If New York State gave you a $4.5 million grant, how would you use the money to improve your hometown? Village of Montgomery residents pondered this question on May 1 during its first NY Forward Local Planning Committee meeting at the Montgomery Senior Center, where LPC members brainstormed projects most beneficial to the village.

The village received the NY Forward Grant last February after applying for a few years; while unsuccessful the first time, the village and Highland Falls were chosen out of 25 applicants to receive a grant during the second round. The LPC, comprising residents and officials with diverse backgrounds, must now consider how the money can revitalize their downtown district.

The committee members include:
- Susan Dean, member of the Business Council of Greater Montgomery
- Marc Devitt, president of Devitt Hospitality

- Brian Fitzpatrick, village historian
- Amy Frisbie, chair of the village planning board and co-chair of the Montgomery Community Fund
- Mike Hembury, village mayor
- Jose Hernandez, member of the Montgomery IDA and the town’s board of ethics
- Sylvie Rainaldi, member of the Montgomery Ambulance Corps
- Bob Reynolds, former president of the Montgomery Fire Department
- Jane Samuelson, chair of Vision Hudson Valley and member of the Valley Central School District Board of Education
- Kristine Young, SUNY Orange’s president and member of the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council
Additionally, four consultants sat with the committee during its meeting and provided guidelines for the NY Forward process. They included:
- Susan Landfried, NYS project manager
- Tommy Boston, senior planner for VHB, a civil engineering consultant company
- Christiana Kastalek, environmental planner for VHB
- Matt Teglash, project manager for Mid Hudson Regional Council

The meeting opened with the village’s NY Forward application video, followed by introductions from each committee member. Landfried presented the code of conduct and explained the committee’s rules and responsibilities, emphasizing the collaboration between the major parties. The village pitches the project ideas, the consultants fine-tune them, the state approves them, and the sponsors finance them.

“The newer board program is very much a partnership. It is not something entirely that consultants do, it is not something the LPC does. It is entirely a partnership with all of these entities,” Landfried said. “This is very much a community-centered process and we want to make sure that we’re doing that to the best extent possible.”

Landfried then provided a brief overview of the program and asserted that the entire process would likely require five or six meetings and two workshops over the next seven months. She listed the dos and don’ts of eligible projects, highlighting that all projects should improve public spaces, be shovel-ready well in advance, and meet the state’s size and cost parameters.

“One of the things when we’re looking at projects is making sure that they are ready to be implemented pretty quickly,” Landfried said.

Later on, both committee members and attendants submitted their project ideas to a website and watched them appear on the meeting’s projector. Some of the submissions included street walkability, parking optimization, building facade enhancements, and retail expansion. The committee then submitted keywords that their projects should encompass; these included “innovative,” “historic,” “tourism,” and “awesome.”

Afterward, Kastalek encouraged the committee to advertise their planning process and incorporate engagement activities to increase community participation. She also announced important dates that anyone interested should jot down:
LPC Meetings: June 10, July 24, September 12, October 21, November 7 (tentative)

Public Workshops: May 20 and October 21
Coffee with the project team: May 21 at 32 Union Street
Business District Walking Tour: May 21 in Downtown Montgomery
For June 10’s LPC meeting, the committee and consultants will review public feedback from May 20’s public workshop, evaluate the committee’s strongest projects and their characteristics, and consider the visions and goals for downtown revitalization.

For more information on the process, visit montgomerynyf.com.