Members of the Citizens Advisory Council met with the city manager and planner to talk about the future.
By Brendan G. Coyne
“We will overcome this,” said Acting City Manager Richard Herbek as he addressed the monthly meeting of the City of Newburgh’s Citizens Advisory Committee Thursday night. While acknowledging a bleak future for the city, Herbek, and the committee’s other guest, Edward Lynch, the new Director of Planning & Development, spoke in a positive tone.
Committee members, including City Councilwoman Regina Angelo, sat around a square as chairman Brian Denniston conducted the meeting. Herbek spoke first, saying that his job has been a lot more difficult than he anticipated when he came to Newburgh a year ago.
He painted a bleak picture of Newburgh’s financial outlook and referred to the tentative 2011 budget he had introduced just days earlier that called for a 41% tax increase while cutting workers and services.
“This is one of the most difficult times in the history of the city,” Herbek said. “But I do feel very positive about the future of Newburgh.”
The city wants to re-negotiate its agreement to re-develop the waterfront area as seen in this sketch from the Leyland Alliance.
He and Lynch talked about Leyland Alliance, the developer that the city hired to help restore Newburgh. Lynch said the city would have to get back to the table to re-negotiate the agreement with Leyland because Newburgh was giving away too much. Herbek said that too many agreements with developers have not been in the city’s interest, adding that he’s not blaming anyone, just moving forward and protecting the city’s interests.
Committee members made comments and asked questions throughout the presentations.
Teresa McKnight said she was born and raised in Newburgh and was proud of her city.
She said she’s grown tired of people saying, “That’s Newburgh,” putting the city down as it struggles with poverty, crime and other issues.
Others chimed in, agreeing that many native Newburghers continue to work for the betterment of the city. Some questioned the appearance of the city, where 70% of the housing is owned by landlords.
Under a proposed ordinance, the city would have the authority to clean up building violations.
Lynch talked about a new tool the city may soon have to address rundown properties. The city council will hold a public hearing Oct. 18 on Public Abatement Ordinances. The ordinances would allow the city to clean up private property, put a lien on the property and charge a 15% administrative fee back to the property owner.
“When word gets out to owners that the city will charge 15% administrative fee on top of the clean up costs, they will take notice,” said Lynch who lives in Washington Heights section of the city. He has been on the job for just three months.
Lynch comes to Newburgh after a 16-year stint in New Rochelle. He noted the turnaround in that long down-trodden city on Long Island Sound, saying that Money Magazine has just recognized it as one of its 2010 100 best small cities to live in the United States, a change, he implied, that could happen in Newburgh as well.
“Being close to New York City, Newburgh is well-positioned,” Lynch said. “Newburgh is going to come back strong.”
Loading...
