Former City of Newburgh Police Chief Arnold “Butch” Amthor, who left police positions in Maybrook and Montgomery last year to become the city’s police chief only to retire a year later, is coming out of retirement once again.

At a meeting Monday, the Maybrook Village Board voted unanimously to re-hire Amthor as police chief, effective May 3. He will earn $15,000 a year in the part-time post.

Amthor was Maybrook’s police chief from 2007 to August 2020 when he left to return as Newburgh City Police Chief. He had also been Town of Montgomery Police Chief while with Maybrook. Amthor had come from the City of Newburgh where he had served as deputy chief. And now he’s back with Maybrook.

When he was appointed in Newburgh in 2020, Amthor had said he wanted to stay as Maybrook’s part-time chief but Newburgh needed his undivided attention.

“I’m going to take a couple of months off and decide what I want to do moving forward,” Amthor told the Mid Hudson Times earlier this month. “I don’t have any major plans right now, which is nice to be in a position where you don’t have to worry about jumping from one job to the next. [Going back to Maybrook] is something I won’t say is not a possibility. I want to take some time to see what I want to do.”

While all Maybrook board members were pleased with the re-appointment, they also had nothing but praise for Sgt. Michael Maresca who led the village department in Amthor’s absence with the help of part-time Sgt. Dennis Barnett.

“Welcome back, Chief Amthor,” Mayor Dennis Leahy echoed the sentiments of the rest of the board.

Trustee James Barnett led the praise for Sgt. Maresca when he noted that N.Y.S.Civil Service rules mandate an official chief when a local police department has four full-timer officers. Barnett said the village will hire its fourth officer “very soon” and will be required to appoint a chief.

Nonetheless, Barnett went on, Sgt. Maresca did an “outstanding” job in his running of the department.

“Thank you, Sgt. Maresca,” he noted, “for the wonderful job you did these last seven months. We did what we had to do tonight and it is no reflection on you. The outstanding job you did is greatly appreciated more than you know. You have my deepest support and admiration.”

Deputy Mayor Robert Pritchard said he “mirrors those words 100 percent” and Trustee Daryl Capozzoli said, “The job you gave us was phenomenal.”

Sgt. Maresca will remain with the Maybrook department and said he “appreciates all the kind words”. He added that he “will welcome Chief Amthor back with open arms”.

As Maybrook said welcome back to Amthor, it said good-bye to part-time Police Officer Joseph White, who submitted his letter of resignation. The board unanimously accepted the resignation “with regret”, with Sgt. Maresca saying White “did a great job and I wish him the best”.

In another hiring move, the board appointed Charles Wozniak part-time DPW laborer at a pay rate of $20 per hour.

“Charlie has always done a great job with us in the past,” Barnett said. “He is a hard worker.”

The board also authorized advertising for a full-time DPW laborer. Applications can be sent to Village Clerk Valentina “Tina” Johnson at Village Hall. You must have a CDL license. Pay will be based on experience and qualifications.

In other business, after a public hearing, the board voted unanimously to exceed the state-mandated two percent tax cap for its 2021-22 budget. No member of the public spoke at the hearing. It also voted unanimously to adopt the budget.

Leahy said the village has estimated 3.5-4 percent tax increases to rebuild the contingency fund and fund all needed village services and personnel until “we start getting some ratables”.

“The village is going in a good direction,” he added.

The new budget carries a 3.5 percent increase in the tax rate. But it was the $5,000 raise it includes for Mayor Leahy that brought quick defenses from board members. Apparently a negative comment was made on social media about the raise and two board members said they had brief discussions with concerned residents about the issue.

“People have no idea what our mayor does for us,” said an obviously upset Capozzoli. “They have no idea how many hours he puts in. It’s sad.”

Trustee Kevin Greany said the mayor’s raise is “because he deserves it”.

Pritchard noted that there are “3,600 people in the Village of Maybrook and one of them is upset”. Anyone with questions or concerns, he said, should have called in to the on-line public hearing and voiced their opinions.

“Social media only gives you snippets of information.”

In other business, the board voted to re-zone the Galaxy property to I-3 (industrial). At prior meetings, both the Town of Montgomery town board and Maybrook village board approved the annexation of nearly 83 acres, known as the Galaxy property, to the village. The village board held a prior public hearing to re-zone that land but could not approve it until it heard back from the Orange County Planning Department. That notification, with no adverse comments, came before the Monday meeting.