Message from the Mayor: Infrastructure, New Trustee, Rezoning, HEF, River Sweep, Spring Thing!
Posted on: May 5, 2017 - 5:50pm
Fellow Residents;
Some updates and news about upcoming events are in order.
Infrastructure Surge
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The Board is planning to increase our spending on road repaving and curb monies this year - by a factor of two or three - in a concerted effort over the next couple of years to significantly improve the state of our roads. The Village contracts for road repaving and curbing through an annual joint bid with other villages in Greenburgh (something we do to save money), and so we are first deciding how much money to spend on this (which we will do at the next meeting so it can be provided to the village consortium in time for the bid) and then we will review the analysis produced of our roads (available here) and identify which of the roads identified in that analysis in the worst condition will then get the beautifying treatment this year. We plan to repeat this next year as well. Stay tuned.
New Trustee
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Board Trustee Walter Stugis is making a life move that takes him away from us here in Hastings and, subsequently, off the Board of Trustees. He wasn't due for re-election until next March and so I have the pleasure of making an interim appointment to fill out the duration of his term. (Walter will be stepping down in June.) Georgia Lopez, a nine-year resident of our village, is most recently a co-chair of Hastings RISE, an organization that has arisen to promote a dialog on racial inclusion. She's been involved as a Girl Scout leader, sings in a local band (check her out at the HEF fundraiser, listed below), and has worked on immigrant issues. She holds a job in internet brand management. She's married and has two children in the Hastings elementary and middle schools.
Public Hearing on Zoning Change
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The Board was approached in the last year with two different development proposals for facilities oriented toward the elderly - a memory care facility on Warburton by the Yonkers border and an independent living facility to be located at Andrus. The two proposals underscored gaps in our zoning, much of it decades old, that did not address these sorts of facilities. Rather than carrying out spot zoning reviews for these two parcels, the Village stepped back and initiated a review of the zoning code on this issue as a whole - is the language adequate, what is the impact, what makes sense. A consultant hired and paid for by the Village has produced draft sample zoning code language changes and a formal environmental assessment of the impact of these changes. The first step is to offer it up for public review and comment, as well as input from the Planning and Zoning Boards. You can find the document (here) and we will be holding a public hearing on it on June 6th at the start of our regular Board Meeting, 7:30PM at the Municipal Building.
Hastings Education Foundation (HEF) annual fundraiser
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This annual blow-out, Saturday night at 7:30PM, is the primary way that HEF raises money for the many grants it makes to the Hastings school system to fund a range of activities, infrastructure and services. It takes place at the Captain Lawrence brewery (444 Saw Mill River Road), serves food from a variety of Hastings restaurants (hence this year's appropriately named "A Taste of Hastings" theme) and also includes a silent auction. Click here (www.hastingseducationfoundation.org) for tickets.
Hudson River Sweep
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Meet at the Harvest-on-Hudson parking lot this Saturday at 1PM for the annual Hudson River Sweep. You’ll join fellow residents in a clean-up of our waterfront.
Spring Thing this Sunday
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This annual downtown street fair tradition is THIS Sunday from 12:00pm to 4pm at Warburton and Spring, with local live music, food, vendors, Fire Department cook-out, Museum of Interesting Things, bouncy castle and more. More at http://destinationhastings.org
The School Board held its candidate forum ahead of the election on May 16th. If you are interested in watching it, you can go to http://HOHSchools.org to see the five candidate who are vying for the three open seats. The School should have the video posted shortly.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor