The Town of Plattekill dipped into its ranks to appoint detective Oscar Lopez as the new Town Police Chief at its June 7 Town Board workshop meeting.

Lopez has been a detective for the town since 2014 and has over 40 years of experience in patrol, investigations and supervisory positions as a certified New York State Police Officer.

Lopez also served on the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team since 2014. The task force is under the supervision of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department.

The board voted 5-0 to approve Lopez as chief of the force comprised of part-time officers. He replaces former Chief Joseph Ryan, who resigned on March 17 after heading the force for 16 years.

Ryan’s resignation came after the Town Board suspended him for one month without pay late last year after he crashed his police car into a light pole on September 1 while visiting relatives in Toms River (NJ), more than 130 miles from the Plattekill Police Department.

Supervisor Jennifer Salemo, who made the announcement of Lopez’s appointment, said the board interviewed six candidates to fill the position.

“He (Lopez) is well respected by many and is very passionate about serving the public as a police officer,” Salemo said. “We had quite a few good candidates.”

The salary for the part-time chief’s position is $35,000 annually.

The 64-year-old Lopez, who resides in the City of Newburgh, said he didn’t know if the department’s morale was in need of repair after Ryan’s resignation.

“I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel,” Lopez said. “I’m just going to adjust things a little bit. For the last nine years working in an undercover capacity, my dealings with the Plattekill Police Department were very limited. You hear things, but there’s nothing I could say I could confirm.”

Lopez said he plans to interview all the officers on the force to find out if they have any concerns.

In other news, Town Board member James Fazio was appointed to the Plattekill Veterans Committee at the recommendation of committee chairperson Sis Morse. The vote was 3-0, with Fazio abstaining. Salemo hadn’t arrived at the workshop meeting before the vote was taken.

The 65-year-old Fazio, who has served on the town’s zoning board of appeals and as the town’s Dog Control Officer under former Supervisor Judy Mayle, was appointed to the Town Board on May 17 to replace former board member Darryl Matthews, who resigned due to personal reasons.

Fazio will serve until the end of the year. He said he plans to run in the November election to fill out the remainder of Matthews’ term, which will expire at the end of 2025.

Fazio worked for Ulster County BOCES for 25 years, retiring in late 2020. A Modena resident, Fazio was a lead mechanic for BOCES before retiring.

During the board’s six-month review of its budget, Salemo said the board needed to increase the salary for the vacant bookkeeper’s job to draw qualified candidates. Salemo’s confidential secretary Tiffany Galligan has been temporarily filling in as bookkeeper for the past few months after Salemo announced at the board’s April 5 meeting that former bookkeeper Ben Williamson had resigned.

“Currently Tiffany is doing it at her salary and she’s here early and until the late hours,” Salemo said. “It’s not fair to her. We have to increase that line.”

Salemo said the bookkeeper’s salary is currently budgeted at $41,000 annually.

“It has to be a competitive salary,” Salemo said. “It’s a very low salary for a municipal bookkeeper.”

Salemo said the town may need to share the bookkeeper’s services with another town.

“We may need to get creative and do something like what we do with the assessor’s position,” she said.

The towns of Plattekill and Gardiner currently share the assessor’s position. Assessor Tricia Masterson works for both towns on a part-time basis.