Middletown council approves fleet disposals, project funding shifts and $97,500 settlement

Middletown Common Council members voted on a package of operational and capital actions at their Sept. 16, 2025, meeting, approving disposal of four police vehicles, authorizing replacement funding for a totaled patrol car, allocating local funds and bond measures for the O & W rehabilitation and a South Street parking garage, accepting a lacrosse-equipment donation, and approving a $97,500 litigation settlement.

The actions are part of several routine and project-focused agenda items the council took up in a single session. Council leadership said grant awards and reimbursements require the city to put up initial funds or convert temporary financing to permanent borrowing before grants reimburse eligible costs.

Most items passed on voice vote after motions by the presiding council member and second by Council President Rodriguez. The items the council approved included: scrapping four decommissioned police vehicles the chief described as heavily worn and not suitable for auction; using insurance proceeds and an internal transfer to replace a police car that had been totaled in a crash; creating a temporary capital line tied to a $250,000 grant for an exercise area at Maple Hill Park; obligating $2,660,000 from the general fund toward the O & W project in place of previously intended ARPA spending; converting temporary borrowing for the South Street parking garage to permanent financing, with the council noting a DASNY grant of about $2.5 million toward the project; accepting new and used lacrosse equipment…