Board, Commission, & Committee Vacancies
PRESS RELEASE
July 11, 2024
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
The Town of Pound Ridge is a vibrant community with a strong spirit of volunteerism. Serving on a board, commission, or committee offers residents a rewarding opportunity to contribute to the Town's development while connecting with new people.
Residents who want to learn more about local government operations are invited to attend public meetings listed on the Town’s monthly calendar and share their insights. Those eager to take a more active role are encouraged to review the descriptions of current vacancies below.
- Comprehensive Plan Update Committee - 1-year term
- Conservation Board - 2-year term
- Open Space Acquisitions Committee - 1-year term
This is a great opportunity for residents to get involved and have a positive and direct effect on the quality of life and economic vitality of Pound Ridge. Our wonderful volunteers provide an important public service to the Town and help us make Pound Ridge an even better place to live, work, and visit!
The Comprehensive Plan Update Committee’s purpose is to update the adopted 2010 Comprehensive Plan. Our updating process commenced in 2019 with a gap of two years during COVID. Our current work is to bring the community's vision forward in preserving the Town's strengths, and addressing future needs and current challenges. The result will be an updated comprehensive plan of conservation and development. At its core, it will provide actionable plans and rationale for managed future growth, as well as the preservation of community character, natural resources, and open space. The update will also address changing climate challenges, community resiliency, and economic vitality in conjunction with regional partners and neighboring towns.
The makeup of the committee is comprised of the main Comprehensive Plan Update Committee with a Committee Chair and Members at Large, as well as subcommittee Working Groups focusing on chapter topics including:
Natural Resources and Environmental Systems
- Sustainability
- Public Infrastructure, Services and Transportation
- Business and Economic Development
- Land Use and Zoning
- Housing and Demographics
- Historic Preservation, Cultural and Recreational Assets
- Community Engagement
In 2024, building off the survey work done in prior years, we will be working with our consulting municipal planners on draft material and conducting a community engagement process.
This year is a great year to join in this work. Your interest and work on one or multiple chapter topics will provide important community input, individual thinking, and critical skill sets, which will make this work a success. Both new and long-time residents are critical to the effort. We hope to wrap up the new update in the next couple of years depending on Town funding and support, as well as the strength of this volunteer-led effort. If you are looking to contribute to an important, long-term endeavor, to meet similarly-interested neighbors, and contribute to the direction on a number of important issues, please consider joining.
The mission of the Conservation Board is to promote the wise, long-term, and sustainable use of our natural resources. Its vision is to provide strong leadership regarding all matters that affect the environmental health and condition of the Town's natural resources: its water supply, variety and quality of wildlife habitats, semi-rural character, scenic beauty and aesthetic appeal. The Conservation Board strives to provide information and guidance to residents, Town officials, and others regarding the environment. More information on the Conservation Board can be found on the Town’s website here.
The Town Board formed the Open Space Acquisitions Committee (OSAC) in 2001, following the approval by Town voters in November 2000 of an open space ballot proposition, which created a special property tax levy with funds earmarked for the purchase of open space. Almost 20 years ago, the committee developed its first set of criteria and a rating system for evaluating properties, emphasizing the protection of water quality, wildlife habitat, community character, and passive recreation. At that time, the Town, Planning and Conservation Boards reviewed and approved the criteria and rating system. A list of priority parcels was created and now, 20 years later, many of those properties have been protected through various efforts. Most recently, in November 2023, Town residents passed a third referendum continuing the special property tax levy through 2033. It is with these funds that OSAC will make recommendations to the Town Board for the purchase of important, now privately-owned lands or protective conservation easements.
With Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applied to establish conservation priority areas, a reconstituted OSAC started its work in 2021 to learn and apply GIS overlay and field data, including the Town’s recently completed Natural Resource Inventory, to establish a new set of criteria for the protection of priority lands. These lands connect habitat, forest canopy, watersheds and wetlands into a mosaic of ecologically critical lands that store and sequester carbon and support healthy, human life, wildlife and flora, as well as provide opportunities for passive recreation.
Committee members learn to apply new tools and through group deliberation, create critical value ratings for land and natural systems in Town and in those that connect ecosystems beyond Town borders. Specific corridors and parcels will be identified for future protection. In 2024, the committee will share with the Town Board, Planning and Conservation Boards, their work to date. This will include a draft set of priority parcels throughout Town, highest resiliency areas of Town, an understanding of critical ecological functions, and a discussion of community engagement processes with conservation partners. New members will be brought up to speed on the digital and mapping tools that are the foundation of the committee’s current work.
More information about boards, commissions, and committees can be found on the Town’s website. Residents interested in being considered for openings are invited to submit a CV and short letter of interest to Nicole Engel at chiefofstaff@townofpoundridge.com.
Press Contact:
Nicole Engel, Chief of Staff
914-764-3986
chiefofstaff@townofpoundridge.com
