Comprehensive Plan moves ahead

WASHINGTON — The regular monthly meeting of the Comprehensive Plan Committee drew another full house to the town court for the first meeting of the year on  Monday, Jan. 3. The meeting’s two-hour discussion centered on plans for the Comprehensive Plan vision statement meeting, to be held on Saturday, Feb. 5, at the Millbrook firehouse.

Former teacher Howard Shuman presented the idea of using a questionnaire and a Scantron machine to tabulate participants’ opinions on themes for the vision statement. The results would be instantaneous and allow more time for discussion. There was a murmur of general agreement that this was a much better idea than using colored stickers on posted signs. Committee member Jerry Baker reminded the group that the results should not be considered a vote. The group decided collectively it should be characterized as a poll.

Tony Sloan, village resident and former military strategic planner, followed up on his presentation on performance and warned the group that without these they are “building on a muddy foundation.� But he said repeatedly the criticism was “nothing personal.�

After a discussion about the process the committee decided that the vision statement was still the right place to begin. Committee member Jesse Bonticou said, “I’ve been at this three years. If we start switching I won’t live long enough to see the plan.�

Another three-year veteran of the committee, David Strayer, said, “It’s premature to develop performance measures before there are goals.�

Another committee member, as well as town Planning Board member, Josh Mackey, presented the idea of a dedicated website for the comprehensive planning effort and presented a proposal to construct the site, which he later also presented at the town of Washington reorganization meeting. He said he believes that the site could be up and running before the vision meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The need for committee volunteers to monitor the site’s online forum messages was also acknowledged.

One person in the audience observed that the vision statement should be brief and inspirational.

“Why can’t we just talk about what we want to do?� town resident and frequent committee attendee Barbara Ohrbach asked.

Eric Leine, another resident in attendance, said, “This is democracy gone wild. There has to be some direction.�

Town Supervisor Florence Prisco, who arrived early for the town reorganization meeting, commended the committee as a “group of citizens trying to get their feet under them.�

The discussion would have continued but the room had to be turned over to the Town Board at 8 p.m. for the official town reorganization meeting.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less