What's New and Possible in Port Jervis: A Conversation with the Mayor
Port Jervis Mayor Dominic Cicalese talked about what's afoot in Port Jervis.
Substantial federal funding requests were decided at a special meeting of the Port Jervis Common Council on Monday, May 6, as state officials decide which Port Jervis projects will be funded of the 13 selected by a local committee for the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative awarded to the city last year.
“At the end of spring or beginning of summer, the DRI announcement will probably be made,” said Mayor Dominic Cicalese. However, decisions about federal funds could take two or more years, he said.
Resolutions to request federal funding of $1 million for a new fire truck and $700,000 for Jersey Ave. sidewalks, from Owen St. to East Main St., were passed this week by Port Jervis Common Council. The requests will be submitted to Congressman Patrick Ryan (D-NY-18), Cicalese said.
“It’s an 18- to 24-month process to get Congressional and USDA approval,” he said. “We don’t know how they vote on projects.”
However, he knows requests are not always fulfilled. Five years ago he had submitted a fire truck request that was denied.
“Fire apparatus ages out. The National Fire Protection Association recommends replacing fire trucks after 20 years of use. Port Jervis has six trucks—a ladder truck and five engines. One was replaced three years ago, and we got a ladder truck in 2013,” said Cicalese.
He also mentioned some city accounting housekeeping—bank reconciliation—that he said had been neglected since 2022 that should be done every three months and will soon go forward. RBT Certified Public Accountants, based in Newburgh, has been hired to do the work, updating records of accounts receivable and where money is transferred. The Common Council voted to devote $10,000 to the task.
Meanwhile, new submissions are soon to come to the planning board, including projects involving recently annexed Deerpark property at the former Dick’s Concrete, Cicalese said. Also, some watershed property has recently been acquired for preservation and use for hiking and bike trails by the Orange County Land Trust and Open Space Institute. He also noted a new Dial-a-Bus loop that runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays, picking up senior housing residents and taking them on a route that includes Save-A-Lot and the Dollar Store.
Speaking of stores, eight new businesses have opened since the beginning of the year, Cicalese said, including a candle shop, Azure Candle and Co.; a new realty office, Property Sisters; Sky Nails; and on May 11, an outdoor equipment store, NeverLost Adventures will have a ribbon cutting.
Elsewhere, at BOCES, tiny houses are being built by high school students for the Rumshock Victory Village on East Main St., for homeless veterans. The houses will begin arriving in the summer.
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