Town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello said 2023 was a year of recreational improvement, with everything from pickleball courts to a dog park to an energy-efficient chiller for the Kiwanis Ice Arena all coming to fruition.
“I think those are all extraordinary achievements and it took a lot of time for them to mature, but this year they’re there and they’ll improve over 2024,” Costello said. “The reception from the community’s been extraordinary.”
Costello credited the various committee volunteers with helping keep the Town of Saugerties moving forward.
“Something that doesn’t get celebrated regularly but is significant is the volunteers that staff our committees,” he said. “Those folks are all extraordinary and their generosity to support the community and help us make hopefully good decisions, but we won’t be able to do that work without them.”
As 2024 looms, Costello said the town is facing the challenge of restoring credibility to the Saugerties Police Department (SPD), which faced scrutiny after a the release of a July 7 report by New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office (LEMIO) which covered multiple complaints against officer Dion Johnson, including allegations of harassment and sexual assault. Longtime chief Joseph Sinagra retired in September, and the SPD will see retired State Police Lt. Col. Robert Nuzzo take over on January 1.
“Restaffing the police department in the current climate could be challenging, but I’m optimistic there though,” Costello said. “I think the recent appointment of Chief Nuzzo will go a long way in restoring credibility to our department and making it a sought after place to work for young folks.”
Costello added that the SPD may still face some hiring hurdles in 2024.
“The pool of people interested in the profession is historically low and we will not compromise our hiring standards,” he said.“It makes it more challenging to get qualified candidates to fill those open positions.”
Another challenge Saugerties will look to address in 2024 is ensuring its infrastructure is up to the increasing impacts of climate change.
“The reality of these rain or snow events that were viewed to be historic being much more frequent is taxing our infrastructure to respond to them,” said Costello during a mid-December storm. “We have a number of areas this morning that the infrastructure failed and we’re out there trying to put those pieces back together, but we’re going to have to acknowledge that these storms are not hundred-year storms, that they are going to happen in intervals of three to five years, and we might have to adapt our infrastructure to be able to handle this volume of water.”
But Costello said he’s optimistic on that front, primarily because town officials and the community at large aren’t ignoring the problem and are looking at ways to address it.
And there are other things to look forward to in 2024 as well, Costello said, like the many festivals and events that take place in the town and village, beginning in late February with the Saugerties Snow Moon Festival.
“The festivals that we do here are just such a pleasure to be part of,” said Costello, adding that the town wants to continue to be a good partner to festival organizers. “We’re going to work closely with the sponsors of those to make sure they’re as successful as they were last year and hopefully more successful.”
Costello said he was also looking forward to another season of Saugerties Stallions baseball, its second since Kevin Hinchey stepped down as owner. The town stepped in last year to keep the popular ball club active, and will do the same again in 2024.
“The committee that ran the Stallions last year is largely intact and I think they’re going to build on the success that they experienced last year,” Costello said. “I look forward to partnering with them and enjoying another successful season. We’re very fortunate for a community of our size to have the things that we do and really extraordinary people behind you to make that happen.”
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