village of SOUTH NYACK, NEW YORK
Dissolution Plan & IMPLEMENTATION

After a dissolution petition was submitted by citizens of the Village of South Nyack, a referendum was held in which the electorate of the Village voted for dissolution. Laberge Group was retained by the Town of Orangetown and the Village of South Nyack to develop a dissolution plan and to assist with dissolution implementation. Given the intense public interest and heightened emotions stemming from the vote to dissolve the Village, Laberge Group’s consulting team deployed several public information and engagement tools to provide transparency and facilitate public discourse / input throughout the planning process.

From the outset of Dissolution Plan development, Laberge Group cultivated a collaborative effort between leadership of the Village and Town. The Village created an innovative and inclusive process in which a steering committee and four sub-committees were tasked with establishing a workable and effective plan for the transition and implementation of this dissolution. Each of the subcommittees was comprised of the Village Board of Trustees, the Town Board, and department heads who would be responsible for the transition and ongoing service provision. These teams met regularly to engage in productive dialog regarding the transfer of employees, the delivery of services, and a multitude of discipline-specific decisions and strategies. The resulting Dissolution Plan provided strategies for preserving South Nyack’s unique character; providing services to residents of the new Hamlet of South Nyack in a cost-effective manner; the disposition of assets and liabilities; and decisions regarding laws, ordinances, and regulations post-dissolution.

Each dissolution process poses unique challenges and opportunities. In this case there was an added complication in that the neighboring municipality of Grand View-on-Hudson decided to terminate the South Nyack-Grand View Joint Police Department. The Plan addressed this development by calling for dissolution as quickly as practical and establishing a plan for the Village of South Nyack to provide police services temporarily, with the Town assuming those responsibilities post-dissolution. To avoid service disruption, the transition process was planned with great specificity.

Laberge Group subsequently provided consulting services to assist with implementation strategies and logistics, including transfering police services, developing hybrid zoning regulations, and conducting a parking study to inform the development of consistent Town-wide parking regulations that include the new Hamlet of South Nyack. Laberge Group helped defray the cost of implementation by securing $25,000 in CREG grant implementation funding for the Town and an additional $25,000 in funding for the Village in addition to the $50,000 secured for dissolution planning.