A contingent of concerned neighbors seeing red filled the seats at Village Hall during the last Sloatsburg Village Board meeting, held Tuesday, May 8. Petition in hand, the residents of Academy Avenue and Ballard Avenue listed a series of incidents on Academy Avenue, including one where a speeding car ended up on someone’s front lawn.
The group gathered before the board, bringing friends and family, with stories about cars repeatedly running stop signs and speeding past playing children. Some 45 neighborhood signatures were collected in the petition, which requested village action “to prevent the death, injury and further property damage to any person, due to the reckless and dangerous manner vehicles are operated on these streets.” They residents provided the board with a series of suggestions to stop traffic from racing through the narrow streets that run parallel to congested Rt. 17.
Village Board members took notice.
Mayor Carl Wright and company were very amenable to the residents’ complaints. Trustee Peter Akey scribbled notes. When several residents quietly stated that Sloatsburg Fire Department personnel appear to be the biggest offenders, Akey reported to the Academy and Ballard contingent that he knew precisely the particular traffic scofflaw several residents described in detail.
Academy Avenue is a side road that turns off from Seven Lakes Drive near Rt. 17 and winds briefly around a bend where it meets Ballard Avenue. Ballard is a very narrow residential road adjacent to central Sloatsburg that eventually opens up at the Sloatsburg Train Station and 
railroad tracks. Academy Avenue is where the original Sloatsburg school was located, with the school’s flagpole still visible in the front yard of 10 Academy Ave. Children often ride bikes and play in the narrow street along Ballard. One resident described an evening walk in the neighborhood that ended when she had to push her friend out of the path of an on-coming car.
The primary problem related by residents was cars rolling through the single stop sign at Academy and Ballard and then accelerating into the neighborhood.
Mayor Wright said that the village would immediately respond to the complaints by setting up a meeting with Supervisor of Public Works Mike DeMartino and residents and by installing a new, bright red stop sign at the Academy and Ballard intersection, which has been done. Other enhanced traffic control measures being investigated by the village include:
- an increased police presence during morning and evening hours
- lowering the residential speed limit to 15 miles per hour
- installation of an additional, enlarged stop sign
- installation of moveable Kids at Play signs
- checking neighborhood street light fixtures to ensure proper operation
Trustee Akey said he would confer with the fire department regarding alternative department traffic routes to the fire house when personnel respond to emergency calls.
Other Village Board News & Notes
Graduating Seniors Night of Recognition — The Village Board meeting tonight, Tuesday, May 22, will celebrate the 12th annual Seniors Night of Recognition, where graduating Sloatsburg students are officially recognized. The event gathers Sloatsburg students, many who have been together since their days at Sloatsburg Elementary School, for perhaps the last time before they embark on life after high school. Special guest will be former Sloatsburg Elementary School Principal Ron Anagnostis.
Anagnostis will provide insights and remembrances of students he helped shepherd through their school years.
Sloatsburg United Methodist Church 175 Year Celebration — Established in 1837, the Sloatsburg UM Church c holds an anniversary celebration on Saturday, May 26th at 2 p.m.
Annual Memorial Day Program and Parade — Monday, May 28 at 10 a.m., with special guest Ramapo Central School Superintendent Dr. Douglas Adams.
Suffern High School Evening of Excellence — Held Monday, June 4, at the William L. Ransom auditorium at Suffern High School, the Evening of Excellence awards dinner is where outstanding student achievement awards are given. The Sloatsburg Scholarship Fund will award several student scholarships at the dinner.
The Sloatsburg Village Board meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 7:30 PM at the Village Hall. For more information, call the Village offices at 845-753-2727. The Board meets tonight, Tuesday, May 22.
