CACHE to move men's shelter

By TOM RUE

MONTICELLO - Plans to move a homeless shelter to a new location will proceed, despite opposition from those who may become its neighbors.

The Monticello village board heard a request by Frank Thorpe, housing director for the Community Action Commission to Help the Economy (CACHE), to relocate a men's shelter into a residential area of the village at a January 17th public hearing. The move was opposed by attorneys representing neighbors of the proposed new site.

Thorpe had previously written to the village board seeking permission to move CACHE's "transitional house" from its present location at 16 Jones St. to 28 Lakewood Ave.

The house is a homeless shelter for men, said CACHE administrative assistant Susan Richards, when contacted by phone after the meeting. In addition to lodging and meals, the shelter provides case management and referral/outreach services. Richards said the house is funded under a contract with Sullivan County Department of Social Services, with a current capacity of 16 beds. This capacity could change depending on the size of new facilities, Richards said.

"We don't really have a license per se," said Richards, who clarified CACHE has "absolutely no connection with OMR/DD," referring to the NYS Office of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities.

The present site is owned by WellAssist, Inc., which Thorpe stated is planning a housing facility for women and children at the same location in conjunction with the county.

The Lakewood Ave. house is owned by James and Caryn Andersen of Bethel.

The board took no action at the hearing.

Monticello attorneys Perry Meltzer and Robert Rosen challenged the board's jurisdiction to grant the request, and claimed present zoning would not permit the facility at the proposed Lakewood Ave. site.

Meltzer took issue with the apparent assumption by some village officials that the shelter is licensed by OMR/DD to house the developmentally disabled. If it were, officials said the village board would be essentially powerless to stop the move due to provisions in state law regarding such facilities.

If the shelter is not so licensed, Meltzer said, he will oppose the relocation to Lakewood Ave. for zoning reasons.

Rosen, said to represent Clarence and Dorothy Greenwald, neighbors of the proposed location, asserted the shelter would not conform to existing zoning on Lakewood Ave. "Insofar as the application of CACHE is concerned, we submit that the same is inadequate, inappropriate, and unauthorized by the Zoning Code," Rosen wrote.

In response to questions by the board, Thorpe said he was uncertain which state agency licenses the men's shelter. He claimed to have been advised by local real estate agents and others to seek approval from the village board for the move, but he was unsure why. Village manager Bill Cummings gave the opinion the matter should not be taken up at a public hearing.

In response to a question by Mayor Robert Friedland, Thorpe announced Peter Quinlan of Wallkill will take the reins as executive director of CACHE on Jan. 23rd. Quinlan reportedly comes from RE-CAP, an Orange County agency similar to CACHE, where he was coordinator of alcoholism services.

Cummings said he knows Quinlan from his own previous employment as Town of Wallkill supervisor. He offered to contact Quinlan when he starts work at CACHE to discuss necessary steps to ensure the shelter's continued operation in Monticello.

In other business: Friedland said he wished to stress the village board is not involved with a current controversy at Monticello high school stemming from the arrest of a student for publishing an underground newspaper. "We're not recommending things and we're not the responsible party," he said.

Cummings announced a meeting he had scheduled the next day with state legislators in Albany to discuss local issues.

The board approved appointment of attorney Monti Rosenstein of Middletown as special counsel to the ZBA for a house on Smith St. Cummings described Rosenstein as a litigation attorney for the village's insurance company.

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