MONTICELLO  — Village of Monticello Mayor Rochelle Massey and Village Manager James Snowden were authorized to sign the SWIMS Grant award letter.

The grant, which totals $660,000, will be put towards a new pool in DeHoyas Park as part of NY Swims. The letter came from the Dormitory Authority State of New York (DASNY) on behalf of the Village of Monticello.

“I want to thank Governor Hochul and the State of New York for the Swim Grant provided to the Village of Monticello,” Massey said. “We are delighted to have been chosen as an awardee for this fund. This grant will allow all of the residents and especially the children of this community to have better access to pool facilities.”

She also attributed the grant to the dedicated efforts and assistance of the Village board, Village Administrators and Village grant writer.

“Rest assured that all of these funds will be dedicated and channeled towards the sole purpose of upgrading pool facilities for the Village,” stated Massey.

Looking towards the future, they are reportedly looking towards upgrading the entire playground and remainder of DeHoyas Park to make it a “more welcoming and central gathering place for citizens” in the community.

Removing a 

prior agreement

During the resolution process, Village Attorney Michael Sussman made an add-on to the list of resolutions. He stated that this past February, without the capacity to do such and without the objection of Jenkins or then-Trustee Massey, the prior Board voted three to two to enter into a contract for $179,900.

When Snowden learned about this -with the accolate not yet being delivered - he discussed with the vendor.

“He advised the vendor that the Village - which had $2,000 in the budget line for this $179,900 piece of equipment - could not afford this piece of equipment,” stated Sussman. “[Also] that we were potentially retracting whatever agreement there was.”

According to Sussman, the attorney for the entity has twice contacted them threatening to sue for the $179,900 for the undelivered backhoe equipment.

Referring to the Village Board’s resolution of ‘allegedly’ engaging in this, he believed it would be in the Board’s best interest to “retract approval for this” at this current point in time.

He alluded to the financial situation that the Village is facing, as well as the budget line does not have funds for this, and the determination reportedly made that this contract was not necessary.

“This matter may very well go to litigation, and I think the final word should be the Board’s word if the Board is so inclined to essentially separate itself from this particular agreement...”

This resolution would also allow Sussman to enter into discussion with other lawyers about the situation. Unanimous approval to retract the previous equipment contract was voted by the rest of the Board.