WELCOME TO CUPON CHESTNUT RIDGE NEW YORK

 1-  35 Haller Crescent, the property that was brought to the attention of the County  Code Enforcement Office has been found to have additional violations regarding  the contractors.  last Sunday AM at about 9AM (9/22)  I observed 2 trucks parked  at the property and few workers doing work around the pad site that has been  established outside the garage  Neither truck had a county sticker on it and  both had been at the property early on- One truck clearly had the name Cioffi on  it and a phone number from Haverstraw.  Ed Sheridan took pictures of the truck  and the site and the information was forwarded to Julie Glazer from County  Code.

   Julie advised that she issued violations for the rough carpentry contractor and  the excavating contractor as well after 9/22/19 and the GC, Cornerstrone  Builders.  Additionally she contracted our building inspector, Russell, G and  because the Foundation looked rather large for an addition.    To this end I  have put in paperwork to FOIL contraction at this property.

2-  A resident on Briar Ct has advised that the owners of 27 El Dorado, a project  that is never ending and already has 2 elevators installed a huge generator on  the property- no doubt for the Mikva and the 2 elevators.  I am going to FOIL  this property plans as well.  While the generator is in, the question is, has it  been inspected and did the plans allow for this install.

AGAIN,  members, please report this stuff  when you see the work being done as it is  easier to address early on.

3-  I want to remind you of the CUPON meeting on 10/3 at the Ambulance Building at  7PM.  We will be hosting Mike Diederich, the most qualified candidate for the DA  position in the upcoming race.  Bring a neighbor or 2, this is important for the  Village and the County in terms of fair and equitable law enforcement and equal  application of all laws.

See  you all on Thursday eve.

Hilda 

 

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Message September 3rd

Hello  members of CUPON of Chestnut Ridge and followers- I have some interesting things  to report. 

1- There is no movement on either of the lawsuits filed after the Village  passed the House of Worship law in March, 2019.  The Federal Suit which focuses  on the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and asserts that the residents  of Chestnut Ridge were not all heard when the Resolution was being considered.  Rather, the Village had decided to pass the resolution no matter what evidence  was placed before the Board and without any consideration for opposition  interests against the proposed law.  This action was filed in April, 2019 and  thus far we have heard nothing about its review or consideration by the US  District Court in White Plains  The plan is to write a letter to the Court  carefully stating that this matter has been before the Court for almost 6 months  at this point and as k the Court to move it forward.

 The State Article 78 matter has not been decided yet, as well.  There  have been numerous legal contacts brought by the Orthodox Jewish Coalition and  the Village but there has not been a decision about the matter of Environmental  Impact which is the basis for our action.  This suit is NOT an RLUIPA matter- we  are concerned about the tremendous environmental impact the HOW law will have   on this village- traffic, drainage, water run off, impact on the residential  nature of this beautiful and  diverse community, and the impact it will have on  the residential nature of the community is obvious.  I have been in regular  contact with Steve Mogel and we both agree that the likelihood of a decision  being rendered over the next several weeks as the High Holy Days approach is  negligible.  We simply must continue to be vigilant  regarding ANY new  construction and building activity within the confines of Chestnut  Ridge. 

You can be certain that when we learn of any movement on either of the  suits we will be in immediate contact with CUPONers.

2- On 9/10/19 the office of Consumer Affairs was kind enough to allow a  representative, Julie Glazer, to come and give a terrific presentation about  what this office does and what it CAN do to combat the problem of illegal  construction.  She has  a great many tools available top her to insure  compliance by contractors and builders.  I use #35 Haller Crescent as an example  because I reproted illegal contractors there several times, including Sunday  morning, 9/22/19 at 9AM.  The contractor had trucks without license stickers and  was unlicensed.  He had day laborers which allows his business to reported to  the NYS Department of Labor for no payment of worker's comp, etc.  Again,  yesterday the same contractor was there.  We photographed the trucks without  stickers and called the Rockland County sheriff to report the activity.  By noon  the work had stopped. 

Keep in mind, if this Village cared, the fact that the company was  working, whether licensed or unlicensed, on Sunday would have been grounds to  take action since work of this sort cannot be done on weekends.

  On weekends, please call the  Rockland County Sheriff's Dept to report such activity at 845-638-5401.

  During the week you can call the Office of Consumer Affairs at  845-364-3901.  After hours during the week- call the sheriff's Dept.  Consumer  Affairs is open from 8-4:30PM.

3-As you know the Village picnic was held on 9/8/19 at Children's Park.   CUPON of Cr decided to buy some goodies to advertise our existence and also to  fund raise a bit.  We had spinner and balloons made with the logo of CUPON of Cr  on them and magnets for CUPONers to put on cars.  By the end of the day our  presence was known as all the children who came by left with balloons to  advertise our presence, spinner and potato chips in small snack bags.  We have  lots of the magnets left and will continue to sell them- they are $3 each or 2  for $5.

4- I called WRCR on Friday AM at 8:45AM as our Town Supervisor, Michael  Specht has a 15 minute show each Friday.  My goal was to ask about Children's  Park and its very deteriorated state.  Supv Specht advised that the Town had  chosen a contractor to rebuild or restore the bridge between Pascack Road and  the park and as soon as the contract is signed, hopefully construction will  begin!!  I also asked about the lousy garbage cans which were to be replaced  last year.  He advised that by next spring all the Town parks will have new  trash cans as well as a sufficient quantity for the park..  Last I asked about  the caution tape at the point on the blacktopped path that is dangerous when it  rains as the water overflows and the stones near this small creek are not fixed  in position- in short would  be easy to fall and hurt your yourself.  I reminded  him that I HAD sent him pictures of this area along with copies to the  Director.  His response was that he would contact  the parks department to learn  he status of this issue.  I forgot about the water aeration spout but any of  you are  welcome to make that call on behalf of all of us.  call either Supv  Specht at Town hall at 845-357-5100 or the Director of Parks at  845-354-3901.

5-  As you all know on November we are facing some important challenges in  the area of Village representatives to the County legislator and District  Attorney.  Without getting into either of these issues too deeply I will say  that CUPON of CR wants to insure that all voters are informed of the issues and  the candidates.  We have allowed All candidates who attend our CUPON meetings  and their platforms.  To that end those of us who are actively involved believe  that it is critically important to allow Mike Diederich to speak to residents of  CUPON and the greater community to offer his platform.  He is the most qualified  candidate and is facing big challenges- this opponent is on 3 lines on the  ballot and Mike one  That's not the challenge- the challenge  is to insure that  Mike Diederich, the candidate with broad experience including as a prosecutor  and a defense attorney and a military attorney while serving the US on  deployment  in IRAQ gets the best opportunity to meet the members of all the  communities and demonstrate that he is the BEST candidate.  his opponent has  NEVER prosecuted a case in his tenure as an attorney - he always served on the  bench and has also worked for the county as the attorney for the Attorney for  the health Department- This is not sufficient experience to run a huge  department constantly challenged with issues relating to illegal housing, fraud,  and all the multitude of other challenges that our DA faces.

 To properly introduce Mike and give you an opportunity to meet him ,ask  questions, and insure that you understand the critical nature of this election  on 10/3/19 after a brief CUPON of CR meeting Mike  will be at the Ambulance Corp  Building on Red Schoolhouse Road from 7-9PM to discuss his platform and his  vision for insuring the District Attorney's office is again engaged in the  business of upholding the laws and applying its legal expertise and mandates  fairly in this county.
 

6- I wanted to advise you all that Chief Wiedel of the Town of Ramapo Police  Department stopped at our table at the Village Picnic and talked briefly about  his concern about school bus complaints.  he seemed to actually be concerned and  to hopefully want to make a difference.  In order for the Town Police to act on  any complaints the PD must have actionable info.  If there are buses that are  regularly driving in a way that is dangerous such as speeding, u turns, honking  horns for unreasonable time frames, blocking streets, etc  they should reported  to the Town Police at 845-357-2400 BUT in order to be effective you need a  license plate number, the name if you are able to decipher, a phone number on  the bus.  You must have something specific to allow the PD to follow up.
AND when you call to complain ask to speak to the Chief or a Sergeant.   Don't just leave with the dispatcher who might not be able to get it to someone  who can actually talk to you.  AGAIN, specific information.  And, time of day is  great also as these buses are on a schedule.

7-On my agenda is a meeting with a staff member of State Senator Skoufis  who sits on the NYS Transportation committee in the NYS Senate where our State  Senator - Do Nothing David Carlucci is representative- while Carlucci is not on  that committee he has demonstrated his total disinterest in the issue of  dangerous school buses so I chose to speak with a Skoufis rep.
My research has shown that buses are not , by law, prohibited from backing  up or making U Turns- 2 very dangerous practices that I have seen regularly from  the private school buses.  I know , for a fact , that NONE of the public school  buses are permitted to make such moves.

Thanks, and see you on 10/3/19 at the Ambulance Building.  Hilda Kogut/  Chair- CUPON of Chestnut Ridge 

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