Beth-Anne Canero, the new Veterans Outreach Coordinator for the Dutchess County Office of Veterans Affairs, outlined plans for strengthening connections with veterans in Stanford and throughout the county at the Stanford Town Board meeting on Oct. 9.
Canero, a retired Marine with 21 years of service, including deployment in Iraq, estimated that only 15 percent of veterans in the Stanford community have applied for benefits such as healthcare, pensions, disability compensation, education, career training, housing, and more. “We need to get our services known to all of them,” said Canero.
There are roughly 13,500 veterans in Dutchess County. In Stanford, veterans make up about 4.3% of the town’s population of 3,673, according to the 2023 census. Canero wants to make sure that they are aware and empowered to take advantage of the benefits they have earned.
Reducing the obstacles to accessing services is also part of Canero’s mission. “There’s a mental health stigma attached to all this, and a lot of them are afraid to reach out,” she said. “Veterans are reminded that benefits cover multiple aspects of life, and they don’t need to navigate them alone.”
Canero also noted the need to tailor outreach to different generations of veterans. “We recognize that the younger veterans feel as if they cannot wrap their heads around the fact that these benefits exist for them too,” said Canero, who identified 21 to 30 veterans from the Persian Gulf War and later in Stanford.
Town Supervisor Wendy Burton suggested connecting Canero with specific veterans in Stanford to organize an initial meeting.
Pine Plains Central School District Superintendent Brian Timm also gave a talk about rightsizing as part of his awareness-raising campaign. Rightsizing would involve the consolidation of the district’s students into two buildings, instead of its current three, due to diminishing enrollment numbers. During the public comment period, residents offered ideas on what to do with the Cold Spring Early Learning Center building if it were to close, proposing that it could be a nursing home or community center.
The board unanimously passed Local Law No. 6, the extension of the moratorium on battery energy storage systems. The moratorium places a temporary ban on the assembly of rechargeable systems — such as large battery arrays — designed to store electricity for future use. The moratorium does not apply to residential use of stored electricity. With the moratorium, the board has more time to conduct research into the health, environmental, and financial impacts of the systems. The moratorium also covers wind energy systems, prohibiting the construction of turbines.
Finally, a motion was passed to set the public hearing for the town’s 2026 budget for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the Town Hall.
The next Stanford Town Board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 13.