The Sloatsburg Village Board began the year with a bang with its first official meeting of the year this past Tuesday that included a busy agenda.

Town of Ramapo Councilman Daniel Friedman attended the meeting as part of his on-going tour of the various town villages.

Minutes of recent board meetings were ratified, which included November’s village budget hearing and December’s re-organizational meeting. In the December meeting, Village Trustee Peter Akey was named Deputy Mayor.

Sloatsburg Library Board of Trustees Jane Thompson, Joy O’Leary, Christine Goldman, and George O’Dell were all reappointed through December 2018.

In 2014 I will be repeating my 12 Village Tour & will be at a different Village Board meeting each month. Tonight is my 1st stop-Sloatsburg!

— Daniel Friedman (@CouncilmanDF) January 14, 2014

Sloatsburg’s 2014 budget is approximately $2.7 million, and coming in under the New York state tax cap of 2%. In fact, Sloatsburg’s tax rate for 2014 will decrease slightly.

“For the last several year, the Village of Sloatsburg has worked within its tax cap,” said Mayor Carl Wright on the subject. “This year we’re very fortunate to be able to announce that there will be a decrease of the tax rate of 4%.”

“We haven’t gone over the cap, and won’t go over the cap,” he said.

The Sloatsburg Fire Department had a contingent of members at the meeting to request various pieces of new equipment, including a new captain’s vehicle, which will be a Ford Expedition SUV.

Family Resource Center Redo

In a brief public meeting, Community Development Committee Chair Adrienne Fuchs recommended to the village board a grant proposal to re-establish the Family Resource Center (FRC) at Sloatsburg Elementary School for the 2014/15 school year.

Sloatsburg Elementary School lost its FRC program to budget cuts last year. Administered for many years by Sloatsburg’s Charlene Vasilik, the program served Sloatsburg students and families — one of its most popular activities was the 12-week Start Something mentoring program. Other educational services included play groups and Family Fun Nights at the school.

The grant request from the committee is for $60,000 to cover costs of funding the program at the elementary school for next school year. The grant application was approved by the village board and will now go to the Community Development office at Rockland County, currently administered by Acting Director Maria Frank. The county has the authority to approve federally funding Community Development grants at the local level.

Currently, Sloatsburg’s largest block grant is for Sewer Hookup Assistance.

For information on Community Development Block Grants for Sloatsburg residents, call the Sloatsburg Village Hall offices at 845/753-2727.