News

News
Village heading into strange new territory
Woodbury voters start something new


By Chris McKenna
October 29, 2006

Times Herald-Record
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Woodbury — A strange new chapter in the history of this town will begin Thursday when voters elect the first mayor and trustees of the village they created almost three months ago.

If the motto of Eliot Spitzer's campaign for governor is, "Day One: Everything Changes," the slogan here might be, "Day One: Now What Do We Do?"

OK, let's get this straight: This new board will rule the Village of Woodbury, which is practically the same as the Town of Woodbury. But the Town Board still exists and retains control — at least for the time being — of a roughly $16 million budget and a full roster of cops and other employees.

And how exactly is that supposed to work?

Below is a summary of how this experiment in local government — a first in New York — came to pass and some of the complicated issues that attorneys have been flipping through law books to resolve.



Background
On Aug. 10, residents voted overwhelmingly to incorporate a 36.8-square-mile village encompassing all of the Town of Woodbury except its share of Harriman (which straddles Woodbury and Monroe). The new Village of Woodbury formally came into existence Aug. 28.



Why
The proposal surfaced in 2004 amid hysteria that Kiryas Joel — the fast-growing Hasidic community next door — would commandeer Woodbury land through annexation or by incorporating a second village. Voters hoped that forming a village would hold Kiryas Joel and its dense, multifamily housing at bay.



The reality
Forming one big village did prevent any smaller ones, Hasidic or otherwise, from cropping up in Woodbury. But it did nothing to stop or hinder annexation, since state law allows one village to annex land from another.



The weirdness factor
Woodbury appears to be the first place in New York to create a village with borders nearly — but not quite — identical to those of the town. As a result, two governing bodies — the new Village Board and the Town Board — will rule over virtually the same territory.



Meanwhile, next door
Residents of southern Blooming Grove, also motivated by fear of an expanding Kiryas Joel, voted in June to form a village. But theirs takes up only 4.8 square miles and poses none of the complex issues that Woodbury officials now face.



If only
If Woodbury's town and village borders were identical, a single government could be formed to eliminate the confusion. (New York has five "coterminous" town-villages operating that way, including three in Westchester County: Scarsdale, Harrison and Mount Kisco.) Woodbury couldn't go "coterminous" because it already had a small piece of incorporated territory — Harriman.



The transition
The new village will truly come into its own on June 1, when the town and Orange County begin sharing revenue with the village, and the village's new Planning Board begins reviewing development applications.



The seven-twelfths clause
On June 1, the town must give the village seven-twelfths of its taxes and assessments unless the two boards have worked out another arrangement. But that fraction applies only to revenue to be spent on services that the village is taking over from the town.



Services
A big question mark. At this point, all of the candidates say they want to preserve the town services, which would mean little transfer of revenue and oversight to the village board. (Nobody has suggested, for example, making the police force a village department.) But it's hard to predict what officials will decide after they take office.



Woodbury elections
The Village of Woodbury's election will take place from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Woodbury Senior Center.



CPW: Citizens for the Preservation of Woodbury

WC: Woodbury CommUNITY Party

RCG: Right Choice Government party

BM: Bull Moose party



Mayor (expires April 6, 2009)

Ralph Caruso (CPW)

Stephanie Berean-Weeks (WC)

David Sutz (RCG)

Anthony F. Cirigliano (BM)



Trustee (two seats expiring April 7, 2008)

Neil Crouse (WC)

Michael Kling (WC)

Adrienne F. Fuchs (CPW)

Benjamin L. Meyers (CPW)



Trustee (two seats expiring April 6, 2009)

William F. Mullooly (CPW)

George Pedersen (CPW)

Joann Stabile (WC)

Patrick Kinney (WC)