Town thanked for efforts to recover missing memorial picnic table

Lori Mosher gave a presentation behalf of her nonprofit organization Riley’s Parade at the beginning of Warwick’s Town Board meeting. The presentation honored and thanked members from the Warwick Fire Department who helped recover a missing picnic table from a park.

Riley’s Parade is a nonprofit that is dedicated to raising awareness and providing support to children and families directly affected by pediatric strokes, birth injuries and prematurity. The missing table was a memorial to an infant who passed away in 2018, and the table was purchased and donated in 2024 as a part of an Eagle Scout service project.

“For a while, everything was exactly as we had hoped it would be. Then in early January, the table mysteriously disappeared. After searching the surrounding area and even checking other town parks with the help of Ben [Astorino] and his staff, we came up empty handed. At that point, I was convinced the table had been stolen, because picnic tables don’t get up and leave, right?” Mosher stated.

Mosher then said that she found the table in the water of the nearby lake at the park. Several individuals came to the aid of Mosher, and retrieved the table out of the icy waters.

“Your response that day meant more than words can adequately express. You did not treat the situation lightly or dismiss its importance,” said Mosher.

Burn ban reminder

In the reports for the meeting, Councilman Shuback stated that there is an active statewide burn ban, and asked residents to be cautious of it while doing yard work.

“If you do want to burn any of your leaves, contact one of your local fire departments or the PD so they know. Be very cautious this time of year...without the leaves on the trees it could spread through the woods real quick,” he said.

Transportation matters

In Supervisor Jesse Dwyer’s report, he stated that he, along with the three mayors in the town, had an introductory meeting with the new Region Director for the New York State Department of Transportation.

“One of the big reasons we wanted to meet was because the Town of Warwick happens to have an incredible amount of infrastructure work going on over the next several years. In addition to the Route 94 and 17A paving project, we’ve got the Jayne Street Bridge happening, we’ve got the Long House Creek Bridge being planned shortly ... we’ve got a lot of big projects that are happening right now,” said Supervisor Dwyer.

Supervisor Dwyer went on to discuss the increased amount of traffic in the town, and stressed the importance of planning ahead and driving safely in residential neighborhoods when taking detours or shortcuts through the town. He also mentioned that a student was hit in a collision outside of Warwick Middle School, and emphasized that police presence will continue to monitor reckless driving in the area. The student did not sustain serious injuries.

“Our police are going to be out in full force, really strictly enforcing traffic rules, particularly when driving through neighborhoods,” said Supervisor Dwyer. “There will be a zero tolerance policy and we don’t care if you’re a resident. If you’re caught speeding or violating our traffic laws in local residential neighborhoods, you will be given a ticket.”

Board to consider anti-soliciting law

Supervisor Dwyer announced that the town board will be considering an anti-soliciting law to address door-to-door knocking for commercial purposes.

“Over the last several years it’s been certainly brought to my attention. Countless instances of random people going to people’s doors, knocking on their doors for various reasons. This is not something we want to encourage,” said Supervisor Dwyer. “The Town of Warwick will be working on a law to prohibit commercial soliciting door-to-door operations throughout the town of Warwick. We want to make sure people feel safe in their homes.”

New bill to amend PDR law passes in the state senate

A bill sponsored by Senator James Skoufis for the Town of Warwick passed in the New York State Senate this week, which will amend a PDR law to allow the town to use some of the funding for water quality improvement projects. This would include storm water management, cleaning up multiple lakes in the area and other natural water sources. Supervisor Dwyer will be traveling to Albany in the next few weeks to lobby for the bill in the New York State Assembly.

Supervisor Dwyer also announced that Venergy Solutions will be providing the town with a no-cost full comprehensive energy audit for the Town of Warwick. He emphasized that planning ahead and getting this energy audit will help make planning for the future easier.