Shame on the Town of Newburgh for dragging North Plank Road Tavern owner Thomas Costa to court over an alleged permitting issue! I demand the Town immediately dismiss all charges against him and apologize for its antagonistic behavior! Mr. Costa followed all regulations to the letter and ensured he had obtained all necessary permits when he installed electric vehicle charging stations. He was given written assurance by the contractor that a local permit was not necessary. Why, then, is the Town harassing him? Why does the Town insist on punishing a small business owner for performing a good deed?

The Orange County New York Libertarian Party will be collecting petition signatures during Community Day and presenting those signatures to the Town Board during its July 8th meeting. We will be demanding that the Town dismiss the charges. This is exactly the kind of local tyranny which has no place in our community, and we ask anyone attending Community Day to stand with us and sign our petition.

There are other affairs the Town can focus on instead of petty permitting issues, especially when the owner received confirmation that all permitting was in order. The folks over at code compliance need to back off and leave Mr. Costa alone.