The Stanford Town Board approved a slate of modest fee increases for 2026 and cleared the way for a new pocket park while providing updates on ambulance coverage and short-term rental enforcement at its meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13.
Transfer station permits for residents and nonresidents will each rise by $5 next year, after town officials said their own costs from Welsh Sanitation had gone up. Annual permits will now cost $20 for residents and $50 for nonresidents, while bag fees will remain unchanged.
“In light of the increases we’re seeing, the reasonable thing to do is a modest permit increase that feels less like a permanent hit,” board member Nathan Lavertue told the board before the 5–0 vote.
Recreation fees will also increase by $10 across the board. Pavilion rental fees have not yet been set; the pavilion is scheduled to reopen in May.
Lavertue said the Recreation Committee compared Stanford’s rates with those in neighboring towns to keep passes accessible while remaining “on par with what’s happening in the area,” especially as more nonresidents use the town’s facilities. The board approved the new recreation fee schedule 5–0.
In a separate vote, the board adjusted a series of building department permit fees for the coming year, leaving fees for new homes and additions unchanged but raising charges for several specific items. Permit fees for wood-pellet stoves and fireplaces will increase from $150 to $175, hot tubs from $125 to $150, and new roofs from $100 to $150. Fences will now require a $100 permit, up from $75, and HVAC, electrical and plumbing permits will rise from $125 to $150. Oil tank removal and replacement fees will both increase from $150 to $175.
Town Supervisor Wendy Burton said the changes were recommended by staff who had compared Stanford’s rates with those in surrounding municipalities. A $10 mobile home inspection fee was eliminated.
The board also took a key step toward creating Burdick Park, a small pocket park off Route 82, by adopting a negative declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
Town Attorney Robert Butts walked the board through the environmental assessment, saying the project would not create significant adverse impacts on traffic, wetlands, water quality, or historic resources.
“In fact, this is going to enhance and protect the natural features and environmental characteristics of the site and will provide educational and recreational opportunities to the community,” Butts said.
The SEQRA resolution passed unanimously, allowing the park project — which is also under review by the Planning Board — to move toward a final site plan.
Burton reported that the town’s four ambulance commissioners recently met with Empress EMS executive director Robert Stuck to discuss a new contract for 2026. Empress, which purchased Northern Dutchess Paramedics, now serves most of Dutchess County.
Burton said Empress initially proposed a 5% increase, but she negotiated that down to 2.5% after reminding the company that towns had been told there would be no further hikes until advanced life support service was fully in place. Empress is also looking at ways to streamline responses, she said, including sending different units depending on the type of call and piloting a program that dispatches in-home care for frequent non-emergency callers rather than an ambulance.
County Legislator Chris Drago was in attendance and told the board that Dutchess County is in the midst of budget season and that the county’s supplemental EMS program — designed to dispatch backup ambulances more quickly — has been tweaked to send units after five minutes instead of nine. Officials hope that will give ambulances “a better chance of actually getting out earlier because they’re being deployed faster,” Drago said.
Drago also addressed talk that healthcare giant Northwell Health planned to buy Empress, calling it “just a rumor” based on his conversations with county officials.
Town Board member Julia Descoteaux announced that Stanford has received a $274,000 state reimbursement for a recreation grant, bringing the Recreation Campaign account to about $285,000. The money will help launch a long-planned landscaping phase at the town recreation center.
Phase one, expected in early spring 2026, will include installing shade structures purchased in September and planting 12 or 13 trees around the waterway. Fan-sail canopies will be put up in the summer and stored in the highway garage over the winter.
Descoteaux said the original landscaping plan envisioned about 100 trees, but the committee plans to start small, relying on a mix of volunteer labor, donations, and in-kind services. A dog park remains part of the long-term concept, with an area already earmarked on the site.
Descoteaux also reported that the Water Quality Committee is working with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Dutchess County on a six-month scope of work to define priority questions and map out how to use available state resources and potential funding. Committee appointments are expected to be announced in January.
Board member Eric Haims said Stanford’s new short-term rental regulations are beginning to take hold. Ten permit applications have been submitted and seven approved so far, with the remainder in process.
The town’s contractor, Granicus, is completing an address-identification analysis and has drafted three letters: an introductory notice and two escalating compliance notices for properties operating without a permit. All three letters will include a permit application, and town staff and board members will soon complete online training through “Granicus University.”
All short-term rentals in Stanford will be required to obtain a town permit by Jan. 1.
In other business, Burton said county clerks had notified the town that Coyote Flaco, a Mexican restaurant in Stanfordville, has advanced to the liquor-license review stage with the state. She also reported that interest rates on the town’s New York Class investment accounts have dropped from about 6% to roughly 3.8%, which will likely reduce the budget boost the town received from interest earnings this year.
Earlier in the evening, the board heard from Linda Hans Manley, CEO of Community Action Agency of Dutchess County, a nonprofit that runs food pantries, heating assistance, and tax preparation services at four centers across the county. About 70% of the agency’s funding comes from the federal government, she said, and delays and potential cuts to key programs — including the Community Services Block Grant, the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) — have forced staff layoffs and created uncertainty heading into winter.
Manley said the agency recently received emergency HEAP funding from Dutchess County to cover November and December fuel assistance and urged residents to call their elected officials to support federal appropriations. “We really need funding,” she said, adding that without it, “we’re going to see a lot more social problems” as families struggle to heat their homes.
The next Town Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 11.