Middletown board approves senior funding amendments, staff pay changes, water study and multiple budget transfers

The Middletown governing board, with the full board present, approved a series of budget transfers, grant acceptances, personnel classification changes and utility-billing adjustments during a meeting that covered senior services, public works and water funding.

Board members approved an amendment and final authorization related to additional funding for the Mulberry House Senior Center and agreed to keep a contracted instructor as a city employee with expanded paid setup and breakdown time. The board also approved internal transfers in the public works budget to cover recent vehicle purchases, accepted a grant for senior-center bathroom renovations and security cameras, authorized transfers to address final year-end overdrafts, voted to begin a feasibility study of an alternate water source, and decided multiple water-and-sewer billing adjustments.

The senior-services item included a request from Mulberry House for amendment number 7 to accept additional funding reported in the transcript as $25,003,635 from the Orange County Office for the Aging and to accept associated required documents and insurance certificates. The board approved a motion to authorize the mayor to sign the documents. The agenda also asked the board to authorize the treasurer to place part of the funds into the government-aid line rather than an expense line to cover outstanding payments from December; the board approved the related motions.

The board addressed instructor contract and classification issues at Mulberry House. Staff presented two staffing options for Elizabeth Muschton, identified in the record as a recreational leader and yoga instructor, and recommended keeping hourly instructors on the city payroll rather than engaging them as outside contractors to avoid recurring insurance-certificate problems. The board amended the proposed arrangement to specify paid time totaling 1 hour and 45 minutes per class for Muschton (a 45-minute class plus a half-hour setup and a half-hour breakdown) and approved that amendment unanimously. The board discussed, but did not at this time add, funding for Mitchell Sailor; staff indicated funding for him may already exist in the personnel line.

Public-works and capital items approved included: a transfer within the Department of Public Works budget to cover the cost of recently purchased vehicles (motion by Commissioner Rodriguez, seconded by Commissioner Massey, approved), and acceptance of a grant routed through a state senator’s office to renovate the senior center bathroom and add cameras on city property. The transcript records the grant amount inconsistently (stated as both $275,000 and $250,000 in different remarks); the board voted to accept the grant and authorized the mayor as the city’s authorized representative and the treasurer to establish capital lines.

On personnel classification, the board reviewed the exemption status and salary adjustments required by New York State law for four employees named in the record. After review, the board determined the employees meet exempt criteria and approved salary adjustments so they meet the year’s minimum exempt-salary threshold (the transcript cites an approximate minimum of $60,000 for the year). The item was presented as a choice between converting employees to hourly (which would trigger overtime rules) or designating them exempt; the board approved designating them exempt to preserve scheduling flexibility and avoid overtime costs.

On fiscal housekeeping, the board approved a list of final budget overdrafts and authorized the treasurer to transfer within the citywide budget for fiscal year 2024; staff noted a preliminary general-fund surplus of about $1,600,000. The board also authorized the Indigo Source Water Feasibility Study, described in the record as a partnership with Orange County and the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). The feasibility study’s total cost is reported in the transcript as approximately $714,000 with funding described as $100,000 from the city’s water fund balance (approved for transfer), $100,000 from the county and roughly $514,215 from the Orange County IDA; the transcript contains slight inconsistencies in the totals and line-item amounts.

The board handled several water- and sewer-billing adjustments: a request involving 10 William Street was tabled due to concerns about an unlicensed plumber and a possible meter issue; an adjustment for 18 Woodrose Court was approved to reduce billed consumption by 40,000 gallons; and an adjustment for 16 KC Lane was approved to reduce billed consumption to 22,000 gallons. The board directed the Office of Economic Development to prepare a request for proposals for the sale of 404 North Street and asked DPW staff to confirm there are no easements affecting the parcel; the board did not adopt a resolution for the sale but left the item on the agenda for follow-up.

Other routine items were approved by unanimous voice votes, including the minutes from the April 10, 2025 meeting and a motion to adjourn. The board concluded its agenda after addressing the listed items.

The meeting record contains several numeric and name inconsistencies in the spoken transcript (see clarifying details). Where specifics were not stated or were inconsistent on the record, the article reports the transcript wording rather than making external corrections.