Andrew Leider

This video bought lots of publicity to my future museum.  Steve Radzinsky, the narrator, is the son of the author of the book "Brave Men, Bright Machines" published about the time of the 100th anniversary of the Middletown Fire Department.  Steve subsequently performed as fire truck stunt man - operating the tiller and driving - for two trucks from the collection that were featured in the movie "Accidental Husband" starring Uma Thurman.

 The manufacturer of the NYPD firefighting apparatus is the Seagrave company in Clintonville, Wisconsin. The company went into all-out manufacturing mode and replaced all 52 within 12 months, and then the employees of the company made a gift to the City of New York of a 53rd fire engine, paid for by Seagrave employee donations .  This ability for our nation to quickly react to replace essential equipment is because we still manufacture it in America.  But the manufacturing base is dissappearing, and this part of our self-reliant strength with it, as the factories move overseas.

Circleville is a historic village in the Town of Wallkill and has a magnificient parade just a few miles from the site of my future museam, which makes it possible to take the older trucks there that are still operational but not able to make a long trip. 

Every year for the last 50 years, Circleville has a tremendous Fourth of July parade.  It was started by four children on bicycles in 1959 when the main road through town was not paved.  They invited everyone to watch and join in, and they lead the parade with ribbon-decorated bikes. 

Within a few years it was so popular that the Circleville Fire Chief had to take over the organization of it and this has remained the tradition ever since.  The children ride their decorated bicycles in the parade. 

My wife Avery supports my dream to collect, preserve, restore and appreciate the tools of the fire service, as a way of honoring the individuals that used them in their work to save the lives and property of their neighbors, and to preserve this history of amazing industrial art before it is totally lost from the American landscape.

Politics and Dunkin Donuts

The adjacent property to my warehouse on State Route 302 had for years a  sign in front of it  announcing: "future home of Dunkin Donuts". The construction started and stopped in fits.  Dunkin Donuts operating next to my warehouse was something I looked forward to as wonderful.   I found that this site had been struggling, starting and stopping, for eight years. 
Eight years of  problems that caused progress to stop  - all that directly related to then inefficient Town of Wallkill government.  The town offices provided instructions that conflicted with one another and with the state of New York on their expectation of how the builder should comply with the many multi-governmental regulations for his commercial site at Exit 119.

This process  needed to be streamlined so that businesses know what is expected of them in clear language that has been thoughtfully examined by the town from the customer's point of view. 

 Additionally, it needs to be clear enough that any taxpaying citizen here, and any investor interested in funding them, can understand all the policies, regulations, permits and laws, and the necessary information posted in a manner easy to find on the web.   I recommend a checklist.   Today, that Dunkin' Donuts is finally flourishing, and I am glad it is a neighbor to my commercial property.  It is a magnet for success.

The Town of Wallkill public hearings are posted on the Internet, and after the official business is complete, the Town Council opens up to give citizens a five-minute limit opportunity to discuss issues relating to Town Business.  You do not have to be a candidate for office to speak.  Town Council public meetings are held in the evening so that people can watch after work. They are televised on cable TV locally, and also available via webcast on the Town of Wallkill website. 

The video archive of these public meetings is also on the Town of Wallkill website.  The typed minutes of the meetings are also posted, if you prefer to read about the business conducted by the Town Council, instead of watching the video or TV.

The full video of these public meetings are located at the Town of Wallkill website:  http://www.townofwallkill.com

Town of Wallkill Town Council business proceedings are in the minutes which are  archived on the Town of Wallkill website. I downloaded them, printed them, and studied  them to compare these records with the budget and the services.  What I found was that the Town in 2009 was running in a haphazard manner, which to the citizens of the Town resulted in poor services to its citizens.  It has vastly improved since those days.

This is me talking to the Town Council as it presented its budget in a public hearing on October 28,2009.