GOSHEN – A petition with over 2,400 signatures of Monroe residents
was filed minutes before 5 p.m. closing time on Monday with the Orange
County Clerk’s Office, calling for the county legislature to approve
the just under 1,100 acres of land in the Town of Monroe to secede and
form a new town of North Monroe. The Town of Monroe would be left with
over 12,500 acres.
Only 650 petition signatures are needed to request legislative action.
A two-thirds vote of county lawmakers would be required for approval before
the proposal would go back to a vote of all Monroe town residents in the
fall 2017.
“We believe that this is the most practical and reasonable solution
to resolving a longstanding issue in our region, recognizing the different
needs of both communities, and allowing each community to coexist in peace
and harmony,” said Kiryas Joel Village Administrator Gedalye Szegedin.
Kiryas Joel officials note that a separate town would eliminate the
Kiryas Joel block-vote effect on all Monroe elections, which they say
would reduce community tensions. “Monroe residents are entitled
to chart their own course by electing town leadership without any influence
from the Kiryas Joel residents, but this can only be made possible by
splitting off the Town of North Monroe,” a statement from the KJ
leadership said.
They said the split would also allow each town to decide which public
and community services and facilities it finds desirable – including
possible consolidation of local fire districts and alteration of school
district boundaries.
