Food truck festivities, highway superintendent shift and Rye Hill comments at Monroe Town Board meeting

The Monroe town board meeting on September 19 opened with a moment of silence for Anthony Completo, the town’s major accounts representative for Marangi Disposal in Middletown, a Korean War veteran who passed away on September 14. His funeral was held on September 20 at the Church of Anatasia in Harriman.

“Tony was our representative from Marangi, taking care of the garbage. He negotiated a contract as recently as July, which, for the next two years, has a zero percent increase,” said Tony Cardone, town supervisor.

Next, the board announced the return of the Food Truck Festival, a local event featuring 20 trucks worth of on-the-go cuisine, live music, a beer garden, and other activities. It will be hosted at 61 O&R Road this October 15 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

“The beneficiary of the day will be Monroe Gives, which is probably one of the best organizations in Monroe holiday season for giving back,” said Sal Scancarello, a town councilman. “It’s always great for the community, so come on out.”

Following this, the board honored John Scherne, former highway superintendent, who retired after 35 years of working in the department. “John has done an admirable job...he is going to be missed, his efforts have just been infallible since he became highway superintendent,” said Cardone as he and the rest of the board stood with Scherne.

And in a passing of the torch, the board swore in James A. Patterson as the new highway superintendent. He, the board and Scherne took a photo together in celebration of the occasion. “Looking forward to working with you. Not only on highway, but on water,” said Mary Bingham, a town councilwoman.

The last portion of the meeting was dedicated to comments from several residents regarding the Rye Hill Preservation. Matt Ladka, a Monroe resident, inquired about the time frame that SunBrook Partners, the project’s developer, has until it needs to submit its revisions to the town board.

“Do they have a time limit on how long they can present or come back to the board with their proposed project? Or is it indefinite?,” Ladka asked.

Carol Scully, another resident, extended her gratitude to the town board for their efforts, but stressed that the project must be considered carefully.

“They do not deserve the malicious libel remarks made about them, in particular, on social media...in my opinion, they have put their heart and soul into doing what is best for the town,” Scully said. “I am not in agreement with the extreme plan of this high-density project, but neither was the planning board or the town board. Compromises are going to have to be made.”

Tom Lawrence, a fellow resident, explained that the development should be built in an area that needs the project’s size and capacity more than Monroe.

“The Rye Hill Preserve project belongs in a city; it doesn’t belong out here in a pristine woodland. I don’t know if the developer has reached out to Newburgh or Poughkeepsie or Middletown...it belongs in a shovel-ready site,” Lawrence said.

Councilman Mike McGinn said that SunBrook Partners has an indefinite amount of time for revisions while the project is currently on hold, and another developer could step in if they come to an agreement with the land owners. He also noted that, like the previous plan, the board will need to reevaluate the project once they receive the revisions.

“Anything they come back with is substantially going to be a new plan. Whether it’s a new application or not, we are going to be treating it as a new submission and taking it step-by-step.”