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Votes at a glance: Port Jervis council approves dispatcher hire, sets hearings, OKs bills and events
Summary
At its Jan. 27 meeting the Port Jervis City Council approved a series of routine administrative measures: hiring a part-time dispatcher, paying city bills, approving tax base percentages, accepting a surplus sale, approving events and agreements, and scheduling public hearings for two local laws.
The Port Jervis City Council on Jan. 27 approved several routine administrative measures and scheduling items, including a part-time police dispatcher hire, payment of city bills, acceptance of assessor base percentages, sale of surplus items, and scheduling public hearings for two proposed local laws.
The meeting record shows the council handled a mix of formal votes and informational reports. Most measures passed by voice vote with little extended debate.
Key council actions recorded at the meeting:
- Hire: The council approved hiring Vanette Davenport as a part-time police dispatcher for the City of Port Jervis, with an effective date recorded in the meeting as Jan. 28, 2025. The motion was seconded by Councilman Jeffrey Rhodes and passed by voice vote.
- Hearings scheduled: The council set a public hearing for Local Law No. 2 of 02/2025 (appeal process for taxi-driver licensing) for Feb. 10, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. and declared it a Type 2 action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The council also set a public hearing for Local Law No. 3 of 02/2025 (adding 8-, 10- and 12-inch water meter sizes to the city fee chart) for Feb. 10, 2025, at 6:32 p.m. and likewise declared it a Type 2 action under SEQRA. Both items were scheduled by motion and passed by voice vote.
- Bills and fiscal items: The council approved payment of bills totaling $489,852.78 across funds (general fund $423,505.46; water fund $52,447.96; sewer fund $13,543.67; trust and agency $355.69). The meeting record lists larger general-fund items, including health insurance ($315,218.05) and several vendor payments. The council also approved the assessor's current base percentages for the 2025 assessment roll and authorized the city clerk/treasurer to sign the related paperwork.
- Surplus and property: The council approved the sale of surplus vinyl records stored at the Barnum House for $500 and authorized the sale per the motion on the record.
- Events and community programs: The council approved the seventh annual Saint Patrick's Day parade for March 2, 2025, and approved several recreation and community events listed in the agenda (including a Delaware 5K on May 4 and a youth camp in July). The council also approved a 12-hour Port service biking event for May 10, 2025.
- Community Development Agency (CDA): The council recorded progress on multiple grants and projects led by the CDA, including a kickoff meeting for a 2024 Phase 1 CDBG grant for $1,500,000 for water filtration plant improvements and the initiation of the Federal Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant introduction. The council approved an agreement with Drapper Drafken Consulting Group to provide technical support to the CDA as recorded in the meeting.
- Personnel and resignations: The council accepted a resignation from a long-serving DPW employee, Mickey Lane, effective Jan. 30, 2025, and thanked him for service; the resignation was accepted by motion and vote.
Other discussion items included a police-committee update on planned civil service exams, snow-emergency parking enforcement and potential towing for repeat violators, DPW updates on garbage/recycling pickup schedules and pothole repair, and a report that PJ TV (formerly Access 23) is resuming broadcasts. The council set its next regular meeting for Feb. 5, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
Most motions passed by voice vote; the meeting record does not provide roll-call vote tallies for these items.
