TGIF! Hope everyone has had a great week.
Good news from the County; County Executive George Latimer has announced a tax holiday on home heating fuels this winter, to help defray the fluctuating costs. The County Executive came to Ossining to announce the measure; I was glad to be able to join him, along with Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, our County Legislator, Catherine Borgia, and Ossining Village Trustee Omar Lopez. Click here to view the press conference and click here to read more about the measure.
Though energy prices, particularly for fossil fuels, are mostly beyond the control of local and county officials, we will still look for ways to help our communities with rising costs. One reason we are keen to shift to renewables here in the Town of Ossining is that most renewable energy sources now cost less than fossil fuels. Moving toward renewables is not just the right thing to do for the planet; it’s the right thing to do for our household budgets.
Speaking of budgets: budget season continues, this week with our meetings between the Town Board and the Town’s department heads. Thank you to everyone who has participated thus far. We encourage members of the public to review the tentative budget on the budget office page of our website. The public is also invited to join the Town Board for a public hearing on the budget, scheduled for 7:30pm on Tuesday, November 22 via Zoom and in-person at the Ossining Municipal Building at 16 Croton Avenue. Zoom details are as follows:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87069189290
Or Telephone:
US: +1 929 205 6099
Webinar ID: 870 6918 9290
Public comment will be taken at the Public Hearing, by phone at (914) 762-6001, or by email to the Town Board at .
Another important meeting held this week was last night’s Ossining Shoreline Revitalization community meeting. The design team from HDR presented draft designs which would make the Ossining waterfront more resilient in the face of climate change, flooding, and sea level rise. This project is phase 2 of the Climate Adaptive Design Studio, which began in fall 2019 with designs developed by landscape architecture graduate students from Cornell University. Informed by extensive community feedback throughout the process, the designs aim to be cost effective and implementable. Last night’s meeting was an opportunity for the community to learn more about the draft designs and provide additional feedback before the designs are finalized as part of this phase of visioning a more resilient waterfront. Stay tuned for more on this project!
Speaking of environmental protection, Westchester County Government recently released an excellent video reminding everyone to flip over their ballots when they go to vote in this year’s election. The flip side of the ballot contains a question about whether or not to pass New York’s Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act. If “Yes” wins, the $4.2B Bond Act will fund restoration and flood risk reduction, climate change mitigation, open space land conservation, recreation and water quality improvement, and resilient infrastructure. Click here to watch the video, and remember to flip your ballot!
The Town Board has issued a resolution in support of the Environmental Bond Act, and I recently wrote a letter to the editor in support of it; click here to read my letter about why I voted yes and hope you will too! This week I also joined the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation, Scenic Hudson, and representatives from a variety of local labor, health, business, education, civic and environmental groups for a rally to show support for the measure and draw attention to it.
We only have one planet, and we’re lucky to live in a particularly pretty part of it here on the Hudson River. Please remember to flip your ballot and vote to protect our beautiful home!
Early voting continues this weekend, and we once again have an early voting location here in Ossining, at the Joseph G. Caputo Community Center. Click here for details on additional locations, if another Westchester County location would be more convenient for you. Polls will be open tomorrow and Sunday from 10 AM until 6 PM. Tuesday, November 8 is Election Day; polls will be open from 6 AM until 9 PM. You can click here to look up your election day polling place if you’re unsure where it is. You can use the same link to check on the status of your absentee ballot, if you have returned one.
For fun things to do after voting, keep scrolling! Ossining First Fridays returns tonight - be sure to check it out!
Note that next week’s regular Town Board meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, November 10, because of Election Day. Note also that the Highway Department will be closed on November 8 and November 11, but the waste and recycling schedule will remain the same for next week.
We will see you soon - till then, be safe and healthy! And don’t forget to vote!
--Dana
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