Mayor’s Message December 2023
A Happy and Healthy Holiday season to everyone!
The Village is decked out in its traditional holiday finery, and traditional celebrations are underway. Many thanks to everyone who helped make the Holiday Tree Lighting and Sinterklaas celebrations such successful events.
The Village Board will be holding a public hearing at 6PM on December 12th in Village Hall. Under discussion will be the proposed addition of a stop sign at the intersection of South Street and South Parsonage Street. A traffic study on the intersection will be presented at the meeting. This is a very important discussion as we continue to address the issue of safe routes to school, and we welcome your input as we move forward.
And I am happy to report that the Village’s Safe Route to School application for federal funding has been completed and submitted to the New York State for pre-review. We will submit the final application after the first of the year, once the State reviewers have weighed in. The final application will incorporate the reviewer’s comments, letters of support from our community leaders, along with the results of the community-wide poll demonstrating Rhinebeck’s commitment to this important project.
One of the options under review is a Crossing Guard Program, and Trustee Bertozzi has reviewed a proposal which includes identification of costs, staffing, training, and metrics for where crossing guards are needed. The next step will be to form a committee to start the process. To see the the proposal, go to:Crossing Guards.pdf
The Building, Planning and Zoning Department is where Village residents can voice zoning related complaints. Until now, those complaints and their resolutions were never fully documented. The Board has now approved an official Zoning Complaint Record Form, which will document both the complaint and the resolution.
We also passed a resolution to increase the number of alternates to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals to three alternates for each board. The Village Clerk will now accept applications for these positions at any time, so that we have the ability to fill a vacancy immediately when it happens.
Many of you may have noticed that construction along Center Street has been halted for now. There are two contractors on the project, one is handling the Center Street work, and the other is building sidewalks and ADA ramps. Delaying until March will allow the trenching to settle, and allow more coordination between the contractors which will make these projects more efficient and less disruptive for residents. We made the decision with input from both contractors. Once we have exact state dates in March, we will let everyone know.
A letter of support has been sent to the NY State Commissioner of Homes and Community Renewal in support of Locust Hill’s LLC application for funding request. Having completed the research and analysis on the future needs of the Village and the availability of excess capacity of our water and wastewater systems it was determined that these systems have enough excess capacity to sell to Locust Hill LLC.
It was my pleasure to appoint John Penney to fill the vacant seat on the Rhinebeck Village Board. Penney, who has resided in the village with his wife, Dugan Radwin, since 2008, is the former opinion editor at the Poughkeepsie Journal and works in communications for both the City of Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County governments.
John has a considerable history in public service-related endeavors, and will bring that expertise to the Village Board. Please join me in welcoming John!
I want to recognize Wastewater Operator Trainee Will Caruso who has completed one year with the Village. Will is training to be a certified operator of wastewater systems.
I wanted to finish this newsletter with a reminder that the holidays can be stressful for many people. At Sinterklaas, as well as other major events, the Village provides a sensory safe space for those who need a sensory quiet space from which to view the festivities. This program is run by the Autism Supportive Committee, and supported by local businesses. Our efforts were recently honored by Anderson Center for Autism with the presentation of the “Act Differently” award presented to individuals who take action to improve inclusivity.
As always, please reach out to me with any questions or comments. You can reach me by phone 845-876-7015 ext 2 at Village Hall or via email MayorBassett@Villgeofrhinebeckny.gov
Mayor Gary Bassett