Over the course [of] 2002, I will visit localities to engage in Conversations for Community Connections, an initiative for me, along with county department heads and other community leaders to discuss intergovernmental and community issues of mutual concern to the county and our municipalities. The emphasis will be on listening to the concerns and ideas of our residents and local officials. Thank you, Mayor Gould and City Council members, for welcoming us to Beacon for the official kick-off of this community outreach program.

• During 2001, distributed + 3,400 educational flyers on the West Nile Virus, Lyme Disease and Rabies to Beacon schools.
• Environmental Health Services Public Health Engineering Unit staff is working on the water service connection from the City of Beacon to the Town of Fishkill Rombout Water District. Soon to be completed, will supply up to 300,000 gallons of water per day of drinking water. The Health Department will also conduct the review and approval process for water service to the Polo Grounds Subdivision in the Town of Fishkill- the water system is being built, operated and maintained by the City of Beacon.

Flu clinic: 339 in 2001 (at Knights of Columbus Hall);

Child Immunization Clinic: 120 in 2001

Certified Home Health Agency: 50

Long Term Home Health Care Program: 18

Maternal Child Home Visiting Program: 130

Youth worker is stationed at the County’s Beacon Center to provide short-term counseling and PINS Truancy Diversion. She works with several Beacon school committees to improve services for children.

Funded NYS Office of Children and Family Services activities in Beacon include:

• City of Beacon summer playground recreation program
• City of Beacon Juvenile Community Relations Unit: 3000 youth, $4,158
• Beacon Community Center’s after school homework assistance program and teen program: 187 youth, $25,600
• Martin Luther King Cultural Center’s after school program and a youth asset grant for the African-American Festival: 200 youth, $1,000

Community Solutions to Transportation (CST) Program — 36 Beacon residents have received services from this program to meet transportation needs of low income families to help them transition from welfare to work addressing transportation barriers.

Through the Dutchess County Community Action Agency (DCCAA), the County supports human services for families in need, poor, and elderly citizens throughout the County, including Beacon. DCCAA has a Beacon facility, the Southern Dutchess Family and Community Development Center, which provides convenient service for Beacon area residents.

• The Mid-Day Meal Program is provided exclusively in Beacon, and opens the door for participants to access other DCCAA programs: 2,586 meals Jan — May 2002.

• Senior picnic in May: 350 seniors.
• Beacon Friendship Center and home-delivered meal programs: 70 seniors

• Case Management services have been expanded in the Beacon area by adding two full-time equivalent positions to the Saint Francis Hospital Beacon Counseling Center. In addition, a Spanish-speaking caseworker, the first Spanish-speaking caseworker, has been added (complements a couple other existing Spanish speaking staff).
• Additional, related grant of $75,000 awarded to increase protective factors and reduce risk factors during late elementary and middle school years, with an emphasis on providing parents with skills to help children refuse offers of drugs. This program is in operation at the Forrestal Elementary School, serving 75 families from Feb thru Dec 2002.

The expansion of DART (Domestic Abuse Response Team) into Beacon is currently underway. This will enhance communication and services to victims and hold offenders accountable. The team will enhance collaboration among police, courts, probation, advocates and other agencies. It will also provide services to victims in their own community. Domestic Abuse Awareness Classes are also offered at the Probation Office.

• DART the Domestic Response Abuse Team has expanded into Beacon in January, 2002
• Probation Officer, Advocate, Outreach worker, Assistant DA and support staff
• Supported by both the Beacon Court and the Police Department
• Collaborative approach that enhances our public safety response to Domestic Violence

The Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board has funded a total of $13,500 to the City of Beacon for the following programs in 2002:

• Unsafe Driving Enforcement ($4,500)- this program targets speeding and aggressive driving during the peak commuting hours in June and July.
• Directed Patrol Program ($1,500)- bicycle patrol units are funded to monitor and enforce all aspects of motor vehicle law on weekends June-August, with the goal of identifying pedestrian and cycling issues and heightening awareness. The patrols will also serve as role models for proper helmet usage, and bike helmets will be distributed to those in need.
• Buckle-Up New York ($7,500)- for three high-visibility seatbelt enforcement periods (Nov., late May and late Aug.)

The STOP-DWI program has funded a total of $11,300 to the City of Beacon for the following programs this year:

• Overtime for: DWI patrols ($4,000),
• Sobriety Check Point ($2,700),
• Training ($1,600), and
• for sobriety checkpoint equipment ($3,000)

Also sponsored an "after prom" alcohol/drug free party for Beacon High School students:

DPW recently completed renovations in the Beacon Center. New office space was given to EEO services, and offices were updated for the Youth Bureau, Probation, and the Astor Clinic for Children. The County also provides other services in the Beacon Center: the Departments of Health, Mental Hygiene, Motor Vehicles, Veterans Affairs, and Aging all have space in the Center.

The Department of Motor Vehicles Beacon Office operates Monday-Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.

The Office of Veteran’s Affairs Beacon Office is open Wednesdays from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

The County has invested and provided:

• $2,200,000 in HOME, CDBG and Rental Rehab monies for the rehabilitation of 16 buildings on Beacon’s East and West Main Street - including 72 apartments and 26 stores since 1992. This investment leveraged an additional $3.5 million dollars in bank loans and developer equity.

• $440,000 for the construction of the Meadow Ridge project, 54 apartments for families on Matteawan Road (started in May 2002; scheduled completion summer 2003). Subsidizing the construction of 11 of the 54 units, which will be affordable to households at 50% of the county median income and will have rents ranging from $670 for a two-bedroom to $775 for a three-bedroom.

• Approximately $230,000 to the substantially completed Verplanck Estates project which involves the construction of 16 town homes for income-eligible first time homebuyers - Provided down payment and closing costs to 8 of the households through the First Time Homebuyers Program. Of the 16 units sold, 7 were sold to civil servants!

• Improvements of Matteawan Road where the new high school is- $760,329 - TO BE COMPLETED BY END OF SUMMER

• Preparation of specifications for bidding for historic building improvements at the Howland Cultural Center- $29,000 TO BE BID SHORTLY TO BEGIN IN FALL

• New fencing and other improvements at the Martin Luther King Cultural Center- $29,000 TO BEGIN IN 2 WEEKS

Metro-North, in cooperation with County Planning, the City of Beacon and other groups including DIA and Scenic Hudson, is implementing a two-phase plan to improve parking at the Beacon Train Station. The first phase will expand surface parking while discussions for the second phase include a possible parking deck. The construction of a new train station and visitor’s center, and a pedestrian overpass to land on the west side of the tracks are also planned.

The Planning Department is working with Scenic Hudson to review an architectural proposal for a hotel at the Long Dock site in Beacon.

• Foxgloves Garden Gloves of Beacon received $2,500 trade show assistance grant in January 2002 from the DCIDA for participating in the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishing Market.
• Mechtronics (104 EMPLOYEES) of Beacon has been approved for a 2002 trade show assistant grant of $4,500 from the DCIDA.

Changes to the Empire Zone were enacted to build upon the County’s ability to retain existing companies, create investment in business expansion and attract new businesses, as well as to strengthen our ability to stimulate job growth, in additional areas of the County, including the City of Beacon. Two properties in Beacon totaling nine acres- four acres of the Beacon Terminal property and five acres of the Sand and Stone land on Route 52- have been designated as part of the "Empire Zone".

Beacon Employer Training requests funded by WIB:

• Chemprene
• Situational Spanish for supervisors- DCC- 12 employees In Progress $5,000
• Manufacturing Management Certificate- Council of Industry- 5 employees Completed $5,000

• Beacon Glass Works
• OJT training contract for 2 employees -

• Fishkill Health Related & Hudson Haven Nursing Home
• Management Training- 5 employees In Progress $19,500
• Apply for grant funds for facilities to retain older workers $200,000

In 2001, we completed the acquisition of Digital Aerial Photography and the electronic update of the Tax Parcel Maps. This photography is unlike any other we have had in the past; it is crisp and clear enough to make out the players on a baseball diamond and accurate enough for detailed planning projects. The Tax Parcel Maps have been corrected and updated to overlay these photographs. The implications are clear - pictures of natural features combined with ownership information allow the best possible planning of all our County resources. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but to work with the actual data generates plenty of creative conversations about good planning. For this to happen, I have also asked the County Department of Planning and Development to package the available digital data for each locality with instructions for its use and examples of good planning practices, which can be used when evaluating local projects.