I hope everyone had a great year in 2024! I had an amazing time representing you all as your town supervisor in Chester. Thank you again for entrusting me with this responsibility. This is my hometown. Being able to work my dream job for my family, friends, and neighbors has been an amazing experience so far. Here is a look at some accomplishments from 2024:
I personally assisted 47 different residents in constituent cases throughout Chester and will continue working on existing and new cases in 2025.
I’m incredibly proud to state that Chester was awarded approximately $517,884 in grant funding in 2024! This includes, but is not limited to, the $400K that Senator Skoufis awarded us for sidewalks in Sugar Loaf, $96K that Orange County awarded us for ADA pathways in Carpenter Community Park, and $5K Orange County awarded us for a picnic area to be installed at the Senior Rec Center. I personally took part in the acquisition of those three grants and will oversee the execution of all grant funding we have been awarded.
We had received multiple grants prior to 2024 that were never successfully executed because required paperwork and other requirements were neglected. I am happy to let you know that we have set about correcting that. We have now acquired approximately $440,000 in grant funding for the Walton Lake Water District, the electric vehicle charging stations we own, a future paving project for Johnson Rd., and for the outdoor exercise equipment area at the Senior Rec Center!
The town board and village board agreed on the creation of EMS Tax District that the town board successfully funded in the 2025 budget. I look forward to working on getting a service contracted with / implemented later this month. This is my top priority.
The NYS Legislature and governor passed and signed three bills that I personally pushed for with the help of our representatives in Albany. One of these bills will correct a retirement issue for one of our very own police officers. Another bill will allow us to impose a new hotel/motel/Airbnb tax that will increase tax revenue for the town and ensure short-term rental entities are paying their fair share in our community.
The town board voted to approve the creation of multiple advisory boards that I had wanted to create, to promote resident participation in our local government. This includes the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center Advisory Board, the Conservation Advisory Council, and the Parks Advisory Board.
We passed a building moratorium and a battery storage moratorium.
We fully staffed the accounting department, building department, and the town clerk’s office.
We negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with the new white-collar union in Town Hall.
We also updated the 23-year-old employee handbook.
We funded lighting and field improvements for Chester Commons field, a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. summer camp, sewer district infrastructure improvements, an employee assistance program, the Jewish Family Services Friendly Visitor Program, a dedicated ambulance service, and more in the 2025 budget, all while using around half the fund balance previous budgets have used.
We saved around $103,000 with a new general liability insurance policy by switching insurance brokers and carriers.
These are just some of the many accomplishments from 2024. I want to thank all town representatives, staff, and professional services that helped to make them all happen. I am excited to get to work in 2025. Be on the lookout for a follow-up to this, detailing how much we saved in professional services, overtime, and other costs in 2024. We won’t have the full picture until around February.
If you have any questions/suggestions/concerns, please feel free to reach out to me any time! Happy New Year again!
Brandon Holdridge, Supervisor
Town of Chester