Police, animal control services to remain as is under drafted agreement

The division of services between the town and village of Woodbury is likely to remain unchanged after the two boards came to a consensus over their shared intermunicipal agreement (IMA) during a special work session held on August 12.

While not present at the meeting, Woodbury Village Mayor Andrew Giacomazza has repeatedly expressed his desire for the police department to come under the control of the village. As stated in the village newsletter, the mayor claimed his desire to bring the police department under village supervision was because village departments such as highway, buildings, and fire need to work closely with the police.

Village Trustee Susan Fries-Ciriello, who was present at the work session, raised the issue about bringing the police department over to the village to achieve a more seamless relationship between various departments. She asked if the town would be open to this change at another time.

Town Supervisor Kate Luciani countered that the costs for moving a department from town to village would not be as easy as Giacomazza claims.

“If it’s not broke why fix it? You know our police department’s doing great. They’re doing a great job. They’re doing a great job for the town.”

Village Trustee James Freiband expanded on Luciani’s claims, referencing earlier transfers of services when the village was first created, and said that it wasn’t as easy as people anticipated. Village Trustee Matthew Fabbro added that he didn’t believe any major changes to the IMA would serve either the village or the town well.

Under the proposed agreement, animal control will also remain the responsibility of the town. Like the police department, Giacomazza has shared his desire to put that department under the village purview.

During the work session, the village and town discussed how to best handle the maintenance of village parks if the parks and recreation department remained under the purview of the town. Town Councilman Brandon Calore shared his desire to add language that specifies parkland fees, noting that such amounts were present in previous IMAs.

The village and town representatives also discussed emergency declarations and how mitigation plans would be handled. Under the current IMA, this is the responsibility of the town. Desiree Potvin, who serves as both town clerk and village treasurer, shared her belief that the pre-disaster mitigation plan had to involve the village because it impacts highway, sewer and water, which are under the village’s control.

Fries-Ciriello also suggested reviewing the possibility of adding a statement into the agreement that gives the village the right to declare an emergency.

While the two municipalities agreed on the working draft of the agreement, the document still needs to be reviewed by the town and village attorneys and approved by each municipality.