The Board of Trustees held a town hall-style community engagement meeting via Zoom on Thursday, May 20, to hear from the community about how we should approach the recently passed cannabis legislation. There were nearly 70 attendees at the meeting with various views on how the Village should move forward. These ranged from folks that currently need to travel far distances for medical marijuana purchases that would like a local storefront, all the way to local parents that fear that having a dispensary in the Village will result in a potential expansion of a drug problem amongst our youth.

It will take about 18 months before recreational marijuana is available in dispensaries in local municipalities. That being said, this was the first of what will be many opportunities for the community to share their views on how the Village Board should either opt-in or out of this legislation. All communities that wish to "opt-out" of having dispensaries or on-site consumption establishments must do so, by local law, no later than December 31, 2021.

In the meantime, we have set up a page on our website dedicated to Cannabis Legislation: https://www.villageofossining.org/cannabis-legislation where you can view up-to-date information from New York State. Soon to be added will be an FAQ that should be helpful as well.

This past Saturday, on behalf of the Board of Trustees and with community members, Deputy Mayor Manuel Quezada, Trustee Dana White, and I joined Historian Joyce Sharrock-Cole at the honorary street naming for Joanne Tall at Liberty and Spring Streets in historic Sparta. She truly gave selflessly of her time and expertise with her dedication and devotion to the Ossining community and left behind quite a legacy.

Last week was National EMS week. This celebration began in 1974 to recognize the contributions of local EMS workers and volunteers who provide emergency services in local communities. Here in the Village of Ossining, we are lucky to have our local Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps (otherwise known as OVAC). They are dedicated first responders that provide immediate care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Whether navigating an illness, car accident, or a global pandemic, these trained professionals work around the clock to provide immediate care. Our EMS practitioners are professionals of the highest caliber – and we can’t thank them enough for their dedication to Ossining.

We will begin this week with a special meeting, during which we will hold a public hearing on the Village’s four CDBG applications for the 2022-2024 grant cycle—we look forward to hearing your feedback on what we have put forth, a description of which you can find here (in English and Spanish).

First on the Work Session agenda is Village Treasurer Dale Brennan. She will be formally presenting the results of the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) audit for which the Village was randomly selected. The OSC’s opinion was favorable, and they believe the Village adjusted our budgets appropriately to account for the effects of COVID.

The Village Building Inspector and Director of Planning will be introducing the concept of a newly formed Code Enforcement Task Force. This exciting new initiative is meant to approach code enforcement more holistically by working across various Village departments to properly define and identify potential concerns and address issues that affect health, safety, and quality of life in the Village.

There will also be a Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Update to provide a brief update on the Police Reform Collaboration, submitted with my signature to the Governor’s office on April 1, 2021.

Members of the public can view the meeting via computer or mobile app: Webinar ID: 982 8618 5412