New Chester law gives local volunteers a property tax exemption

Chester’s town board capped off April with several updates during the latest town board meeting, including an exemption law for volunteers, new town employees and an in-progress update for Davidson Drive Holdings.

Firefighters and ambulance workers’ exemption

The board adopted a law that provides local volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers with a 10 percent property tax exemption for their residential properties.

Town Supervisor Robert Valentine read a letter from the Chester Fire District that explained the law’s significance for volunteers.

“Members of the Chester Fire District are solely volunteers of dedicated women and men of the district who spent hundreds of uncompensated hours preparing for emergencies that we hope will not arise,” Valentine read. “The requisite training, in addition to answering alarms, takes members away from their families and makes recruitment difficult. This exemption will help in retention and should also draw new members into our ranks.”

At the end of the discussion, Valentine offered: “Thank you, volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers. We do appreciate you.”

Sponsor A Flag fundraiser

Tom Becker, a member of the Chester Cemetery Association, announced that the cemetery board will host its 10th annual Sponsor a Flag Fundraiser this Memorial Day Weekend. A sponsorship costs five dollars per flag and all fund will go toward maintaining Chester’s cemetery.

“Last year, over 500 flags were placed along the main street and other village streets in memory of and in honor of or in compliments of an individual. Traditionally, this is the weekend of the Columbus 5K Race and beautifies our roadways for the race and the weekend,” said Becker.

“If you would like to sponsor a flag, please contact Betty Anne Riley at (845) 742-4077, Rosemary at (845) 469-6427, Fred at (845) 469-4374, and myself Tom, at (845) 551-3226,” he continued.

Town employee updates

The board approved several applicants for various town-relation positions, including hiring Matthew Kenny as a full-time park employee, Robert Vincent Smith as a part-time PAC employee and transferring Nicholas Contino, a part-time police officer, to a full-time position.

The board also accepted the resignation of Desiree Petraro, the town’s former police clerk who worked in the department for a decade.

“I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to work for you and this department as a collective whole. I’m glad I was able to learn and develop all that I did in the last 10 years. Thank you,” Petraro wrote in her resignation letter.

Dan Mooney dedication

The board motioned to name the town’s new T-ball field after Dan Mooney, former president of the Chester Little League who recently passed away.

“People have voiced their opinion on dedicating something at little league to Dan Mooney because he was very influential and loved by the community,” Valentine said, adding that more information regarding Mooney will be provided at a later meeting.

Davidson Drive update

Valentine provided an update on Davidson Drive Holdings, a warehouse project coming to Chester. He explained that the owners of Pomegranate Solutions and Davidson Drive Holdings are currently arranging and agreement that would allow the latter’s trucks to drive through Davidson Road instead of Lake Station Road.

“Hopefully this thing can be settled up and it would be a big help for people who live on Lake Station, because I know it’s not a good situation there with the trucks,” Valentine said.