$1,200 for funeral has town suing Kiryas Joel
By Kristina Wells
Times Herald-Record
[email protected]
Blooming Grove Town Board letter to the Village of Kiryas Joel
Village of Kiryas Joel's response letter
Blooming Grove - First came water. Then came land. Now it's $1,200 wedging a divide between neighboring Blooming Grove and Kiryas Joel.
The Blooming Grove Town Board agreed this week to sue its Hasidic Jewish neighbors to recoup $1,200 the town spent on police overtime for traffic control at Satmar Grand Rebbe Moses Teitelbaum's funeral April 25 in Kiryas Joel.
"You just can't keep bleeding people," Blooming Grove Supervisor Charlie Bohan said yesterday. "I don't believe the surrounding communities can continue to support things in that village that has nothing to do with our community. People are just sick of it."
The war of words is the latest spat between the two communities.
Bohan has opposed the village's plans to tap New York City's aqueduct for water and has raised concerns about the village's expansion through annexation.
In one infamous utterance, Bohan referred to Kiryas Joel as a "parasitic community."
In this latest dispute, the town initially wrote the village seeking a "neighborly" resolution for its $1,200.
Kiryas Joel replied that it had no obligation to pay. It indicated it would be willing to consult with the state Comptroller's Office for an opinion, a sentiment Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin reiterated this week.
"If the Comptroller's Office says we owe them, then we would absolutely comply," he said. "If they say we cannot spend municipal dollars like this, then we will not pay them a dime."
Szegedin argued Blooming Grove is wrong to bill his village. The funeral, attended by an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 faithful, was not a planned event sponsored by the village like a holiday parade. Kiryas Joel responded to an emergency and spent $25,000 to $30,000, he said.
Bohan disagreed, saying authorities had planned as far back as October for the grand rebbe's funeral, which many thought would attract up to 125,000 mourners and cripple Orange County roads.
So far, none of the other police agencies involved in the funeral have sought reimbursement for overtime costs that ranged from $1,063 for the Village of Monroe to $6,000 for the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
All this wrangling for $1,200?
"It's not necessarily the amount, it's the principle of the thing," Bohan said.
Town Councilman Brandon Nielsen, who voted to pursue legal action, said it's important to set a precedent.
"(Fighting it) sends a serious message to Kiryas Joel that other municipalities will not be taken advantage of," he said.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2006/06/15/news-kwkjsuit-06-15.html
