Town of Stanford Supervisor Wendy Burton opened the June 8 board meeting with a moment of silence for Tom Dewhirst. Formerly with the Town Highway Department and a previous Town Board member, Dewhirst died on June 1, after a long battle with cancer.
A public hearing on town plans to establish an ambulance district followed. One community member spoke in favor of the proposal. According to Burton, “Stanford will assume the funding issues for the rescue squad. The ambulance service costs over $700,000 a year and as we no longer have volunteer EMTs and drivers, it had to be contracted out. The creation of a separate district means it will have its own tax line and will not impact the town or fire district’s tax caps. Overall, the amount of taxes won’t change for our residents; the taxes will just be segregated.”
Supervisor Burton reviewed Stanford’s Year-To-Date expenditures (details will be posted on the Town of Stanford website). She congratulated the Town of Stanford Republicans for a successful fundraiser for veterans. The “Salute to Veterans” event held June 3, 2023, raised nearly $2,500 which was donated to programs for vets through Mental Health America Dutchess County.
Ambiguously worded zoning codes fueled an animated discussion with comments from town locals, one of them a Stanford Zoning Board member. The outdated language has caused confusion in several key areas: the legality of contractor yards located in residential areas, the definition of storage facilities, and whether there are restrictions on the type of businesses allowed within the town limits. Supervisor Burton noted that one such problematic contractor yard was in litigation, and that the Town Building Inspector oversees zoning code violations. She stated that once the revised Town Comprehensive Plan is approved, the zoning codes will be effectively addressed; at present the board “will consider what else they can do.”
Clarification of language used in the local alarms law was approved and will move forward for state approval; a public hearing on the revised Town Comprehensive Plan was announced for July 24, 2023.
The resolution to adopt the formation of an ambulance district to benefit the Town of Stanford was approved, and will stand barring any objections from town home owners.
After entertaining additional public comments about the zoning code language, the Town Board went into executive session.