Coming into office, I quickly realized how hard our Town staff work and how long they have been without tools needed to do their jobs. We updated accounting software, and caught up on three of the five years our Town was delinquent with financial reports to the State. We are on track to be up to date by the end of the year. The company that had been contracted to service and update our computer network suddenly went out of business this year. We were able to retrieve our data, replace broken computers, and enhance cyber security. Board liaison Kneissl and the Building Department reviewed programs to streamline building, ZBA and Planning Board applications, with a goal of implementing one this year.
The Town Hall building is in decay because maintenance was put off for years. Our facilities are in the floodway and need to be moved. But, deferred maintenance caught up this year. The furnace failed during the coldest streak of winter, and since then we’ve steadily patched leaks and rot. Following a staff training at the Marbletown/Rosendale town hall in May, workers returned to our building a bit envious. Nevertheless, our staff works hard with what they have, and the community support—despite a facility that’s not easily accessible—has been heartwarming. HUGE shout out to John Valek, who volunteered to help us out with urgently-needed roof patches a couple of weeks ago. This year we were awarded funding from the CWC to do legal and environmental reviews, and to subsequently purchase a property on Route 28 near Shandaken Inn that’s entirely out of the floodplain.
Relocation of Town Hall is just one of over a dozen current flood mitigation projects happening throughout Shandaken—in addition to floodplain permits being considered. The Town Board appointed Rob Stanley Floodplain Administrator and he’s been a valuable addition to our building department. Flood mitigation projects were determined by Local Flood Analyses (LFA) on Shandaken/Allaben, Pine Hill, Phoenicia and Mt. Tremper. Chichester is undergoing its LFA now, with a public presentation of a draft slated for late September. Community input was key to the success of these analyses and has resulted in lots of funding for mitigation projects. Thanks to all who volunteered their time to keep our Town safer in floods. Town Board members Drake and VanBlarcum monitor our Community Rating System (CRS), to improve our rating, which has lowered flood insurance rates for Shandaken residents.
Shandaken is a healthcare desert, a food desert, and has related public transportation challenges. I met with the head of Margaretville Hospital this Spring about doing mobile screening clinics in Shandaken. Our ambulance provides life-saving Advanced Life Support (ALS) medical care that’s essential for our residents, and for neighboring towns. But this year costs surged and we had administrative challenges. The Board made changes to our ambulance leadership structure to stabilize ALS service, and I meet regularly with County and State agencies and representatives about our stabilization efforts and to request financial help for our strained capacity. I’m also working with our operations chief, Mike Williams, to improve billing.
The food pantry also had leadership changes. Thanks to Jane Todd for all her years of service, and to Sophie Grant and Gisi Vella for taking over. The number of people served has more than doubled in a few short months, and now includes families because of a new partnership with the Catskill Alliance for Housing and Preservation. The Good Company Club expanded from Phoenicia to also serving Pine Hill now. I met with Supervisors from Greene and Delaware Counties about the possibility of Pine Hill Trailways doing local stops to fill inter-county gaps. Trailways agreed to create regular stops at Town Hall.
Our Town runs on volunteers—the majority are full-time residents. So many of the challenges we face hinge on the lack of affordable housing for people who live here full time. This year we initiated a partnership with RUPCO to develop the former Phoenicia Elementary School for affordable housing. They were the only organization interested in the small-scale development appropriate for that neighborhood. And, after years of creative fundraising, the Wellington affordable housing project in Pine Hill breaks ground this year. The Town’s Housing Smart Committee recently achieved Silver status, which will help the Town secure more funding for affordable housing. Updating our zoning to reflect community priorities is a key component of creating housing that people who work here can afford. We secured a grant from the DEC for zoning consultant(s).
A final draft of our Comprehensive Master Plan was submitted to the Board at the end of July (and is posted HERE). The document reflects hundreds of Shandaken residents who volunteered their time to dig into shaping the future of our Town. Part of our agenda for the August Town Board meeting is to set the first couple of Public Hearing dates for the Comp Plan. We received funding for and engaged volunteers to contribute to the Natural Resource Inventory, which will also guide smart land use planning.
The Parks & Rec Committee has done so much this year! Their energy, led by Samatha Awand, Autumn Brookmire, and Board liaison VanBlarcum is what brought me to public service. This year, updates to Big Indian Park, plans for Rockcut Park in Mt. Tremper, and the new playground at Glenbrook owe their success to the sweat equity of many generous people who planned, fundraised, shoveled, built structures and planted. Parishioners from St. Frances de Sales helped with the Town’s plea to keep Parish Field out of the hands of developers and retain it as park space. I spoke with the Archdiocese in July and they agreed to extend our lease another year.
This winter was a huge challenge for our water districts. The Phoenicia and Pine Hill water committees are planning for long-needed infrastructure updates. We’re so lucky to have Kyle Steen running operations. He addressed winter water emergencies with resourcefulness, yet still kept his eye on planning for the future needs of both districts. Kyle and I secured low-cost loans for urgent repairs and for updates that will save future costs.
Our Highway Department had an equally challenging winter: even unable to procure salt at one point. I’m grateful to Superintendent Hofmeister and his staff for working with me to secure new County funding for next year. I made an emergency proclamation on July 29 to help offset flood-related Highway expenses due to washed out roads, failing culverts, and eroded areas throughout Shandaken—though Route 214 was definitely hit the hardest.
A project to install EV charging stations, spearheaded by the Conservation Advisory Council, will advance this year—with a change in the plan. Rather than a hard-to-access spot on the ambulance building, there will be a station at Glenbrook Park—easily accessible to ambulance, police and highway. The CAC is implementing BearWise, a program that reduced DEC nuisance complaints by 96% in seven years in Woodstock, where one bear was euthanized in 2025, compared to twelve in 2022.
I’m working on the 2027 budget now, and costs for fuel, insurance, and utilities have steeply risen. We changed our insurance broker, which brought us from a projected 18% increase to a projected 7% increase—but that’s still almost double previous years. The Board created a Filming Permit law to both regulate activities and increase income for Shandaken, an increasingly popular location for movie shoots. Our Town’s challenges reflect the challenges businesses in Shandaken face. New business owners and creative ideas provided storefront activity this summer in the commercial hamlets of Phoenicia and Pine Hill. But, long-term vibrancy of the commercial hamlets requires robust representation.
In July, Board member Drake and I advocated in a hearing on NYC’s upcoming Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD) for Phoenicia to be allowed back into the New York State Department of Health program that could provide a hamlet-wide sewer solution for Phoenicia. I will continue to reach out to Federal, State and County representatives to advance your safety, economic, and environmental concerns.