Home - Town of Ossining, New York

Supervisor's Update- March 26th, 2016

Details: Last Updated: 02 April 2016 02 April 2016

Although this was a short week in the Town of Ossining, we managed to get quite a bit done.

Tyler Technologies has begun their first week of informal assessment hearings, many of which have taken place at 16 Croton Avenue. We continue to hear from many residents who have questions- please call Tyler at 800-273-8605, or visit the Consortium website (http://mmrc.tylertech.com) to take a look at how they determined your new value. There is a lot of information on the site that can help you, including the comparables used to derive your property's value. If you check the website and still believe Tyler missed something, please make an appointment to go over it with them.

We held our regular Legislative Meeting on Tuesday where the Town Board passed what is now Local Law #3 of 2016, which adjusts the Veteran's Exemptions to a higher level, consistent with the new values brought about by the Town-wide revaluation. This important law was necessary to ensure that our veterans continue to be granted the same level of exemption on their homes that they have had in years past, and we thank Town Assessor Fernando Gonzalez for bringing this important issue to the Board's attention.

We also announced at this meeting that, effective April 30th, 2016, we will be disabling the 762-6007 phone number, which had been used to contact the Town Police at 507 North State Road prior to the sale of the building. Since that sale, we had been forwarding calls from that number to the County Police in Hawthorne, and now to the Ossining Police on Spring Street. We will be sharing this information in a variety of formats, and the Ossining Police will also be helping us to spread the news through their Facebook page, but please remind your neighbors that for non-emergencies, the number to call is (914) 941-4099. In an emergency, please call 911.

Maddi from my office attended the Croton/Cortlandt Task Force Meeting last night at Croton Village Hall. These meetings have been ongoing for several years, focused on the topic of the Croton Gorge Unique Area, a space along the Croton River that abuts properties in the Town of Ossining and the Village of Croton. Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi announced that the DEC has agreed to consider regulations limiting specific activities within the Unique Area, including bonfires/ cooking fires, charcoal and gas grills, and alcohol consumption. One of the final steps in the process of approving these new regulations is a public meeting, which will be held at the Ossining Public Library on Wednesday, May 18th at 7PM. I encourage you to join us and voice your support for this legislation-- the Unique Area is a beautiful, pristine area that deserves our care and our respect, and these new rules will help us to preserve those special qualities while still allowing the public to enjoy it.

I want to remind everyone that the Town Board will not be meeting this coming Tuesday, March 29th, which is the fifth Tuesday in March. The next time we see you will be on Tuesday, April 5th, at 16 Croton Avenue for our Work Session.

Wishing all who celebrate a very happy Easter- the weather forecast looks clear and warm, great for some outdoor activities. See you at the Farmer's Market.

Supervisor's Update- March 18th, 2016

Details: Last Updated: 02 April 2016 02 April 2016

Spring is coming in like a lion (and that’s not just because many of us have received upward corrections to our home values!) This Sunday into Monday, the weather gurus are predicting somewhere between 3-10” of snow, so do not take your snow tires off quite yet, make sure to keep driveways clear, clear off fire hydrants in front of your property, and please do not shovel or plow snow into the street. Our excellent Highway Department will be poised and ready to keep our roads cleared and safe, and your help can make it easier for them.

If you are ready for spring to be here already, make sure to check out the new Ossining Recreation Brochure, available online here.

We have been hearing a lot about the Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitos. The state and county will be distributing tablets to put in standing water, which we typically do annually. However, there are other ways you can help protect yourself and your loved ones- please be aware of how best to avoid helping mosquitos breed and learn about other steps you can take by following this link.

Impact notices from our Assessor’s office and Tyler Technologies went out in the mail this week. We have already been hearing from many of you whose assessments have gone up. Please take the opportunity to make an appointment with Tyler and bring any supporting documentation with you if you feel you have been improperly assessed. They will meet with everyone between now and April 8th. More information is included in your notice, which you should have with you when you call. Here is the number: 800‐273‐8605. Also, be sure to look at the project’s website to find out how Tyler calculated the value for your property: mmrc.tylertech.com.

In more good news, the Tax Receiver’s office will be mailing your Town/County bill in the next week or so (before Easter). Payments are due by April 30 to avoid a penalty! Please remember you have multiple options to pay – through the mail to Receiver of Taxes, 16 Croton Avenue, in person during business hours, Monday-Friday 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, or online at http://www.townofossining.com/cms/resources/tax-bill-online-payment. After all tax deadlines, we receive many complaints about the post office not delivering tax payments in a timely fashion. Please consider one of our alternative options for paying your taxes, or reach out to the tax office to ensure that your payment makes it to us. Also, the Tax Office will take in post dated checks before the deadline.

We have been taking a hard look at our parks and the needs we have in many of them. As you know, Shinehouse is being prepped to open in April, if all goes well, and we are hopeful that we will be able to offer some pottery classes through the Recreation Department. Planting in our community garden will also be getting underway, and there will be beautiful new space in the building for multiple uses, including updated bathrooms. Our Teamsters have been working hard to get everything ship shape for all to make use of and enjoy.

At this past Tuesday's Town Hall Meeting, we had an excellent presentation from Pelham natives Dennis and Julie Roche, who have brought Burbio to Ossining. Take a moment to sign up so you can get all the local news from our various organizations coordinated in one place. You can tailor it to your own needs and even choose to have certain events placed directly on your personal calendar if you like. There is no charge.

If Burbio’s style doesn’t suit you, but you would like to keep up to date with events around town, please sign up for the various eblasts available through the villages and town.

Finally, there are several events coming up this Spring that are still looking for vendors, volunteers, and sponsors!

Green Ossining’s 6th Annual Earth Day Festival, Saturday, April 16th – Vendor Deadline is 4/6 – visit http://www.greenossining.org/earth-day-festival/ for more information.

Ossining’s First Annual Health and Wellness Day, Saturday, May 7th – Vendor Deadline is 4/20 – contact Milly Morabito at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

2016 Ossining Village Fair, Saturday, June 11th (rain date June 12th) – please visit http://www.ossiningchamber.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104&Itemid=119 for more information about being a vendor or sponsor.

Enjoy your first weekend of spring (maybe indoor spring cleaning on Sunday). We look forward to seeing everyone this Tuesday night at our regular meeting, or maybe tomorrow at Egg-Stravaganza- 10AM at Ryder Park and 12PM at Nelson Park.

Town Board Regular Meeting- Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016

Details: Last Updated: 21 March 2016 21 March 2016

March 22nd, 2016- 7:30PM

Birdsall-Fagan Police/ Court Facility

86-88 Spring Street, Ossining NY 10562

pdf 3-22-2016 Agenda (34 KB) (Updated 3/21)

pdf Local Law #5 of 2016 Veterans Exemption (15 KB) (Now Local Law #3 of 2016)

pdf Town of Ossining Voucher Detail 03 22 16 (2015) (29 KB)

pdf Town of Ossining Voucher Detail 03 22 16 (2016) (309 KB)

All Board Meetings are televised LIVE on GO-TV, on Channel 78. Taped shows are repeated every Thursday at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Channels 78 and 18.

Watch the live webcast of Ossining Government Access Cablevision Channel 78 and Verizon Channel 43, including Town and Village Board Meetings, or stream them LIVE here.

Supervisor's Update- March 12th, 2016

Details: Last Updated: 24 March 2016 24 March 2016

Another busy week in the Town of Ossining: the 3rd floor of 16 Croton is in the process of creating the 2016 Town/County tax bills, our Parks staff is hard at work finishing up the Shinehouse at Cedar Lane Park, and all of our departments are shifting into Spring mode.

The Village of Ossining hosted us for their first official "Lunch and Learn" program this Wednesday, where the topic was Managing the Work/ Life Balance. It was great to see so many of our employees taking time to learn about how they can better balance their roles as mothers and fathers, parents, children, students, and friends with the growing pressures of work, and the presenter had some wonderful ideas of how to take better care of ourselves. We are all looking forward to the Lunch and Learn next month, as well as the other components of this wonderful Employee Wellness program.

We spent some time on Thursday working with our project managers from MUNIS, the new accounting software package that the Town and Village will be moving to later this year. It is exciting to see how many of our processes will become easier with this new software, and how much more accessible our data will be to the public once we get up and running. We are aiming for a launch date this Fall, stay tuned for more details as we get closer.

I want to take the chance to invite everyone to our second Town Hall Meeting of 2016, which will take place in the Budarz Theater at the Library next Tuesday evening at 7:30PM. After a quick Special Meeting, we will move into some exciting topics. We are scheduled to have a presentation from Sunshine Children's Home, who will get us up to date on their proposed expansion plan for the site on Cedar Lane. We will also hear from the new owners of Snowden House in the Village, who are asking for an extension of the existing PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program on the site. Glenn Weinberg will be joining us to explain some of the positive effects our homeowners will see now that Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is here, and finally, we will hear from Julie Roche of Burbio, a company who has proposed a new way for Ossining to manage our community calendar. Even better news? They plan to handle it free of charge. Come hear about the exciting projects we are working on in the Town, or come to ask a question to or raise a topic with the Board. These are your meetings, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Tonight is the last chance to see the Ossining High School Drama Club's production of "In the Heights"- the show is fantastic, and while tickets are still available for reserved seats, most seats are free. Join me at the final performance tonight, or maybe I will see you at some other events around Town this week.