax payer dollars. Gardiner Day 2014: Gardiner Day is conceived and operated by Gardiner volunteers to create a free community gathering for the people of Gardiner. The proceeds of many paid events organized and produced by the Gardiner Day Committee during the year fund this event, allowing all of us to have a day to congregate and enjoy our sense of community with no admission fee. This year the weather was stunning for five days before and after. On Gardiner Day, however, it poured. In spite of the rain, many Gardinerites came and showed their support for this wonderful town event. This was the first Gardiner Day where we could actually hear the Star Spangled Banner being sung! Nicole Ferrante sang it beau-

Photo: Anne A. Smith

D & A Concrete Contractor, Inc.

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Dan Albach, President 845 590-4117

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tifully, and our ability to hear her so well is solely due to the brand new 15-speaker, state-of-the-art sound system the Gardiner Day Committee donated and installed at Majestic Park! The Gardiner Day Committee is a great way to become more involved in town. If you are interested in working on a great committee, call Jewell, at Town Hall, 255-9675, extension 103. The Former Library: As the Gazette went to press, the old Gardiner library at 5 Station Square in the Hamlet was about to have a new owner. The auction was set through AARAuctions.com—for October 13, 2014 through October 15—with no minimum starting bid. The building is a commercially-zoned, two story building with 1,875 square feet. It is rife with Gardiner history, having served as the fire station for many years before it was the library. Water Monitoring Program: As reported previously in The Gazette, the water monitoring program has begun, though much more has been accomplished since your last reading. A baseline reading has been attained from all five wells. Each well is now equipped with a transducer to monitor water levels. As more data are collected, this information becomes an invaluable tool toward developing downtown Gardiner both residentially and commercially.

Gardiner Employee Hand-

book: Supervisor Zatz and the Town Board have concluded writing part one of the new Gardiner Employee Handbook. This is an ongoing process to deal with the increased complexities of human resource management. Part one is comprised of wages and compensation, performance and conduct, and the safety of employees.

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