The meeting began with commendations, moved to committee reports and agenda items, and concluded with public comments and condolences. The public comments, summarized below, were the most pressing.
Commendations were presented: by the Tick Task Force to two students at Arlington High School, winners of a media contest who also received monetary prizes; offsite to Jen Fimball who served 38 years at Cornell Cooperative as an Ag navigator; and to the Poughkeepsie Pride and Dutchess County Pride Center for its many social and support services since its opening in 2018; the Center invited all to its official ribbon cutting ceremony for its new location on July 22.
Legislator D’Aquanni reported that the airport advisory committee meets every two months at the DC airport with concerned neighbors, pilots, and airport representatives to discuss ongoing airport operations, maintenance needs throughout the aviation area, and tourism.
Legislator Kaul from the Environmental Management Council (“EMC”) reported on a County-wide composting grant program designed to empower local communities to take action in support of waste reduction. She described a field trip to Colombia County to see an aerobic digester in order to determine whether the County should invest in this type of machinery. She reported that while the Columbia County digestor is widely popular, it requires a site, dedicated staff and intense public education and outreach. Importantly, the soil amendment produced is not actually compost, and, therefore, would not meet the requirements of the grant (which specifies that municipalities would have to be able to sell the compost to residents of the town). Legislator Kaul suggested that the County could modify the parameters of the grant so as to better support municipal initiatives with regard to compositing, and/ or take it upon itself to run and operate an aerobic digestor; she also explained that the EMC is prepared to review what other counties around the country that have incinerators are doing to divert organic waste from burning or landfills.
All of the items on the consent agenda — Resolutions 105-108, 111-119 — passed unanimously. These matters involved reappointments and appointments to the Citizens Advisory on Domestic Violence and the Dutchess County Environmental Management Council; establishing public hearings to consider inclusion of property owners within Dutchess County Certified Agricultural District 21 and for the Dutchess Community College budget; amending the budget as it pertains to the Department of Emergency Response, the Department of Public Works and the Dutchess County Law Enforcement Center; and amending bond resolutions relating to a culvert replacement and a Department of Public Works capital project; established a standard workday for elected and appointed officials; correcting the tax roll and approving the issuance of a corrected tax bill; and authorizing transportation related grant applications to State and Federal transportation agencies.
The two items on the non-consent agenda (Resolutions 109 and 110) were also unanimously approved; both related to the District Attorney, amending the 2024 budget as it pertains to the District Attorney, and authorizing the receipt of grant funds awarded by the Bureau of Justice assistance.
Members of the public spoke on two topics that have garnered the public’s attention, concern, and comment at prior legislative sessions this year: the county’s use of an incinerator in the Town of Poughkeepsie, homelessness, and the renovation of a transitional housing facility at 26 Oakley Street in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Sandy Stratton Gonzalez, a member of the environmental group Mother’s Out Front, highlighted three issues with respect to the incinerator: the damage to public health caused by its emissions (lung disease, asthma, cardiovascular disease – indeed, Poughkeepsie was ranked by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation as the 6th most challenging place to live in the U.S. for people with asthma); the harm it does to the economy (through lost days of work and school), and its anomalous size (the incinerator is not large enough for it to be subject to stringent safety regulations set by the EPA). She urged reduction of our level of garbage to the point that we don’t have to increase the amount of landfilling and also don’t have to burn it.
Town of Poughkeepsie resident Michael De Cordova, and City of Poughkeepsie residents Darryl Robert and Laurie Sandow were critical of the County’s planning with respect to homelessness in general and its acceptance of a $13 million grant award from New York State to rehabilitate an emergency housing facility at 26 Oakley Street in Poughkeepsie. Mr. De Cordova attended a recent stakeholders meeting where he asked for statistics (regarding, for example, the ratio of homeless in Poughkeepsie per capita versus other County seat cities in New York, how many people voluntarily leave the emergency shelter or are forced to leave, how many people will be evicted if a permanent house is built there). He expressed frustration at not receiving any response. He urged the County to reject the grant, arguing that bringing more life-challenged people to Poughkeepsie will continue to degrade the community.
Mr. Robert pointed out that homeless people including people with drug problems from other Counties were being “dumped” in Poughkeepsie; many of them are living on the streets because the shelter is too crowded, and there is apparently no follow up with these people. He urged the County to do something about being burdened with other Counties’ problems.
Ms. Sandow complained generally about “continuing information gaps and failures through Dutchess Delivery,” as a result of which the public had inadequate notice of important hearings. With respect to the planned rehabilitation of the housing facility at 26 Oakley St., she noted the “irony” that the County claimed it was immune from any City of Poughkeepsie planning and zoning requirements while it recently had trumpeted the importance of “home rule” when it allocated resources to mount a legal challenge New York State’s legislation moving local elections from odd-numbered to even-numbered years. She also criticized the years of inaction, lack of planning and broken promises by the County with regard to the issue of homelessness.
Carol Madrid, a resident of Poughkeepsie applauded the County’s acceptance of the grant. She pointed out that there was nowhere for homeless people to go and stated that it is the State’s responsibility to house the homeless in decent conditions.
City of Poughkeepsie Common Council Member Nedra Pattison Thompson emphasized the importance of being “on the ground” in addressing the needs of homeless people, and urged enhanced use of a bus as a “satellite” office to provide services.
The meeting ending with condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of Kevin Chouinard, a longtime Public Works Highway Division employee who was killed in a motorcycle accident over the previous weekend.