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Mamakating earns big

Concerns raised about accidents in town

By Samantha Montagna
Posted 5/16/23

MAMAKATING - Over the past few meetings, the Town of Mamkating has been transferring money into NYCLASS (New York Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System) which is a highly liquid investment fund …

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Mamakating earns big

Concerns raised about accidents in town

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MAMAKATING - Over the past few meetings, the Town of Mamkating has been transferring money into NYCLASS (New York Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System) which is a highly liquid investment fund designed for municipalities and public sector organizations. The purpose is for public entities to be able to invest money into a cooperative fund to get a favorable return on those funds in the short term.

Mamakating started investing in NYCLASS in December, and in March added over two million dollars from the highway department fund to NYCLASS. During the April 4, Town Board meeting, Town Supervisor Mike Robbins provided an update on the additional funds that were added. He said the interest rate went up to 4.63 percent, and the town had already earned over $1,500 dollars in interest from the last investment. He also noted that he would like the board to vote on adding one million dollars from the General Fund to NYCLASS. 

When the board voted, only Councilman Matt Mordas voted against the investment and asked it to be made clear in the minutes that he was the dissenting voter. He did not comment on the reason why he voted against it. 

During public comment, Chris Leser noted that interest rates are volatile right now, but Robbins assured him that the town can take the money out at anytime to protect their investment. 

During the May 4 Town Board meeting, Robbins provided another update. He said that the town has earned $42,000 in interest since the beginning of the year, and the interest rate has risen again to 4.72 percent. 

Accident concerns on Sullivan St. 

During the April 18th Town Board meeting, Robbins also brought up two major accidents that occurred on Sullivan St and Rt. 209. Both accidents involved commercial tractor trailers speeding and losing their ability to brake. Both accidents caused significant damage and injury. 

The first accident occurred in February when a tractor trailer struck another trailer causing one to crash into Chucks Auto Repair on Sullivan St. Chucks has not reopened due to the damage sustained to the building. The second accident occurred on April 11 when a dump truck and tractor trailer collided. One person was trapped for two hours and then helicoptered to the hospital to treat her injuries. 

Robbins said that the fire chief contacted him, and the town, Village of Wurtsboro, Sullivan County, State Police, and Fire Companies are looking to get together to address the problem. Robbins said that Mamakating doesn’t have a lot of say in what happens because it is a county road that turns into a village road, but they are willing to help and support however they can. Robbins said the goal is to prevent this from happening again because if the tractor trailers had hit cars, the damage and injuries would have been much worse. 

During the May 4 Town Board meeting, the concern was brought up again. Councilman Jim Post said he went to the Village of Wurtsboro board meeting, and it was a hot topic of discussion. He was still working on coordinating a date when everyone can get together to meet. The board is concerned about another accident occurring and wants to address the problem soon. 

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