Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval’s Monthly Reports
March, 9th, 2026
Red Hook Together
The group meeting is organized by Bard Center for Civic Engagement & meets every first Thursday of the month. On Thurs, March 5th the group of Red Hook Together met in-person at The Grove, A newly renovated restaurant & bar at Red Hook Golf Club.
The conversation focused on hearing about attendees upcoming events and programs as well as discussing funding opportunities, such as celebrating the Community Center’s recent NY BRICKS grant and Dutchess County MIG grant. Kris Munn from the County Legislator, District 20 talked about the County Budget and the upcoming discussions.
PANDA tv is looking for furnishing donations for its nearly completed studio. If you have Club chairs, rugs or other furnishings in good condition, consider giving them a new career in show business. Also exciting, PANDA tv now has a 24-7 programming available on its livestream app, through Spectrum cable channel 1303, or through your internet browser at:
- panda ny.cablecast.tv/cablecastapi/live?channel_id=1&use_cdn=true
Visit: https://panda-ny.cablecast.tv/internetchannel/schedule for the full schedule of programs.
Town of Red Hook Comprehensive Plan:
The Town committee meets monthly from 7:30pm to 9pm on the fourth Tuesday at Town Hall. The last meeting was February 24th. The Consultants are working with the Committee to close out the Visioning process and are beginning to gather the key goals/topics raised during those sessions. Those larger goals will be presented with strategies/policies for further engagement at the upcoming second workshop in the spring.
Below is a list of some of the programming & metrics of the Public Visioning Sessions:
| Below is a list of some of the programming& metrics of the Public VisioningSessions: | Below is a list of some of the programming& metrics of the Public VisioningSessions: |
|---|---|
| ●Tabling at Hardscrabble Day 2025 | |
| ●Visioning Workshop:70+ participants | |
| ●Visioning Survey (mostly online, some paper surveys):170 respondents | |
| ●Kitchen Table Conversations:21 | |
| ●Tabling and engagement at the Community Center (Teen time, Community Closet, Senior | |
| Friends Lunch) | |
| ●Pop-up boards at Bard | |
| ●Pop-up boards at Red Hook High School (next week) | |
| ●In-class workshop with~200 7th and 8th graders(later this month) |
|CompPlanSite:|redhookny.gov/578/Town-of-Red-Hook-Comprehensive-Plan| |What is aCompPlan?|redhookny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4933/| |CommunityEngagement|https://www.redhookny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4931/|
Town of Red Hook Community Preservation Fund:
| Town of Red Hook Community Preservation Fund: | Town of Red Hook Community Preservation Fund: | |
|---|---|---|
| Balance | ||
| M&T Consolidated Account | Cm C’munityPres 0102 | |
| 234,683.02 | ||
| NYclass Master Account | Cm CommunityPres. 0203 | 1,500,533.97 |
| Green CPF 0204.100 Investment | 1845703.47 | |
| Greene(CPF Funds)0204 | 111,102.20 | |
| Town of Red Hook CPF Total Balance as of 2/10/2026 | 3,692,022.66 | |
| Source: Town Board Packet:https://www.redhookny.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/1112?fleID=20477 | ||
| From the Monthly Statement of the Red Hook Town Supervisor |
Village of Red Hook Communications:
This month the Mayor and I made progress on a few ongoing projects:
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The Communication Survey online has been posted to the home page under “Government News”. Questions range from what methods of communications work well, which could be improved, which improvements should be budget priorities.
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The Updated Waste Water Treatment Plant Operations Page was relaunched on Wed March, 4th. The aim was to streamline information and add contextualizing information to the reports and updates listed on the page. We also improved the layout, implementing a “jump link” index at the top of the page so users are able to navigate directly to each heading.
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I also posted a sign-up tutorial to the NY Alert system, which was first created by Sewer Clerk Jen Cavenaugh, and shared by Mayor Karen Smythe via email. You can locate the page under the Stay Informed heading on the website.
Village and Zoning Review:
On February 9th, the Village Board voted to send the North Broadway Corridor Land Use & Zoning Study Draft to Dutchess County Department of Planning, Village of Red Hook Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, to be reviewed for comments within 30 days. The Public Comment period was also extended to March 9th.
Links to Video Recordings:
Draft Study Information Sessions: Mar 13,2025 , Oct 13, 2025. Public Hearings : Dec 8, 2025 , Jan 12, 2026 , February 9th The Proposed Study can be accessed here: redhookvillage.gov/360
Planning/Zoning & Building Department:
This past month, with the permission of the Mayor, I have been working with the Planning Clerk, Lara Hart to prepare a guide for businesses that are opening a Village location. It was a concept that the Mayor and I discussed years ago with business owner Lauren Cunningham-Housman, and was seconded recently by Chamber of Commerce director Colin Stark. The guide will attempt to explain common requirements and processes (fire inspections, ‘Change of Use’ etc).
See attached Reports