Dutchess County Legislature Board Meeting
October 15, 2024
The meeting began and ended with condolences. First to a Clinton Hollow Road family who lost the mother and youngest child in a tragic home fire; at the end, in memory of Bharati Tsai and Lois Miller.
The business of the meeting, discussed in more detail below, was peremptory. It consisted of 2 public hearings, 2 Committee reports, approval of the minutes for the last meeting, and the consent agenda.
The bulk of the meeting was devoted to public comments on non-agenda matters. Eighteen people spoke: ten expressed concern about the county incinerator; seven sought the County’s help to save the the Vassar-Warner Home, a 150-year-old assisted living facility; and two urged the allocation of funds and resources to address children and youth mental health.
With respect to the incinerator, advocates from Mothers Out Front and Beacon Climate Action Now as well as a Poughkeepsie Common Council member and individuals experiencing the effects of the incinerator spoke. They pointed to the negative health and environmental effects of the incinerator – particularly asthma (especially affecting children), odors, and waste – and noted that 90% of the materials incinerated could be reused, recycled or composted. Moreover, the incinerator is enormously expensive to replace ($600 million to replace), while the energy produced by the incinerator provides for the heating needs of only 2.3% of the county’s 131,163 housing and commercial units. Several of the speakers urged the Legislature to hire zero waste certified consultants to assist in studying and recommending alternatives. Their concerns were echoed in a petition submitted to the Legislature containing 891 signatures.
Citing mismanagement by the Board of Trustees of the Vassar -Warner Home, concerned citizens explained that the Home was scheduled to close and forced to surrender its license the following week. This would leave residents stranded and the loss of jobs for 50 employees. To demonstrate the need for the home, they pointed to a 1500 person waiting list. They reported on unsuccessful efforts to save the facility, presented a capital sustainability plan to Legislature Chairman Truitt, asked for emergency and sustaining funding and help resettling residents.
Those addressing child and youth mental health issues described a mental health epidemic with a rising level of suicides. They asked for funds and resources, pointing out that there was not one bed in the County dedicated to the problem.
At the business part of the meeting, Legislator Atkins reported on two matters relating to the Youth Board and Coordinating Council. He advised that a grant for county youth team sports funding was extended and urged fellow legislators to spread the word to their constituents. He also spoke about the YPI program, and urged amplifying the program as legislators move into budget season. Legislator Kaul reported from the Environmental Management Council. She emphasized the expertise of council members and exhorted other committees to take advantage of this expertise. She pointed, for example, to local laws under consideration relating to the regulation of pollution sources in proximity to drinking water and noted that this matter was not run by the Council’s experts. She also pointed to a climate action plan prepared by the Climate Smart Task Force, and urged the legislators to consider what is in the plan and expend the money to put the plan into practice. And, in the same vein, she urged continued monitoring of traffic and emissions at Hudson Valley Regional Airport (“HVRA”)
Both public hearings also involved the HVRA. The first was a proposed extension of a ground lease between the County and POU Development, Sky Harbor Group from 15 years to forty years. The second concerned a proposed new 20-year lease with the United States for the airport traffic control tower. There were no public comments at either hearing, and, afterwards as part of the consent agenda, the Sky Harbor lease was approved unanimously. Other items on the consent agenda also unanimously approved were the following resolutions: authorizing the issuance of $1,919,000 serial bonds to pay the cost of the replacement and rehabilitation of roofs at various county owned buildings; confirming a new appointment to the Dutchess County Planning Board; authorizing receipt of grant funds awarded by the NYS Division on Criminal Justice Services and amending the 2024 adopted county budget as it pertains to the Dutchess County District Attorney; authorizing the County Executive to submit applications, sign agreements and accept federal congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program funds, and amend the 2024 adopted county budget as it pertains to the Dutchess County Department of Public Works Public Transit amending the 2024 adopted county budget as it pertains to the Department of Public Works in relation to the purchase of various replacement vehicles: and a resolution ratifying the 2024-2026 agreement between Dutchess County and the Dutchess County Deputy Sheriffs, Police Benevolent Association Inc, and amending the 2024 adopted county budget. Chairman Truitt offered words of appreciation to the Sheriffs.