This Week's Platform Plank:

Team New Castle 2.0 Core Objectives (updated)

Nurturing Our Welcoming, Caring, Engaged, and Proud Community

•       We are committed to being a welcoming community.

•       We believe in affordable housing that we can be proud of.

•       We believe in inclusion.

•       We believe in updating the Master Plan with community involvement.
•      We believe in collaboration and getting residents involved

We are committed to being a welcoming and caring community. TNC 2.0 wants to encourage civic mindedness. We are a caring community that has time and again risen to the occasion to help our neighbors in times of crisis.

Under Greenstein’s leadership:

•       the town introduced a new welcome pack to introduce prospective home buyers to our rich history, bucolic setting, scenic parks, community groups, volunteer opportunities, countless recreational activities and community events.

•       a welcome email is being developed that will immediately provide new residents with necessary information to get adjusted,and feel welcomed in the community.

TNC 2.0 recognizes that the town benefits when all residents become involved. It is important to include new residents for fresh ideas as well as long standing residents for perspective. We will continue round table discussions with all residents.

We believe in affordable housing that we can be proud of. The town understands the necessity of integrating affordable housing into the community.

The Town Board under Greenstein’s leadership:

•       has expressed concern about developing a 4-story residential building, from lot-line-to-lot-line, on a 1/3 of an acre in size that is wedged alongside Metro-North Railroad tracks, an exit ramp from the Saw Mill River Parkway, and a bridge overpass. 

With the current plan for development of this site the risk of significant stigmatization and isolation of residents is very real. TNC 2.0 believes that diversity enriches communities and as a result other sites that are safer and can better integrate these families into the community benefits all concerned. We will continue to explore putting affordable housing in other areas as well as in the historic Cupola building at Chappaqua Crossing…now that’s affordable housing we can be proud of!

We believe in inclusion.  
TNC 2.0 believes that ALL of our residents should have access to our programs – when everyone is included, the town benefits. NC 2.0 advocates establishing a committee, “Exceptional Experiences for Exceptional People of New Castle” (EEEP) to support and enhance the town experience for residents with special needs. Besides enhancing sports programs that are already in place, TNC 2.0 would urge the committee to focus on creating additional organized recreational, educational, social and skill building activities. This committee would also raise general awareness about the needs and rights of persons with disabilities within the Town of New Castle. TNC 2.0 would also urge the committee to investigate educational, employment and theatrical opportunities at the Wallace Auditorium for residents with special needs.

We believe that the Master Plan is a living document and requires regular updating with ongoing community involvement. It has been 26 years since the Town's Master Plan was last updated.  Under Greenstein’s leadership:

•       the Master Plan update is moving ahead and we are doing it the right way -- with community participation! 

•       Pace Land Use Law Center was retained to hold seven public outreach meetings, and to provide an economic analysis for downtown Chappaqua and Millwood.

•       Penn Schoen Berland was retained to conduct a survey for the town master plan process.

Team 2.0 wants short-term actionable projects that do not conflict with the Master Plan to be implemented while continuing to work on long term goals.

We believe in collaboration and getting residents involved. Our residents want to be involved, and believe they should be.  They are our greatest resources! Under Greenstein’s leadership:

•       we have restored a good working relationship with the Chappaqua Central School District School Board.

•       we have had several joint meetings with the Chappaqua Central School District School Board, Planning Board, Architectural Review Board, Millwood West End Advisory Committee and Recreation Commission.

•       we have established new boards that draw on our residents’ expertise: a newly revised and more independent Ethics Board, Mandate Relief Committee Downtown Business Development Committee Emergency Planning Committee Coyote Management Task Force Coyote Awareness and Safety Advisory Committee, Millwood-West End Advisory Committee.
Team 2.0 is committed to continuing to promote resident involvement in these boards and will continue to tap underused community resources, primarily targeting all age groups. For instance, we will use seniors on our committees that focus on senior issues, and high school students to give them a voice in town government and to help develop tomorrow’s leaders. We will develop community wide projects that can be completed in a day to allow our busy residents the opportunity to contribute.