Dear Neighbors, 

Recently the Village Board passed a resolution of support for the passage in the US House of Representatives of  HR.3409. This legislation is the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019. In section 420 of the proposed bill, the establishment of barge anchorages in the Hudson River between New York and Kingston was prohibited.  This prohibition was championed by Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney among others.

The good news is that it was supported by a bipartisan majority of in the House of Representatives and passed.  It has moved on to the US Senate which has not yet taken it up.

Since 2016, when the Coast Guard first began considering opening 10 new barge locations with 43 new anchorage sites in this section of the Hudson River, the Village has been in the forefront of the effort to stop this plan.   The Village, as a member of the Historic Hudson River Towns (HHRT) has been active in the fight to stop it. I and three others from HHRT were asked to be part of an official Coast Guard Safety Assessment workshop in 2018. Since then, and as a result of our participation in that workshop, HHRT is involved in more detailed look at current operations in the Hudson River.  Representatives from the Maritime industry and recreational boating are also in this discussion. It remains to be seen how this committee will proceed in the future if the Senate version of HR 3409 is ultimately passed in the US Senate. However, the recent passage in the House of the Coast Guard Appropriations with the anchorage prohibition is a very positive step in the right direction.  

Ann Gallelli, Deputy Mayor