Village Newsletter: April 30, 2021
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Walk-in clinics, appointments, guidance for those who are vaccinated, help with transportation
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Village Hall offices re-opening, parking permit applications, summer camp registration, roadwork, DPW FAQ, identity theft scams, Library happenings, restoring Juhring, scholarships for vets, Grid Rewards, Community Solar, explanation of updated property assessments
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Adopted 2021-2022 Budget, new park land, joining County food scraps recycling IMA, summer jazz concerts, new planning consultants hired,
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Schools Foundation fundraiser, Fair and Affordable Housing Expo, Riverkeeper Sweep
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As we wrap up Earth Month, I want to thank all of the volunteers who helped organize a great slate of events to celebrate and work for a healthier planet. From the woodland walking tours at Juhring Estate, along the Estherwood Trail and in Chauncey Park, to the Play Streets and Ditch the Cars events in our neighborhoods and downtown, to the cleanups of the Saw Mill River to the sustainable landscaping demonstrations, our Village was out and about enjoying the beautiful weather, gathering together outdoors (and masked up!) and working for a better tomorrow. It felt great to be a part of it.
Don't forget, it is not too late to sign up for two Earth-friendly (and wallet-friendly) initiatives: Grid Rewards and Community Solar, two programs through Sustainable Westchester. The deadline to sign up for Grid Rewards is tomorrow, April 30. both programs are an easy lift to support cleaner energy. See below for more information. We have a friendly competition running with the other Mayors in the Rivertowns, so if you have an interest, check it out before it's too late.
As the weather is warming up, we hear from the CDC's revised guidelines that vaccinated people can walk, run, hike and gather outdoors without masks. Let this encourage those who have not yet been vaccinated to sign up for an appointment (appointments are plentiful, see below for how to sign up). We all still need to exercise caution in crowds and indoors. 46% of Dobbs Ferry residents have been vaccinated, but we still have a ways to go. We still have more active cases here than in some of our surrounding communities. Let's all do our part to help get us back in the game.
Be well,
Vincent Rossillo
Village Mayor
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Play ball!
The Mayor's Cup opened the 2021 DFYLL season on April 17th.
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All New Yorkers 16 years and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are only approved for those 18 years of age and older. Persons under 18 years of age will need to register at a clinic site that is offering the Pfizer vaccine and have parental consent.
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Walk-in clinics now open
Both the State and the County are now offering walk-in vaccination clinics for which you do not need an appointment for the first dose.
The first County walk-in clinic is taking place today, April 30, for those age 18 and older at 134 Court Street in White Plains, NY until 1pm. The Moderna vaccine will be administered, and you must be able to return 28 days later to receive the second dose. You can also register in advance if you prefer using this link.
As of yesterday, all New York state-run vaccination sites will be open for walk-in appointments for the first dose for anyone age 16 and older. The closest state-run site is at the Westchester County Center at 198 Central Avenue in White Plains, NY. The County Center site is operating from 8am to 7pm.
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Appointments widely available at area pharmacies and medical centers
It is currently much easier to secure a vaccine appointment than it was a month ago.
To find area pharmacies and clinics that have COVID-19 vaccines, go to vaccinefinder.org
You can also check out the Westchester County Vaccine Dashboard that lists where the vaccine has been distributed locally outside of the large chain pharmacies.
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New guidance for those who are vaccinated
From the CDC release on April 27, 2021:
Fully vaccinated people can:
- Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Visit with unvaccinated people (including children) from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
- Participate in outdoor activities and recreation without a mask, except in certain crowded settings and venues
- Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.
- Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States.
- Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings
- Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic
- Refrain from routine screening testing if asymptomatic and feasible
For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:
- Take precautions in indoor public settings like wearing a well-fitted mask
- Wear masks that fit snuggly when visiting indoors with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
- Wear well-fitted masks when visiting indoors with unvaccinated people from multiple households
- Avoid indoor large-sized in-person gatherings
- Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
- Follow guidance issued by individual employers
- Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations
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Free ParaTransit Transportation for Seniors and Constituents with Disabilities
Westchester County Executive Latimer is offering senior and disabled constituents, who are not registered with ParaTransit, free transportation to receive their vaccinations. Call ParaTransit reservations at (914) 995-7272 24 hours prior to your vaccination date. For additional questions, send an e-mail to Evan Latainer, Director of the Office for People with Disabilities, at ehl2@westchestergov.com.
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Village Hall offices re-opening May 3rd
Our Village Hall offices will be opening to the public May 3rd. As more of our community gets vaccinated, and active cases continue to drop, we will once again conduct Village business in person. However, we encourage you to get questions answered online, by email and by phone if you can, and use some of the new online services we are offering to conduct business remotely.
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Parking permit applications open Monday, May 3rd
We have made changes to the parking permit application process. New annual permits become valid June 1st. We ask that you apply for new permits online if you can. If you are unable to do so, you may come into our administrative offices on the 2nd floor of Village Hall Monday-Friday 8:30am - 12pm and someone will be able to assist you. We will still ask that you enter your information into our online system, but you will be able to do so at the computer in our vestibule. If you prefer not to pay online, you can submit payments in person, or mail a check made out to the Village of Dobbs Ferry and send it to the attention of Parking Permits, Village Hall, 112 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. We will not run out of permits, so you do not need to rush to get a permit. For more information, please visit our website. If your questions cannot be answered online, please call 231-8564 between 8:30am and 12pm for assistance.
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Potholes and pavement
We have definitely heard resident frustration over the state of our roads in Dobbs Ferry, particularly on Ashford Avenue. On our end, our highway department is working hard to fill potholes, and we are in the process of paving streets that have long been scheduled for restoration. On Ashford, we understand from Con Ed that they will begin repaving Ashford from King Street to Shady Lane in the next two weeks. They still have 3 weeks remaining on their roadwork on the rest of Ashford to Washington. Once they finish the roadwork, they will need to connect the gas lines to homes, and only then will they finish re-paving the roadway from the center line to curb. On Beacon Hill and Manor House Lane, they have about 4-5 weeks of work remaining. Please be patient. The work is a temporary and necessary inconvenience.
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Have questions about garbage? recycling? compost? trees?
We know you do, because we get a lot of them. Our Department of Public Works has put together a new Frequently Asked Questions document which we hope will answer some of your many queries. It is posted on the DPW page of our website. Please see if we answer your questions here before giving us a call, so that we can keep doing what we need to do to get those potholes filled and our Village systems humming.
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Identity theft scams proliferating
Be aware that identity theft crimes related to fraudulent unemployment claims have proliferated during the pandemic. The Department of Labor identifies the following as possible signs your identity has been used to make false claims:
"You may be a victim of unemployment identity theft if you received:
- Mail from a government agency about an unemployment claim or payment and you did not recently file for unemployment benefits. This includes unexpected payments or debit cards and could be from any state.
- A 1099-G tax form reflecting unemployment benefits you weren't expecting. Box 1 on this form may show unemployment benefits you did not receive or an amount that exceeds your records for the unemployment benefits you did receive. The form itself may be from a state in which you do not live or did not file for benefits.
- While you are still employed, a notice from your employer indicating that your employer received a request for information about an unemployment claim in your name."
If you suspect you have been the victim of identity theft, please reach out to the Dobbs Ferry Police Department at 231-5500.
For more information about what to do if you are the victim of an unemployment insurance identity theft scam, go to identitytheft.gov/UnemploymentInsurance
You can report unemployment insurance fraud through this online form at the New York Department of Labor.
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Friends of the Library
Community Mixer & Trivia
Thursday, May 6
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Join the Friends of the Dobbs Ferry Public Library for an evening get-together. We'll get to know new faces, learn a little about what the library has to offer, and play a game or two of trivia! Trivia games are played online in the Zoom meeting, using a smart phone as your game controller.
Register with dobref@wlsmail.org to get the Zoom link -- please indicate the title and date of the program you are registering for!
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Spring Stand Up Comedy Showcase at Waterfront Park
Saturday, May 15
7:00 - 9:30 PM
Come join us under the stars this Spring for another Stand Up Comedy Showcase down at Dobbs Ferry Waterfront Park’s Concert Stage – featuring comedians Robert Ima, Elvin Tejada, Tim Deery, Frankie Mags, and Andrew Steiner. As space will be limited due to COVID regulation spacing, please pre-register with dobref@wlsmail.org.
bring your own lawn chair • masks recommended • intended for ages 18+ • seating starts at 6pm
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Conservation Advisory Board:
Juhring Estate Preserve restoration
Come join your neighbors in helping to restore habitat in Dobbs Ferry’s 76-acre Juhring Preserve. On May 2nd at 10:30am, the Dobbs Ferry Conservation Advisory Board will be leading volunteers in planting 75 bare-root trees and shrubs in a small exclosure. Bring a shovel, a mask, and your enthusiasm!
More information and free registration for the event:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/juhring-preserve-planting-tickets-152608198229
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Scholarship opportunity for veterans at Mercy College
From Town of Greenburgh Supervisor, Paul Feiner:
"Mercy College has been awarded a major grant of just over 1.16 million dollars from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Teacher Scholarship Program. The grant is for a project to advance mathematics education, with a particular emphasis on United States Military Veterans retraining for new careers as secondary mathematics teachers.
The funding from the National Science Foundation is earmarked for ten Veterans to complete a Master of Science degree in Mathematics Education – TUITION FREE!!
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge attached to this good news is that Dr. Farber needs to find UP TO 10 potential student veterans by the end of this May, 2020!"
If interested, please contact Dr. Farber at Mercy College:
Dr. William L. Farber
Director, Veterans to Math Teachers Program (MeirPro)
Associate Professor, Mathematics Education
Mercy College
555 Broadway
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
wfarber@mercy.edu
914-674-7675
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The Mayor's Earth Month Challenge
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2021 Property Assessments
Dobbs Ferry home owners received their new property assessments this month. The Town of Greenburgh creates and maintains tax assessment rolls which are used by Villages and the unincorporated area of the Town in the calculation of County, Town, Village and School taxes. Following the completion of a townwide reassessment in 2016, annual reassessments are mandated, and preliminary tentative 2021 Assessments and changes to the roll have been completed for use in the formulation of 2022 taxes. Additional information on the process, as well as options for taxpayers to discuss and/or challenge their 2021 tax assessment are available at the following link:
https://www.greenburghny.com/608/Revaluation-Project
The following is an explanation of the 2021 Assessment project from the Town of Greenburgh's Assessor, Edye McCarthy:
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An explanation of updated assessments from Town of Greenburgh Assessor, Edye McCarthy
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Budget for 2021-2022 adopted
The Board adopted the 2021-2022 Budget following the close of the public hearing. The Adopted Budget can be found on our website. You can read a thoughtful explanation from our Village Treasurer, Jeff Chuhta, in the letter he presented for the public hearing on April 13th. You can also watch his explanation of the Budget during the meetings held on April 13th and on April 27th.
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Adding new parkland
The Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to acquire 8.4 acres of undeveloped, forested, state-owned property adjacent to Chauncey Park behind the Danforth apartments in Rivertowns Square. The property is a remnant of the development of the Saw Mill River Parkway and is accessed by a pedestrian footbridge from Chauncey Park. The Saw Mill River runs through the property, and the parcel includes woodland pathways, remainders of historic carriage trails, that connect two previously disconnected neighborhoods - the Rivertowns Square/Danforth apartments with the Southfield Avenue neighborhood. The Conservation Advisory Board with a group of Dobbs Ferry residents have been working with Chet Kerr of the Irvington Land Trust on the effort to acquire the property with the intention of connecting it with Chauncey Park and another adjoining undeveloped parcel to create one 14 acre park that runs along the eastern edge of the Village. Groundworks Hudson Valley has identified the parcel as an important opportunity for wetlands restoration and has been supporting plantings of native trees in the adjoining, Village-owned property. The Village will continue its work to gain approval from the County and the State to acquire the property.
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Joining Westchester County Food Scraps Recycling IMA
We have had a food scraps recycling program in Dobbs Ferry for several years now, allowing residents to drop off food waste at our DPW facility at 1 Stanley Avenue so that it can be collected and turned into compost. Last year the County established the Residential Food Scrap Transportation and Disposal (RFSTAD) Program, to assist municipalities establishing new programs. The County's rate for transportation and disposal is the same as our previous contract, but by joining with other municipalities in our region, it helps with tracking recycling statistics on a County-wide level, and also helps consolidate transportation thereby saving greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
Interested in making compost?
 1) You can try it in your backyard at home. The Greenburgh Nature Center has some good information about how to get started.
2) Find out more about the Village food scraps drop off program by visiting our Public Works website. You can drop off all food scraps - dairy, meat, oils, cooked food - without worrying about attracting pests in your backyard.
3) The Town of Greenburgh is also planning a curbside collection program for food scraps which is slated to launch in 2022. If you want to to demonstrate your interest, and help ensure that Dobbs Ferry is part of the pilot initiative, please fill out this survey.
4) Finally, entrepreneurial Hastings grads started Hudson Compost, a subscription service that charges $5/ week to collect your compost curbside.
Lots of ways to turn wasted food into garden gold!
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Summer Jazz Concerts coming back in July
The evening Jazz concerts will come back to Waterfront Park this summer, with eight concerts on the slate beginning July 7th. New this year: Jitterbug Jazz for kids, a free program beginning at 5:30pm (concerts begin at 6:30pm) to introduce kids to jazz and to instruments.
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New Planning Consultants hired
The Board of Trustees hired Nelson, Pope, Voorhis, a full-service environmental and land-use planning firm, to advise the Village on land use, planning and zoning matters. The firm will advise our Boards on individual projects, while also providing guidance on big picture challenges as our Village continues to grow and evolve. With a necessary update to the Village Comprehensive Plan in sight, the Board sought a firm with experience working with communities to develop consensus and shared vision, while tailoring planning guidance to our specific community's needs. Valerie Monastra, a planner with extensive experience advising area municipalities and the current President of the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation, will serve as the principle consultant, while the firm will be able to provide additional specific expertise on an as-needed basis.
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Zoning Board: 19 Livingston proposal under review
The Zoning Board of Appeals is currently considering an appeal from the owner of 19 Livingston Place who has put forward a proposal to build townhomes on the lot formerly occupied by Rudy's Beau Rivage. The public hearing will continue at the next ZBA meeting to be held on May 12th at 8pm. The Zoom link will be posted on the meeting agenda and on our website's calendar.
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Traffic Committee looking for members
Interested in helping to advise the Village on ways to improve mobility and safety in our Village? The Traffic Committee is looking for new members. You can find instructions for how to sign up to volunteer as well as the application form on the Village Clerk's webpage or reach out to Liz Dreaper at ldreaper@dobbsferry.com.
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Special Joint Meeting of the Board of Trustees, AHRB and Planning Boards
On Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 7:30 p.m, the Trustees will join with the Planning Board and the Architectural and Historic Review Board at the Planning Board’s regular meeting to discuss the proposed revisions for the mixed use project at 185 Ashford Avenue. Following adjournment of the meeting, the Planning Board will continue with its posted agenda.
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Virtual Auction for Dobbs Ferry Schools Foundation
The Dobbs Ferry Schools Foundation is holding a weeklong virtual fundraising auction from May 12th - 19th!
From kids' birthday party activities to a wine tasting for 12, to a week-long stay at a lake house, there are many fun experiences and items all generously donated by our community with 100% of the proceeds benefiting our schools and students.
Please visit our website on May 12th to learn more and place your bids! www.dfsfoundation.org/
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Fair And Affordable Housing Expo tomorrow
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10th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep
We have two sites this year for the Riverkeeper Sweep:
Join the Village of Dobbs Ferry Conservation Advisory Board, Mercy College Rotaract Club and Riverkeeper for a park clean up at Dobbs Ferry Waterfront Park or join Mercy College Rotaract Club and Riverkeeper for a clean up of the Old Croton Aqueduct in Dobbs Ferry on Saturday, May 1.
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Sat, May 1, 2021
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Waterfront Park
11 Station Plaza
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
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Sat, May 1, 2021
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Old Croton Aqueduct
Intersection of Cedar and Main Street
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
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Restaurant Revitalization Fund Application Assistance
From the Rivertowns Chamber of Commerce:
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund will be opening its grant application on Monday, May 3 at noon for restaurants, bakeries, and other food-service businesses that are at least 51% owned by women, veterans or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
The Acceleration Project can help you understand if you qualify, what amount you can apply for, and what documents you need available for your application. We want to help you be prepared to submit your application at the opening bell! Limited to 5 businesses. For more information, please reach out to Natalie Rawlinson of The Acceleration Project at natalier@theaccelerationproject.org.
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Do you have a community event you would like to include in the biweekly Village newsletter? Email us.
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