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1 By David DeRitaTwo new police officers were sworn into the Kent Police Department, and an acting po-lice chief was appointed, during the Aug. 14 Kent Town Board meeting. We in the Town of Kent are very lucky to have such an excellent police department, said Town Supervisor Maureen Fleming. She inducted officers Alyssa Rae-Diveglio and Mike Welt-man, asking them to pledge to support and defend the Consti-tution of the United sup-port the laws of the State of New York and the Town of and discharge the duties as a Town of Kent police officer to the best of (their) abilities. Rae-Diveglio said she is humbled and honored to be part of the department and, as a life-long Kent resident, looks forward to improving her skills and help-ing her community.

2 Weltman said he is excited to start his new role and wants to give back to his hometown. The Town Board also ap-pointed Lt. Kevin Owens as acting police chief, replacing former Chief Alex DiVernieri who retired July 31. Owens said he is honored and blessed that the board chose him for the position and that he is lucky to lead and work with the skilled members of the department. Echoing the sentiments of Fleming, Owens said DiVernieri left big shoes to fill. He said his immediate plans will be to brainstorm goals with the police officers, upgrade the depart-ment s technology, and keep up with the needs of the public. He said that while he had not initially planned on being selected as the acting chief, he hopes to apply to become the per-manent chief in the near future.

3 I m looking forward to what the future holds, he during last week s meeting, Councilwoman Chris-tine Woolley provided an update on Water District No. 1, which recently received some said the antiquated system has been in place for 50 years with no maintenance performed on it. Wolley said she has seen leaks, a non-functioning generator, and burst pipes, as well as residents not being alerted to any problems until it is too late. I have to say I have never seen the system fail so much in my life, she said. Working with representa-tives from Lumar Plumbing and GenServe, the district received some temporary upgrades, such as the replacement of a faulty probe in a water tank. We made a lot of great progress, she said. What we have now is working very well, but we still have a lot more work to do.

4 The town is looking to have monitors installed for all three generators, and alert customers via text or email when the gen-erators are turned off or on. By Holly CroccoWith a September deadline looming for Putnam County to submit a shared services plan to the state, lawmakers are review-ing a final draft of the plan and will accept public comment at three upcoming part of his drafting of the 2018 New York State budget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo encour-aged counties to participate in a countywide Shared Services Initiative, which seeks to reduce property taxes by encouraging local municipalities to work to-gether to share resources, with the possibility of receiving funding from the June, the Putnam County Legislature approved spending $31,000 to hire Laberge Group to assist in the development of its to County Ex-ecutive MaryEllen Odell, a panel comprised of leadership from all the municipalities in the county met four TIMES this year to brain-storm ideas and discuss oppor-tunities for sharing services and lowering taxes.

5 She stated in a letter to the County panel identified three areas that can be implemented in the short-term that are expected to reduce annual government spend-ing by an estimated $1 million. They include joint purchasing; the sharing of highway and public works services including plow-ing, line-striping and paving; and shared tax assessment the County Legisla-ture s Aug. 13 Rules Committee meeting, lawmakers further dis-cussed the possibility of shared tax assessment services, which is expected to result in an an-nual gross savings of more than $185,000, according to the plan. Sharing an assessor would minimize the personnel costs and equalize reassessment data across the county, reads the By Holly CroccoAfter further discussion about legislation to raise the age to legally purchase tobacco in Putnam County to 21, the County Legislature s Health Committee unanimously approved two amendments to the County Code that will affect the sale of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and all tobacco products in amendment prohibits the sale of tobacco products and acces-sories to anyone younger than 21.

6 Enforcement will be made by the county health department, and vio-lations will be punishable by a fine between $300 and $1,000 for a first violation, and between $500 and $1,000 for subsequent violations. The other amendment creates a new licensing requirement for busi-nesses that sell tobacco and vaping products. According to lawmakers, there is no fee associated with the licensing, and it will be adminis-tered through the health third amendment to the law was tabled pending further review by legislators. That amendment would prohibit anyone younger than 21 from entering a public location where smoking is taking place. Whenever smoking is permit-ted under the terms of this article, including but not limited to a sepa-rate smoking room, minors (patrons and/or employees) under 21 years of age shall not be permitted in these areas, reads the resolution.

7 Legislator Joseph Castellano, R-Brewster, expressed concern over the later amendment, explainingthat there are various private clubsin the county that allow smokingand because you can legally servealcohol at age 18 some employees may be affected by the change. Now these people can t work there anymore, he two amendments that were passed will go before the full Leg-islature for a vote during its Sept. 4 meeting. This is an issue that I m very passionate about, said Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra, R-Philip-stown, who has championed the Tobacco 21 legislation in Putnam the Aug. 14 Rules Committee meeting, Carmel resi-dent Tracey Walsh, director of special events for the American Cancer Society, spoke in favor of the legislation.

8 She said that, VOL. 160 NO. 34 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, BOX 608, MAHOPAC, NEW YORK 10541845-628-8400 This paper publishes official notices for Putnam County, Kent, Southeast, Brewster, PattersonPUTNAM COUNTY S LOCAL NEWSPAPERFREEPRST STD ECRWSSUS POSTAGE PAIDEDDM RETAILL ocal Postal CustomerPutnam County s Number 1 NewspaperTIMESThe Putnam CountyCounty to Vote on Tobacco 21 LawsTwo out of Three Amendments Move Through Committee Shared Services Plan Takes ShapeLawmakers Discuss Consolidating Assessment OfficesContinued on Page 14 Continued on Page 15 Kent police officers Alyssa Rae-Diveglio and Mike Weltman are sworn into office by Town Supervisor Maureen Fleming during the Aug. 14 Kent Town Board meeting. Photos by David Welcomes New Police Officers;Acting Police Chief AppointedLt.

9 Kevin Owens has been appointed acting police chief of Kent Police COUNTY PRESS/TIMESThe primary elections for state and county offices are the race for county execu-tive, incumbent Republican Mary-Ellen Odell has the Conservative Party line, but Kent Town Supervi-sor Maureen Fleming, a Democrat, is hoping for a write-in victory, as an opportunity to ballot has been filed, which will let voters write in any candidate they of who wins the Conservative primary, the two will face off again in the November general are also a couple of Democratic primaries for state Democrats from northern Westchester, Peter Harckham and Robert Kesten, are seeking election to the State Senate, 40th District, which represents Patterson, South-east and Carmel.

10 They will go up against incumbent Republican State Sen. Terrence Murphy of Yorktown in League of Women Vot-ers of Putnam County will host a candidates forum Tuesday, Aug. 28 beginning at 6:30 at Mahopac Public Library, featuring the Demo-cratic candidates for the 40th NYS Senate candidate will have the opportunity to make an opening statement, then a question-and-answer period will be led by a moderator. The event will conclude with time for audience members to speak informally with Harckham and Kesten. In the race for governor, Sex in the City actress Cynthia Nixon is challenging incumbent Andrew Cuomo, and for lieutenant gover-nor, incumbent Kathy Hochul is being challenged by Jumaane Wil-liams. Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro will contest the winner of the primary in attorney general, Congress-man Sean Maloney, Letitia James, Leecia Eve and Zephyr Teachout are all in the mix.