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• 
  Notice of Public Hearing on 1-17-22: Restore NY Grant Application

  The Town Board will hold a public hearing on January 17, 2023 at 7 PM at Town Hall to receive oral and written comments from the public on the Town of Cornwall’s application for funding under the Restore New York Grant Program.

• Joint Public Statement from the Town of Cornwall & Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Boards

  For Immediate Release May 19, 2022

  Subject: Proposed 3-Year Contract Between Cornwall and the New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NWVAC) for Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Services
  
  As most residents understand, individual municipalities are responsible for providing and maintaining an effective and sustainable ambulatory service to their communities. Of recent, it has become more difficult to provide this critical volunteer service due to soaring costs and the dwindling number of available volunteers. This issue has been a topic of debate within the New York State legislature recently, with legislation introduced to establish EMS (the provision of urgent pre-hospital treatment and transport for medical care) as an “essential service.” Long overdue, this effort could potentially reconfigure how ambulatory services are administered across New York State. Unless and until the County and/or State elect to make certain changes, municipalities must seek effective methods to sustain and improve services. Experts contend that the paradigm is evolving and that mergers, or consolidation, exist as an intermediate solution.

  
  For over a year, New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NWVAC) has contracted with the Town and Village to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) services to Cornwall residents for a fee, while Cornwall Volunteer Ambulance Corps (COVAC) provides Basic Life Support (BLS) coverage for a fee, as well. ALS includes the highest level of emergency medicine – paramedic-level treatment – and NWVAC (or another EMS provider with ALS capabilities) has long answered calls within Cornwall for mutual aid, bereft of a contract. COVAC, staffed with Emergency Medical Technicians, or EMTs, has remained a fixture in our community since 1955.

  
  A number of years ago, COVAC made the request to bill patients directly and a decision was subsequently reached to dissolve the “ambulance district” overseen by the Town. By billing insurance providers directly, this was to be a more efficient process that allowed for the Corps to remain solvent without monies allocated from Cornwall. The global pandemic and an attendant paucity of available volunteers has made staffing across the past several years a concern. This, coupled with significant debt accrual resulted in COVAC’s appeal for subsistence from the taxpayers – which the Town and Village jointly agreed to support.

  
  Despite the provided financial support, there continue to exist a number of issues that have not been resolved, as relates to the professional administration of ambulatory services to our residents. Public safety is of paramount concern. Both the Town Supervisor and Village Mayor have met privately with COVAC leadership and members of COVAC’s elected board and operational membership appeared before a joint boards’ special meeting on January 11, 2022.

  
  While COVAC maintains they have mitigated their insolvency issues and improved their first-call response rates, it is the consensus of both boards that NWVAC – widely regarded as the “gold standard” for local ambulatory care – will be contracted to cover both BLS and ALS responsibilities for Cornwall residents. This assumption of responsibilities can be considered a consolidation. Current COVAC members who wish to continue to serve Cornwall residents may interview with NWVAC, and be afforded opportunity to operate out of 1 Clinton Street location, be attired in Cornwall EMS uniforms, and respond to Cornwall service calls in a Cornwall-branded ambulance. This serves both professionalization and training standardization efforts.

  
  On balance, we believe that this decision for establishment of a contemporary public/private partnership model -- created and supported by multiple municipalities, including Town of New Windsor, Town of Cornwall and Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson -- will ensure our residents receive the high-quality emergency medical care they deserve. NWVAC enables Cornwall leadership to remain confident in the model’s financial viability and sustainability, administrative transparency, leader oversight, and accountability while serving as an example for the region.

  
  This was not an easy decision. Careful consideration was given to all impacted equities. Town and Village elected officials reflected deeply on the many decades of selfless service that COVAC and its volunteers have provided to our community; indeed, it is an honored local institution. But the primary responsibility of public officials is ensuring their constituents are afforded best available services for their hard-earned tax dollars. In our estimation, the proposed three-year contract with NWVAC ensures this. Know that we have explored innumerable options to guarantee confidence in the provision of EMS. And we have reviewed a number of similar municipal consolidated-services agreements. This is the best path forward for Cornwall.

  
  On Thursday, May 26, 2022, at 7:00 p.m., inside the Edward C. Moulton, Jr. Village Board Room, located at Village Hall, 325 Hudson Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 12520, the Town and Village boards will convene a joint special meeting to address this matter publicly. Meeting will be publicly-noticed and contract provisions will be disclosed. The public will be afforded an opportunity to speak and boards will address some factors that led to this decision.
  On behalf of the Town and Village Boards,
  
  Joshua Thomas Wojehowski
  Supervisor
  
  James A. Gagliano
  Mayor

• 4th of July Parking Restrictions

  There will be NO PARKING from 08:00- 11:00pm on the following streets:
  Main Street from Hudson Street to Academy Avenue
  Hudson Street from Main Street to First Street
  North Street
  South Street
  Center Street
  Quaker Avenue from Elm to the Traffic Circle
  Hasbrouck from the Traffic Circle to Clinton Street

  Parking will be restricted to one side of the street on the following streets:
  McCann No parking on the West side of street
  Tamarra No parking on the West side of street
  Hazen Street No parking on the West side of street
  Union Street from Main to Clinton No parking on the West side of street
  Broadway No Parking on the West side of the Street
  Clinton Street No Parking on the South side
  Grand Street No Parking on the South Side

  The following restrictions will also be in place:
  **Main Street from the Circle to Willow No Parking either side from 3:00-6:30pm
  **Main Street from Willow to South Street  No parking either side from 3:00-11:00pm

  ** These are the two areas of biggest concern as parking is parking is permitted on Main Street from the Traffic Circle to South Street up until 3:00PM then vehicles have to be removed in preparation for the parade. After the parade, vehicles may park on Main Street from the Traffic Circle to Willow Avenue but there is NO PARKING on Main Street from Willow Ave to South Street for the remainder of the night due to the large influx of pedestrian traffic

  Parking is permitted at the Cornwall Middle School, The Cornwall Elementary School at Lee Road and any street that doesn’t have any posted restrictions

• 
  NY Forward Community Survey & Public Workshop Announcement

  NY Forward Community Survey & Public Workshop Announcement
  Community Survey: Complete prior to Sept 9th 
  Public Workshop: Sept 15th

• 
  Music in the Park rescheduled to Monday 8-8-22

  Due to unexpected showers, Sunday’s Aug 7 concert featuring Alex Prizgintas has been rescheduled to tonight, Monday Aug 8, 6:30-8:00pm at Riverlight Park.

• Special Meeting - Monday, October 24, 2022

  Monday, October 24, 2022 at 4:15 p.m. in the Town Hall conference room the Cornwall Town Board will hold a Special Meeting to temporarily assign a paper of record.