District 13, Parts of LaGrange, Union Vale, & Wappinger

81 Darren Rd., LaGrangeville, NY 12540
Phone: 223-5734
E-mail: wmc1226@frontiernet.net

I want to express my deep appreciation to the voters of LaGrange, Wappinger, and Union Vale for re-electing me to a third term on the Dutchess County Legislature. I pledge to continue doing my best to serve the needs of the residents of our District and the County. As the Legislature re-organizes with a Democratic Party majority of 14 to 11, I will continue to work with members of both parties in the best interests of all the citizens.

MILE-A-MINUTE INVASIVE PLANT:In November and December the Legislature heard 2 separate reports on the spread of this non-native, invasive weed that first appeared in LaGrange last summer and has spread along the Jackson Creek corridor in LaGrangeville, especially at the baseball park and along Noxon Road. Many volunteers from the Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee, the LaGrange Conservation Advisory Committee, and individual volunteers worked long hours in the hot August sun to pull and destroy the destructive vine. In the fall, I co-sponsored a Resolution to ask the County Environmental Management Council to cooperate with the State DEC as well as other private and public organizations to recommend a course of action to stop the spread of Mile-A-Minute in the spring. This plant is an annual, but the berries it produces live for 5 years. The State DEC recently formed an Office of Invasive Species to deal with issues like the Mile-A-Minute plant.

JACKSON CREEK:In October a group of volunteers worked with the County Environmental Management Council, the Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee, and the LaGrange CAC to do a stream walk from the beginning of Jackson Creek in Union Vale, through LaGrange and a small section of East Fishkill, to where it joins Sprout Creek at the Wappinger Town line. The volunteers documented the conditions of the Creek and its banks in anticipation of funding yet to come from NY State to clear debris, restore stream banks, and mitigate future flooding. The Town of Union Vale and the Dutchess County Soil and Water Conservation District are cooperating to do some of this along Wiseman Road where Last April's storm damage is threatening to undermine parts of the Town road.

COUNTY BUDGET:For the first time in many years the Legislature unanimously passed a budget for 2008 that will maintain services and provide for slight decreases in taxes for most towns (depending on individual Town tax rates and last year's revaluation process).

NOXON ROAD:Drainage work has been completed by the County under Noxon Road where Karl Ehmer's Farm used to be. This work was done to prevent any additional storm water flooding as that part of LaGrange develops. The County has also started work on re-building the bridge over Sprout Creek, necessitating reduced speed and diversion of some commercial traffic. Work should be completed by next summer. In an effort to reduce speed and deal with complaints of residents of the Ehmer Farms neighborhood and other nearby streets concerning the use of development roads as a short-cut, the County and the Town of Lagrange are cooperating to increase patrols and place signs on Noxon Road and Stringham Road announcing restricted turns off Noxon Road and Stringham Road. If improvement does not occur, other steps will be taken to insure safety.