Town and village August update

MILLBROOK — Until the town of Washington’s regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Aug. 12, nothing had been heard from the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee since its last raucous session on Tuesday, June 28.

A thank-you letter

In a letter to the board, Tom Beaumont, co-chairman of the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee, thanked the Town Board for its support and referred to “the opposition of a small group which has only served to make the process unnecessarily difficult.â€

In his letter he informed the board that the sub-committees are now adding to the Action/Goals of the Sunday, May 22 public workshop, and that plan consultant River Street is writing the Action/Goals narrative. No mention was made of revisiting the vision statement. Beaumont requested that his letter be included in the record of the town meeting minutes.

Wetlands public hearing

A second public hearing to discuss the town wetlands legislation was scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Millbrook firehouse. The legislation and the public’s comments are now available on the town website at Washington.org/legislation/wetlands.

Zoning and planning alternates

After opening the second public hearing on permitting the Town Board to appoint an alternate member to the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board, the Town Board members present unanimously voted the change into effect. This provision allows, but does not require, the Town Board to select an additional member who would attend committee meetings and could vote if a quorum was required.

Tribute Garden donation

The town acknowledged the donation of $50,000 for park development and $5,000 to cover summer camp bus transportation from the Tribute Garden Foundation.

Block grant time

At the next Town Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9, there will be a discussion about applying for another Community Development Block Grant, possibly to provide additional handicapped access at the park. Other infrastructure project ideas are very welcome at this time.

Dog licensing

In order to save $350,000, the state of New York is turning over its dog licensing activities to individual municipalities. Canines will no longer be entered into a state-maintained database that facilitates finding lost pets, and towns and villages will have to produce dog tags and come up with their own licensing requirements, registration and fees.

Budget time already

A tentative town budget for 2011 is expected to be ready for discussion by Monday, Sept. 20.

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