Affordable housing dominates North East Board meeting

MILLERTON — Town Supervisor Chris Kennan began the North East Town Board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 12, by outlining some of the Town’s challenges, which include lack of a food store, affordable housing and employment opportunities.

Kennan also noted that a wastewater system is the No. 1 priority identified in the Town’s comprehensive plan; and raised the topic of speed reduction on Winchell Mountain Road and on Route 22 from the Village up to Sawchuck Road.

Affordable housing dominated discussion at the meeting, which was presented in-person and streamed online via Zoom.

Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County has signed a contract and given the town a down payment on the purchase of property owned by the town on Rudd Pond Road. The board is looking forward to hearing how Habitat is going to move forward with the site.

Affordable housing also came into focus as the board accepted the resignation of Councilman Griffin Cooper, who is moving to Connecticut.

“We will be very sorry to see you leave. We will miss you and we appreciate everything that you’ve contributed to our work during this year,” Kennan said.

“My wife and I struggled for two years to find an affordable place to live in the town. We tried very hard. Unfortunately, it came down to a choice and I had to make it, but it wasn’t an easy one,“ Cooper said, explaining that his move was precipitated by the lack of affordable housing. Cooper is marketing and outreach coordinator at the North East Community Center and also is a correspondent for The Millerton News.

His departure will create an opening on the Town Board. The town will have the ability to appoint someone to the board for the remainder of the year. That person, should they choose, may run for the last two years of the term.

Cooper expressed his thanks to the board along with his willingness to continue working with committees in the affordable housing arena.

The affordable housing conversation continued into the public-comment period as a question was raised to the board about what can be done make more land available for affordable housing. The board answered that the Town does not have any municipally owned land that can be used for housing, with the exception of the Rudd Pond Road lot.

The board is waiting to find out from the office of state Gov. Kathy Hochul how the governor’s Jan. 10 directive of creating 800,000 units of affordable housing statewide over the next 10 years  will apply to smaller communities.

Kennan reiterated his commitment to building a wastewater system for the town, pointing out the similarities between the costs associated with building one and the difficulties in securing affordable housing opportunities for rural localities.

There was discussion of the state’s mansion tax and a suggestion was made for the Town to hire an attorney to discover if a similar benefit can be brought to the Town from those who build large houses in it. Also mentioned was the so-called workforce housing fee imposed by Rhinebeck and Pine Plains, which requires developers to pay a fee to the town when building certain residential structures that do not qualify as affordable housing, and the suggestion that the Town of North East look into that, as well.

After the supervisor’s report and the approval of past meetings’ minutes, the meeting was adjourned at 7:56 p.m.

The North East Town Board meeting takes place at Town Hall, 19 North Maple Ave., on the second Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. It is streamed live via Zoom and posted to the Town’s website shortly thereafter.

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