It's common knowledge that in government things always take longer than you'd like them to, that hurry up and wait is the rule of the day. An end of the year review is an opportunity to see that progress has actually been made, what has been accomplished, what remains on the list of goals, and what new community priorities will be added to the list for the new year. We celebrate all achievements, large and seemingly small, keeping in mind the words of baseball's Dizzy Dean, who said "It ain't braggin' if you really done it."

Some of the year's highlights:

DIA Center for the Arts held its official ground breaking, with the enthusiastic participation of Governor Pataki, Senator Sal and, Assemblyman Kirwan, County Executive Steinhaus and City Council members, as well as DIA Board President Leonard Riggio, International Paper's Chairman and CEO John T. Dillon, Chairman of Empire State Development Corporation Charles Gargano, Richard Schwartz Chairman of the NY State Council on the Arts and Scenic Hudson Board Chairman David Redden, along with Beacon School Board President Deborah Sheers, Superintendent Vito DiCesare and a representative group of school children. Work continues on the building, which is targeted to open in spring of 2002, when the flowering trees, which are to be an important part of the landscaping, will be in full bloom.

After four years of discussion the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally approved our dock permit thanks to the intercession of River Navigator Eric Scherer and DEC Commissioner John Cahill. Engineer Bill Rohde will now complete the final drawings and put the project out to bid. Completion should be later this year. We look forward to having this important part of Beacon’s history restored. Part of the use is expected to be ferry service during commuting hours, and engineer has also spoken with the region’s tour boat operators to be sure the final design will accommodate their needs as well as the Clearwater.

The other waterfront projects are in various stages of progress, and to give all the property owners the opportunity to coordinate their efforts whenever possible we called a meeting last December. It was very interesting, and quite successful. Each gave a brief presentation of their plans, or conceptual plans. Several sub meetings have taken place among the various groups and we will all get back together in February for a general update. Some of the interesting ideas and facts from the meeting: Metro North suggested replacing their train station which burned years ago, and the possibility of combining that use with the visitors' center the Beacon Exchange committee recommends. Metro North also expressed interest in operating a Beacon-Newburgh ferry, having been encouraged by the success of their ferry between Ossining and Haverstraw. DIA brought with them to the meeting a top executive from an engineering firm, which may provide their services pro bono to design the proposed pedestrian crossing on the scenic south side of the railroad bridge. And County Planner John Clarke brought conceptual design sketches for improved riverfront parking.

Another important piece of the plan, the trolley to connect the waterfront with Main Street, other city attractions, and our neighboring communities, moved closer to reality with a Hudson River Partnership 2000 grant from HUD, which also included additional funding for the dock and over a million dollars in 108 loans for qualifying businesses. The grants will become available as the loans are made. We hope to plan the trolley route not just on paper, but through the actual use of the County trolley. And if possible, the trolley we purchase will be an alternate fuel vehicle.

The Hudson River Estuary Trail, another important waterfront attraction, is now planned for 2001 completion. 1.7 miles will be along the river to Dennings Point, and will then connect to Madam Brett Park and Greenway Creek trails, which are making progress on our goal of a continuous loop to Main Street, our urban trail, creating waterfront access for our residents and our visitors. An important piece of that loop is relocation of our public works facility, and those plans are progressing as well.

Another trail section already has approval from Beacon Mills (formerly known as Tuck Tape), who after a complete cleanup of that former industrial site have received their, Special Use Permit for an Assisted Living facility.

Other former industrial sites have prospects of interesting adaptive reuse, and our city codes are being updated to keep abreast of the changes.

Main Street has continued its revitalization and regrowth and while we're still waiting for our hardware store, we're certainly enjoying the new businesses which fill empty stores, and which create the need for other service businesses. Some have had formal ribbon cuttings; some have opened without that formality. There are new businesses on both the east and west ends, and also in the middle. The popular juice bar relocated to Main Street, and a sports bar became Joe's Irish Pub. The Piggy Bank Restaurant opened its doors (and a popular outside dining area) in a former bank and owner Doug Berlin won a County Economic Development award for that innovation. Renovations to the Dondero Building on the west end are about complete, and with a little exterior work still to be done two of the three stores are already open, and the third is in the process of relocating from the east end. His location there has been rented to someone else. Most of the other buildings in that west end block are either sold, or close to contract.

Businesses not on Main Street, which opened during the year, include Alternative Energy, which sells attractive stoves and pellet fuel, a healthcare equipment rental (both on the plaza with Beacon Market) and the Mountainside Deli, a new owner at a popular Spring Street spot.

Other Main Street activity includes the excellent work of our Tioronda Garden Club, which makes civic beautification throughout the city its number one goal. Their summer plantings (maintained beautifully by our street department) and their holiday decorations are an attractive plus. This year they purchased new lighted wreaths for the length of Main Street, and a program of lighting street trees was begun. This was a great addition to the Beacon Business Association's Shopping by Candlelight, always a big success, and this year the Holiday Lighting won an award from Dutchess County Tourism.

Many of the Tioronda members are also part of the Beacon Exchange Clean and Attractive committee, which monitors quality of life issues including litter, and loitering, to name two. The Council enacted a new loitering law after thorough research by our city attorney and police chief, to be sure that it fulfilled the community's needs without infringing on anyone's rights.

Main Street was brightened by the beautiful restoration of the Memorial building, and by the new Carmen Ramputi memorial and landscaping. And thanks to the help of American Legion Post 203 we were able to display the flag on Main Street and other key spots in the city. The flags will be on display from Memorial Day until after Veterans Day, when the holiday decorations are put up. It's truly a stirring sight, and we have received many favorable comments on them.

Main Street meetings were held during the year, to get input from the business and property owners on what improvements they would like to see. This is an important means of communication and another way to coordinate efforts.

And a grant was received to evaluate our Historic districts, with a goal of listing them on the state and national registers, making the incentives those designations allow available to qualifying property owners. The west end of Main Street is already on the National Register, and this effort will include the east end of Main Street and other qualifying buildings in the city recommended by our City Historian.

Other historic notes include the restoration by Tallix and a rededication of the statue of Hebe, which stands at the triangle at Willow Street and Verplanck Avenue, where she was moved from her original place in Bank Square. Since Hebe was the Goddess of Youth, the Rombout School quintet was invited to participate in the ceremonies. And on July 4, the Melzingah chapter of the DAR held a centennial celebration of the monument on Mount Beacon commemorating the Revolutionary War signal fires.

Our city departments continued to do the things we all take for granted and which are essential to our quality of life. Road improvements continued, maintenance, repairs, and replacement, responding to public requests. The Recreation Commission added the Highland Cultural concert series at Riverfront Park and at University Settlement Camp to their wide variety of programs. And the essential code enforcement continues.

The City adopted the Greenway Compact, and amended the water and sewer agreements with the Town of Fishkill to make possible the start of the Polo Fields. Part of the project is in Beacon, part in Fishkill, and it will add high end housing to our mix, to bring back some of the income diversity lost when most of the old estates were subdivided into low and middle income housing. Middle-income housing was proposed for the northeast section of the city and is moving through the approval process. The former Brunetto Cheese site was given a clean slate, and will be subdivided for housing for people looking for convenient scaled down homes with less yard work. The property will be back on the tax rolls. St. Francis- Wingate began construction in July, and of course when completed, that will also be on the tax rolls.

The new high school broke ground, and the city will improve Matteawan Road to make an attractive entrance to that important part of Beacon's future. A grant has been received to replace and plant 25 trees when construction starts. Another grant will enable us to build a pedestrian and bike trail along the west side of the road, for safe and friendly access to the school and the playing fields.

Another big event of the year was the demolition of the Ski Lodge, now owned by the city because of tax default. The community has made it quite clear that it would like that property used for some public purpose, to keep its easy access to the mountain trails available, rather than have it be closed off for private residential use. The building itself was not in safe condition and the determination was made to take it down. The many people who remembered the Lodge in its heyday hated to see that happen, but unfortunately safety required that it be done. The process will now begin to search out someone who sees the possibilities of that beautiful site, with the public access the community would like. Some kind of overnight lodging is high on the priority list. Our Beacon Economic Development Committee of the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce is preparing the RFP's to be sent out A visit from the Secretary of State and several of his staff was also the result of that committee's efforts to show off what has been done, the possibilities that we are working on, and determine any help that might be available to the city.

In order to help our residents with their property tax payments the city passed two initiatives, one to allow payment of back taxes by installments (the law to allow installment payment of current taxes took effect last year). We also increased the tax exemption allowed our Veterans.

2000 was an important year for counting our residents, and the Census Committee under the direction of Councilman Al Romanelli did an excellent job of outreach to our wonderfully diverse community. We look forward to hearing the results. And another kind of listing took place as the city began its emergency operation under E-9 II.

We continue to work toward improved communication with the community, among ourselves, with our neighbors, with the county and state. It's a constant effort, and any suggestions are welcome. To this end we've named Council members as liaisons with our Beacon Exchange committees, with our Recreation Commission, with our commuting population, with Spirit of Beacon Day. We know communication is not just a local priority, but also an important issue at all levels of government. This was confirmed when Governor Pataki invited a number of Hudson Valley Mayors to have lunch with him at his Albany residence, to bring him up to date on what is going on, what projects are in the works, what help the State might be able to offer. Said the Governor, "If you don't let us know what you need, we have no way of knowing if we can help you." So we would ask you all to remember that, to remember that it's better to hear an idea twice than not hear it at all, and that sometimes the best ideas come from the least expected sources.

In this new year we will continue to work to move our projects forward, set new goals to answer community needs, and to follow the advice of the Countryside Exchange: emphasize our history, emphasize our scenic beauty, emphasize our arts presence, and put community first: lf it's a good place to live, it will be a good place to visit. The last part of their advice was to require every young person to visit the top of Mount Beacon to see our city in its magnificent regional perspective. We'd like to make that possible for young people of all ages. Of course that would be easier if the Incline were restored, so if anyone is interested in helping make that happen, we'd be glad to furnish an address.