News

Happy Friday! Hope you’ve been able to enjoy the beautiful weather this week! 

It was an eventful week in the Town. On this Friday the 13th, we commemorated events that began, for us, on another Friday the 13th - March 13, when we began shutting down to distance and adapt to COVID. I along with Councilmembers Liz Feldman and Angelo Manicchio joined the Village of Ossining for the COVID-19 Remembrance Memorial Ceremony at Nelson Sitting Park this morning. Proclamations were presented to our first responders - Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Ossining Fire Department, and Ossining Police Department. Joyce Sharrock Cole (who also happens to be the Village Historian and played an instrumental role in memorializing the history of the pandemic in real time) accepted a proclamation on behalf of Richard Wishnie, Commissioner of Emergency Services for Westchester County.  

In Ossining, we really all pulled together during the pandemic to do everything we could to ensure that everyone in Ossining stayed as healthy and safe as possible, and it was great to come together now and acknowledge those incredible partnerships strengthened during extraordinary circumstances.  As Chair of the County Board of Legislators Catherine Borgia remarked, we all got into public service to serve our communities.  It was some of the hardest work we've had to do, but it definitely reminded us why we chose to do this work in the first place. 

In other big news: after two-plus years of work, many Steering Committee meetings, public hearings, surveys, and much more, we are finally adopting our new Comprehensive Plan with Sustainability Elements, Sustainable Ossining!  

Thank you to my current Board colleagues, as well as previous Town Board Members Jackie Shaw and Northern Wilcher, for supporting this project. Thanks also to the Comp Plan Steering Committee, and to all the members of our public who came to meetings, put stickers on poster boards, emailed, called, or participated in some way in shaping this plan. And of course, a big thank you to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for helping to fund it with a grant from the Climate Smart Communities program.  

This plan sets forth laudable goals in the areas of Connectivity & Mobility, Open Space & Natural Resources, Housing, Preservation & Development, Sustainable Infrastructure, Community & Culture, and Economy.  We now have a fantastic roadmap to make the Town of Ossining more sustainable in every sense of the word, and we can’t wait to get the work going. 

At next week’s Work Session, our Town Planner, Valerie Monastra, will be back before the Town Board to discuss next steps to bring this plan to life.  We do not intend for it to sit on a shelf collecting dust; we want to work towards implementing the goals it sets forth and make our community better for the future.  Let’s get to work!

In other Town news, we celebrated National School Nurses Day this week. On Tuesday, the nurses were presented with a proclamation at the school board meeting, and on Wednesday I attended a virtual luncheon with the nurses to thank them for all of their hard work. Especially in these most challenging times, we are extremely fortunate to have the caring, intelligent, dedicated staff that we have taking care of our children. 

We also participated in the State’s Climate Action Council draft scoping plan process. NYS is leading the way on climate with the adoption of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), and this scoping plan will serve as a roadmap for meeting climate goals. Last week, the Town Board held a discussion of the plan. We are happy to support it, and yesterday I voiced my support at a public hearing in Peekskill at the Paramount theater. We all need to do our part to reduce emissions and curb climate change. The scoping plan will give us much-needed guidance to take more impactful steps. 

You can learn more about the CLCPA and the draft scoping process at a lunch-and-learn webinar coming up at noon next Wednesday, May 18. Sustainable Westchester and the New York League of Conservation Voters will be hosting a panel of experts. Click here to register.  

As you’re going about your weekend plans, consider taking some time to think about the Village of Ossining’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), and how the different project ideas might enhance our local area. Last week, the Town presented to the community and the Local Planning Committee of the DRI our request for funding for a new performance space at Louis Engel Park. It was great to hear that the project was well received by the community members and LPC members, and we are now working on refining our vision with concept plans for the new stage. You can review our plan and all of the project plans in the Virtual Meeting Room, and share feedback using this link. The survey is open until May 20, 2022. 

Other things you might do this weekend: browse the Westchester Craft Crawl; attend the rescheduled I Love My Park Day at the Old Croton Aqueduct on Saturday; take the Westchester County Health Survey; and swing by Fable’s Farm Fest this Sunday! For more ideas, keep scrolling!

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

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We’ve made it to the end of another week! Hope your week was a good one.

First, a round of applause to our local police and schools for responding effectively to an incredibly frightening situation yesterday at Ossining High School. We are glad that no one was gravely injured. Kudos to everyone who handled this situation so well by looking out for one another and following the protocols that keep our community safe.

In other youth news, earlier this week I attended a coalition partner meeting for Ossining Communities That Care (CTC), our local coalition dedicated to improving the overall well-being of youth and families. We listened to updated data from the annual teen substance use study, and I was happy to learn that, in spite of the pandemic and recent moves to decriminalize and legalize adult marijuana use, teen substance use in Ossining has continued to decline. It is important to have conversations with young people in your life about substance use and abuse, to ensure they are well-informed about the risks and also the fact that substance use and abuse is not the norm among their peers, despite what they may think. Visit the CTC’s Grown Ups Show Up page to learn more about how to start these conversations and keep them going. It makes a difference.

This week, the Town and the Village of Ossining received 2,000 free COVID-19 test kits to distribute from Westchester County, and we are very appreciative of the resources from our partners in County government.  A portion of the test kits will be dedicated for our community’s seniors and will be distributed via our Senior Nutrition Program.  We are also distributing free COVID-19 test kits to residents at the Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps (OVAC) Headquarters at 8 Clinton Avenue in Ossining. Residents can pick up two kits per household while supplies last, anytime between 9 AM and 5 PM on weekdays. Additionally, we received COVID-19 test kits from State Senator Elijah Reichlin Melnick, which we have distributed to our essential workers in the Town.  Assemblywoman Galef’s office has also provided additional test kits to OVAC per our understanding so please do take advantage to pick up these kits now while you are healthy, in case you need them when you are not feeling so great. (Hopefully that will be never, but better safe than sorry!)

COVID-19 is still unfortunately still very much here, so remember all the tried and true mitigation efforts – wear masks in indoor public settings, get vaccinated and boosted, get tested if you are exposed or are experiencing symptoms, and of course, stay home if you are feeling sick!  We hope these test kits, and the free testing available at OVAC every Monday and Friday, will help our community stay resilient in the face of another wave of COVID cases.

Now that it is spring, many of our road paving and rehabilitation projects can resume, including the McCarthy Drive Road Rehabilitation project.  The Town’s contractor paused operations during the winter months, but will be re-mobilizing on site to complete the project starting Monday, May 16.  Residents along McCarthy Drive and surrounding roads who are directly impacted by the project have received a more detailed update, which can be found here.  We also anticipate that the Morningside Drive paving project will start back up sometime after Memorial Day; stay tuned for more updates.

Yesterday we learned that so far this year, the Food Scrap Recycling program has diverted 15 tons of food waste out of the trash stream. Now, instead of creating greenhouse gas emissions at (and reducing the efficiency of) the incineration plant in Peekskill, those scraps are turning into nourishment for our gardens. And today, the Food Scraps Recycling Program began our second annual Compost Give Back! 

In case you missed it, there’s still time to pick up your compost. Participants in the program can pick up 6 gallons of free compost at Cedar Lane Park anytime between 9 AM to noon tomorrow as well.  Registration in advance is preferred, but not required to participate in this fun day and get your garden started! Click here to register and let us know you’re coming. And if you haven’t yet begun recycling your food scraps, visit ossiningcomposts.org to learn more about our program and order a kit to help you get started.

For other green news and goings on in and around Town, scroll on! Many events this weekend, including the Riverkeeper Sweep events here in Ossining, will be happening rain or shine, but you should check in with the organizer on their social media or otherwise if you are unsure. Green Ossining will call a rain date for the Town-wide Tag Sale if indicated by tomorrow at 7 AM; check their website before heading out tomorrow, if that’s in your plans! We have heard that I Love My Parks Day is being postponed until next Saturday, May 14. As always, we share everything we receive here, but if you want an even more comprehensive list of events happening in and around Town, visit the new OssiningEvents.com community calendar, sponsored by the Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce. 

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone celebrating this weekend! We will see you soon - till then, be safe and healthy! 

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates. 

Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a great week. 

Ossining is closing out Earth Month strong! Last Friday, State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick celebrated a group of Environmental Champions from around the district, and three Ossinauts - Erika Boetsch of the Village EAC, Gareth Hougham, President of the Hudson Valley Stream Conservancy, and Stash the Trash founder Aaron Spring - were among those honored. The ceremony took place at the Louis Engel Park waterfront. I was present to hand out certificates to our local environmental leaders. 

This week, the Town and the Village were recognized by 511NY Rideshare twice yesterday for distinctions in the Earth Month Challenge. We won gold for the most rideshare signups and also took home "Most Innovative Event" for last week’s Earth Day festivities. Great work to everyone who participated in the challenge and special thanks and congratulations to Suzie Ross and Green Ossining for hosting the County's biggest and best Earth Day Festival!

The in-person return of Green Ossining’s Earth Day festival after a two year pandemic hiatus was well worth the wait! More than 4,000 people attended from all over the County. It was a beautiful day, with great food, great vendors, and great organizations sharing information about how we can take steps to protect our Earth from climate change. Local Ossining school students kicked off the proceedings with a mini-climate march, and I addressed the crowd to get things started. 

Our Town Parks Department – Mario Velardo, Mark Gallagher, Alban Sylaj, and Larry Abreau – worked very hard leading up to, during, and after the event to make sure everything ran smoothly.  We also had some of our board members there, and Councilwoman Feldman joined Victoria Cafarelli from my office at our Town tent to discuss alternatives to balloons for celebrations and memorials. Also at the tent: Marcus DaSilva talking about our Food Scraps Recycling and selling our compost kits, as well as highlighting our Compost Give Back Days, coming up next Friday and Saturday, May 6 and 7. (Planning to join us? Click here to complete the form and let us know!)  

We also shared information about our draft Comprehensive Plan, as well as the work with Ossining Village on the Climate Adaptive Design project at the waterfront, which you can read more about here. And right next door we had Sustainable Westchester. You may have received a postcard in the mail from the Village and Town talking about how you can save money by reducing your energy usage during peak usage hours by signing up for Grid Rewards. So far, 304 Ossining ConEd customers have signed up for this money saving program, and you can too if you haven’t already! You have until tomorrow, April 30th, to get in on the savings action. 

All of this to say, the Earth Day festival was a great way to kick off the spring season, think about our environment, and get back to some semblance of normalcy! On Sunday, I participated in the Stash the Trash event with Briarcliff Sustainability. A fitting way to end Earth Day weekend! 

In other good news: earlier today, I attended a press event regarding the much-anticipated study of the section of State Route 9A that runs through the Town, the Village of Briarcliff Manor, and the Town of Mount Pleasant. We are so grateful to our own state legislators, State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick and Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, as well as State Senators Pete Harckham representing Mount Pleasant and State Senator Tim Kennedy, Chair of the State Senate Transportation Committee for funding this study with $3 million from the State for a 10 mile portion of 9A. Also in attendance were Mount Pleasant Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi, Briarcliff Mayor Steve Vescio, Croton Mayor Brian Pugh, Town Board members Liz Feldman and Greg Meyer, Village of Ossining Trustee Omar Lopez, as well as representatives from the County Executive and Chair of the County Board of Legislators Catherine Borgia’s offices. 

We also heard from a Briarcliff resident, Stephanie Driver, who spoke today about flooding from the Pocantico River, which was worsened by poor drainage along 9A, coming into her home during Hurricane Ida.  We have heard from many residents in the Town of Ossining who experienced similar issues, and we are glad to hear that the study will address these drainage concerns along the corridor, including in the Town, giving us a path forward for construction to improve these conditions.  

This stretch of 9A has been a serious problem for local drivers and residents. We are happy something is finally being done about it. 

Next, Councilwoman Feldman and I headed over to Ossining High School to join Dr. Ray Sanchez, Recreation Superintendent Bill Garrison and his crew, Maddi Zachacz and Jaimie Hoffman from the Village Manager’s Office, Althema Goodson from Catherine Borgia’s office, Suzie Ross from Green Ossining, and teachers and students from Ossining High School’s Cultural Arts and Science classes for our Arbor Day celebration!  We celebrated the 150th Anniversary of Arbor Day by planting an American hornbeam by the high school.  The high school really put on a show with musical performances by the students and a poetry reading.  Even the students from OHS Band Lunch Revue put down their guitars and rolled up their sleeves to help get the tree planted! 

It was truly inspiring to see our next generation of environmental advocates doing the hard work necessary to green our planet.  Click here to view the video on Facebook. You can continue the Arbor Day fun by enjoying the Nelson Park Story Stroll with your little ones! 

In other news, at this week’s Board meeting, we held and closed public hearings on the draft Comprehensive Plan and our new proposed balloon legislation. Thank you to everyone who has shared your thoughts in person and in writing during these public comment periods. 

A communications update: Thank you as well to everyone who has, implicitly and explicitly, provided feedback on the new Supervisor’s Update format! Our email analytics (and verbal feedback) show that most people appreciate the shorter email, but also like having all of the secondary information in one place. To accommodate both of those preferences, we will shrink the multi-page format and include simple “Read More” links to the Supervisor’s Blog on our website at the beginning and end of the email version of the Update. Topics that include important information, like Assistance Programs, will continue to have a standalone link on our blog in case you have a need to look for them specifically. But all of the fun stuff will once again be in one place! 

If you like to read the Update on your phone but find iContact’s small print challenging, you might consider clicking the “Read More” link at the top to go directly to the blog. You can also follow us on Facebook, where a direct link to the week’s Update blog post is shared at the exact same time as the email blast. And for Instagram users, beginning next week we’ll be upgrading from Linktree to a new “link in bio” solution that will make it even easier to click direct links from our Instagram posts, including the weekly Supervisor’s Update post. The Supervisor’s Office is very committed to keeping everyone informed, and giving you opportunities to inform us!

To streamline the process of getting information into the Update, we also invite members of the community, including local nonprofits, business owners, group leaders, and more, to use this new form to submit items for inclusion in the Update. Items submitted by noon each Wednesday prior to publication will be included in that Friday’s Update, as long as they are appropriate for a general audience. Items do not need to be re-submitted to run multiple times; we will automatically remove events once the date of the event has passed, and continue to include items without dates as long as you would like - just tell us how long in the form. If you would like your submission to be included on the Town’s social media pages, please include a graphic that contains all the information a viewer needs to know about what you’re sharing, as well as a direct link if the viewer needs to register or learn more. Using the form and following the guidelines will help us improve readability and accessibility across formats, and ensure we include items of interest to everyone. 

Last minute reminder: Town and County tax bills are due tomorrow, April 30, but will be considered timely if received or postmarked Monday, May 2. The Tax Receiver’s office is open until 6 PM today, April 29, and from 9 AM - noon tomorrow morning, April 30, to assist with bill payment. For more information, visit the Tax Receiver’s page on our website. 

We will see you soon - stay safe and be well!

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please complete this form. We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates. 

Supervisor’s Update – April 22, 2022

Happy Earth Day! April 22 is the official date for Earth Day every year, and it’s a special time to reflect on how we can all take better care of our home, Planet Earth. Regular readers of the Update know that the Town of Ossining is an especially environmentally-conscious place all year round, and so we get particularly excited for Earth Day and the Green Ossining Earth Day Festival, this year scheduled for tomorrow, April 23! 

This year’s festival will also be our first in-person festival since 2019, and should be spectacular. What better way to spend a beautiful spring day than down by the Hudson River, celebrating Mother Earth and learning how to reduce your impact on the environment, while having a lot of fun!  There will be delicious food, hands-on activities for all ages, eco-demonstrations, and all sorts of vendors – artists and artisans, vegetarian and vegan fare, craft beer, food foraging, textile recycling, an e-waste drive, drum and ukulele circles, a kids’ activity zone, live music all day, and much much more! 

There will be limited parking at the waterfront on Saturday so event attendees are encouraged to take advantage of the free shuttle that will be bringing people to and from free municipal parking in the heart of Ossining’s downtown.  Parking on site will be limited to those who require handicap accessible parking and for the vendors.  Below are parking guides you should save to your phone or print to help you navigate - special thanks to Village Trustee Manny Quezada for creating these beautiful and informative guides. 

The extra bonus of using the free shuttle is that you get to start and end your Earth Day adventure on Main Street! Why not grab a second lunch at Good Choice Kitchen, or a new book or fun toy from Hudson Valley Books for Humanity or Penny and Ting or a gift from Melita’s? Make an Ossining day of it!

The Town and Village of Ossining will have a double booth showcasing a few exciting initiatives including the Ossining Shoreline Revitalization Project (which is phase 2 of the Ossining Climate-adaptive Design Studio) and our Food Scraps Recycling Program.  You will be able to purchase a composting kit (or pre-order one now for pick-up at the festival at ossiningcomposts.org) and sign up for our second annual Compost Give Back Day, which will be held on Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 at Cedar Lane Park.  We will also share information about our draft legislation prohibiting balloon releases and a quick guide to the Town’s Environmental Regulations that was prepared by our Environmental Advisory Committee.  The Village will also have information about Project MOVER, which aims to bring e-bikes to Ossining, and the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.  We hear there may be a chance to take a spin on an ebike yourself.  Please stop by and say hi on Saturday!

We will be set up right next to our friends at 511NY Rideshare who will have information about how to choose a sustainable mode of transportation for commuting this Earth Day.  Get a head start on your Earth Day pledge by visiting the Ossining Community Center this week through Wednesday, April 27 to visit the 511NY Rideshare Kiosk and become a 511NY Rideshare member to green your commute. 

Also in what we are going to call the “municipal corner” at Earth Day: Sustainable Westchester will be set up to talk about all the wonderful initiatives they have helped launch here.  By now you have probably received a postcard in the mail inviting you to join the Westchester Earth Month Challenge by signing up for GridRewards!  GridRewards is an easy and fun way to actually earn money for your smart energy behavior.  It is literally as easy as flipping a switch.  Learn more at sustainablewestchester.org/gridrewards, or plan on making a stop to their booth on Earth Day! 

If you’re not able to join us in person tomorrow, be sure to stop by our virtual booth by clicking here! And keep caring for Mother Earth by signing up for the Riverkeeper Sweep and I Love My Parks clean up day - more details in the Green Living section of the update.  

Lastly, we invite you to attend our two public hearings next Tuesday, April 26 at 7:30 PM, on both the Comprehensive Plan and proposed legislation to protect wildlife and waterways from released balloons and lanterns. Zoom details are below.  This will likely be the last public hearing on the Comp Plan as it has been over a month since we opened it.  You may still send comments via the Town Clerk at . 

Please click the link below to join the webinar

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86887549599

Or One tap mobile :

    US: +19292056099,,86887549599#  or +13126266799,,86887549599#

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        US: +1 929 205 6099  or +1 312 626 6799  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 253 215 8782  or +1 346 248 7799  or +1 669 900 6833

Webinar ID: 868 8754 9599

    International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kyLe2n5bQ

And make sure to plant something or hug a tree this weekend! Victoria Cafarelli and I planted a window garden of herbs in the office today. 

I look forward to seeing you out and about celebrating our Earth. 

--Dana

If your business, non-profit, or community group has an event that you would like to submit to be a part of the Supervisor's Update, please email a flier and brief description to . We are happy to pass along events that provide a benefit to the community and support our local economy. Thank you for helping us to highlight all the best Ossining has to offer!

Subscribe to our email blast list and receive Town news and updates.