Town Board discusses road improvement, budget officer stipend

A continuation of the public hearing for the road improvement plans relating to the Seven Springs Road Realignment project was held at the Town of Monroe’s first Town Board Meeting of the month on April 6. Dan Richmond and Phil Greeley spoke to explain the preliminary plan and gauge the board’s interest in pursuing the project.

“Seven Springs road is currently outdated in terms of the road’s specifications and causes adverse traffic and safety conditions ... We are petitioning to improve both the horizontal and vertical alignment of this portion of the road,” said Richmond.

Board discusses need for traffic safety improvements

Phil Greeley, an engineer for the project, stated that according to historical information and their own research, traffic has increased on the section of roadway over the past ten years, and that their recommendation is to remove the dangerous curves and realign the horizontal and vertical alignments to make the road safer. Councilwoman Mary Bingham asked what traffic plans would be implemented after straightening the road, since straightening the road could lead to more incidents of speeding. Greeley responded that stop signs would be used, as well as a potential signal at a major intersection by Seven Springs Mountain Road. He also mentioned that all of the design for the realignment does include space for pedestrian infrastructure, such as sidewalks.

Supervisor Maureen Richardson said, “We need to remediate multiple stretches in this area, including Seven Springs Mountain Road.”

While Supervisor Richardson and the board support the remediation, it was suggested that more time be taken to look into the environmental reviews and cost of the project. According to the supervisor, the cost of the project will be taken on by the client, not the town.

Library updates

Amanda Primiano spoke on behalf of the Monroe Free Library to share the successes of the library over the past year. According to Primiano, 100,000 items were borrowed from the library in 2025 and they offered 525 programs over the year, which was an increase from the previous year. Community rooms were used 1,366 times by various groups from the community.

“Our community needs a space to gather, and we are happy to be there for them, for free,” said Primiano. “In 2025, our books alone circulated 84,764 times. With respective costs to the average new hardcover, which is around $20 to $30, we have saved those taxpayers a collective of over $1.6 million, which is more than our annual budget in its entirety.”

The library also now offers access to the New York Times Online for free with the use of a Monroe Free Library card. Library cards are available to residents of the town for no cost.

Budget officer stipend discussed

A resolution addressing prior administrative salary reductions to the supervisor budget officer stipend was proposed during the meeting. According to the resolution, “the prior administration took action to eliminate the $20,000 budget officer stipend, an act which resulted in a 20 percent decrease in the total compensation for the Supervisor’s role in opposition to the fair pay expectation outlined in NYS General Municipal Law...” The resolution sought to restore the Budget Officer stipend to the supervisor at $15,000 annually.

Councilwoman Bethany Stephens brought to discussion the language used in the resolution and stated that she felt it was too political for a resolution and did not support the wording. Supervisor Richardson disagreed, stating that the action taken by the prior administration was inherently political and the wording was accurate. After a back and forth discussion between Supervisor Richardson and Councilmember Stephens, a new reworded motion was suggested to offer the $15,000 stipend to the Supervisor for the Budget Officer Position. Councilman J Luis Rivera made the motion, and the motion was passed.

New appointments

Multiple new appointments of positions were made during the meeting. These appointments included Barbara Singer as deputy registrar, Susan Cirello as a part-time account clerk, Edwin Morales as senior center transportation director, Angelina Olsen as secretary to the water administrator and Fransisca Tapia-Santos as deputy budget officer. Supervisor Richardson commended these individuals for the hard work and dedication they have to helping the town.