Message from the Mayor: Ravensdale Bridge, Quarry Park, Village Code Updates, WRC RFP, MLK Breakfast
Posted on: January 14, 2019 - 7:48pm
Fellow residents –
The year starts with a start and the holidays seem suddenly far behind us. There are a couple of items to mention heading into these cold days of the New Year.
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The New York State Department of Transportation is holding a public hearing this Thursday, 7PM, at the Harmon Community Center to review the proposals for the replacement of the Ravensdale Bridge. The NYSDOT has added the option of erecting a temporary bridge during this period of construction. While this will add time to the length of reconstruction, it eliminates the lengthy drive-around through Dobbs or northern Yonkers necessary to accommodate for the missing bridge and lowers the response times for emergency services. Those interested should attend this session to learn more and to ask questions of the NYSDOT team.
Quarry Park
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In late November, the Village Manager issued a request for bids for the renovation of the closed Quarry Park, located off the Aqueduct by Aqueduct Lane. The Village received three bids for the remediation and renovation of the park on December 17th, and after a careful review, the Village Manager recommended a winning bid for $1,454,715. The total cost will be covered in full by two grants and secured through negotiations with BP. Work will commence shortly and will complete this year, with plantings in the fall. This is the last available land for a park left anywhere east of the railroad tracks and this work will resurrects a lovely park that was once at this location. (One day, a wonderful set of parks will emerge on the waterfront, but that is still a few years off). Enticingly, this 5.5 acre park will finish a necklace of park and Village paths so that you will be able to walk all the way from Southside to Broadway without once treading on concrete. That’s an asset for a community’s walkability that you can’t overstate.
Village Code Updates
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In Spring last year, a group of Hastings residents took on the unenviable task of reviewing the entire Village Code in a coordinated effort, looking for dated provisions (yes, we have a section that regulates Dance Halls), cleaning up inconsistencies in the code, and plugging a few holes. They went off and came back with changes to forty different chapters or clauses. Many are noncontroversial (we do not need a reference to “velocipedes”…)(no, seriously) and others may require a policy discussion. These are changes to existing laws and so will require public review of each change. There’s enough work here to stretch out over a year, and we have prioritized the first three batches of changes for immediate action. The deletion of the first four was scheduled at our last meeting: this is the repeal of regulations around dance halls, licensing animals (now done by other jurisdictions), dance halls and curfews. You can see the law (HERE).
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The Waterfront Rezoning Committee (“WRC”) was established by the Board of Trustees to lead the effort to propose new zoning for the waterfront. In 2018, the WRC got their sea legs and established a strategic plan on how to carry out the rezoning effort, and then based on that plan they drew up a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) document which is what will be used to hire the planning consultant that will help guide the effort to fruition. The draft RFP has been turned over to the Board. We will carry out one final review as we review it, and when done, issue it as we seek proposals from planning consultant firms. With the consultant on board before the end of this quarter, the rezoning effort will go into high gear.
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Our 7th annual breakfast in celebration of Martin Luther King Day is next Monday, January 21st, at 9:15 in the Community Center (breakfast is served from 9:30). If you place your reservation in advance by sending an email to mlkbreakfasthoh@gmail, its $15 for adults and $10 for children (age 6 and under free). Otherwise it goes to $20 and $12 respectively the day of. This year, the Community Service Honoree is the Hastings High School performance artists “Culture Shock” and Hasting’s own Professor Vanessa Merton is the keynote speaker. Please join us at this happy community event.
Finally, a reminder, heading into the possibility of a decent snowfall this weekend: where possible, take your car off the street. We lose two car-lengths of plowing having to work around parked cars, so please do what you can to clear the streets.
The Board sends its best wishes and regards for this coming year. Please always feel free to reach out with your thoughts and input at board@hastingsgov.org
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor
P.S. New Year reminder: To stay on top of everything from school calendars to Village events, go here (https://www.burbio.com/states/New-York/Hastings-On-Hudson?zip_code=10706) or the app store to sign up for free and follow Hastings government school, library, and community group calendars and get updates, sync to your calendar and more. You get to select what you are interested in following.