Mayor’s Message for March 2022

Welcome to March with its promise of spring and the reality of potholes. The more extreme our weather becomes, the more of a problem they present. Who doesn’t hate the jarring impact caused by driving over one? The Village Highway Department is already hard at work filling this year’s potholes with “cold patch”, a temporary fix until the blacktop plants reopen later in the year and we can refill the holes with heated asphalt. The potholes you see now actually start forming in the winter as freezing and thawing causes cracks in road surfaces to get larger, and road salt only makes the problem worse. The more unstable our weather becomes, the more damage to infrastructure like our roads.

We also have a regular maintenance schedule for Asher Dam, the dam at Crystal Lake. The schedule requires an informal visual inspection every two months, a detailed visual inspection every six months, and a technical detailed inspection every 4 years. The Village has hired Tighe & Bond to do the inspections at an annual cost of $10,500.

We continue to work with Marist College students as they create a dashboard for the Asher Dam Alert System. You can check out the prototype here even though it’s still a work in progress. Flood Prevention Calculator  The students and Professor Algozzine are doing a wonderful community service by creating this alert system. If you want to know more about the project, you can find the details here:

Marist College Collaboration with Rhinebeck Village

We are holding a public hearing on the newly drafted proposal for a law which will regulate 5G or small wireless telecommunications facilities within the village. This law’s intent is to provide a uniform and comprehensive set of standards for installing and maintaining the facilities. Draft Local Law Number 01 of 2022 is now available for your review. Small Wireless Facilities Daft Law We look forward to hearing from you at the public hearing scheduled for our next regular meeting on March 8th at 6 PM in Village Hall.

We are moving forward on plans to replace the undersized, aging water main on Center Street.

The 2 inch main has a history of many breaks over the years. The Village is planning to install approximately 1,000 linear feet of new 8-inch ductile iron water main which will provide plenty of water for fire protection and distribution.  The project will also include replacing existing fire hydrants and water systems, addressing drainage issues, improving streetscapes, and repaving.

The Village Compost Pilot has launched with 100 households signed on! Thanks so much to everyone who filled out our application form. The distribution of buckets and education was held on February 27th. The application form has now been converted to a “Waiting List Form”: https://www.climatesmartrhinebeck.org/village-compost-pilot  Thanks to generous members of the community for sponsoring (5) Wells Manor residents, and a volunteer who is helping low-mobility people participate. We know many of you are already happily backyard composting, and would ask that you please fill out the forms as well so we can gather data on how much our composting contributes to lowering our community’s greenhouse gas emissions goals.

Reminder: We are still holding  a series of Budget Workshops at 6PM on the following dates:

●       Water and Wastewater - March 1st  

●      Environmental, Fire and General - March 22nd

●      Total Budget Review - March 29th

●      Public Hearing - April 12th

David Edelson and Owen Mulligan have been accepted as active-probationary members of the Rhinebeck Fire Department by the Fire Department Membership Committee. Welcome to them both!

The following employees had anniversaries for the Village of Rhinebeck: Highway Motor Equipment Operator, Carl Delfino with 6 years and Building-Planning and Zoning Clerk, Ryan Dowden with 4 years. Congratulations to you both and thank you for your hard work.

I want to end this month's newsletter by offering our hopes and well wishes to the people of Ukraine.

As always, please reach out to me with any questions or comments. You can reach me by phone 845-876-7015 ext 2 at Village Hall or via email to MayorBassett@VillageofRhinebeckny.gov

Mayor Gary Bassett