Town of Red Hook Comprehensive Plan - Steering Commi ee Mee ng Minutes January 27, 2026 7:30-9:00pm Red Hook Town Hall In A endance Commi ee: Laurie Husted, Dennis Kanuk, Jennifer Mañón, Hart Migdal, Sam Phelan, Tricia Reed, Ben Shute, Julia Solomon (Chair) Liaisons: Sarah Imboden (Liaison, Village of Tivoli), Melkorka Kjarval (Liaison, Village of Red Hook), Jacob Testa (Liaison, Red Hook Town Board) Guests: Eric Pierson (Pa ern for Progress), Suzanne Bu on (Community Engagement Subcommi ee) Regrets Chuck Mead, Taun Toay (Liaison, Bard College) Minutes Minutes from the November 25th mee ng were approved. Commi ee Membership Updates Jacob Testa has been appointed as the Red Hook Town Board’s new liaison to the Comprehensive Plan Steering Commi ee. Chris ne Kane has expressed interest in remaining involved in the comprehensive plan update project although she is no longer on the Town Board. The commi ee supports appoin ng her to an open seat on the Steering Commi ee. Doug Strawinski has resigned from the commi ee for personal reasons. Project Updates The summary of the October visioning workshop results was posted on the Town’s comprehensive plan webpage and shared as part of a winter newsle er. Eric and the consultant team have been working on plans for the second workshop, to be held in Spring 2026 with a focus on goals and strategies for achieving them. Discussion – Community Engagement The commi ee discussed progress on community engagement and upcoming plans. A number of Kitchen Table Conversa ons have been held in the community. Addi onal Kitchen Table Conversa ons are planned for February, along with events at Red Hook Community Center and Red Hook High School. The commi ee hopes to complete addi onal outreach with a number of groups, including, for example, Bard students, middle/high school students, new town residents, emergency service providers, people working in business and trades, seniors, and Spanish speakers. The commi ee set a target of comple ng vision-related outreach by the end of February. The visioning survey will close at that me and future community engagement will focus on goals and strategies. 1
Discussion – Sample Comprehensive Plans The commi ee discussed various comprehensive plans from other community shared by Eric. These included: o City of Kingston - Link to Kingston’s Plan o Village of Rhinebeck - Link to Rhinebeck’s Plan o Town of Chatham - Link to Chatham’s Plan o City of Poughkeepsie - Link to Poughkeepsie's Plan o Town of Boston (NY) - Link to Town of Boston’s plan The commi ee discussed pros and cons of various plan formats and organiza onal structures. The commi ee expressed a desire for the plan to be clear and easily usable for its primary audience (Town government including commi ees) while also being approachable and engaging for the public. The commi ee wants to ensure that the plan is wri en and forma ed to be relevant over a long meframe, including effec ve, durable mechanisms for including and/or linking to related and suppor ng documents. The commi ee discussed op ons for how the plan might address implementa on. Next Steps Next mee ng: February 24th, 7:30-9:00pm Topics will include: community engagement check-in, Workshop #2, focus groups
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