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General News: Mayor Gross Lays Out Plans for the Near Future
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| Mayor Joe Gross. Plans |
April 02, 2007
As he prepared for the mayoral swearing-in ceremony Monday evening, Joe Gross admitted that he was excited about the prospect of finally taking on the responsibilities of office and working to make some of the changes that he has long seen as crucial for the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson.
“It’s humbling to be in charge,” Gross said, “there’s a lot going on in the village and it is serious business.”
Gross said that outgoing Mayor Ed Moulton left him a pile of documents to look through and after his swearing in Monday evening, he will review them and see what unfinished business needs to be tended to. But upper most in his thoughts is the village debt load and the determining the financial details of the government’s operation.
“I plan to find out how money has been spent and how it is spent now,” Gross said. His aim is to find ways to trim costs and reduce the $8.4 million debt load the village carries.
“I don’t have any specifics on what I will do,” he explained, “but I will be looking at all aspects of how each department operates and evaluate it.”
Gross did say that he has a couple of specific changes he will make involving village government. First of all, he has gotten the agreement of Andrew Maroney to serve as a new member of the village zoning board, replacing Gina Haynsworth who is moving out of town. Maroney, he noted, is one of the few village regulars at the zoning board sessions and deserves a seat on the board. He is also appointing Warren Mumford and Simon Gruber, the coordinator of the Moodna Watershed Coalition, to the Riverfront Revitalization Committee.
The future of the village master plan committee is intact, Gross noted, saying that he wants to see more public input on the document before it is finalized. He plans to seek legal guidance on whether the village can adopt the plan in its entirety now and revise it later to ensure that it is consistent with public interest.
He said that listening to local residents at last year’s public hearings of the master plan committee and the riverfront revitalization committee was part of his preparation for running for the mayor’s office. He felt the pulse of the public speaking out at those meetings, he said, and sensed that the village was ripe for a change.
With Joe Gross in the mayor’s office, residents can expect more public hearings and an open-door process, starting with the atmosphere of village hall. He wants the staff to put aside their work when people come into the office with a question and greet everyone with a smile.
“The first thing I’d like to spend money on,” Gross commented, “is a welcome mat.”
He also will welcome people to get involved in projects all over the village. For instance, he would like people to form a committee to figure out where kids can build a skateboarding park where they can practice their sport in peace.
He pointed to civic involvement like that of Tara Hoffmann, who plans to start a clean-up project at Pagenstecher Park, a long neglected public area along Dock Hill Road to the waterfront. He has asked the Department of Public Works to improve the road shoulder area and see if the bridge across the stream that was once a road known as Clark Street can be used as a walkway once again. Gross also wants to see an end to dumping on any public land.
Gross plans to use the village hall as a place for people to exhibit their old family photos, not just to celebrate the contributions of all the people who have lived here over time, but also to bring newcomers in and make them feel part of the community.
As Joe Gross said weeks before the election, he loves the village that he grew up in and he hopes to create a community that everyone can afford to live in today and one whose beauty will be protected for the next generation to enjoy.
Comments:
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Kudos to you Mayor Gross! And good luck to you in your new job. A welcome mat indeed! We always look forward to our journeys "home" and will look you up on our next trip. Please post our names to the "Out-of-Towners Committee". Phil & Kathy Dutton
posted by PhilDutton on 04/06/07 at 12:00 AM
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