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General News: Hall Answers Questions on Water, Vets
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| Cong. Hall addressed the crowd first. |
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| Peter Neuman asked Hall if he made a deal with Kiryas Joel. |
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| Hall listened later to individual constituents. |
February 23, 2008
About 75 people showed up to meet Democratic congressman John Hall at Cornwall town hall Saturday afternoon where veterans benefits and water issues surfaced as the crowd’s top concerns.
Hall, who serves on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, responded to a question from Bill Stratis, a former POW from New Windsor, about the reimbursement rates for disabled vets. Hall said that he has been pushing the Veteran Administration to cut the wait times that disabled vets face to get their medical treatment approved. He said that he is frustrated as well by the slow improvement in the system but assured the audience that he is still pushing the VA hard.
The proposed water pipeline from Kiryas Joel that could tap into wells in Mountainville was high on the agenda. Cornwall-on-Hudson resident Peter Neuman raised the issue first, asking the congressman if he had made “an arrangement” with Kiryas Joel when he was running for office that would help that village make a “water grab.” The pipeline was included in a bill Congress approved last fall that authorized $5 million to Kiryas Joel for its water infrastructure,
Hall said he didn’t make any deals and noted that the funds have been authorized but not appropriated. Pressed later on whether or not he would vote to appropriate the funds for Kiryas Joel, Hall refused to commit either way until he had all the facts.
“We need to find out what the aquifer can maintain. It needs to be studied and we need to have all the information,” he told the crowd, adding later that “there should be a way that they (Kiryas Joel) can co-exist with everyone around them.”
Chuck Hurley, who lives in the Beaver Dam section of Cornwall, expressed his concern about the water issue impacting his ability to sell his home, which relies on well water. Hurley also called for “sensible development and sensible planning,” a recurrent theme of the Congressman, who earlier noted that Orange County is the fastest-growing county in the state where people “have to think about channeling that growth."
Hall sits on a select committee on energy independence and global warming and promotes investment in alternative energy, including bio-fuels and solar and wind power. Hall lambasted the country’s current dependence on oil from the Mideast and Gulf States, noting that Saudi Arabia uses its oil wealth to buy weapons and to fund fundamentalist Islamic schools where students are taught to hate the U.S.
Hall’s visit to Cornwall is part of his effort to visit residents in every municipality in the 19th District. Hall, who is serving his first term, is up for re-election next November. To date, only one Republican, Kieran Michael Lalor, of Peekskill, has filed papers to challenge Hall.
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