I am excited to report that we are making progress on our commitment to the community to improve Route 9. Both the Village's 2009 Comprehensive Plan and the more recent final report of the Downtown Redevelopment Working Committee identified a reimagining of Route 9 as a critical tool in improving the quality of life in Ossining. One of the Village's priority projects in 2021 is to consider ways to make Route 9, known locally as North and South Highland Avenue, safer for cars and pedestrians while also making it more visually appealing and potentially adding parking. I strongly encourage community members to participate in the upcoming focus groups regarding this project the week of April 19th. Please share this with your friends and neighbors.

We want to know how you use Route 9 today and how we can improve it for our resident's safety and our local businesses' continued success. Please click the links below to the eligibility forms in English and Spanish.

·        Eligibility forms in English

·        Eligibility forms in Spanish

This past week, in preparation for the warmer weather and in the interest of supporting our local restaurants, the Village Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to support outdoor dining in selected areas. This week, in addition to our Work Session, we will have a Special Meeting which opens the public hearing on Local Law 3-2021: A Local Law amending Chapter 216 (Sidewalk Cafes) of the Village of Ossining Code, which will allow for these “parklets." These “parklets" will provide a safe outdoor dining experience on Main and Spring Streets using parking spaces enclosed by safety barriers. We hope that these “parklets” will attract diners to our fabulous local restaurants while fueling local shopping to ensure our businesses can recover from the harsh impacts of the pandemic.

We will also be discussing the results of the recent public survey conducted by the Village to learn more from our residents about their point of view of the Village Seal, which has been with us for more than 70 years. Do we keep the seal or look to update it with something different?

Lastly, the Trustees have an oversight responsibility regarding budgets and big picture projects, which have a material effect on Ossining's infrastructure and quality of life issues. To that end, I have asked the Village Manager to give the Board quarterly updated presentations on the state of our priority projects for 2021. Please join us this Wednesday at our Work Session to learn more about the state of our big picture projects and a review of our year-to-date budget.

The agendas for this can be found as follows:

Because Ossining sits on the banks of the Hudson River, its location is somewhat important from an environmental perspective. In the fall semester of 2019, third-year Landscape Architecture Graduate students participated in a studio that specifically analyzed the Ossining waterfront and how it could be reimagined to be more adaptive to our changing climate. During this Lunch and Learn webinar, Cornell University Professor Josh Cerra will take us on a journey of the students’ designs. While the presentation will be available on the Town and Village of Ossining YouTube pages after the lunch and learn, we hope you join and engage in the conversation.

Zoom info is as follows:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81092561546?pwd=WmhXRWZTT0xtYnJVU2RPeXVDK3JQZz09

Webinar ID: 810 9256 1546

Passcode: 962174

Members of the public can listen to the meeting by dialing in via phone: +1 929 205 6099

For those who lost a loved one to COVID-19, the federal government now offers up to $9,000 for funeral expenses. FEMA announced the program on Thursday, April 8, to ease the burden caused by the pandemic. Families that lost more than one member to COVID-19 are encouraged to submit one application with all of the family's expenses on funerals. To learn more about the program, click here.