Supervisor: 'Please stay positive, stay safe, stay healthy and stay home'

May is here and with its arrival comes some promising news. The statewide closure ends on May 15th and we continue to plan and prepare for a reopening of Town offices.

Orange County is part of the Mid-Hudson Region and currently meets five out of the seven necessary criteria to move to Phase 1 of reopening.

Please know that we are taking into consideration all the appropriate safety and precautionary measures for our employees and residents so that we are best prepared to reopen in accordance with the mandated guidelines.

I am sure many of you have been following County Executive Steve Neuhaus' daily COVID-19 updates. One of his most recent updates included some encouraging news: the number of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 positive cases continues to decrease.

In addition, the need for ICU beds is currently the lowest it has been in over a month.

Our hope is that the number of COVID-19 cases continues to trend downward. Only then will we have more definitive answers regarding reopening certain sectors of our economy so that we may begin the road to recovery.

The need to do so is supported by the fact that April sales tax revenue in Orange County was down 24.75 percent in comparison to the same time period last year.

To date, Orange County businesses have been awarded significant funding through the Paycheck Protection Program. We look forward to restarting our local economy as soon as possible and when it is safe to do so. Our local businesses continue to need our support now more than ever.

Please be sure to visit the Monroe-Woodbury Relief Market Facebook page in the days ahead as an additional way to support local business.

We will continue to share important information regarding our reopening as well as ways we can support each other and our local economy.

Please stay positive, stay safe, stay healthy and stay home.

On behalf of the Town Board, we thank you for your ongoing support, patience and commitment to our Town.

Cordially,

Tony Cardone

Monroe Town Supervisor