The Stanford Town Board voted unanimously Thursday, June 11, to adopt the Dutchess County Greenway Compact, a regional planning framework that town officials and conservation advocates said could help Stanford access planning resources and funding while preserving local control over land-use decisions.
The vote followed a public hearing in which members of the Conservation Advisory Commission and residents urged the board to approve the measure. The law had been introduced last month and referred to Dutchess County planners and the Stanford Planning Board, both of which supported its adoption, according to the resolution read at the meeting.
The vote drew applause from the room.
Town Supervisor Julia Descoteaux said the compact could open Stanford to new funding opportunities, with a funding window expected to open in October.
The vote was one of several items at the meeting that touched on the town’s planning, infrastructure, and finances. The board also accepted a new transfer station bid after a previous contractor could not fulfill the town’s requirements, discussed rising ambulance costs, outlined early talks on battery energy storage, and announced plans for a neighborhood road safety committee.
Descoteaux opened the meeting by dedicating it to Stanford’s transfer station employees, saying they had continued to provide service through a difficult period earlier this year after problems with a compactor.
The board later accepted a bid from Royal Sanitation for transfer station service after reissuing a request for proposals. Descoteaux said the town received only one bid after trying to find other regional options.
She said the new bid came in lower than the company’s previous proposal but still represented a roughly 25 percent to 30 percent increase over what the town currently pays. The transfer station does not generate revenue for the town, she said, but remains an essential service used by Stanford residents, neighboring residents and small businesses.
“We are committed to keeping this service open, but we have to figure out financially how we make it happen,” Descoteaux said.
Descoteaux also gave an update on ambulance service, saying Stanford has been participating in regional discussions with neighboring municipalities, including Washington and Amenia, about possible collaboration or service consolidation.
“The conversations are all exploratory, but they’ve been productive and necessary as we work together to address increasing EMS costs and staffing challenges,” she said.
Descoteaux said she had previously estimated the town’s annual ambulance cost at about $840,000, but updated figures showed an 11 percent increase over the $768,000 included in the budget, bringing the projected cost to about $870,000.
She said another meeting was scheduled to continue discussions around service coverage under possible future models, and that the town would also meet with Northwell later this month to discuss alternatives.
“I want to be very clear that there’s no decisions that will be made without the involvement in support of the fire company,” Descoteaux said. “Our hope is to have a clearer picture of potential options within the next 2 months so that we can properly budget for next year.”
For May, the town received 24 ambulance calls, 16 of which were answered by Stanford’s dedicated vehicle, Descoteaux said. She said the dedicated vehicle handled five priority-one calls, four of them answered in under 10 minutes, and four priority-two calls, all answered in under 15 minutes. All calls were answered within the town’s service benchmarks, she said.
The board also discussed battery energy storage, an issue Stanford has been reviewing as communities across the state consider how to regulate energy storage projects. Descoteaux said developers involved with the solar field behind Town Hall had approached the town and introduced a zinc-based battery technology after the town previously raised concerns about lithium-ion battery risks and the fire company’s capacity to respond.
Descoteaux said the town would continue its due diligence before deciding whether to move forward with any battery energy storage proposal. If the town does not move forward, she said, officials still want a stronger law to guide future decisions.
“We want to be a model for rural, local laws associated with battery energy storage,” Descoteaux said. “And we’re one of the only communities that has been approached in Dutchess County.”
Road safety was another major topic. Descoteaux said recent concerns about speeding and roadway safety had been amplified by the closure of Cold Spring Road and related detours, but that residents had raised similar concerns for years.
She said the town wants to form a neighborhood road safety committee to gather data, identify problem areas and review potential solutions. Those could include more regular placement of speed monitoring signs, temporary or permanent signage, requests for speed limit reductions and coordination with future Route 82 safety efforts.
“This is not going to be a quick process,” Descoteaux said. “Proper data collection requires months and even years, and we want to make sure that we’re going through this with the right frame of mind as a community, and that everyone’s on board.”
Residents interested in serving on the committee were asked to submit letters of interest to the supervisor’s office.
During public comment, Stanford resident Stacey Adams raised concerns about poor cell service, saying her phone is often in SOS at her home in Bangall. She said her husband is a first responder and does not always receive alerts because of the lack of service, describing it as a public safety issue. Adams offered to help research possible solutions.
Descoteaux responded that the town was looking into hiring a grant writer.
The board also appointed Brenden Schaaf as coordinator of the town’s Climate Smart Community Task Force. Descoteaux said Schaaf, a Bard College environmental policy graduate, will also serve as a policy intern for the town through the summer and into the fall.
Schaaf and Dianne Duffus were also appointed to the Conservation Advisory Commission after the board recently expanded the commission from seven to nine members.
In other business, the board approved an extension connected to Westerly Canteen’s ability to serve alcohol on additional days, accepted Sarah Love’s resignation from the Board of Assessment Review, and reviewed updates from town committees.
The town reported 31 active short-term rentals, 18 of them compliant and 13 noncompliant. Six applications are pending with the Building Department, which officials said could reduce the number of noncompliant rentals to seven if the applications become permits.
The Water Quality Committee reported that it is focusing on understanding water quality concerns among residents, businesses, farms, and institutions. Its first educational initiative is expected to be coordinated with the town’s Green Pastures grant, which provides free water filter pitchers to residents. The committee also discussed road salt contamination of groundwater.
The Zoning Commission met May 21 and discussed public feedback on proposed zoning changes after the Town Board did not pass Local Law No. 1 last month. The commission also discussed exploring legal and planning consultants to help with future zoning code updates and text amendments.
Stanford’s Rev 250 celebration, commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence, is planned for July 4 through a partnership between the Stanford Fire Company, the Stanford Grange, and the town. The event is expected to include a tent opening at 5 p.m., a reading of the Declaration of Independence by Ryan Orton, a chicken barbecue at 6 p.m. and fireworks at dusk.
The next Stanford Town Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 16.