54°
To the editor:
The Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce functions as the voice of business in the Greater Ossining area.
Part of our mission is to interface with local government on matters of concern to the membership.
Our membership includes local businesses, merchants, retailers, restaurateurs, professionals and first-time business owners, many of whom are also residents in the Greater Ossining area.
Collectively, we are a community; and as such we have expressed and continue to express our opposition to the traffic roundabout intended for the heart of the Village of Ossining’s Downtown business district at the Historic Five Corners sitting at the intersection of Main and Spring Streets & Central Avenue.
This project is being proposed and hastily pursued by the current Village of Ossining Board of Trustees, with construction to begin as early as May 2017, and with Market Square to be used and occupied as a staging area.
The Ossining community, including the Chamber, has, at public sessions before the Village Board overwhelmingly opposed it.
Yet, in the face of, and in fact in spite of, such uniform opposition, the Board of Trustees has voted 3-2 to pursue the project and is poised to vote in favor of securing a public bond (perhaps for as much as $500,000) to implement a traffic roundabout that is decidedly unwanted and arguably unnecessary.
The Village Comprehensive Plan, in its own words, was intended to be a blueprint for future physical and economic development in the Village and intended to increase visitors to the downtown area, promote Ossining as a desirable place to do business and create a unique dining and shopping destination to attract residents and visitors. This proposed roundabout is at odds with these goals.
(The bond was passed with a vote of 4-1 by the Village Board on Wednesday, Feb. 1, according to the Chamber.)
We urge those who are opposed to the project and/or the bond itself to sign petitions seeking a public referendum to defeat such a bond.
Further information will be disseminated moving forward.
If you have questions or would like to get involved or assist, please contact the Chamber of Commerce at (914) 941-0009.
The Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce
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