Hundreds Attend Cortlandt Town Hall Meeting with Astorino
More than 200 people crammed into Cortlandt Town Hall Wednesday night for an open meeting with Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
While Astorino addressed several issues, most residents were interested to hear his perspective on the recent revelation of the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan shutting down in four years, based on an agreement reached by Entergy, New York State and Riverkeeper.
Astorino reiterated his disappointment of having to learn about the closure in the media.
“We did not have any notice whatsoever,” Astorino said. “It is our hope we can deal with the state in a reasonable way. There are significant issues that we have to deal with. Four years go quick and we have to be prepared for that.”
Besides the tax revenue that will be lost to the county, Town of Cortlandt, Village of Buchanan, Hendrick Hudson School District and other entities, Astorino said his biggest concern was the future reuse of the 240 acres on the shores of the Hudson River.
“A lot of the good about Indian Point is being taken away and a lot of the bad is being left behind,” Astorino said. “The concern we have is what do you do with that property? It will probably be a wasteland. It probably won’t be developed for a very long time. The reuse of that property is not going to be a lot. It will be fairly limited how many, if any, of the 240 acres can be developed.”
A forum dealing only with Indian Point will be held Thursday at 7 p.m., also at Cortlandt Town Hall, with local, county, state and school officials as they collectively try to strategize with the region’s largest energy and revenue producer preparing to exit in 2021.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
