As the Village of Walden board continues balancing various local laws and projects, it examined two particular items during its June 18 meeting: the residency requirements for the village’s police chief and the traffic issues on East Avenue.

First, the board considered a lingering question for a new local law that would expand residency requirements for village officials: how far away should the police chief live? Currently, the chief must live in the Town of Montgomery, and the board wishes to extend the position’s residency beyond the town but within a radius smaller than all of Orange County. During Walden’s June 4 meeting, the board asked Village Attorney David Donovan to determine the legality of creating a specified residency radius.

After researching for over a week, Donovan could not find any laws or cases that addressed the board’s inquiry, making the situation unprecedented for New York State.

Donovan and Village Manager John Revella eventually reached out to the NY Conference of Mayors for advice and discovered that there were no laws against establishing a unique radius. The attorney asserted that the board could move forward and decide the chief’s residency requirements, but the law may require a court case down the road.

“My answer to you is I believe that you can do that until there’s a court decision that interprets the statute to say that you can’t,” he said.

The board closed the law’s public hearing and requested Donovan to draft a resolution first before making any future decisions on the requirements.

William Herlihy, the current Walden Police Chief, also holds the part-time position of Village of Montgomery Police Chief.

East Avenue
Next up, the board discussed another proposed law that would prevent drivers from parking on both sides of East Avenue, based on feedback from residents who live on the street. The mayor and a few trustees met with these residents on Monday, June 17, and discussed issues surrounding speeding and double parking in the area.

“The huge concerns were speeding, vehicles parked on both sides of the road where it is hard to fit cars in there. Cars do slow down and wait for the other car to come by, but multiple cars would be really difficult to do sometimes,” said Mayor John Ramos. “There’ll be multiple cars parked on the street, so the length of the parked cars would be greater, and having to wait for the one car to clear.”

During the law’s public comment, residents Mary Ellen Matise and Patricia Henighan said the law was unnecessary as the double parking frequently prevents speeding. Matisse also speculated that the law could cause a domino effect and diminish on-street parking in other parts of the village.

“I don’t think that it’s necessary to do something on East Avenue. I noticed people stop and let people go by if it seems crowded,” Henighan said. “On the most part, people are courteous, and a few times when something very large is on one side of the road, somebody stops and lets the other person go by.”

The trustees shared mixed opinions on the matter; Trustee Chris Batson asserted that trucks and other large vehicles were creating more traffic on East Avenue than smaller vehicles. He suggested that the board emphasize weight limit signs at the ends of the streets, easing traffic on the street and preventing trucks from driving through.

“The concerns with parking came up when there were large trucks or trucks with trailers, generally landscaping services. Speed was definitely a concern and they did call out one particular trucking company that often uses that street and causes problems with parking,” Batson said. “There was some discussion with placing a weight limit sign at the end of the street near Ollie Park, as well as moving the weight limit sign near Route 52 closer to the turn. That way the trucks see it prior to them making the turn.”

Trustee Bill Taylor, a 38-year resident of East Avenue, stated that the double parking is a major safety concern for snow plows during winter and emergency vehicles.

“When we’re in the throes of winter, it’s extremely difficult at times to keep that street clean,” Taylor said. “As we continue to clean the street after a storm, the pile builds up on those vehicles, the pile continually moves out because nobody comes out to take care of that, and the street becomes a little bit more narrow.”

The board agreed to keep the law’s public hearing open and continue analyzing East Avenue’s speeding and parking problems.