Maybrook awarded a cybersecurity grant

By Audeen Moore

It was a sparsely-attended meeting Monday as the Maybrook village board discussed receiving a grant to finance police department computer upgrades, an unsuccessful offer by a land investment company to buy property the village owns at 106 Main Street; and a prior water main leak on Prospect Avenue.

CYBERSECURITY GRANT
The N.Y.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded the village a $46,735 grant to upgrade police computers. This funding, DHS announced, will “enhance and sustain cybersecurity and ensure information systems are secured and protected from cyber incidents”.

Village Police Lt. Dennis Barnett said the grant will finance upgrades to the police system, including the computer systems in police cars, and enhance and enable communications with the Orange County 911 Center. The 911 Center, he said, recently upgraded its systems and Maybrook needs to do the same to enhance communications with the center.

Mayor Dennis Leary said the upgrades the grant will enable “will keep us current and updated”.

“We’ve had a lot of police upgrades,” he added, “and more will come.”

LAND SALE SPURNED
The village board voted unanimously to spurn an offer by Richland Acquisitions to buy the village-owned lot at 106 Main Street. The almost half-acre lot sits next to a residential, three story building the firm bought at the corner of Main and Homestead Avenue.

Richland offered the village $23,993 for the property. Maybrook had taken over the land after Orange County offered it in a delinquent tax sale. Previously, a two story apartment building was located there. The village bulldozed the building after taking ownership, graded the site and plans to transform it into a municipal parking lot.

“In my opinion,” Leahy said, “we should stay the course and keep our plan for a municipal parking lot.”

The rest of the board (with Trustee William Treco absent) agreed.

WATER MAIN LEAK
The village board also discussed a water main leak that had occurred April 18 on Prospect Avenue, resulting in a loss of water pressure to Prospect Avenue residents living from the village water tower to the southern end of the street until April 20. Residents were advised to boil their water before using or to use bottled water.

The water system lost pressure due to the leak that required replacement of a section of the water main. Because the chance of untreated water and harmful microbes increases when a water main loses pressure, the Orange County Health Department requires the “boil water” warning.

After the main was repaired and the system returned to working condition, Pace Laboratories tested the water and found no bacteria. The county Health Department approved a return to normal and the “boil water” advisory was lifted April 20.

Maybrook Public Works Supt. Matthew Thorp theorized that the 4.8 earthquake and aftershocks that hit the New Jersey/New York area April 5 may have caused the leak. Deputy Mayor Charles Woznick, who served at the Town of Montgomery Public Works Superintendent until his retirement, praised Thorp and his department “did a great job” locating the leak and repairing it as quickly as possible.