Wbg. officials approve stipend for Meals on Wheels drivers

WARRENSBURG | The people who volunteer to deliver prepared meals to homebound Warrensburg area residents will now be paid to accomplish their work, because of a measure approved at the recent Warrensburg town board meeting. Drivers for the town's Meals on Wheels program will now be paid $35 per route. The drivers will now formally be town employees, receiving the stipend in addition to the mileage compensation they receive from Warren County. Warren County's Meals on Wheels program delivers meals Monday, Wednesday and Friday, excluding holidays, to people who are homebound, unable to prepare meals for themselves, and don't have a family member or a friend who can prepare meals for them. The unanimous decision by the Warrensburg Town Board to pay the delivery personnel was made to avoid a shortage of drivers because in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to retain volunteers, county and town officials have said. "The drivers will go on our payroll," Warrensburg Town Supervisor Kevin Geraghty said. "This will ensure we have people to deliver these meals, which are important to the people in our area who are homebound." SENIOR HOUSING PLANS ADVANCE In other matters discussed at the meeting, Geraghty announced that environmental test holes dug on the former town garage property on King Street revealed no actionable contamination, so the town can now proceed with its plans to redevelop the plot to host senior housing. He said that the town, in conjunction with the Warren County Planning Department, will soon be seeking to recruit a developer to submit a proposal to buy the property and have senior housing constructed. Also, Geraghty told the board that a man named Vinnie Otto has asked permission to scale Hackensack Mountain at night to enable him to take photos, from the peak, of the Milky Way at night. The board granted him permission, as long as he provides the town, prior to climbing the peak, with a certificate of personal injury insurance. The town's Hackensack Mountain Park is open daily from dawn to dusk and closed to nighttime hikers except by prior arrangements with town authorities. In other business conducted at the Aug. 13 meeting, the Warrensburg Town Board: • approved an amended annual contract with Warrensburg Emergency Medical Services to provide ambulance services, including mutual aid response and Advanced Life Support, on a 24/7 basis for Warrensburg and neighboring communities. Town Board member Robert Sutphin cast the sole No vote on the resolution; • reappointed Gregory Klingler as Warrensburg's Sole Assessor; • Set a public hearing for 7 p.m. Sept. 10 to hear opinions on applying for a state Community Block Grant to enhance Main Street — with Flatley Read Inc. of Greenwich preparing the grant application; • voted to sell a 2014 Ford F250 pickup used by the town's water and sewer departments; • approved a request to dedicate a private road off Golf Course Road as Robbins Mountain Drive, approving the request of landowners Roger Combs and Frank Witz; • accepted a $75,660 bid from HMA Contracting of Schaghticoke to resurface and paint the basketball courts at the town recreational field; • lowered the speed limit on River Road near the Lake Luzerne town line to 25 miles per hour; • announced that the long-awaited state permit to establish a crosswalk spanning Richards Avenue from the Wrrensburg Health Center to their parking lot has been approved, and work has begun to construct it; • discussed how the parking lot at Warrensburg's privately owned strip mall, which hosts a Grand Union grocery store, has a lot of sand and other debris that presents a safety hazard; • heard Geraghty praise Warrensburg Beautification for their various events and accomplishments so far this summer; • learned that the revenue of the town transfer station has produced a year-to-date net revenue of nearly $20,000 and that a part-year resident praised transfer station personnel for their exceptional service; • were informed that a four-inch water line is being installed on Jenny-Jill Drive to supply property owners with a sufficient volume of town water; and x approved an Occupancy Tax grant of $6,467 to pay expenses incurred by the Warrensburg Volunteer Fire Company in presenting the two-day 2025 Smoke Eaters' Jamboree carnival.

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Wbg. officials approve stipend for Meals on Wheels drivers

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