Message from the Mayor: Soccer parade and more tomorrow, water tower, repaving/sidewalks

Fellow residents,
 
Enough news and things going on this weekend that I am compelled to clutter your inbox again.
 
Meet the Merchants Walking Tour
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Gather at the VFW plaza Saturday at 10:15am for a 10:30 departure for a walking tour of our merchants. Useful for newcomers and oldcomers (apparently not a word) alike, especially ahead of the holidays. Ending at noon at Maud’s for a mimosa.
 
Soccer Parade
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Our High School Boy’s Varsity Soccer team won the State Finals last week and will be feted with a parade in their honor tomorrow, Saturday, at 2PM, looping from the High School through the downtown and back again to the school. It’s the first time we have won State finals, and is worthy of celebration and note.  Come watch to raise a ruckus in their honor.
 
Cello/Piano Concert to benefit Hungry
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Cellist Peter Seidenberg and Pianist Hui-Mei Lin throw a concert at the First Reformed Church (right there at Five Corners) at 4PM tomorrow, Saturday, to benefit Hastings Helps the Hungry. $15 gets you admission and knowing you helped a decades-old volunteer-driven charity that puts lunch on the table at a homeless shelter in Yonkers.
 
Alternate Gifts Fair
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Grace Episcopal Church (Five Corners, as well) throws its annual Alternate Gifts Fair tomorrow from 12PM to 4PM and Sunday from 12PM to 3PM.  This is a chance to go browse among displays describing various charities, contribute to a cause and get a gift-card stating your donation that you can then give in lieu of a gift during the holidays. The right thing for those who have everything or would rather see the money put to use in a different way. (They also have some directly-sourced crafts as well for sale.)
 
Water tower
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In addition to the big news issued earlier this week regarding granting BP a demolition permit for Building 52, I wanted to update you on some tentative news regarding the water tower.  As part of the Consent Decree signed earlier in the year with BP Arco and the Riverkeeper, the Village secured a commitment from BP to contribute towards a renovation of the iconic water tower, should the community determine it was worth saving.  The water tower sits astride a nasty pocket of contamination and was always going to come down as part of the remediation – the only question has been whether we would take it down in an orderly way with the intent to restore and reconstruct it at some point in the future.  We hired an engineering firm to do a basic analysis of the structure to determine if it was structurally sound and would merit disassembly and storage. (There’s no point in doing so for a bucket of bolts and rust.)  The preliminary report (not yet issued in final form) is that both the supports and the holding tank are in surprisingly good shape given its roughly 90 years.  Our next step is to try and determine how much it would cost to disassemble and store it for a multi-year period.  Those costs will factor into a questionnaire that we would then distribute to ask village residents whether the community would like to save the water tower, replace it with a new one, or tear it down altogether. Stay tuned.
 
Warburton Repaving/New Sidewalk possibility
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The County has informed us that they intend to repave a portion of Warburton Avenue next year. Sidewalk replacement downtown has been on our wish list for a while, and it may make sense to do that in whole or in part in the same year so that a substantial renovation of the downtown is completed in one fell swoop. Now that the Village’s  financial position is on very solid ground, we can consider such a project and will be doing so in the next few months. Trustee Walker has been an advocate for this over the years and believes it is best done with an eye to walkability, traffic calming and other considerations. We will begin this process in the next few meetings.
 
Hastings-on-Hudson turned 137 today (woo hoo!), and if you want to see an absolutely stunning exhibit about Hastings in the early years – prior to 1900 – the Historical Society has just put one up that covers us from native American roots onwards.  There’s more there than can be digested in one visit and its fascinating, engaging and even shocking. They’re open every Monday and Thursday from 10AM – 2PM  and the first Saturday of the month from 2PM to 4PM. You can’t beat the price of admission (nothing), though a supporting annual membership at $25 helps to keep the lights on and makes a great gift, like the Hastings-themed items on sale as well - always good stocking-stuffers or more at this time of the year.
 
The Trustees have a table at the Farmer’s Market tomorrow if you want to drop by and chat from 9:30 to around noon. Always happy to talk.
 
Sincerely,
 
Peter Swiderski
Mayor