Mayor’s Message January 2024
Welcome to the New Year! As we say goodbye to 2023, I am thankful for what you’ve helped us accomplish. We all share a deep appreciation for this wonderful place where we live. Looking ahead to 2024, we continue our commitment to making the Village of Rhinebeck a resilient and vibrant community for all.
In 2023, we once again saw the effects of climate change with above average temperatures in the region. The warming climate is producing more extreme weather, including stronger storms. On December 18th, between 4” to 5” inches of rain fell, swelling local rivers and streams to flood levels.. These storms have a significant impact on everyone, as well as our infrastructure, roads, and buildings. Below is a picture of Asher Dam overflowing its banks:
The Village Board has been taking this into account when submitting infrastructure grants to improve our roads and drainage systems, but it is a time-consuming process to go from application to funding. It is well worth the effort as it allows us to make major improvements, while saving taxpayers a lot of money.
There is no guarantee any grant will be accepted, although we always re-apply if appropriate. Last year, we partnered with the Lions Club to apply for a grant to make improvements to the Mini Park. The County endorsed the project, but did not approve funding at this time, as they had 13 applications and funds for only 5 grants. We will continue to work towards making the park more inclusive, and are planning to re-apply this year.
We also continued our efforts with Delaware Engineering to re-apply for a grant from NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation for our wastewater plant. Unfortunately, we were again denied this grant. We will continue our efforts to do needed upgrades with the $5M loan from NY State.
We are happy to report that the Village of Rhinebeck has been awarded a Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant to rehabilitate the Walk / Bike pathways that run through the communities of Rhinebeck and Red Hook. The Village of Rhinebeck will be administering the grant, completing the paperwork, and will collect the signs that need to be refurbished as part of the project.
We’ve continued our efforts working with the engineers and have submitted for review the initial draft of the grant proposal for acceptance to the 2023 NYSDOT TAP grant. If accepted, the Village’s contribution to the grant would be up to $400,000 to support the proposed $2M cost for the Rhinebeck Safe Routes to School project. This would fund design and construction of a contiguous sidewalk network through the center of the village to make it safer for students to walk or bike to school. As well as assisting students, the newly constructed sidewalks would encourage pedestrian circulation throughout the village as they would connect our central business district, sports fields, and parks.
Given that Rhinebeck is a small village with a limited budget, incremental improvements have been made over the years, but only a TAP grant can provide the necessary funding to accomplish these goals in a timely and efficient fashion.
We are moving forward on a new proposal to improve safety at the intersection of South Street and Parsonage by installing a 4-way stop sign. This after a study by our Village Engineers Tighe & Bond determined the originally proposed 3 way stop would not be adequate. The 4-way stop is expected to reduce potential vehicle/pedestrian conflicts, reduce angle collisions, and maintain consistency along South Parsonage Street.
The report also recommended the Village to also consider the following mitigation strategies:
• Install ADA compliant sidewalks, sidewalk ramps, and crosswalk pavement markings on all approaches
• Install oversized stop signs and ‘Stop Ahead’ signs with post delineators on all
intersection approaches
• Install radar speed feedback sign (permanent, solar powered) on South Parsonage, south of South Street to reinforce the speed limit signs in the vicinity of the school
A public hearing for this change is now scheduled for our next Village Board meeting at 6 PM on January 9th in Village Hall.
The Village of Rhinebeck is proud to be the recipient of two awards from the Hudson Valley Regional Council: the “Climate Stalwart Award” for sustained and exceptional contributions to climate action and “Building Bridges Award” for making a significant commitment to collaboration and partnership in the Mid-Hudson Region as part of the Hudson River Drinking Water Intermunicipal Council (Hudson 7).
The Village of Rhinebeck Fire Department elected new officers for 2024. There are two groups of officers elected to provide guidance and support to the fire department. They're all volunteers and we are very thankful they are willing to step up and take on additional responsibilities. This year the officers are:
Fire/EMS Officers
Fire Chief Bryant Knapp
Fire Assistant Chief Peter Fraleigh
Fire 1st Captain Todd Leary
Fire 2nd Captain Sheldon Tieder
Fire 1st Lieutenant Thomas Beichert
Fire 2nd Lieutenant TBD
Fire Police Captain TBD
Fire Police 1st Lieutenant Doug Eighmy
Fire Police 2nd Lieutenant Derrick Sinon
EMS Captain Jeff Cotter
EMS 1st Lieutenant Erica Wheeler
EMS 2nd Lieutenant Ryan Ferber
Civil Officers
President Walt Cotter
Vice-President Sonny Fraiman
Treasurer John Imperato
Financial Secretary Lee Ann Pitcher
Recording Secretary TBD
Director 1 Jim Rogers
Director 2 Kyle Eighmy
The Village Board is making some changes to the process used by Village Trustees to share management of the work that the Village does. Traditionally each Trustee worked with specific departments-- building/planning/zoning, highway, water, and wastewater. However, now that we have appointed two experienced managers-- our superintendent of public works, Kyle Eighmy, and our building inspector, Ken McLaughlin -- we have reconfigured the roles of trustees to be focused on overall goals. Trustee Vanessa Bertozzi remains our environmental expert, Trustee Ric Lewit will focus on streets, sidewalks and Trees under the heading “Complete Streets”, Trustee Lydia Slaby will focus on Land Use. And, our newest Trustee John Penney is already at work on updating our Communications and Technology. For details you can go to: Organizational Chart
We believe this will result in more efficiency and lead to better results for our residents.
The Board voted and approved an agreement with Archtop Fiber for the installation of Fiber Internet and telephone in the Village of Rhinebeck. This agreement requires the contractor to install buried Fiber optics in the right of way in the village streets where permitted and use overhead on the state roads. In return the contractor will pay the Village of Rhinebeck $.30 per linear foot fee for buried and above ground installation, In addition they will have a 5 year warranty for the installations and provide the municipal owned properties a 20% discount on services for buildings and parks.
I want to recognize the following Village employees for their work anniversaries.
Officer in Charge Sgt Peter Dunn - 22 years
Deputy Clerk Krissy Denu - 14 years
Wishing all of you all the best in the New Year.
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