A message from Bill Jeffway, candidate for Town Supervisor, to the residents of Milan
“Community, not politics.” “No surprises.”
These are the words that have repeatedly come up as a group of us started to form thoughts about the role of the five-member Milan Town Board as we approach the Tuesday, November 4th local elections.
I am running for Town Supervisor (normally a two-year term)* after serving eight years on the Town Board and after twenty-five years’ involvement in Milan. We are introducing two new Town Board candidates, Glenn Weinrich of Cold Spring Road and Clint Bond of Milan Hill Road. They would join current Town Board members Debra Blalock and Kevin Pike, who are each halfway through their four-year terms. As we mark a historic transition at town hall with the retirement from service of Al LoBrutto, Jack Campisi, and Town Clerk Cathie Gill, each having served so admirably for decades.
The remainder is a message from the three town board candidates, including myself. We are thrilled to be running on the same line with Ingrid Kulick for Town Clerk, and Slade Meade for Town Justice.
* New York State election law will be changing so that local elections are held on “even” years and not “odd numbered” years. As part of the transition, local elections that will include the Town Supervisor will occur again next year, in November of 2026.
A message from Bill Jeffway, candidate for Town Supervisor, and Glenn Weinrich and Clint Bond, candidates for Town Board
“Community, not politics.”
Every two years, Milan residents are asked: what kind of town do we want? Every two years, three out of the five town board seats (a majority) are up for election. Over many years, men and women from all parties, and those with no party affiliation, have created the wonderful town we enjoy today because they put political labels aside and charted a moderate path. We want that to continue! That’s because New York State is a “home rule” state, which gives the residents of a town like Milan an enormous right—and responsibility—to chart our future. We wish to stay on the path of the middle ground, and address issues as a community with shared interests.
Over the past eight years the Milan Town Board has worked to address emerging community needs. For example:
- Short-term rental laws (and their monitoring for compliance) that balance the rights of those who could benefit from such income with the rights of those who asked for protection to ensure the quiet enjoyment of their home.
- Successful negotiation of a grant, and careful management of the process to add a significant addition to the Town Hall without borrowing.
- Successful negotiation of a grant to allow us to develop a Natural Resources Inventory with input from a wide range of the community, elected officials, and representatives from town agencies, for use by the Planning Board and ZBA to help identify and protect valuable natural resources.
- Took advantage of a grant opportunity to review culverts and planned for right-sizing those shown to be inadequate to assure public and property safety.
- Successfully negotiated with the Highway Department when they unionized two years ago, arriving at an agreement that was both beneficial to the town and the Highway Department.
- Ensured Broadband access in the most remote areas of town.
- After our provider cancelled the service, the Town took over the town trash and recycling center to continue providing residents convenient access to those services at a reasonable cost.
- Pickleball courts!
We are committed to keeping expenses low
In part because of grants, we have managed to address growth needs with the completion of an addition to the Town Hall, requiring no bond or long-term borrowing. We have also secured grants for a major culvert replacement.
Attention to creative ways to expand other sources of income:
The town now receives regular income from two cell towers that we lease to communications providers
The town receives regular income from the leasing of our landfill, which otherwise has no practical uses, to a company that has built solar panels to generate local electricity (and income).
We benefit from the wise and careful management of the Wilcox Fund over generations.
“No surprises” means thoughtful growth
The character and quality of life in Milan today is the direct result of thoughtful planning over time. We believe Milan currently has the plan and the zoning in place to allow flexibility for resident needs, but guardrails to prevent over-industrialization and industrial-scale development (think Southern Dutchess or Long Island).
Recent Town Board involvement to prevent big surprises has included the careful stewardship of what was at one time the Durst Organization’s plan to create 900 housing units (about the number of housing units in Milan) on 2,000 acres across Milan and Pine Plains, along with two luxury 18-hole golf courses. The Durst Organization appears to have put the plan aside and has put the land up for sale, which means we are likely to be facing another large developer.
Red Wing quickly depleted the Roe Jan mine (in both Milan and Clermont) a few years ago, but rather than reclaim the land as the permit required, Red Wing is attempting to create a regional importing, processing, and exporting site, which would double prior traffic. The current Town Board is ensuring that the proper State and Town laws are followed given that the Town of Milan bans industrial-scale mining.
Although never formally submitted, plans for a campsite with 200 accommodation units and other facilities would have been Milan’s single largest construction site. The Town has simply asserted that proper State and Town process be followed in establishing any new use. That will be our response should the plan be formally presented.
Summary
We are committed to continuing the reasonable middle road that has made Milan so desirable today. The common sense balancing of economic development, individual property rights, quality of life, preservation of important parts of our history, the full embrace of the innovations (and challenges) of the 21st Century.
We are asking for your vote on Tuesday, November 4th, on the Democratic Party line
Bill Jeffway, Town Supervisor
Glenn Weinrich and Clint Bond, Town Board
Ingrid Kulick, Town Clerk
Milan Democratic Committee 