Middletown Board of Estimate accepts grants and donations, adopts recreation pass change and approves multiple utility bill adjustments

The Middletown Board of Estimate met on June 12, 2025, and approved a package of routine municipal items, including acceptance of donations and grants, a change to the recreation season-pass structure, banking and payment-service changes, approval of a school resource officer contract for the 2025–26 school year and several individual water- and sewer-billing adjustments.

Board member Massey called the meeting to order and led votes on each item. Most motions were moved by Massey and seconded by Rodriguez; the transcript records verbal approvals with “Aye” but does not record individual vote counts.

The board accepted a $1,000 Lions Club Camp scholarship donation. The motion was moved by Massey and seconded by Rodriguez; the transcript records the motion as approved.

On a separate item the board voted to accept state grant funds secured through Assemblywoman Gunther totaling $250,000. According to the materials discussed at the meeting, $200,000 will go toward a parking lot for the O&W project and $50,000 will go to an alley improvement project. Board members voted to authorize use of the general fund balance as needed to record the grant acceptance and related accounting.

The board approved an amendment to the recreation and parks fee schedule to replace monthly swimming-pool passes with season passes while keeping the resident price the same. The adopted structure includes a family-of-four season pass priced at $138 for City of Middletown residents. The transcript record for the nonresident season-pass amount is unclear (it appears as "3.45" in the meeting record); the nonresident season-pass amount was not specified clearly in the transcript.

The board also approved administrative and financial-service changes: it authorized transferring municipal credit-card services from TD Bank to Orange Bank and Trust Company and authorized closing the TD Bank credit-card accounts and establishing new accounts with Orange Bank and Trust. The board authorized the mayor to sign related agreements.

Related to point-of-sale/payment processing, members authorized the city to accept Zelle payments for municipal pool admissions. A staff member explained Zelle is a bank-to-bank transfer platform (distinct from app-based services such as Venmo or Apple Pay) and that the city would establish a dedicated deposit account for Zelle receipts.

The board approved a budget adjustment within the fire department to record a $52,000 state-aid award from Senator Scoopis' office for personal protective equipment. The motion was moved by Rodriguez and seconded by Massey and approved as recorded.

On intergovernmental and personnel matters, the board authorized the mayor to sign the school resource officer (SRO) contract for the 2025–26 school year. Leonora (recorded in the meeting as a board member) said the only change to the contract was the hourly rate; all other terms remain the same. The contract continues to provide five SRO positions, the board was told.

The board also considered several water- and sewer-billing adjustments presented by staff and approved reductions or referrals on multiple accounts: - 4 Winthrop Ave (account holder listed as Alice Palom/Palam in the transcript): staff said a landscaper left a hose running; the board voted to adjust the billing consumption for the period to reflect 10,000 gallons. - 8–10 Park Place (two-family rental): staff said an underground leak was repaired by a licensed plumber (invoice from Steve Dodd Plumbing for $1,300). The board voted to reduce the billed consumption to 25,000 gallons for the affected period. - 18 Woodrow (owner-occupied): the board voted to reduce two billing periods (8/1/24 and 12/1/24) to 40,000 gallons each after reviewing prior readings. - A single-family owner-occupied account was noted as enrolled in the customer portal and eligible for relief due to financial hardship (the transcript records that staff indicated a hardship; no specific adjustment amount is detailed in the meeting record). - 22 Commonwealth (two-family): a board member asked for a meter check and the board referred the account back to public works for additional investigation rather than approving an immediate billing adjustment.

After completing the listed agenda adjustments, the board adjourned.

Votes at a glance - 3.2 Lions Club Camp scholarship donation ($1,000): moved by Massey; seconded by Rodriguez; outcome recorded as approved (verbal "Aye"). - 3.3 State grant acceptance via Assemblywoman Gunther (total $250,000: $200,000 O&W parking lot; $50,000 alley project): moved by board member; seconded by Rodriguez; recorded as approved. - 3.4 Amendment to recreation fee schedule (monthly passes → season passes; family-of-four resident season pass $138): moved by board member; seconded by Rodriguez; recorded as approved. Nonresident season-pass amount unclear in transcript. - 3.5 Transfer municipal credit-card services to Orange Bank and Trust Company; close TD Bank accounts: moved by Massey; seconded by Leonora; recorded as approved. - 3.6 Accept Zelle payments for municipal pool admissions: moved by board member; seconded by Rodriguez; recorded as approved. - 3.7 Fire department budget adjustment to record $52,000 state aid for PPE (Senator Scoopis' office): moved by Rodriguez; seconded by Massey; recorded as approved. - 3.8 Approve SRO contract for 2025–26 (five SROs; hourly rate updated): moved by board member; seconded by Rodriguez; recorded as approved. - Water/sewer adjustments (multiple accounts): motions to adjust individual accounts as described above were moved and seconded and recorded as approved where specified; the 22 Commonwealth account was referred to public works for a meter check rather than adjusted.

All motions are recorded in the meeting transcript as having passed by voice vote ("Aye"); the transcript does not record individual roll-call tallies for the affirmative votes.

Sources: Middletown Board of Estimate meeting transcript, June 12, 2025.