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Board declares local State of Emergency for State Route 208 after series of crashes
Summary
After Joel Stern summarized at least eight crashes on State Route 208 in 40 days — including a shuttle bus rollover that injured 10 — the board declared a 30‑day local State of Emergency to pursue emergency measures to improve road safety.
Joel Stern, confidential assistant to the mayor, told the board the village has recorded at least eight motor‑vehicle accidents on State Route 208 in the past 40 days, including a March 20 shuttle bus rollover that injured 10 passengers and multiple head‑on collisions and crashes involving a school bus. "This carnage has to stop," Stern said, and he asked the board to declare a local State of Emergency to access emergency powers and remedies.
Trustee Zalmon Rosner moved Resolution No. 034 to declare a local State of Emergency; the motion was seconded by Mayor George Kalaj and passed 4 Ayes, 1 Absent (Trustee Yitzchok Feldman). The board recorded the initial emergency period as 30 days and authorized staff and counsel to explore available legal and administrative measures to address safety along Route 208.
The resolution and Stern’s chronology list specific crashes on March 20, April 2, April 7, April 9, April 10, April 22 (two crashes) and May 4; the minutes note injured persons in multiple incidents, including children on a school bus. The board did not specify a timeline of capital improvements in the minutes; next steps are for staff and counsel to report back with options under emergency authority.
