Dana Levenberg, Town Supervisor
phone (914) 762-6001
fax (914) 762-0833
16 Croton Avenue
Ossining, NY 10562
The Supervisor's Office is located on the third floor of the Town offices. Office hours are Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm.
Happy Friday! Hope you’ve been able to enjoy the lovely temperatures and longer days this week, especially today!
Before getting into the administrative update for this week, I need to acknowledge a disturbing incident that occurred late last week. A hate symbol was found on the Park School playground. The Community Equity Task Force has issued a statement in light of this and other recent incidents that make clear the need for, to quote directly, “proactive and sustained commitment to racial equity work, both in and out of schools.” You can read the full statement here. You are invited to learn more and get involved in the Task Force’s work. Go to the Email Alerts signup page of the Town of Ossining website, enter your name and email address, and then click “Manage Subscriptions” to add yourself to the Community Equity Task Force list.
In other news, we are approaching the end of our Comprehensive Plan drafting process! For those who are new to the Update, click here to read more about our Comprehensive Plan, called “Sustainable Ossining.” Our Comprehensive Plan will guide all land use planning and decision-making processes for the next decade; if you want to have a say, now is the time! The public hearing on the draft plan and objectives will be reopened during the March 22 Town Board meeting, as mentioned in a previous Update. It will likely be extended to at least the April 12 meeting. Both of those meetings will be held 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 . We anticipate having a revised draft of the comp plan by the end of March, in advance of our April 12 meeting.
This is the product of over 2 years of work - we started in January 2020! - with virtual and in person engagement, with hundreds of participants in Zoom meetings, surveys, pop-up events, posters, etc. The draft plan has been available for public review since February 1. Huge thanks to our Steering Committee – comprised of residents, business owners, and other stakeholders – for their careful review, outreach to the community, and input throughout the process.
In other sustainability news, this week’s Board meeting also featured an update on the Westchester Power Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program from Sustainable Westchester. In addition to the environmental benefits of the 100% green option, this program has been particularly beneficial to Town residents in recent months as Con Ed electricity supply rates have skyrocketed, while those who are in the CCA have continued to enjoy fixed rates.
We also began discussing possible balloon release legislation, to address the problem of balloons and other ceremonial objects being released in our parks and public spaces to commemorate, celebrate, or memorialize. As beautiful as these tributes are, the balloons or lanterns do eventually fall or end up in the water on land as litter, and can harm living creatures and our ecosystem. Special thanks to Councilwoman Liz Feldman, who has become somewhat of a balloon expert in recent weeks! You can watch the meeting and these discussions here at our YouTube channel.
Congratulations are in order for a number of Ossinauts this week. Read all about it in the Congrats section of the Update!
Lastly, calling all vendors who will want to be part of the upcoming Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 23. Though the big day seems far away, the deadline to submit a vendor application is next Friday, March 25. Learn more at www.greenossining.org/earth-day-festival!
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 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!
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Happy Friday! Hope everyone had a great week.
This week, we continued to cultivate opportunities for a greener future through grant funding. On Monday, Valerie Monastra, Victoria Cafarelli, and I participated in a meeting with the Village of Ossining regarding Project MOVER, a project that aims to bring e-bikes and supporting infrastructure to the Ossining community. This project is a finalist for significant funding from NYSERDA to establish a pilot program in the Village of Ossining that will be expanded to the Town of Ossining and other rivertowns, if the project receives the funding from NYSERDA. We look forward to staying engaged with this exciting opportunity that has the potential to benefit the greater Ossining community.
NYSERDA has other grant opportunities open right now for municipalities that are on our radar. Two of these opportunities relate to greater accessibility for building permitting and code enforcement, including assistance for establishing an online permitting system. We have been exploring online permitting systems for some time now, so to hear that we may be able to receive $75,000 for a project we were already planning to implement is really exciting. Our Building Inspector will also be learning more about these programs and we hope to throw our hat in the ring soon to bring in some additional grant dollars.
In other sustainability news, we also continued our public engagement on Sustainable Ossining, our Comprehensive Plan draft, by opening the public hearing at this Tuesday’s Board meeting. Thank you to everyone who has submitted feedback thus far in various formats. The public hearing will continue at our March 22 Town Board meeting; please join us if you are able to do so! We will share meeting details next week.
The Village of Ossining held a public meeting on Tuesday to kick off public engagement for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI), a very exciting development! Click here to visit the Village’s DRI website to learn more and share your ideas for how this grant funding should be spent. There is an open call for projects; click here to learn more about what types of projects can be funded as part of the program and submit your ideas. We link to this and other valuable news from partnering governments in the Other Government Updates section of the Update.
I know the last thing we all want to think about is winter weather, but unfortunately, it looks like the weather forecast is going to be a bit dicey tomorrow with heavy rain in the morning, transitioning to snow in the afternoon. Some events have also been canceled for tomorrow due to the weather, including the Ossining Farmers Market. Please exercise caution, stay home if you can, and fingers crossed this is the last major winter weather event for the season!
Lastly, don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour on Saturday before you go to bed; daylight saving time starts on Sunday morning at 2 AM. Spring ahead!
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 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!
Hard to believe it’s already March! As spring approaches, we are preparing for summer. At our Board meeting this past week, we passed a resolution to sign an agreement with the Chamber of Commerce to administer Food Truck Fridays, the Summer Concert Series and (drum roll please) the fireworks celebration for Independence Day! We are so looking forward to some amazing summer events, particularly in light of the grim milestone we just passed.
This week marks the two year anniversary of the first identified positive COVID-19 case in Westchester County. We have all been through so much since March 2020; it is pretty surreal that it has been two years. Yesterday, I attended the COVID memorial event which County Executive George Latimer held. It was incredibly moving to hear the stories of those who lost many, as well as the tribute to all those who stepped up to help. We have suffered so much, and all of us know one or many who we lost.
We also rallied together around a cause, and the message from speakers yesterday was about channeling that teamwork further to solve other seemingly intractable problems. Yesterday’s event was live streamed so you can watch it here. We will also be planning an Ossining commemoration in the coming weeks–stay tuned for more details.
We also discussed some tweaks to the Comprehensive Plan as we incorporate your feedback on it. Thank you to all those who have submitted feedback thus far. There is still time to submit comments via the form before it closes on Monday, March 7. We will also be opening the public hearing on the Comp Plan next Tuesday, March 8, during our Legislative Session (Zoom details at the end of this message). Please join us and tell us what you think! This will just be the start of our public hearing. We will likely keep the public hearing open for at least one more meeting, which is scheduled for March 22. We are also planning on returning to hybrid meetings for our March 22 Legislative Session, so there will be an opportunity to provide comments in person on the Comprehensive Plan as well.
In environmental news, Victoria Cafarelli from my office has been working closely with Maddi Zachacz from the Village Manager’s Office and Suzie Ross of Green Ossining to establish a joint Climate Smart Communities Task Force for the Town and Village of Ossining to help us achieve Bronze Level Certification under this program. We reviewed a proposed resolution establishing this Task Force, which will be on the agenda for next week’s meeting, and look forward to getting started.
So ends the first week of Women’s History Month. I always find inspiration in the incredible Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and her life’s work to advance gender equality. Justice Ginsburg frankly reminded us of what true equality looks like with her quote - "When I'm sometimes asked 'When will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court]?' and I say 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that." I am proud to work alongside many women in our local, county, state, and federal government here in Ossining, now finally including our first female governor, Kathy Hochul, and first female Vice President, Kamala Harris. All of the little girls out there can see themselves represented in their leaders, and hopefully dream a little bigger for that reason. I’ll be sharing more resources and events on this theme all month in our new Celebrating Women’s History Month section.
One last time - please join us for the public hearing on the Comp Plan this coming Tuesday, March 8 at 7:30 PM. Zoom details are as follows:
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85253526411
Or One tap mobile :
US: +19292056099,,85253526411# or +13126266799,,85253526411#
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: 852 5352 6411
Please remember that public hearings are an opportunity for members of the public to share their comments with the Board, not necessarily for the Board to engage in a back and forth dialogue. We look forward to hearing what the public has to say, synthesizing the comments, and considering revisions where they may be indicated.
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 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!
Supervisor’s Update – February 11, 2022
Happy Friday! Hope everyone is enjoying the warm (well, warm for February, anyway) weather.
Lots to share this week! Sadly, this week we had another occasion for a moment of silence at the Board meeting. This time for Aristan Garandeau, an EMT with Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Aristan was just 22 and also served in the Cortlandt and Peekskill VACs. Our hearts and thoughts go out to his family and all those who knew him.
On a happier note, on Monday we learned that the Town of Ossining has once again received the Tree City designation from the Arbor Day Foundation! 2022 will be our 22nd year receiving this designation and we are so proud of our efforts to care for our most precious natural resources year in and year out. This year, we were able to include as part of our application the introduction of the Ossining Town Parks Habitat Stewards Program, which in its first year, helped restore part of the natural habitat at Ryder Park by the pond. We look forward to growing this program in the years to come! Huge shout out to Patrick Vipperman and Donna Sharrett for their work on the Habitat Stewards and to Mitzi Elkes and our Environmental Advisory Committee for serving as our tree board and always advocating for these important initiatives. Also big thanks to our Town Parks department for helping support these volunteer efforts.
On the subject of trees, we are gearing up for some tree work at Ryder and Engel Parks. Victoria Cafarelli from my office met with Parks Foreman Mario Velardo and the Town’s Tree Warden Craig Stevens this week to finalize the scope of work for some tree pruning, and unfortunately a few takedowns too, in both of these parks. We are committed to caring for our trees, and tree maintenance is a very important part of that work. We are also hopefully going to plan some tree planting events later this year, to keep our community’s forest healthy and thriving!
In COVID news, as you may have heard, earlier this week Governor Hochul announced the next phase of the State’s COVID response, in response to rapidly decreasing case counts. The new developments include the following:
Please note that if you are visiting our Town buildings, masks will still be required in common areas, such as hallways, lobbies, and restrooms, as well as any office spaces where people cannot socially distance. You can read more about the State’s plans and updated “Winter Toolkit,” as well as the data that informs it, here.
Declining case counts are great news. Here in Ossining, there were 120 cases in the Town & its two Villages as of February 9, down significantly from the last time I reported on this figure in the Supervisor’s Update. Caution is still indicated, and we urge everyone to continue following the guidelines set forth by the state. At this week’s meeting, we also officially authorized an additional $30,000 from the Ambulance District Fund Balance to OVAC to support their community testing operations. This free testing offering has been a critical aspect of our community’s COVID-19 response and serves as a model to communities near and far for how to ensure everyone can access free and easy testing opportunities in this pandemic. Thank you Chief Franzoso for all of your hard work!!
County Executive George Latimer formally recognized OVAC and Scarsdale’s Volunteer Ambulance Corps today for their assistance with the County’s testing and vaccination effort. Our State Senator, Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, and I were on hand to extend our congratulations and thanks, along with Town Board member Liz Feldman and Village Trustee Manuel Quezada.
In addition to a plaque, OVAC also received these yummy-looking cookies!
Now, who is ready to dive into some fun stuff? Check out the Nonprofits & Charity section for details on this Saturday’s Escape from Sing Sing Polar Plunge, in which I will be participating in support of Gullotta House, along with many others. From there, you can navigate to any other section of the Supervisor’s Update blog using the links at the bottom of the page. Happy reading!
Lastly, please join us next week for a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 via Zoom. The topic of the Town Hall will be the newly released draft of the Comprehensive Plan! Our consultants from WXY studios will join us for an overview presentation of the plan and discussion of next steps, including plans for a public comment period and public hearings on the plan. If you want to do some homework before the meeting, the draft plan is available now on the project website, www.sustainableossining.com. And remember, at Town Hall meetings we do invite members of the public to make comment and ask questions, deviating from our normal Work Session process. We look forward to this discussion! Click here to join the meeting at 7:30 or dial (929) 205-6099 and put in meeting ID 828 4741 1615.
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 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!
Welcome (or welcome back) to the Supervisor’s Update! Hope everyone is safely at home on another stormy day.
We started this week’s board meeting with a moment of silence for John Massey, a well-known member of the Ossining community. He served us as a lifelong member of our volunteer fire department’s Holla Hose Engine 100, superintendent of St. Augustine’s Cemetery, and an active member of the Old Mill Singers for the last 40 years. John will be missed by many, especially for his amateur singing career spreading joy throughout the community, including an annual performance in the Town’s summer waterfront concert series. May his memory be a blessing.
The Board also heard from Hank Osborn and Myra Romano from the NY/NJ Trail Conference (NYNJTC), as well as Diane Alden from the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, for a presentation on the 2021 season of the Croton Gorge Unique Area Conservation Corps Trail Stewards program. This program, now in place for two seasons, has been very helpful at ensuring the Croton Gorge Unique Area, often accessed through Ossining, is properly and safely enjoyed by all as a much needed respite in nature during the spring and summer months. You can read more about the program’s activities and outcomes for the past year in this report. The Town is proud to support this program and grateful to everyone who helps us maintain our open spaces. Big shout out to Diane for her focus and persistence on protecting this critical area while still ensuring public access and enjoyment.
By the way, the NYNJTC is looking for Conservation Corps members for the 2022 season. You can read more about that position here. Check out their Job Openings page for other employment opportunities. We’ve also added this to the Career & Education section of the Supervisor’s Update blog. Speaking of the blog - we now have a new section highlighting Black History Month programming, and some extra special updates in the Congratulations section (spoiler alert: we have a new reason to be proud of OPD chief Kevin Sylvester, as if we needed any more!).
As a reminder, our Town e-mail system is undergoing maintenance this weekend, so all Town staff will not be able to send or receive e-mails over the weekend. As always, the Ossining Police Department non-emergency phone line is available if anything urgent arises over the weekend, just call (914) 941-4099. You can also reach out to me directly at (914) 598-7842. Thank you for your patience - we will be back up and running (and probably responding to quite a number of e-mails!) on Monday.
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 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!
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