Village of Red Hook Mayor’s Report May 2025
PERSONNEL
Angela Dourdis, Payroll/Acct Clerk, is planning to retire in mid-August. The plan is to hire a replacement – still a Part Time position. With our new Treasurer, Marybeth De Filippis, now full-time, this position will report to the Treasurer going forward.
WIIA – WATER PROJECTS:
Financing – We have received confirmation of the additional financing. Closing date is set for June 26. We will finalize all projects after that. Only small punch list items remain outstanding.
SEWER PROJECT I:
The major outstanding item is the Single Audit. We are still waiting for the final audit from the audit firm. And there is still one final MWBE report from Carver Construction to be filed with EFC. The JanMar ’25 report was filed but Carver didn’t make it a final report so there will be at least one more.
BENNER ROAD COALITION:
Town Supervisor McKeon and I had a second meeting on May 23[rd] with a smaller group from the Benner Road Coalition – a group of local residents that live around the sub-tributary and the tributary to the Saw Kill River into which our WWTP discharge flows. The Coalition group invited Dr. Christopher Soloman, whose expertise is in aquatic & ecosystem ecology and the fish and other organisms that live in them. He indicated that sewage breaks down over time naturally so the noncompliant discharge from the WWTP, once corrected, will clear up with time. We discussed several grant possibilities for future applications to consider ways to study and enhance the health of the wetlands.
SEWER PROJECT II:
The Benner Road Coalition and subsequently several residents have requested that the Village rescind the resolution adopting a negative declaration after completing the Full Environmental Assessment Form on July 15, 2024. I have reviewed this with our Land Use Attorney and have forwarded it to the engineers for their review and response.
I submitted a request to the NYSDEC for a freshwater wetlands jurisdictional determination on June 2[nd] . Estimated time for a response is 90 days. This is a formal assessment conducted by DEC to determine if an area meets the criteria for classification as a regulated freshwater wetland under the Freshwater Wetlands Act.
SAWKILL WATERSHED COMMITTEE (SKWC):
The Committee did not meet in May.
RED HOOK LIBRARY (RHPL):
The RHPL had their May board meeting on May 15[th] . They reviewed a Meeting Room Policy. Expenses through April are on target. Revenue is ahead, but that is due to the lopsided nature of receiving of funds from the Town & the School. The Director reported on many activities and actions on goals. For more information, you can find their board packet on the library’s website – redhooklibrary.org/board-oftrustees. Their next board meeting will be WEDNESDAY, June 18 at 6:30pm at the Library.
PUBLIC SPACES/ABRAHAMS PARK:
I met with Ash Rickard, Chair of the Public Spaces Initiative. We discussed the structure and charge of this committee. We have a first draft of a resolution creating the Public Spaces Committee. After further review with Ash, I will bring this resolution to the Board for review and discussion.
CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY TASK FORCE:
There is a revised resolution based on all of our discussions on the agenda for review at this meeting. We have the next meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 12[th] at 4pm in the Village Hall Conference Room.