Resident looks to block new DPW building

But her effort to force a permissive referendum falls short, By Claudia Wysocki MONROE — In an effort to hold Village of Monroe officials accountable for high taxes and what she contends is bloated spending, one local resident is trying to stop the village from spending $1.7 million on a new Department of Public Works facility. Village officials adopted a bond resolution for the project on July 22. According to Michelle Hieronymi, there was no public forum or debate on the proposal. In order to have the residents have a say on the matter, Hieronymi had to circulate a signature petition within 30 days from the time the Board of Trustees opted to borrow the money for the new facility. She rounded up 165 signatures to force a public vote in a permissive referendum. But her petition has been declared invalid, according to the Mayor James Purcell, because it did not meet the criteria as outlined by village law. Under village law, Hieronymi needed at least 20 percent of the registered voters; the 165 signatures represented only five percent of the registered village people in the previous election. Hieronymi claims the required signatures should represent the number of registered voters who actually did vote in the last general election not just the number of registered voters. “That,” she said, “is a huge difference. She further added she is trying to get help from other residents to get the village law interpreted. Her reasoning for the petition she explained is that there is so much waste in the village budget. “They could take the money from another part of the budget rather than having to borrow especially in these economic times,” she added. Purcell explained the village’s decision to construct the new highway garage. “The integrity of the Department of Public Work’s facility has been compromised,” he said. The DPW’s facility’s replacement, he added, has long been an issue dating back to the former Mayor John Karl. “We finally addressed the problem based on engineering and building department reports.” said Purcell.