Sharing Village News is Part of the Job

Part of my job on the Cold Spring Village Board is communicating with residents, friends and neighbors keeping them updated on the good work of the Village Board and informed of its activities, important news and issues that affect us all.

As Trustee, this part of the job gives me great pleasure. I love talking about the many good things our Village Board accomplishes -- especially the projects I've been a part of, such as our FREE Summer Film Series run by the Cold Spring Film Society, negotiating a state grant to update our zoning and historic codes and organizing volunteers to support the care of our Village street trees.

One of the ways I share news is by using online media.  By using Facebook I am able quickly reach hundreds of residents of our community to spread the word about how good we have it here in Cold Spring.

Unfortunately, some in our community want to restrict the reporting of news and information about our Village.

Last week I was strongly criticized by the Putnam County News & Recorder and Village Planning Board Chair Barney Malloy for a sharing Village news in a Facebook post that highlighted a vital step in securing $75,000 in NYSERDA funding for our Village to use to update our zoning and historic district codes.  PCN&R columnist Tim Greco contributed his own detractions and related commentary on Facebook 'Philipstown Debate Forum' (not 'Philipstown Is Talking' - as stated in the original post).

Unfortunately, I'm sure these unfounded attacks will continue in the PCN&R and on Facebook. With one year left in my term as Trustee, I expect the negative press to grow louder and more extreme.

However, I will not be intimidated. I will keep sharing good news about the meaningful work conducted by and for the Village of Cold Spring.

For those of you on Facebook, you can continue to find my posts on my campaign page at: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieForTrustee <https://www.facebook.com/StephanieForTrustee> .

 Not on Facebook? Find my posts here:  stephanieforcoldspring.blogspot.com <http://stephanieforcoldspring.blogspot.com <http://stephanieforcoldspring.blogspot.com> >

You can email me questions directly at hawkins.coldspring@gmail.com <hawkins.coldspring@gmail.com>

I'm always happy to hear your constructive contributions to any discussion.

What's the status of the $75,000 NYSERDA grant to help fund our Zoning and Historic Code updates?

Good news to report!

Yesterday, the Village Attorney and I met with representatives from NYSERDA to discuss the terms of our contract for that grant. By the end of our meeting, NYSERDA understood clearly the Village's obligations to honor public process and agreed to make important changes in the contract, ensuring the Village's award of the $75,000 will fund our *process* without obligations to adopt specific legislation.

Many thanks are due to NYSERDA for being sensible and fair-minded negotiating partners, and to the Mayor Ralph Falloon and my fellow Trustees Matt Francisco, Bruce Campbell and Chuck Hustis for supporting continued discussions with NYSERDA. This grant helps us all.

*Protecting the Village We Love* 

Trustee Matt Francisco's response to a recent article in the the PCN&R

Please read here Trustee Matt Francisco's response to a recent article in the the PCNR:

"The Ailes newspaper and their candidates have gone too far.

It is clear I’m being followed; My movements are being tracked and reported in their newspaper.

This week I was attacked in the PCNR for going to the home of friends to babysit for their daughter while he ran a quick errand. Last month I was attacked for having coffee with another friend of mine. Cathryn Fadde seems to have received information about when I’m in my home based upon her "your house is dark half the week" comment in the first debate. From some of their recent “reporting” they seem to be following the movements of my running mate Donald MacDonald and my fellow Trustee, Stephanie Hawkins.

It is Michael Bowman and Cathryn Fadde themselves who have chosen to associate with people who - in Mr. Bowman’s own words - have a ‘win at all cost mentality’ and have no shame in spying on neighbors and manufacturing phony scandals in our small community.

Let me be clear; Michael Robinson & Dar Williams are friends of mine. They are tireless advocates for good causes throughout the Hudson Valley and the World. Anyone who knows Michael & Dar know that they are good hearted people that do good work. However, that doesn’t condone a few words they wrote in a private letter that the PCNR has somehow obtained for this political purpose.

I will reiterate what my running mate told the editor of the PCNR on our behalf: “The letter you describe is clearly not from our campaign. As a general statement Matt and I are not concerned with the ownership of your newspaper and our campaign does not advocate "dishing dirt" nor does it appreciate receiving the same from our opponent or their supporters. We hope they will respectfully refrain from attacks on the Mayor and Village Board, including volunteers on standing boards as well as Village staff. It’s simply unfair and unsportsmanlike to continually accuse our neighbors of wrong-doing when they are not the candidates running for election and have no platform from which to defend themselves.”

I hope Cathryn and Mike will call a halt to these tactics and that we can all get back to talking about things that matter: Keeping taxes low, services high, getting Butterfield done right and continuing to care for the Village we all love.


Respectfully,
Matt Francisco"

Opinion: Postal Perspective republished from Philipstown.info / The Paper

The formal process for finding a permanent location for the post office was launched by the post office last month. This process is managed by the post office and will include community input as required by federal law. It addresses the last of three priorities identified by the post office last summer: Find a home for its Cold Spring carriers, find a temporary location for Cold Spring retail services, and finally, find a permanent location for the post office in Cold Spring.

Last fall I asked the post office about work on the lot at the corner of Marion Avenue and Benedict Road behind Foodtown. The post office said it wasn’t ready to launch the formal and federally prescribed process to find a permanent relocation site for the post office, but needed a temporary location for retail services because of its expired lease at Foodtown.

As a result of my inquiry I was invited to join post office officials and fellow elected officials in discussion to help identify a safe and publicly supported site for its temporary location.

I accepted the invitation. A conference call was scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving.

On Monday before the call, a post office official contacted me with concerns about County Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra’s efforts to exclude me from the discussion, and include instead Paul Guillaro, property developer and owner of the Butterfield property. He said Scuccimarra wanted the call to include only herself, the post office officials, Mayor Ralph Falloon, Barney Molloy, Ed Brancati (Congressman Maloney’s aide) and Paul Guillaro. Scuccimarra wanted no other village officials included.

The post office official said it “didn’t sound right” that any local elected official should be intentionally excluded from the discussion, and that it was “highly inappropriate” to include a property developer. The post office official confirmed that other elected village officials should participate if they were inclined to do so.

I asked the rest of the Village Board to join the call. Trustee Matt Francisco said he would. Trustees Campbell and Hustis declined.

During the call, the post office explained its business needs and possible sites for a temporary retail location.

The post office explained its need to reduce costs and its intentions to maintain retail service in Cold Spring while consolidating carriers and sorting facilities in Garrison. The post office said unequivocally that separating carriers from retail service does not threaten the future of the post office in Cold Spring. (In fact, smaller area requirements for retail-only service mean more flexibility when looking for a permanent location.)

The post office considered three locations for temporary use. The lot behind Foodtown was deemed unworkable for village residents due to vehicular and pedestrian traffic pressures. Butterfield was deemed unworkable for the post office because it was “not adequately developed.” The small parking lot adjacent to the Foodtown building was deemed a workable compromise. This is where the post office’s temporary retail counter currently resides.

Mayor Falloon, Trustee Francisco and I acknowledged the post office’s business needs and agreed the small lot adjacent to Foodtown effectively addressed resident concerns about additional traffic on Marion and Benedict.

Despite the post office’s business needs and business model, Scuccimarra insisted that separation of carriers from retail service was unworkable for the community and that only Butterfield would satisfy the community’s demand for a post office facility, housing carriers and retail. She told the post office they had “negotiated [with her] in bad faith” and pressed them to call Guillaro.

By ignoring the post office’s business needs, insulting the integrity of their representatives, and adopting an all-or-nothing approach to problem solving, Scuccimarra demonstrates an unfortunate willingness to risk an important public amenity in service to private development. That is not public service.

Stephanie Hawkins is a trustee of the Village of Cold Spring.