Aileen Rohr Town of Hyde Park Supervisor Fall Newsletter - Update from the Supervisor September 21, 2013 Restoring Respect One of my first goals as Supervisor was to recover the respect residents of Hyde Park have always had for each other, and also for those around us. Our Board re-instituted a general public comment period at our business meetings and have been responsive listeners to the public’s concerns. The respect we have for residents is evident in that we have made responding to residents’ concerns a priority. In addition, we continue to work every day to find solutions to many of the long-standing issues we have heard – attracting new retail, addressing sewer and water needs and controlling taxes. I am happy to state that we have laid the groundwork, though continued focus will be critical to advance further. In the area of respect within the broader community, there are many avenues open to local elected officials to work together. I attend the monthly Association of Mayors and Supervisors meetings, where fellow municipal leaders discuss strategies that have worked in their communities as well as problems we may share. Pleasant Valley Mayor Carl Tomik, Town of Poughkeepsie Supervisor Todd Tancredi and I have met separately to discuss sharing costs where possible and areas of shared concern. The Town Board and I have created strong, personal relationships with other elected officials too, including County Executive Marc Molinaro, Congressman Chris Gibson, NYS Senators Steve Saland and Terry Gipson and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett. AlI were instrumental in our successful applications for nearly $550,000 in grants. We are now working closely with NYS Department of Transportation, County Planning, DC Water and Wastewater Authority, the deputy commissioner of economic development and strategic planning, individual property owners and potential developers to promote the redevelopment of our corridors. We also work closely and well with our County Legislators Serino and Perkins to address issues in the County Department of Public Works purview – including pressing for improvements on Crum Elbow Road at the site of a tragic accident last year. This improvement at Crum Elbow and Cardinal Road is currently being engineered and is now scheduled for 2014. We have established a great rapport and open dialogue on County legislative issues that affect Hyde Park taxpayers, including the loss of sales tax revenue and the proposed County Jail at the former Hudson River Psychiatric Center. Promoting Redevelopment Our Commercial Hub Improvement Program (CHIP) sessions have attracted representatives listed above as well as local residents to analyze the issue of underutilized or vacant commercial properties. In these meetings, Hyde Park’s limited infrastructure emerged as a key barrier to business growth. The grants we have received to address this include: $195,000 to explore consolidation of the town’s many small water and sewer districts with DCWWA for better fiscal management; $145,000 to extend sidewalks on East Market Street to allow students and children safer access to schools and buses and older residents to Rite Aid, Stewart’s and other retail stores; $30,000 to infill a missing section of sidewalk on Route 9 $20,000 from Northern Dutchess Alliance for Shared Services $10,000 to improve certain zoning sections to facilitate stronger town centers; $30,000 for a Sidewalk Study to inventory and evaluate what exists, and identify priority areas for new pedestrian pathways to apply for more federal and state transportation grants $30,000 obtained through State Senator Terry Gipson for a sewer feasibility study $70,000 obtained through State Senator Terry Gipson for streetscape improvements on Route 9 $20,000 to study flooding solutions on Roosevelt Road and in Staatsburg We have also applied for funding through the County to acquire new software that would link our zoning, building and planning departments, which would make everything from major new development proposals to adding a new porch to your home faster and easier. We also applied for County monies to develop a system to reduce our salt usage on snow plows and to evaluate the commercial feasibility of smaller sewer districts. Of course, winning these grants is just part of the process to create the downtown areas that Hyde Parkers seek. The follow through on the grants is critical – to implement the actions that the money was awarded for. Responsible Government The third leg in effective town governance is responsibility: managing taxpayer dollars as if they are our own. I am pleased to report we have produced real results. We produced our first budget within the state tax cap while still dedicating $495,000 to road resurfacing and drainage. My staff painstakingly reconciled two years of deficient accounting and have filed all state-required financial reports on time after two years of missed deadlines. We restored $335,000 to our badly depleted general and highway fund balances in our first year in office, returning the highway fund to a positive balance. We received $35,000 back from an unauthorized tree contract, which was placed into the Highway fund. We reduced many contract costs and have put in place safeguards to ensure taxpayer dollars are responsibly spent. All of this was done with the assistance of Tom Carey, the new Town Comptroller. Mr. Carey’s 24 years of experience in municipal finance have proven immeasurable and my colleagues, my staff and I continue to learn new ways to control spending every day. A responsible town government must also keep residents informed and involved. To that end, we have tackled and solved behind-the-scenes technical issues to assure that you can see our Town and Planning Board meetings on Channel 22 (past meetings can now be seen on the town’s website too – go to “Government”, click on “Town Board or Planning Board” then “Agendas”, where you can click on “Watch”). Just as important, we have finally entered the Facebook age. Go to “Town of Hyde Park, NY” where we post important notices from emergencies and closings to upcoming family-oriented events – in short, we are using social media to promote all the many wonderful things our town has to offer. There is also a new web site in the works, soon to be unveiled, which will reinforce our image as a great place to live and visit. Reinvestment in the Community While we have been working steadily to improve our town, it has been a great pleasure to see the many property owners and developers doing the same. Stop & Shop transformed an entire, aged plaza, as did Dunkin Donuts. Stop & Shop has completed its re-landscaping of its former site and is seeking a new tenant. The National Parks Service has created a new entrance to its Farm Lane trail at the Drive-in that should make everyone proud. Add these to the dressed-up Red Cap Cleaners, a re-faced Quality Inn with an architectural style that is a better fit with Hyde Park’s historic character, a new convenience store at the corner of Parker and 9, Hyde Park Physical Therapy’s renovations of a former funeral home and the long-abandoned Hoe Bowl looking set to become an assisted living facility, and Hyde Park hasn’t looked this good in a long time. Let me not forget to add how proud I am that our town’s improved reputation as a great place to do business has even attracted a community-based financial institution – Rondout Savings Bank – which will be another key lender to the kinds of local businesses that provide local jobs. A sincere thank you to those investors who put their money, and often their hearts, into our town -- it shows. All this is not to say that more work isn’t needed -- IT IS! I reach out to property owners, investors and national and regional retailers on a regular basis to let them know the Town is eager to support them. This is especially true at the former Amish Market and the former Stop & Shop. Your government is ready, willing and able to help whether that means contacting the County Executive, NYS DOT or any other federal or state agency directly. We recognize that our commitment is only part of a process, one ultimately guided by sheer economics. Nonetheless, it’s the right way to start. Aileen Rohr Town Supervisor
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 13:00:40 +0000
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