Ward system public hearing opens town board meeting

The March 22, 2023 Chester Town Board meeting featured a public hearing on the the town’s highly anticipated ward system. Originally voted on in 2018, the ward system would adjust Chester’s voting districts to provide better representation for its residents.

Chester resident Joshua Koff, opened the hearing by emphasizing the importance of properly divided districts.

“At the end of the day, we have to make sure that all districts are contiguous and are within the population deviation. As set not by someone setting an arbitrary number, but by the Supreme Court of the United States,” Koff said.

“Do we have the background information on the populations in each of these areas?” Gina Ferreira asked. “What happens if a ward significantly increases or decreases in population?”

According to the board, the wards are strictly based on the town’s 2020 census, and any changes to their districts would only occur every 10 years. They also mentioned that more information on the wards’ populations can be found on Chester’s website.

Questions were asked about whether a ward system is appropriate for Chester given the area’s size.

“I found that a lot of people didn’t understand what the wards were when they voted on it, there was a lot of scaring going on. You only have one person rather than four that you can vote on,” Chris Mauer said. “Wards do work very well in a big city, but I think we’re too small. I remember 10 years ago, it was very difficult to even find anybody anywhere in Sugarloaf or Chester to run, and some people ran unopposed. I think this is a big mistake.”

Megan Tennermann, a planner from the Orange County Planning Department, closed out the hearing with an in-depth explanation for residents confused about wards.

“The purpose of a ward system generally is to ensure equal-ish geographic representation. So if you have people from different neighborhoods, different areas that have different types of concerns, that would be the reason to adopt a ward system,” Tennermann said. “The cons are that you are not able to vote for multiple representatives. In this case, you go with the four-ward system, you would vote for the ward representative and the town supervisor overall.”

Noise and conservation

During standard public comments, Larry Dysinger, a member of the town’s planning board, brought up his proposal for changing the noise ordinance to be in line with the town’s comprehensive plan.

“On April 2022, I suggested changes to the town’s noise ordinance, and I drafted a change. The board said they were not going to do that because the noise ordinance was only one year old; did not agree with that, but I respect your decision. But I’d like to have the board reconsider that again,” he said.

Dysinger also recommended that the board look into adopting a conservation subdivision plan, calling it “cluster zoning 2.0,” and that the board change Davidson Drive’s status from a private road to a town road.

Following Dysinger, local resident Linda Siegal raised concerns for Route 17M and asked how she and the residents could help improve it.

“I understand that’s a state road, but it’s impacting all of our local residents and others as we drive through tremendous potholes. And I was wondering what we can do to have an impact in having this addressed. It seems every year, they’re fixing but not really doing the job that needs to be done,” Siegal said.

Town Supervisor Robert Valentine and Councilman Brandon Holdridge said that the state will resurface the entirety of Route 17M this spring.