Happy Friday! Hope you were able to enjoy today’s lovely weather after a week of lower temperatures and an awful lot of rain.
First, a brief pause to reflect on the history that we saw being made yesterday, as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first black woman to be confirmed to the US Supreme Court. Congratulations to our new justice, and to the nation for adding this exceptionally qualified jurist to its highest court.
In local news, at this week’s Town board meeting we welcomed Bill Brady and Lukas Herbert from County Planning to discuss the County’s comments on our Comprehensive Plan and some possible revisions. We have scheduled a continuation of the public hearing on the Comp Plan for our legislative session next Tuesday. Depending upon the public comment we hear at that meeting, we will determine how to move forward. We encourage members of the public to review the project website and send in comments sooner rather than later so we can look to wrap up this process, two years in the making, in the not too distant future.
During the month of April, Town staff are receiving refresher training on CPR at OVAC to renew our certifications. This week, I got my much-needed refresher. Thank you to OVAC Captain Nick Franzoso and OVAC trainers for helping us keep up our certification, making sure we remembered what to do in an emergency, and for making it fun! I am going to focus on “compressions and calm for CPR.” The trainer also shared a Spotify playlist of “songs to do CPR to” which can help us remember the pacing of the CPR compressions; take a listen here!
Earlier today, we had a meeting at the waterfront with representatives from DEC's Hudson River Estuary program to discuss phase 2 of the Climate-adaptive Design studio. The Town and Village of Ossining were host communities for the first phase of this innovative program in 2019, which pairs communities with Cornell University graduate landscape architecture students to envision more resilient Hudson River waterfronts. We were awarded a grant last fall for phase 2, which brings a professional design firm on board to bring the visionary student designs to the next level. We anticipate having more information about phase 2 at the Earth Day festival and more community engagement events coming up. In the meantime, community members can learn more about phase 1 at this site: https://trophic.design/cad/2019-ossining/.
In other green news, Earth Month continues! This week, consider registering for the 11th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep. And keep checking our social media feeds and/or the Green Living section of the Update to learn about ways you can help the planet!
I will once again devote some space in the Update to a plea for input on the Comprehensive Plan. The Comp Plan will guide all land use planning and decision-making processes for the next decade. We are definitely getting to the end of this process, so if you want to have a say, now is the time! This meeting will be hybrid (Zoom and in person) with Zoom info posted to our website the Friday before. The public hearings are always at the top of our agenda - right at 7:30pm - so if you would like to speak, please be sure to come on time. If that timing is challenging for you, you can always provide written comment as part of the public record in between meetings (or in addition to meetings, if you have more to contribute) by emailing the Town Clerk at .
If you haven’t yet looked over the Comprehensive Plan, our consultant, Chris Rice from WXY, recommends that if you have 5 minutes…read pages 34-35. If you have 15 minutes…read pages 1-45. Or, if you have an hour, read the whole draft! If you would also prefer to watch and listen instead of read, you should check out our Town Hall meeting from February 15, 2022 on YouTube, Chris gives an excellent presentation on the Comprehensive Plan and we hear from some members of the public as well.
Lastly, just a note that there will be no Update next Friday, as multiple holiday observances will be starting. Town offices will be closed for a half day next Friday in observance of Good Friday. Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach to all who will be celebrating!
We will see you soon - stay safe and be well!
--Dana
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