Weds Jan 11, 7:30am
NDA Annual Awards Breakfast Northern Dutchess Hospital, Cafeteria Conference Room. Keynote Speaker, Marcus Molinaro, Dutchess County Executive.

The Northern Dutchess Alliance presents news and events of interest to our members as a public service. To participate in your local town's efforts, please see our list of member towns and organizations and check their local calendars.

Wednesday January, 18th 2012

Report from the Northern Dutchess Alliance
Annual Awards Breakfast

[RHINEBECK, NEW YORK] The Northern Dutchess Alliance (NDA) held their Annual Breakfast Meeting on January 11 in the cafeteria of Northern Dutchess Hospital (NDH). This well attended event saw the election of its officers, a guest speaker, and two award presentations. The event also provides an opportunity for networking between the many attendees from local governments, business organizations, members of the community, and other organizations. An excellent breakfast buffet featured local grown farm products.

After breakfast, NDA President Dave Tetor welcomed the attendees. Executive Director of the NDH Foundation Deborah Breen welcomed the guests to the hospital. Rhinebeck Village Trustee Terry Gipson welcomed the people to Rhinebeck and briefly discussed the village’s efforts to improve the business climate in Rhinebeck.

President Tetor then introduced the newly elected Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro as the guest speaker. A quick review of the Executive’s biography shows his lifetime commitment starting at age 18 to public service as Tivoli Mayor, Dutchess County Legislator, NYS Assemblyman, many governmental committees at all levels, volunteer fireman, and one of the founders of NDA and was on its Executive Committee and President for years. Executive Molinaro mentioned how many local politicians learned cooperation and collaboration through their NDA activities. The good benefit of NDA was the variety of steakholders (government, business, and citizens) who helped to work across governmental boundaries to solve problems. NDA came about to become the focal point for this part of Dutchess County since there was no other regional entity around.

Local governments must provide growth in the economy and through consolidation and collaboration to the improve services and reducing the tax burden on its residents. He noted that the Northern Dutchess Hospital was one of the largest employers in the region. The Hudson Valley Greenway was a good way to provide a regional process and its information and guidelines provided a good partnership and consolidation effort for Dutchess County.

Partnerships with developers and planners are needed to preserve farmland and open space to control growth. We must streamline the process for businesses by improving the planning process and other required approvals. We can learn from the southern Dutchess growth and development process when approving growth in northern Dutchess. The impact on existing small businesses must be considered when enacting new laws and approval processes. The financial and economic impact to local government is a reality as seen by the implementation of the NYS 2% Tax Cap legislation.

The government process is outdated and overwhelmed to meet today’s world. In business, you have to make it on your own since there is no local government bailout available. Governments must focus on growth opportunities, redevelop its services, and must consider consolidation.

Local government must become smaller and smarter to become more successful. Come to the table with good ideas to improve government and use NDA as a forum to set aside political differences and come together. These efforts will help at the County improve the quality of life for all and improve the economy. His closing words were to think outside of the box.

President Tetor opened the business meeting.

The Nominating Committee proposed the following slate of candidates who all were unanimously elected; President David Tetor, Vice President Harry Colgan, Secretary Melodye Moore, Treasurer Raymon Oberly, and these representatives to the Executive Committee Chrissa Pullincino from Institutions, Lucy Kuriger from Business Organizations, and Virginia Stern from Local Governments. President Tetor congratulated the electees and thanked them for their support in 2011. The business meeting was adjourned and the awards were presented.

The Northern Dutchess Hospital received
the Commitment to Community Award.

This award is for the person/organization who has consistently demonstrated a long-term devotion and dedication to their community. The award represents leadership in achieving community goals and for fostering regional cooperation. In the recent past, NDA has honored the Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Hyde Park chambers of commerce and Phylis Feder of Clinton Vineyards. The hospital was incorporated in 1923 but began in 1903 with funds from the Thomas Thompson Trust that enabled them to buy two buildings on Livingston Street. That facility was known as the Thompson House Community Center and was originally used as a ladies home. The NDH has been serving our communities for more than 100 years and grown from those humble beginnings as a 14-bed facility to a 68-bed facility providing access to more than 30 specialties and 200 practitioners.

Today, the hospital and the Thompson House employ more than 650 people and serve a geographical area not only in Northern Dutchess but also extend north into Columbia County and west into Ulster County. Approximately 65,000 people, both inpatient and outpatients went through the facility in 2011. NDH is an active participant in the community by providing these community programs. The Safe at Home program provides free assessments to seniors in the community to evaluate the overall safety and accessibility of their homes.

The Community Lectures Series covers a variety of health related topics such as Aging Gracefully, Children and Sleep Disorders, and Your Hips Will Thank You. Other programs include a personalized six-week nutrition program and exercise program and yoga classes. NDA acknowledges NDH as one of the most important facilities in Northern Dutchess and commend their active role as a good neighbor to all of us. President and CEO Denise George received this award on behalf of Northern Dutchess Hospital. She thanked NDA for the award and discussed some of the new initiatives recently implemented and planned for the near future to better serve the community and hospital residents. In particular, she commented that their goal is to learn how to more with less without sacrificing service to the hospital residents.

The Red Hook Town Board received
the NDA Charting Our Course Award.

This award is for the person/organization that has provided a regional vision consistent with NDA's mission or has partnered with members of the Northern Dutchess in pursuing their organizational goals. Past winners include the Dutchess County Environmental Management Council for their efforts to provide communities with natural resource information and Sustainable Hudson Valley for their work on enhancing local economies. This year’s recipient is the Town of Red Hook’s "Centers and Greenspaces" zoning amendments, adopted in July of 2011.

This landmark legislation promotes smart growth by establishing two new zoning districts in the Town of Red Hook: the Agricultural Business District (AB), and the Traditional Neighborhood District (TND). The purpose of each is as follows. The AB District's purpose is to implement the goals of the Town's comprehensive plan and open space plan to protect agricultural lands and promote agriculture as a component of the local economy.

The purpose of the TND district is to ensure that development adjacent to the Village of Red Hook is designed to conform to the village's traditional compact, pedestrian oriented, and mixed use neighborhood pattern. Adoption of these two new zoning districts promotes true small town development, with close-knit villages surrounded by rural countryside (Centers and Greenspaces) in keeping with the traditional rural land use patterns of the Hudson Valley. Red Hook Town Supervisor Sue Crane received this award on behalf of the Red Hook Town Board. She commented that these new zoning districts were the result of many residents and local government working together for several years.

Bill o’Neill was originally charged in developing the grass roots support to get the law started and passed. The Town Board’s task is to get residents involved in local government, to get ideas known, and obtain their support. Supervisor Crane introduced her staff who assisted in the zoning approval process.

President Tetor presented NYS Senate Citations from Senator Stephen Saland to Northern Dutchess Hospital and the Red Hook Town Board. It recognized the dedicated efforts of the volunteers and organizations involved who gave endless hours of their time and talents toward making the community a better place.

President Tetor thanked Northern Dutchess Hospital for hosting the breakfast meeting, the award winners, the NDA staff Kristin Roca and Mary Ann Johnson, and all those attending.

Notes on Nov 19 2011 Public Workshop
on the Certified Local Government Program

A Program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Makes Local Impact

[STANFORD, NEW YORK] The Northern Dutchess Alliance held a free public workshop with Julian Adams, of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

“Recognizing the economic and cultural importance of historic sites to our region, the NDA’s goal is to convene and facilitate important conversations before it’s too late. By sharing information and resources across municipal boundaries, and harnessing regional resources across the state, we can strengthen our local communities and preserve our historic sites.”—Dave Tetor, President, Northern Dutchess Alliance

The workshop highlighted the opportunities for local communities to benefit from the Certified Local Government Program, a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation. Adams gave an overview of the program, and answer questions about how our local communities can take advantage of what is being offered.

Born from the Northern Dutchess Alliance’s very successful 2010 public forum series, which explored the most pressing issues facing northern Dutchess County communities, the workshop was a follow up to the 2010 “Strengthening Protection of our Historic Sites Forum.”

“After seeing the level of interest generated by last year’s historic preservation forum, we saw a public need for additional information. We were pleased to host this workshop on the necessary tools for the next step in historic preservation for our communities,” said Tetor.

About Northern Dutchess Alliance:

Northern Dutchess Alliance aims to create a broad-based and inclusive institutional structure for regional cooperation and economic development throughout Northern Dutchess County with a public process that will lead to the implementation of the goals, ideas and policies established by the members of the Northern Dutchess Alliance. Current members include many of the Towns, Villages, School Districts, Chambers of Commerce and other business associations of Clinton, Hyde Park, Milan, Pleasant Valley, Red Hook/Tivoli, Rhinebeck and Stanford, as well as organizations such as Bard College, Omega Institute, Winnakee Land Trust and Scenic Hudson.

For more information on NDA events or to tell us about your own event, please contact Mary Ann Johnson at info@northerndutchess.org.

2012 NDA Awardees From left to right, newly elected Dutchess County Executive and guest speaker Marcus Molinaro, President and CEO of Northern Dutchess Hospital Denise George (who received the NDA Commitment to Community Award for the Hospital), Red Hook Town Supervisor Sue Crane (who received the NDA Charting the Course Award for the Red Hook Town Board), and NDA President David Tetor, who presented the awards and was master of ceremony.

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