PIERMONT – Members of the village Board of Trustees have agreed to take a step back from charging a local nonprofit group more than
$2,000 to host its upcoming 5K race and allow the public to weigh in. Trustees are inviting residents to voice their opinions on the issue during a hearing on March 3. Mayor Christopher Sanders said the board passed a resolution more than a month ago allowing the village to charge fees for various services. That came as a surprise to the Rockland County Police Emerald Society, which has held its 5K charity runs in the village for the past decade at no charge. “We’re taken aback by this because we’ve always had a successful relationship,” said Ed Stoker, the society’s president. As part of the village’s $2,400 bill to the Emerald Society, $1,250 is for police costs $500 is for the Department of Public Works clean-up costs $500 is for a refundable security deposit and $150 is for use of the village pavilion. The fees were imposed, board members said, to help ease the burden on village taxpayers in the midst of a floundering economy.
Though Sanders couldn’t give an exact figure for how much residents would save, he noted that 30 percent of the annual budget funds police services.