ELLENVILLE – There is a map of Ellenville downstairs in village hall. It's a crime map, said village police chief Phil Mattracion at this past week's trustee's meeting, that has thumbtacks pinpointing the locations of crimes within the village.

While giving his year-in-review report, Mattracion answered village mayor Jeff Kaplan's questions regarding the possibility of geographic hot spots that might warrant beefed up security such as m ore lighting, cameras and surveillance. The chief answered in the negative, noting that while certain types of crimes have seen a slight increase over last year's figures, on a whole numbers have remained near constant with no significant hot spots to report.

"It's been an interesting year, 2016, with a lot of events," Mattracian added. "We're anticipating the same number of events next year."

Running through the numbers, the chief spoke about one home invasion and robbery, a murder and five reported rapes, two substantial, as well as several overdoses, some fatal. But he added that none threatened the village's tourism gains, or even intersected with them.

"I'm happy to report that everything seems to have settled down, from November to now," the chief added, noting a full accounting for 2016 that saw 266 commercial alarms responded to, up from 194 the year before, as well as 99 residential alarm activations, up from 78 last year. In addition it was noted that the Ellenville PD assisted state police and the Ulster County Sheriff's Department 135 times in 2016 and answered 350 medical calls.

"There were several incidences where officers performed CPR," Mattracion said.

There were no significant increases in traffic accidents, with the department called to 150 in 2016 versus 154 the year before. Traffic stops increased from 719 in 2015 to 819 in 2016. The numbers of domestic violence calls were roughly the same in 2016 as 2015, but are up compared to the entire county, with 159 altogether.

"It was a busy year," Mattracion said.

On a positive note, Kaplan added that it appeared gang activity was on a decrease.

There were two incidences, Mattracion said, that involved the arrest of gang members: a drug arrest and a burglary, prosecuted elsewhere.

Another bright spot, the chief continued, was the significant decrease in crime within the business district from 2013 to now. With business picking up on Center Street, Kaplan added, it is important to create a lighting plan to brighten up the area.

In other news, village manager Joseph Stoeckeler reported positive news regarding the test drill boring on Grant Place. While the well has to be developed further, including having a screen installed and sand removed, he pointed out that the numbers "look good."

Also, it was noted that the Ulster County Department of Health conducted a sanitary survey in December and, "The village system has undergone many improvements to the infrastructure, yet the appearance and maintenance of the system and its components do not reflect these improvements."

There were five flagged items requiring attention, including mold in the storage tank adjacent to the North Gully filter plant, the Fallsview well site building's security and chemical feed line conditions, Westwood pump station generator exhaust vents and the possibility of freezing, the fact that the Harris building is in disrepair and its systems still not operating as designed.

The health department asked for confirmation from the village that these items would be rectified in a timely manner, with a plan of action submitted by January 9. In their written response, Stoeckeler explained that the village intends to correct the problems and referred to recommendations made by village engineers at Barton & Loguidice, as well as from water superintendent Mike Avery.