Mayor’s Message April 2018

If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring? I am happy to say that I have some good news on the financial front for the Village of Rhinebeck. The Treasurer’s proposed budget has been presented to the Village Board. We are excited to say that we are at a flat tax rate from last year, meaning that if we adopt this budget, there will be no increase in the tax levy for the fiscal year 2018-2019.

Proposed 2018-2019 Budget: $2,415,334.00

Revenue Other Than Taxes $780,592.00

Amount to be Raised in Taxes $1,634,742.00

Tax Rate $ 4.17

And, this budget accomplishes many of the goals we set:

 Contractor dollars budgeted for brush and leaf removal and street sweeping

 Consolidated certain like line items into one which allows for better fiscal planning

 Pay equity raises for several village employees

 Cut engineering costs by adopting the County Wide initiative for shared services. The County will provide a procurement specialist for bid preparation and bid advertisement. The rate for this service is $60.00/hr. which lowers our engineering costs.

 Identified roads for 2018-2019 for repaving by allocating an average cost per mile in the budget with $35,000 commitment to paving annually. This combined with State Highway allocations will cover the cost of paving a mile of road/year

 Purchase of new bound code books, and updating online information access

 Improvements to Village website

 No increase in rates for Water and Sewer budgets.

We are moving forward on our plans to develop a food waste reduction strategy, and to develop a municipal compost program in Rhinebeck. The Joint Town and Village of Rhinebeck Environmental Committee, a group consisting of the Village Mayor, the Town Supervisor, and a number of volunteer community members is currently seeking a CEP (Center for Environmental Policy) student to lead the project. This person will work at Village Hall alongside elected officials and committee members. There will be a stipend courtesy of the Good Work Institute. Committee member Matt Stinchcomb is heading the search: mattstinchcomb@gmail.com

Those of you, who are among the growing number of EV drivers, probably know the “Charging Stations” app which provides maps and directions to stations across the country. Rhinebeck will soon be listed, as we have asked for and received two NYSERDA grants for Electrical vehicle parking. Not only will this mean convenience for residents, it will put us “on the map”. Each grant was for the maximum allowable dollar amounts ($32,000.00). New York State is a leader in clean energy programs, and Governor Cuomo set a goal of 3,000 stations to be in place this year. We will be seeking and welcoming input from our community on this exciting development.

We have continued the discussion of the STVR (Short Term Vacation Rental) and our last workshop was held on March 15th. We still have work to do and currently working with our legal advisors on all of the proposed codes. Another workshop will be held soon to review their input to the board. As always you are invited and your input is very much appreciated as we plan for the future of Rhinebeck.

As many of you know, our beautiful village has many homes and streets distinguished with State and Federal designations of historic significance. These designations help our Planning and Zoning organizations maintain the character and ambiance of the Village. It has been many years since the existing historic footprint of the Village was last updated. For this reason, the Village Board, in concert with the Village Planning and Zoning Boards, has recently retained the services of a professional historian (Mr. Neil Larson and his firm) to evaluate properties which might meet the criteria.

I also want to call your attention to the recent AMTRAK proposal to put fencing along the tracks in the Hamlet of Rhinecliff. The Village of Rhinebeck did not receive any official notification of this proposal and we are very concerned about the impact it could have on our community. We will all have an opportunity to hear more at our next Village Board meeting on APril 10th at 7:00 from Jeff Ancevino of Scenic Hudson. AMTRAK is proposing 4 gates at access roads along the track, two at the north and south points by the Village Water Treatment Plant, and two at the north and south points of the Rhinecliff Parking lot with no additional fencing. We will be working with the Town of Rhinebeck to make sure that AMTRAK follows the town process for reviews and seeks Planning Board permission. Please plan on attending if you want to learn the latest from Scenic Hudson.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me, I can always be reached at 845-876-7015 or MayorBassett@VillageofRhinebeckny.gov or come to see me during open hours from 1pm to 2pm daily Mayor Village of Rhinebeck 76 East Market St. Rhinebeck, NY 12572 (845) 876-7015