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May 01, 2013
Legislature Adopts Solid Waste Management Plan
Guest Column
The County Account by Legislator Michael N. Kelsey
There is little to cheer about the Legislature’s April vote to adopt the Solid Waste Management Plan.
The plan was a year in the making after the Legislature rejected a previous effort made by the Resource Recovery Agency, an independent public authority embroiled in controversy. Their 2010 plan plotted expensive upgrades and an endorsement of the waste-to-energy policies of the last two decades. In response — after a year of legislative hearings and committee work — the Legislature stripped the RRA of its planning authority, formed a $250,000/year solid waste department in county government, and gave the new department instructions to produce a more amenable plan.
February 04, 2013
Public Presentation on Wildlife Habitats in the Town of Clinton
Environment
Tuesday, 12 February 2013, 7:00 pm
Clinton Town Hall (1215 Centre Rd., Rhinebeck)
The Town of Clinton harbors an array of fascinating, unusual, and even rare wildlife habitats, and Hudsonia would like to share them with you. Hudsonia biologists have been hard at work identifying and mapping ecologically significant habitats throughout the town and will present their findings to the public at the upcoming Town Board meeting on Tuesday, February 12th. Habitats are the biological and physical surroundings that organisms call home, and an understanding of the types, extent, and quality of habitats in a region can offer important insights into the status of biodiversity there.
The Clinton habitat map that Hudsonia has created shows large, unbroken expanses of forest, rugged ledgy areas, and unusual wetlands such as acidic bogs and kettle shrub pools.
We talked a little about growth in general. I think the sense that I have is people feel like if it's not broken we should not try to fix it. That quality of life here is very high and people want it to stay that way.
Town of Washington Comprehensive Plan Consultant Margaret Irwin of River Street Planning & Development
I would say almost all of the groups I talked to said they thought affordable housing should not be provided by new development or by building of new development projects or homes; that we have a lot of opportunity to reuse buildings and to build on the strength of rental units in the village.
Town of Washington Comprehensive Plan Consultant Margaret Irwin of River Street Planning & Development
Regarding the creation of new hamlets and business areas in the town:
Almost everybody said no to that, so we got a loud and clear [answer to the] question. I guess the underlying thing was that most folks felt that they would like to see the town's effort go to support [Village of] Millbrook businesses and not start creating other business districts in town, including even Mabbettsville.
Town of Washington Comprehensive Plan Consultant John Holehan of River Street Planning & Development
December 20, 2012
Air Pollution is Responsible for 3 Million Premature Deaths a Year
Environment
Submitted by Eve Propp
The poor air quality that many Americans know as smog and soot is caused by six ubiquitous pollutants labeled criteria air pollutants by government regulators. Over 170 million people currently live in counties where federal air quality standards are not met, facing increased risks of heart and lung disease and premature mortality. Most of the 20 million people suffering from asthma also live in areas with poor air quality. Dutchess County’s air quality is surprisingly no better than that of NY City.
November 19, 2012
Preserving the Rural Nature of Our Town
Letters to the Editor
Millbrook Matters would like to share the following letter to the editor, submitted by a local resident.
This letter comes at a time when the Town Board is reviewing the newly completed draft Comprehensive Plan, a plan that will shape the look and feel of the community for the foreseeable future. It comes at a time when there is a growing realization that we need to protect and preserve the rural character of our town or run the risk of forever losing it.
We believe that loss of "sense of place" doesn't happen in a vacuum.
October 08, 2012
Comprehensive Plan Review Meeting
Town Comprehensive Plan
The Town Board will hold a workshop meeting for review of the Comprehensive Plan on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25 AT 7 P.M., at the Town Hall. It is IMPORTANT that you be there!
After years of hard work on the part of the committee and the public, the plan that will determine the future of our community is approaching completion. But it is not final yet: by law, at a date yet to be announced, the Town Board must also hold one or more public hearings before the Comprehensive Plan can be formally adopted.
October 02, 2012
FrOGS ART SHOW
Local News
The Friends of the Great Swamp (FrOGS) will hold an Art Show & Celebration from 11a.m. to 5p.m. on Saturday, October 20th, and from noon to 4p.m. on Sunday, October 21st at the Christ Church Hall on Quaker Hill, 17 Church Rd., Pawling, NY.
September 13, 2012
Special Board Meeting-Comprehensive Plan Review
Town Comprehensive Plan
Present: Gary Ciferri, Town Supervisor
Karen Mosca, Councilwoman
Albert DeBonis, Councilman
Robert Audia, Councilman
Laura Hurley, Bookkeeper
John Gifford, Attorney
Josh Mackey, Comprehensive Plan Committee Chairperson
Supervisor Ciferri called this special meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the presence of a small audience. The purpose of this meeting is for the board to conduct its first official review of the draft comprehensive plan presented to them by the Comprehensive Plan Committee.
Robert Audia voiced his opinion that the board should consider the comprehensive plan as a plan of the people and to avoid injecting their own personal views and convictions into the process.
July 31, 2012
If We Only Had a Movie Theater (and more...)
Letters to the Editor
Dear info at Millbrook,
I am just throwing out an idea here.
We all love Millbrook, but the town center is dying.
It is worse each week. I have heard the same statement from Millbrook people for years, " if we only had a move theater etc" well we once did, that was before Bennett went out and a good number of retail stores also closed.
July 29, 2012
Thorne Building Supporters
Local News
"Thorne Building Supporters" is what Millbrook Mayor Laura Hurley unofficially dubbed a group of concerned citizens who attended the Village Board meeting Tuesday, June 26. The group handed out a letter at the meeting stating its intent to help revitalize the Thorne building on Franklin Avenue, which is vacant and in disrepair.
Thorne supporter Barbara Milo Ohrbach is certain that once a strategy for the building is proposed, and backed by the Village Board, the money will start rolling in. She believes, and could be right, that residents in the Village of Millbrook and Town of Washington want to see that grand old building put to good use, and more than that, she thinks they'd be willing to pay for it.
June 23, 2012
Draft Comprehensive Plan Now Out of Committee
Town Comprehensive Plan
The recently released Town of Washington Comprehensive Plan reaffirms what most residents have been saying all along: They generally like the town the way it is and want it to stay that way for the future.
The forty one pages Plan contains five Goals that expand upon the direction spelled out in the Vision Statement. Details in each of the Goals provide the framework for the vision to become reality.
Goal I: Keep the Town Scenic and Rural and the Village the Area's One Center builds upon a strong community consensus that our natural environment as well as our scenic and historical attributes, are extremely valuable.