Ulster County Government Jen Metzger offers her State of the County handle on the Orpheum Theatre in Saugerties, N.Y. Tuesday night, Feb. 6, 2024. (Tania Barricklo/Each day Freeman)
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — Ulster County Government Jen Metzger known as for enhanced site visitors enforcement, driver schooling and improved highway engineering in her State of the County handle Tuesday.
Metzger, a Rosendale resident, delivered her second State of the County remarks within the packed Saugerties’ Orpheum Theatre to about 140 individuals. The manager stated Saugerties was chosen from among the many county’s 1,100 sq. miles, 23 cities and villages and town of Kingston, as a result of, “I need to guarantee that we’re reaching each nook.”
Metzger spoke in entrance of the theater’s massive film display screen because it projected pictures of the county and the county govt illustrating most of the subjects she addressed.
The county govt’s remarks got here simply weeks after 4 younger individuals misplaced their lives on Ulster County roads in three separate incidents. On Jan. 8, Kingston Excessive College college students Jack Noble, 17, and Dillon Gokey, 16, had been killed in a head-on crash on state Route 28 in Shokan, on Jan. 10, 21-year-old Starllie Swonyoung died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on U.S. Route 9W in Saugerties, and on Jan. 23, Raymond E. Rattray, 22, was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on state Route 208 in New Paltz.
The handle adopted a second of silence led by Pastor James Lewis of Saugerties’ New Life Church “in remembrance” of Noble, Gokey, Swonyoung and Rattray, “whose lives had been tragically minimize quick,” Metzger stated. “As a mom of younger adults, my coronary heart breaks for these losses. Each stage of presidency should act to make our roads safer, and Ulster County will do its half.”
Metzger stated she is going to associate with Sheriff Juan Figueroa “to extend patrols on roads with the very best accident charges” and meet with native police chiefs and state police representatives “to see how we are able to coordinate our efforts.”
She promised to “launch a public consciousness marketing campaign to deal with aggressive and distracted driving, and ensure everybody is aware of pedestrian and bike owner security is a duty all of us share,” and stated she is going to advocate with the state Division of Transportation “to deal with security hazards on state roads, together with the place these lethal crashes occurred.”
On county roads, Metzger stated, Ulster will “replace our 2009 ‘Full Streets’ coverage to make sure we’re doing all we are able to to guard the security of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.”
Metzger stated, “One of the tough issues we face as a group is the prevalence of psychological well being challenges. I’m certain it’s no shock to anybody on this room that the variety of individuals reporting struggles with psychological well being is on the rise.”
She stated the Ulster County Psychological Well being Crew has served 18% extra individuals since 2020. “Tragically, we misplaced 30 individuals to suicide in 2023, up 67% from the earlier yr,” Metzger stated.
“We’re taking a large step ahead this yr in what we’re calling the Ulster County Middle for Effectively-Being — an integrative mannequin of psychological well being and wellness providers in Kingston that’s out there to everybody,” Metzger stated, including that the county Division of Psychological Well being has already moved to the middle, the place “non-profit companions present walk-in psychological well being care and outpatient substance use dysfunction therapy.”
“We’re very excited to announce that later this yr the Middle for Effectively-Being will provide disaster providers, 24/7, for each youth and adults, giving individuals a spot to show for assist any time of day or night,” Metzger stated.
Turning to the atmosphere, Metzger stated Ulster County has “taken main steps to implement our Local weather Motion Dedication, together with making a first-of-its-kind $18 million capital reserve to decarbonize county authorities operations. We’ll make our amenities extra energy-efficient, add on-site photo voltaic and EV charging, and change aged fossil fuel-dependent tools with clear alternate options.”
She stated the county’s “good investments” won’t solely handle local weather change, however “will decrease vitality use and minimize prices for taxpayers over the long run” because it helps “cities and villages ‘go inexperienced’ with a brand new $2.5 million greenback grant program in 2024 for municipal photo voltaic and EV charging.”
The county, in line with Metzger, has “doubled down on our buying necessities, and now (has) one of many strongest sustainable buying insurance policies within the state,” making use of to all the things Ulster County buys, “from paper to color to weed whackers.”
Talking to her objective of diverting 100% of Ulster’s natural waste from landfills by 2030, concentrating on each emissions “and the pointless prices of trucking over 46,000 tons of meals and yard waste to a landfill tons of of miles away,” Metzger known as for a “complete evaluation of coverage choices to realize the 2030 objective.”
“The Ulster County Useful resource Restoration Company already produces almost 5,000 tons of compost a yr and may’t sustain with the demand. We now have to create the applications and infrastructure to completely understand this potential,” she stated.
By strengthening Ulster’s “Inexperienced Fleet Coverage,” Metzger stated, “Zero-emissions autos at the moment are the default buy the place potential, and all County automobiles and light-duty vehicles can be totally electrical by 2035.”
Metzger promised an enlargement to the county’s just lately carried out free bus service in 2024 that can give residents “the chance to discover our superb pure areas freed from price on the county’s first ‘Nature Bus.’”
“Some 7.5% of Ulster County residents don’t personal a automotive, and the quantity is as excessive as 17% and 18% in Kingston and in Ellenville. I’m very excited to share that our Tourism Division and UCAT are partnering to pilot what we’re calling the ‘Nature Bus,’” Metzger stated.
The free service, which may roll out on weekends this spring, will enable residents from Ulster County’s “foremost inhabitants facilities” to entry “scenic and leisure locations just like the Ashokan rail path, Walkway over the Hudson or Minnewaska State Park; and we’ll work with native and state companions to coordinate the Nature Bus schedule with programming at these locations.”
“We now have rather a lot occurring, and we now have countless alternatives to do extra,” Metzger concluded. “As I stated once I got here into this workplace final yr, collectively, we are able to construct a sustainable, resilient and thriving Ulster County that leaves nobody behind. That’s the imaginative and prescient that continues to drive all the things I do as your county govt.”