Cortlandt creates EMS district, continues veterans hearing and takes up road safety

The Cortlandt Town Board adopted an order creating Emergency Medical Services District #4 on October 20, while leaving a proposed tax exemption for seriously disabled veterans unresolved until its November meeting. The evening also brought a sustained discussion of speeding complaints, permission to seek pool and lake-management bids, and decisions on property and municipal software.

The new EMS district covers the same area as the Mt. Airy/Quaker Bridge Fire Protection District. The adopted order separates emergency-medical-service funding from fire costs and says the district is intended to fund Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support services. It proposes no new physical infrastructure. The order is subject to permissive referendum; it does not establish a resident’s new tax bill.

The veterans hearing took a different course. Board members sought clarification about eligibility, including veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how the proposal would affect special-district taxation. They wanted more information before acting. A motion adjourned that hearing to November 17. The action continued consideration of the exemption rather than putting it into effect.

Road safety occupied much of the public-comment period. A resident described speeding on Watch Hill Road and Lower Washington Street; board members responded that enforcement efforts continued and that requests for physical changes needed departmental review. The board received traffic requests concerning Kings Ferry and Trolley roads, Croton and Jacob avenues, and Watch Hill Road, and referred them to Environmental Services. Those referrals did not approve speed bumps or ticketing cameras.

The board also scheduled a November 17 public hearing on amending Chapter 289 to include e-bikes and e-scooters. The agenda attachment describes complaints received by town officials, staff and police. Calling the hearing was a step toward considering changes, not adoption of the proposed code amendments.

In its property decisions, the board authorized a $1 purchase of parcels at 87 Roa Hook Road and Albany Post Road, subject to permissive referendum. The final resolution also authorizes customary buyer closing fees, a lead-and-asbestos survey and preparation of demolition bids. The purchase authorization is distinct from a completed closing or a demolition contract award. A separate grouped resolution extended the special permit for the previously approved solar project at Lexington Avenue and Route 202 for one year, retroactive to June 11, 2026.

Municipal technology decisions included a one-year Accu Data human-capital and payroll contract with a first-year cost capped at $50,000, and an OpenGov renewal for 2027 capped at $60,000, subject to Town Attorney review. The accompanying discussion described retaining OpenGov while moving human-capital and payroll work to Accu Data. The board also amended its master fee schedule, with the written attachment identifying recreation rentals and Environmental Services highway and water/sewer fees as the areas being updated.

For recreation infrastructure, officials received permission to seek bids for Cook Pool Phase III pump-control-room work and competitive proposals for Lake Meahagh aquatic invasive-species management. The pool attachment calls for separating the control room from the actual pump and making necessary control upgrades. These were bidding authorizations, not construction or lake-treatment contract awards. The same group supported Croton-on-Hudson’s request for state tree remediation and repaving along Route 129.

Outside the formal resolutions, the board reported on Cortlandt Is Kind, a community initiative whose initial collection was for local food pantries. The meeting also included recognition of a trail-service project, departmental reports and personnel actions. Those reports and recognitions were separate from the board’s adopted resolutions.