Episode 1: Nanuet TOD

Join Supervisor George Hoehmann, Councilman Don Franchino, and Vice President of the Nanuet Chamber of Commerce Susan Farese for the first ever episode of The Hoehmtown Podcast! In this episode, the Supervisor and guests discuss the millions of dollars in community project grants received through the state and federal government to go toward the Nanuet TOD zone and the improvements they will bring to local to infrastructure, streetscapes, and downtown commercial traffic. Now, kick back, relax, and enjoy the official launch of The Hoehmtown Podcast!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, everybody. Welcome to our first Hometown podcast. I'm Supervisor George Holman, where we talk about issues that are important to the people of Clarkstown. Today we're going to be talking about the Nanua Transit-Oriented Development. So my first guest is Councilman Don Francino. And again, uh Councilman Francino, it's pretty interesting. You actually have a ball field named after you in Nanua, correct? Tell it tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Then actually, um when I was not a politician, I set out when my sons were involved and daughter were involved in Little League, and we had such poor conditions down at Lake Nanuet that I took the bull by the horns and said, it's time. And we raised the necessary funds, rebuilt the facility, and what exists today. The community of Nanuet is very, very proud of, and they support the Little League program. It's one of the largest in the county.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Yeah, and they they do a great job. And I know so the the main field on down below is the Don Franch, you know, Don Francino field. The field next to it is the Mike Toto field, right? Yes. Um and they have the um the softball field in in the back of the complex. And we also actually did the um uh the investment with the uh turf infields down below as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

That's correct. And it's beautiful and it saves the uh members a lot of work in preparing for games, uh very little cancellations with the turf fields. Um and uh they're looking forward to their opening day. They're down there practicing already.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Yeah. No, it it's it's we've had a very long winter with a lot of snow, two major blizzards, um, but it's great to see the signs of spring. You're starting to see some uh the initial budding as we're filming this, but uh more importantly, uh the the little leagues are actually out and about. So let's let's pivot to um NANUA TOD. So the transit-oriented development, this this has been discussed. It was actually brought forward as part of the comprehensive plan a number of years ago. I know you've been um uh very involved with this throughout your entire tenure on the town board. Um so um today we had an announcement with Congressman Lawler for a major grant. What do you what does this mean to you and what do you think it means to Nanuet?

SPEAKER_02 2:15

It's it's actually a major input uh into Nanuet. Um many of the residents that I speak to that use the uh train that come into Nanuet said they feel like they're coming into a slum when they look around uh the train station. That's all gonna change uh with this grant. It's gonna start to move things forward. We're gonna see activity, um, and we're most likely gonna see um residential start on Prospect Street, which would feed right into the TOD. But the infrastructure that Mike Grant Michael Aller has granted to us uh will go toward the sidewalks, the streets, and the general infrastructure cleaning everything up.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah. No, it's actually it's uh it's a major grant. It's five million. Um in addition to that, we received a uh grant for almost two million dollars from the state to do sidewalks. I know that's been something that you have been pushing for for years to be doing the sidewalks in Church Street. You know, Nandi White has uh it's the schools are very compacted together, right? I mean, um and your wife had been on the school board for Amazon. Thirty years. Yeah, so so you're well acquainted with the schools, you've done a lot of volunteer work through the schools, but you know, literally off of off of Highview and Church, you have the Highview uh school, you have the high school, you have the middle school, you have the George Miller school that abuts, you know, the back of the high school fields. And so really trying to improve all the infrastructure and the the nearly $2 million state grant is gonna be targeted to extend the sidewalks all the way out uh past the library to Route 59 and redo them all the way up Church Street as well as up and down prospect and back, you know, into a portion of Grandview as well. So that's separate and apart from the five million from Congressman Lawler. So there's gonna be a significant infrastructure upgrade here. Uh I know that uh there's some other uh things we've been working on as well with the local county legislators uh because they're doing a sidewalk program as well, and we're trying to get some additional funding um up on CONVET because we have all of our senior complexes. Really, the idea is to try and interconnect and make make it a much more walkable community. Uh and then that with the infusion of some new residential um in the area um will be kind of home to younger people and to uh people that want to downsize.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Correct. And this is a major infusion for the businesses, the local businesses that are in Nanuet, and it's no doubt going to bring additional businesses to Main Street Nanuet where people are able to walk to these facilities. We have another senior housing complex coming where the Chase Bank is right now, and that will be connected with the sidewalks to the center of town, Nanuat restaurant, and what have you. Um I can't tell you last night when I was at Nanuat Restaurant and we discussed this, how excited the merchants are that we're finally doing something, that we're going to make Nanuet the centerpiece of Rockland County. And we are the centerpiece when it comes to, you know, the um sales tax revenue where we have the uh Nanuat Town Center and then further east the Palisade Center. But as far as Nanuet goes and these grants, that is a huge shot in the arm uh for the community. And I think they're all gonna once we start construction, they're gonna appreciate the results.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yeah, no, I totally agree. I think that uh you know it's it's been interesting because we've done a number of things in Nanuet uh throughout the years, and we've done some infrastructure upgrades, we've done portions of the sidewalks, we've we've uh fixed up the different intersections. Uh but it's a little difficult because you're dealing with multiple uh layers of government. You know, people don't realize that Middletown Road is a county road, so it's up to the county to do the investment that they need to do. A number of years ago, uh just about two or three years ago, we were able to get the county to redo the crosswalks uh on Middletown Road. But you know, that's something that needs to be done on a fairly regular basis. Uh and in addition to that, we really need to, I mean, uh we're over 20 years ago, the uh lights were decorative lighting was installed on uh Middletown Road, Main Street, Nanuet. And you know, frankly, uh we've keep on patching and doing some work with them. So I'm looking forward to uh seeing how we can get those upgraded, uh, not just LEDs to save some money, but uh for a better look as well. But it's not just gonna be sidewalks and uh decorative lighting. We're really looking at improving traffic flow, installing some turning lanes, maybe some property acquisition uh that will enable uh some new uh roadways or ext expansion of roadways uh within the area, and also knowing that you know the new development is coming in, there's a there's a lot of people that you know maybe talk about it, but there's it is limited too. I mean it's not we're not looking at TODs in some areas uh you know in the county and frankly in um in the region can have thousands and thousands of units. Uh we've capped it at 500, uh and literally it um it really will enable us to just have some targeted development. And what we've seen on some of these types of housing projects is uh people that their kids have all grown, they have a big house in the town and they want to downsize. And they want the convenience of maybe you know having a a one or a two-bedroom uh condo or an apartment, and they want to be near stores, so they and that all becomes a shot in the arm to the l the local businesses. What do you what do you think um, you know, the ideal is for the businesses in terms of um trying to support them? You think five hundred units is is a good number?

SPEAKER_02 7:50

And located in the center of town, it's an absolutely good number. And the ability to walk to those businesses um instead of driving their car um will be a huge advantage and certainly Nanuet um although it's home to one one of the shopping centers and and strip malls, you see them if you go to them. Parking lots are full with with customers. And if I have the ability with these grants to have the customers walk to the stores, it's a huge advantage. Yeah. Um you know, and again, that may even spur further development for you know apartments, you know, because it's a walkable community, and granted that we have these grants to install uh sidewalks and gives the people the ability to walk, um, they're gonna take advantage of it. Yeah. And and I I fully support it. I mean, when it comes to the school district, um I've had meetings with them in the past. They put their students out on the street running when they're practicing, you know, for cross-country or and I objected to that because of the conditions uh that exist today.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

But it'll be much, much, much safer. I will tell you it's it's interesting. So all of the cross-country teams, you know, I see it frequently with Albertus, uh up and down in Dremond's and uh south and north, you know, uh on you know, on sidewalks. We need sidewalk improvements everywhere. I mean we have um we have some sidewalks that were done um that are not really the uh in the best shape. We have areas that we really need additional sidewalks as well. But before we before we finish, uh I would absolutely be remiss if I didn't bring up the High View Playground. You have been part of uh two times, two initiatives when the community rebuilt that playground. And I was I wasn't um involved the first time.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

What when was the first time roughly that was that was that was when the school district I forget the year, but they tore down the existing playground uh then that location, but we brought the community together and said, no, that's a community playground. We're going to rebuild it. We did.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Uh it turns out that the And that that lasted a good I mean, that was back in the 90s. Twenty years. Yeah. That was in the nineties and then it kind of uh early nineties, I think, and then you like literally were all over that um and helped raise a a ton of money with that. And then we had the second rebuild because what was starting to happen was that was the older technology. Yeah. There were a lot of lot of you know, wood, you know, arsenic. You know, and and kids getting splinters, and so we needed to bring it up. And so you spearheaded fundraising. Yes. And I'll never forget having those jars and those and those boxes and all the businesses. Um you worked with so many of the folks, you know, I and I was proud to be part of it as um I was a councilman, had just become a councilman at that point, uh, back in 2009, and we were able to pull it together. NANDUA came together and we rebuilt the entire playground. And and I'm proud to say that 15 years, 16 years later, it's held up very well.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

It's a very popular play playground. They refer to it as Castle Park. Um, and what happened was uh once we fundraised, you know, I went to the businesses, to the community to fundraise. That's why as a politician, I don't hold fundraisers. Right. Because I took enough money from the community to do the baseball fields and the playgrounds. So and those things will be in existence long past my time.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Yeah, it the lifetime of community service. So um why don't we why don't we wrap it there? I want to thank uh Councilman Francino, um, who represents Nanuet, West Nyack, a portion of Central Nyack as well. Um delighted uh to be partnering with you, and I want to thank you for your efforts with the TOD project and with all the efforts in Nanuet throughout the years.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

George, I got to thank you. You have been dynamic. All right, as far as Clarkstown goes. You were thinking about at one point running for the State Senate. I said, George.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

I am so glad the party had the party asked me and I told them no. Yes. And I I couldn't see myself I couldn't see myself doing anything other than being the supervisor of the town of Clarkson.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

And you have done an excellent job, there is no question about it. I could not fill your shoes. Thank you. Thank you for that. So we'll continue from there.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

You're welcome, George.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Welcome to our first hometown podcast. Our inaugural guest is uh Susan Ferice, the vice chairwoman of the uh Nanuet Chamber of Commerce, and we are so delighted to have her here with us. She's Ms. Nanuet, if you will. Um so, Susan, thanks for being with us.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

So, uh really, I mean, just tell people a little bit about the chamber, a little bit of what you guys do. Everybody knows the famous Nanuet Street Fair. It's it's like the greatest thing in in uh in Nanuet and one of the biggest in the region.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah, our chamber is about 13 years old now. We're just gonna be celebrating our 12th street fair, which we know you'll be attending. Um, that's one of our big projects. Obviously, we have a lot of many projects we do. We created a new fall festival, and we work with the junior chamber of commerce, which you know we started a few years ago. But mainly we're here for the community, right? We we we're here, we show up, we meet with you once a month. We've been meeting with you for 12 years now, almost 13. And we go through issues that are needed and and projects that we need to address in Nanuet. But we're here for the community, for our businesses, and we love being in conjunction with you guys and the Civic Association, the Rotary, so we're just part of the community.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah, and and we're actually here in town hall today on uh March 10th. There was a major announcement upstairs with Congressman Lawler. We were brought back tens of millions of dollars into the region, and a big announcement where he brought in five million dollars for the uh town of Clarkstown for our Nanuet TOD project. Now I know the TOD has been something that's been close to your heart. Uh tell us what this means um, you know, to the people in Nanuet.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Well, this means a lot. So back in like 2016 to 17, we started a TOD project, and we got people from the community together to sit, which is the school district, community leaders, and myself and other people from the Nanuet chamber and civic. And we sat through meetings for about two or three years. Um lot of changes were needed, and we finally got the comprehensive plan done, and our TOD project was now approved and ready to go. And then COVID hit, of course, and we were put on hold. So our community has been struggling with the sidewalks, uh, streetlights, repairs, building facades, um, expansion of the roadways and infrastructure, and then the mall changed over to the shops, and now the shops just change over to the town center. So, and there's so much growth in our community, and we're really looking forward to having this money to finally do the projects that we've been waiting now for the last six years.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Yeah. And and it's it's interesting because with COVID, um, it wasn't even so much like we were pushing in with the town, but literally local businesses just were like, we can't expand. And it took several years with the COVID hangover. Um, but there is a lot of um investment that's happening now in downtown Nanuet. Uh certainly uh across the street from the shops, that entire shopping center is being redone. Uh and that's that's significant. And also on uh just before the congressman announced uh this grant, we actually received a grant from the state, which, you know, frankly, it actually that's money that came from the federal government down to the state that we were successful in applying for sidewalks. And that's actually going to redo sidewalks pretty much from Route 59 and the library all the way out on Church Street, uh prospect all the way up into Grandview and down into some of the neighborhoods. So uh seven million dollars for infrastructure improvements. And it's not just sidewalks, we're looking at enhanced streetlights, turning lanes, uh recreation of some roadways, um, you know, some property acquisition with it as well. So uh I I'm I'm so excited because we are on the precipice now of some significant investment. And there's a bunch of businesses that are that are really looking to invest in their property. So uh what's it been like uh from your perspective? I know you've really poured your heart and soul into it. You know, the chamber's not a paid position. This is a labor of love. So what's this been like for you as a volunteer doing this?

SPEAKER_01 15:55

Oh, there's a bunch of us on our chamber who have been here for years, and I don't look at it as my baby, it's all our babies. When we started the chamber, one of our goals was to unite the community. And um, we pride ourselves on that because we are one school district, right? So we pride ourselves on the fact that when we do anything in the town, we involve the school district, we involve the rotary, we are so connected to our social our services. We are the fire department, ambulance. We know this is gonna mean a lot to them. So I wish they were all sitting here with me because we're all one. And we do, if you notice when you come to our meetings or any of our events, everyone will notice. We we work together very well, and we pride ourselves on that. And we are so excited because we've been waiting, and we had all these it's probably all ready to go tomorrow. If you're ready to if you're ready to break ground tomorrow, I know our plans are all ready because I know you've been working on it. And we thank you guys because I think we have an amazing partnership.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Oh, absolutely, and and I can't thank you enough for that and everybody that's involved with the chamber. I mean, it's um I was proud to be um a councilman at the time when the chamber chamber came into being, and I know um, you know, there were a number of folks that were really working on it back then, uh Kim Tron and uh Risa Hogue. And it's nice now to you know to see, you know, just it's gonna come to fruition. And the good news is is that unlike some other grants, like the 1.9 million on sidewalks in the state, that's gonna take a little bit of time to effectuate. But this federal grant, the five million dollars, was already voted in, it's it's already funded. So so like literally on the check. Yeah, so we we have to uh move forward with with our plans, get them submitted, get them approved. But I anticipate that we'll be doing some work later this year, you know, probably if you know, end of the summer into the fall, you know, with with the funding coming in.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

We thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

So thank you, Susan, and thank you for everything that you do. I mean, um literally uh you are the heart and soul of the chamber with Jerry and the entire group, and you work very closely with the Civic Association, the school district, the road, as you as you said, Nanniwet's a big uh big part of our town, but it's a very small community and it has that hometown feel. And a lot of that I I I think is thanks to the work of the of yourself and the chamber. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

And those people that you mentioned, they're still doing the back end work, and you don't realize that they're still there. So our people have been together for like 13 years now. It's nice. Yeah. Oh no, no, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

I talked to her, I talked to Reese a couple of times, you know. She she lets me know. And and and it's great to see Kim who ran the patch for me. She's doing our social media. Yeah, and she and I know she's doing a great job with that.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Yeah, we appreciate all you guys.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

Thank you.