Niki Armacost, Tom Drake and Doug Alligood Pledge to:

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• Maintain Our Fiscal Strength

• Promote Environmental Sustainability and Resiliency

• Rebuild Our Infrastructure

• Prudently Manage Development

• Invest in Our Downtown and Support Local Businesses

• Encourage Volunteerism

• Foster Safety and Community Cohesion

 

The Democratic team has a built a solid record of accomplishments under the current administration.  We pledge to expand and extend those accomplishments. Our focus will be on investing in what matters – our streets and other vital infrastructure, our downtown and waterfront, our parks, and most especially our people – and all the while continuing to keep budgets under control and sustainability considerations front-and-center.

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Maintain Our Fiscal Strength

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We will continue to build our financial strength. Our focus will be to:

 

• Manage the Budget: Continue the budget oversight that has generated a fund balance (or ‘rainy day’ fund) of more than $5.5 million, ensuring dedicated funds for capital infrastructure and parks as well as matches for grants. ​

• Control Taxes: We will keep taxes below the 2% annual cap imposed by NY State, as we have consistently done in recent years. ​

• Manage Debt and Source New Income: We will closely manage our debt, and look for new sources of income, so as to make needed improvements without burdening our taxpayers. A major new source of new income is grants and we plan to seek more grant opportunities for our village moving forward. We are midway through the process of updating our Comprehensive Plan and creating a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), which outline a strategic vision for the next decade. Both documents will position us to acquire substantial grant funding and will enable us to accelerate implementation efforts.

 

Promote Environmental Sustainability and Resiliency

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Our village is a recognized leader in sustainability in New York State (we are the highest ranked Climate Smart Community in the State), and our goal is to continue efforts to better prepare for a sustainable future. We in the final stages of creating a Climate Action Plan – with specific green house gas (GHG) reduction goals – that outlines what we need to do to build resiliency for generations to come. We will undertake a combination of policy, education and structural initiatives that will help us move forward on sustainability:

 

• Improve Municipal Energy Efficiency and Reduce GHGs: We will implement measures to decrease Village government energy use through installing geothermal and solar on Village Hall and the Library, and we are in the final stages of revising our Green Building Code to ensure sustainability considerations are taken into account in future development. We will continue to upgrade our vehicle fleet with electric vehicles (EVs), and will expand availability of EV charging infrastructure. Most importantly, we will put our policies into practice by, among other things, using low carbon concrete in major infrastructure projects (e.g. sidewalks) and in procurement choices. ​

• Invest in Resiliency: We will implement green infrastructure and flood management measures to improve our ability to cope with extreme weather events.

• Leverage our Climate Smart Community Status: We plan to continue implementing actions that strengthen our ability to adapt to and mitigate climate change, by leveraging our CSC status to secure funding for deeper energy-related improvements, including an investment in storm drains and in green infrastructure.

 

Rebuild Our Infrastructure

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We will continue to invest in what we all value – our parks, our streets and other vital infrastructure.

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• Protect our Parks and Natural Resources: Using grant funding, we will support implementation of key recommendations to restore Hillside Woods, stabilize the shoreline at MacEachron Park, and ensure other parks receive the stewardship they need.  And we will seek funding to support volunteer efforts to clear vines and invasive species, and plant trees and pollinator pathways. We aspire to enhance our parks using green infrastructure.

• Promote Pedestrian Safety and Walkability: We will revisit our paving and sidewalk rehabilitation plans and continue making improvements consistent with our Safe Routes to School initiative, our Complete Streets Policy and the Rt. 9 Active Transportation Conceptual Design Plan. We will also identify new funding sources for initiatives that increase pedestrian safety, walkability and bikeability throughout the Village.

• Preserve Vital Infrastructure: We will work to improve critical infrastructure, including buildings, roads, bridges, parking lots, playing fields, courts, and other Village owned infrastructure. We will also work to restore our green spaces by encouraging residents to adopt-a-spot and plant pollinator pathways. We will ensure our Library, Emergency Services, Parks Department and DPW have the resources and equipment they need to carry out their critical work.

 

Prudently Manage Development

 

We will look for ways to increase our stock of affordable housing. We will ensure that sustainability considerations are part of any new development in the village. We are committed to the planned rezoning of the waterfront, which will determine how the waterfront will fit into the future village and how it can benefit us financially. We will push for the inclusion of the key recommendations of our Shoreline Advisory Committee for a public park along the waterfront in BP-ARCO’s final engineering design for the waterfront. We will work with the public to guide this process. We will follow the wishes of the majority of Village residents to develop a fiscally responsible plan to preserve the Water Tower.

 

Invest in Our Downtown and Support Local Businesses

 

Moving forward, we will accelerate the process of upgrading downtown infrastructure, such as improved sidewalks, new tree pits and expanded bike parking. We will continue funding community-building events to attract residents and out-of-towners to our downtown by creating a welcoming atmosphere, and we will support our Downtown Advocate as she in turn aids local businesses.

 

Encourage Volunteerism

 

We will continue to support the hundreds of volunteers who contribute to our village, including our EMS and firefighters and all the residents who serve on our boards and commissions, as well as the unsung heroes who remove invasive vines, plant trees and shrubs, grow pollinator gardens, and enable our Repair Café and Take It or Leave It Garage to thrive.

 

Foster Safety and Community Cohesion

 

Our village has become known for our wonderful community events including Friday Night Live, the summer concerts, holiday celebrations at the James Harmon Community Center, pool parties, and movie nights. These bind our community and bring us joy and we pledge to continue supporting them. We instituted our Safe Routes to School initiative and encouraged Village safety through striping walkways, adding stop signs, and lowering speed limits. We will implement ideas from the Police Reform Collaborative to strengthen the connection between our community and our police force to build on existing popular program such as “Coffee-with-a-Cop”.