Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval's Monthly Reports — July 15, 2024

Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval’s Monthly Reports

July 15th, 2024

Red Hook Together: I did not attend the June 6th meeting, I did however attend the meeting on July 11th, at noon held over Zoom. The scheduled speaker was Darcy McCourt, who presented the organization Rebuilding Together Dutchess County. Rebuilding Together provides renovation and repair services to income qualifying households. The Rebuilding Day Program & Handyman Program provides qualifying homeowners with free repairs in order to make their homes safe and or accessible to the occupants. If you are interested in their program you can visit their website (rebuildingtogetherdutchess.org). There are various eligibility criteria outlined in their application forms; for instance they cannot do repairs on homes assessed at over $368,000, they cannot do repairs on mobile homes, and households must not exceed the gross income threshold which are outlined in their application. If you are interested in applying, the Rebuilding Together office and Dutchess County Office for the Aging can assist prospective applicants with filling out the forms.

The next Red Hook Together meeting is noon at the Bard's Barringer House House on August 4th.

Red Hook Town Economic Development Committee: Bi-weekly meetings have been taking place at Village Hall on the second & fourth Wednesdays of the month at 8:40 am. I was unable to attend the June 12th due to a conflict with a NYS Comptroller training course, and the Mayor attended instead. I did attend the June 26th meeting and the conversation - centered mainly on the Red Hook School District’s Ideas Exchange regarding the recently failed budget proposition vote for replacing the main athletic field with artificial turf.

The committee also asked about any updates on the Zoning project for the Cookingham East as well as complimenting the Red Hook Health Food Store’s bright new paint and signage. There was also discussion about the Chamber’s “Second Saturdays” as well as the Eat ‘n’ Go’s Friday music series.

The EDC chose to skip the July 10th meeting to accommodate member’s summer travel plans - the next meeting will be held on July 24th.

Village of Red Hook Communications Committee: The Communications committee meets every first Wednesday of the month at 1:30 pm in the Village Hall conference room.

This month’s meeting was not held due to Union Negotiations scheduled at the same time in the Village Conference room. Over the month we have continued efforts on previous projects,

including successfully submitting a budget adjustment to the County for the Language Access Project. We also worked to create a colorful flier to promote the Abraham’s Park survey which is available in both English and Spanish. If you would like to take the online survey please visit: Redhookvillage.org/parksurvey

Village of Red Hook Hardscrabble / Events Committee: The events committee meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6pm at Village Hall. On July 9th we met to discuss the upcoming Hardscrabble Music Festival, which will take place on September 14th as well as planning details around September 13th’s Neighbors Night.

Please stay tuned for more details regarding the lineup and the day of activities, once those become finalized.You can follow Social Media for updates at (facebook.com/hardscrabblerh & instagram.com/villageofrhevents/).

The next public meeting will be August 13th.

Village of Red Hook Human Relations Committee: The Human Relations Committee meets every first Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm in the Village Hall conference room. The committee met on June 6th- We spent the meeting meeting prospective new member Linda Duval who is a Deacon at Christ Episcopal Church, Red Hook as well as getting her up to date on ongoing projects (of which there are no new updates).

The committee did not meet for the month of July since the regularly scheduled meeting time fell on July 4th. The next public meeting will be on August 1st.

Village of Red Hook Highway / Public Works Department:

1. Hydrant Flushing is scheduled to start this week (July 15-19). Fire hydrant flushing is performed to remove any sediment or stagnant water from the distribution system and to test fire hydrant operation. You may experience temporary water discoloration or a pressure drop. This is a normal and expected occurrence. If you notice any discoloration, your water is safe to drink but we recommend that you run it for a few minutes until the water is clear.

2. Village Brush / Yard Waste Pickup - Pickups are scheduled for the first full week of every month, next rounds of pickup will be the week of August 5th, pending weather conditions and scheduling. Residents are reminded of the following rules:

• Avoid creating long-term piles, place piles out just prior to pick-up week.

• Lawn clippings and brush should be set out in separate piles.

• Place piles on the edge of your lawn (not on the sidewalk or in the street).

• The Pile should not include: Construction debris, Soil or dirt, garbage, stumps, and/or branches larger than 6” in diameter.

  • Piles should be limited to 6' x 6' x 6'.

  • Consider combining smaller piles with a neighbor to facilitate efficient pickups.

3. Trash & Recycling Pickup -

   • Please put your trash & recycling out before 5am on Monday mornings.

   • Cardboard bundles should be bound together with string or tape. Paper recycling should be placed loose within a lidded tub or bin.

4. Potholes: You can notify the village of potholes on Village roads by calling the Village Clerk’s office or filling out the “Report a Concern” form at: redhookvillage.org/concern. Please note that the Village is not allowed to conduct repairs on State Highways. If you would like to report a pothole on a State Highway, The Village can forward your concern - or you can submit your complaint directly to the NYS DOT by calling 1.800.POTHOLE (1.800.768.4653).

5. Street Light Complaints: If you notice a street light out - you may notify Central Hudson directly by going to: cenhud.com/en/outages, selecting ‘Report a Street Light’ and filling out their online form.

6. Scrap Metal Program:

While we did not have any scrap metal revenue this week - I wanted to correct an error I included in my last report - Our original FY ‘23-’24 budgeted revenue for scrap metal was $4,500 not $5,700 as I reported. Which meant when the FY23-24 total revenue was $6,984.70 - we had exceeded our original estimate by $2,484.70. Another way to say it is that the Village received a total of $2,9701.10 dollars more for scrap metal donations than it did the previous year. I wanted to share how generous residents and business owners have been this past year - and also how all of the individual donations can add up to make a significant difference!

Proceeds from the program go towards the purchase of tools & equipment for the Public Works Department. Residents & businesses interested in donating scrap metal may contact the Village Clerk’s office to schedule a pickup.