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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Accident on Broadway
I n B rief
Dept. of Health offers same-day
blood testing on Dec. 14, 15
Cheryl Gross
A three-car accident Tuesday at 10 a.m. on Broadway left one pedestrian injured. One vehicle parked at 492 Broadway was
hit with enough force it was pushed onto the sidewalk and pinned a pedestrian, shearing a street sign. CIty of Newburgh
Firefighters ran from Engine #3 building and removed the pedestrian from under a car and preceded to treat her until
further assistance arrived. The pedestrian was transported to St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital via Mobile Life for evaluation and
treatment.
Fire department faces major layoffs
Continued from page 1
going to go out the window.”
The budget also brought cuts in overtime for the fire
fighters, he pointed out. “When we’re down to bare
bones, where we only have three people on the fire
truck,” Ahlers said. “If one guy takes off, that will result
in overtime.”
Town of Newburgh
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“The only way to cut overtime is to have enough
people,” Ahlers asserted. When asked what he thought
the ultimate outcome of losing 12 fire fighters would be,
he didn’t sugar coat it. “Injuries are going to go up and
the fires that we have are going to be bigger,” he said.
City officials defended the decision not to fund the
positions Tuesday, saying the money simply wasn’t there.
“Even if we raised taxes all the way to the tax cap, there
would have been layoffs,” said city Comptroller Katie
Mack. “It was just one of the difficult choices we had to
make this year.”
Mack noted the 12 positions would have cost about
$1.2 million for the year. “We are just turning the corner
on increasing revenue sources,” Mack said, including
parking lots and meters at the waterfront, but current
revenues are not sufficient to cover positions previously
paid for by a grant.
The comptroller was asked why the city hadn’t
planned ahead to fund the positions when a third SAFER
grant was not expected. “It’s not that they aren’t the
priority, they just aren’t the only priority,” she said. “The
question was, which fire we should put out first?”
The city is currently in negotiations with the
International Association of Fire Fighters union to
hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.
City fire officials have been in touch with the offices of
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney and Senator Chuck
Schumer to inquire about possible assistance, Ahlers
said. “We’re trying to find a solution,” he said.
“We’re talking to other fire departments to try to
find these guys places to work,” said Ahlers on Monday.
“They feel like they’ve been let down. After all their hard
work, the city is just throwing it away.”
Newburgh-area residents can walk in to
Cornerstone Family Healthcare to receive a lab
order and a blood test for perfluorooctane sulfonate
(PFOS) on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15.
Testing is free to residents concerned about their
past exposure to PFOS and other perfluorinated
chemicals (PFCs) in the city’s public drinking-water
supply. The blood-testing program runs through
Dec. 31.
Residents with lab orders may also be tested at
the following labs: LabCorp in the Hudson Valley
Plaza, BioReference Laboratories in the basement
of the Cornerstone building, Quest Diagnostics on
Fullerton Avenue, and St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital
in Newburgh.
Cornerstone will offer lab orders and blood tests
from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14 and from
7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 at Cornerstone
Family Healthcare, located at 147 Lake Street.
To request a lab order or for more information
about the PFOS blood-testing program, contact the
New York State Department of Health at 518-402-
7950.
- Shantal Riley
Fire District elections scheduled
Andrew Zarutskie, Town Clerk of the Town
of Newburgh, has announced that the volunteer
fire departments of the Town of Newburgh have
informed his office of their scheduled annual
elections in 2017, as is required by New York State
law. Each will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 12 from 6
to 9 p.m.Except where otherwise noted, each district
will elect one fire commissioner to a five-year term
beginning on January 1, 2018 and ending December
31, 2022.
Cronomer Valley Fire District - The election will
be held at the fire house located at 296 North Plank
Road (Route 32).
Coldenham Fire District -- The election will be
held at the Coldenham firehouse located at 511
Coldenham Road in the Town of Montgomery.
Orange Lake Fire District -- The election will be
to elect one Fire District Commissioner for a five
year term beginning on January 1, 2018 and also to
elect one Fire District Commissioner for a three year
term beginning on January 1, 2018 and ending on
December 31, 2020. The election will be held at the
Fire District Offices located at 407 South Plank Road
(Route 52), Suite 5. This is the Stewart Shop Plaza, at
the corner of Route 52 and Monarch Drive.
Good Will Fire District -- The election will be
conducted on Tuesday, December 12, from 6 p.m. to
9 p.m. and will be held in the showroom of Barton
Chevrolet at 800 Auto Park Place. It will also be to
vote upon a Bond Resolution.
Middle Hope Fire District -- The election will
at the firehouse known as Station No. 2, located at
5172 Route 9W at the intersection of Route 9W and
Balmville Road.