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Fellow Residents
A note to update you on activities, an anniversary and developments.
This weekend, we return (after a pause for the winter) to Friday Night Live in our downtown, this time with a literary theme, “Hastings Off The Shelf”, from 5:30 to 9:00PM. There’s Hastings authors reading their works, poetry slam for kids, make your own book, poetry readings, story reading for kids, a jazz/poetry event, and finally a concert at the Community Center at 8:30 with the Hastings Jazz Collective, composed of several jazz recording artists including Tim Armacost. There’s more than I can describe in a short paragraph, and the quality and variety is off the charts. More info at http://www.rivertownsguide.com/fnl. And everything is free (except for the concert, reasonably priced at $15). If you feel as snowed in and plowed under as I do after this brutal winter, shake off the seasonal blues and come out, enjoy the company of your neighbors, and wander among the many events downtown. It’s thrilling how many published authors we have in town. Just go. You've been cooped up inside long enough.
Speaking of celebrations, it’s worth noting that this year marks the 135th birthday of what I believe is Hasting’s longest-lived institution, the fire company called Hastings Protection Engine #1, located downtown on Warburton. The history here is just too interesting. When a fire ravaged a large sugar refinery located on the waterfront, followed by a number of other “suspicious” fires, combined with the threat from a group of roving thieves menacing the welfare of the citizenry, resulted in a call for local men of the community to meet and form a “protection company”. The men met at a restaurant once located, it is believed, where “Food For Thought” now resides at Spring Street and agreed to set up the Protection Company on
February 8th, 1876. The men hauled the bricks left from the sugar refinery fire to build the firehouse (these bricks can still be seen in the basement), and it was fully completed July of 1877. Their first fire call came during construction on May 11, 1876, at a carpentry shop. The first motorized apparatus (replacing a horse drawn wagon) was delivered in 1912. Since then, other engines have followed in 1920, 1936, 1955, 1977 and 1991. There will be occasion this year to wish the Company a fine birthday.
On the Village front, there’s much going on. We passed a change to our Affordable Housing law – if a developer builds more than ten units in Hastings moving forward, they will need to set aside 15% for affordable housing. The clean-up on the southern end of the waterfront progresses – remediation is well underway, with trucks every day (in good weather…) removing contaminated soils from the site. We’re looking at opportunities to further “green” our Village government (not incidentally saving money on our energy bills), and we are setting up “green teams” throughout our Village government to instill a culture of awareness. We’ve passed architectural standards for our downtown, ensuring changes are in keeping with existing
structures. And, finally, budget season is about to start.
The streets have been terribly torn up by this winter’s weather, and the DPW has begun the process (when it is dry out) of applying to the worst of the potholes what is known as “cold patch”, the temporary filler intended to get us through to when the asphalt plant opens and hot tar can be applied. There’s a lot of holes, and others seem to appear every day as ice melts and old patches fall apart. We’ll do our best and thank you for your forbearance.
Finally, several groups are sponsoring the showing of a one-hour movie called “Including Samuel” on Tuesday, March 8th, at 6:45 at the Hastings High School auditorium. Have you ever felt left out? This award-winning documentary film chronicles a family's efforts to include a disabled child in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family's hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of other individuals with disabilities and their families capturing the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion.
We have a number of openings on various Village boards – if you’ve ever considered getting involved, our boards and commissions can be low-key and effective ways to do it. Write to volunteer@hastingsgov.org to find out how. See you at Friday Night Live tomorrow – it’s going to be really interesting and fun.
With warm regards in this cold season,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor
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