Supervisor Michael Specht along with Deputy Supervisor Brendel Logan-Charles, Councilman Michael Rossman and Police Chief Martin Reilly attended the swearing in of new police recruits Sean Armstrong, McAntoine Morisset, Krzysztof Zalewski and Brendan Lenihan. We wish the newest members of our police force a safe and rewarding career. Congratulations!
Supervisor Michael Specht, Deputy Supervisor Brendel Logan-Charles and Councilman Yehuda Weissmandl attended the K9 Rookie retirement. We thank K9 Rookie for his 8 years of service to the residents of the Town of Ramapo and the members of the Ramapo Police Department. We wish K9 Rookie all the best in his retirement!

O&R SAFETY TIPS TO WEATHER
WINTER STORMS
 Be Safe
O&R urges its customers to stay clear of downed electric wires. Don’t go near any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free at 1-877-434-4100. If the situation requires urgent action, call your local police at 911 to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives.
 
How to report an outage
If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through:
 
  • At www.oru.com/ReportOutage from any computer or web-based mobile device.
  • O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device --- download via Apple Store or Google Play.
  • Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU) or
  • Call 1-877-434-4100.
 
Important Safety Tips
  • Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.
 
  • If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.
 
  • Pole-top transformers – those small grey-colored metal drums attached to the wires at the tops of most utility poles – also should be avoided when they have been knocked to the ground.
 
  • Portable generators pose a serious hazard if used improperly. They should be used and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A wrong connection could feed electricity back through the lines and endanger our repair crews. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.
 
  • Have emergency equipment within reach --- portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications.
  • Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.
 


The Town of Ramapo will be continuing with our distribution of test kits and KN95 masks to seniors in nursing home facilities. All seniors 65 and over are welcome to come to the Town to pick up masks and test kits. We have successfully distributed to first responders, EMS workers, and municipal workers throughout the town.



Wear a mask correctly to help prevent the spread of COVID-19

When in public or around others not living in your household, follow this mask checklist. Children under age 2 should not wear a mask. Learn more at the CDC website: https://bit.ly/30QOzQF.
Emergency Rental Assistance

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) is currently receiving new applications for the Federally Funded program due to court order. Even though federal funds have been projected to be exhausted with the current amount of applications from Rockland County tenants, a judge has ordered that New York State receive additional applications from Rockland County residents in case additional funding becomes available for the program in the future. New applications will only be reviewed and considered for funding if additional funds become available. I have attached a flyer that reviews the program’s eligibility guidelines.

Applications for the State Funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program are still able to be funded at this time. The eligibility guidelines and the application process is the same as Federally Funded ERAP except to be eligible for the State Funded ERAP a household must have income between 80% and 120% Area Median Income. Those income levels depend on household size and are included in the attached flyer.

For more information and to apply for ERAP visit https://otda.ny.gov/ERAP.
Please consider getting your vaccine.
It could save your life!