Hobart Alliance and Village Board Discuss Community Improvement

GOOD NEWS--The businesses and community library formerly located at The Hobart Inn are in the process of relocating to 40 Cornell Avenue, the former location of MacArthur Funeral Home. The businesses' names are More Good Books, Quarry Books, Caban Company and The Hobart Exchange. The community library is called The Book Nook. Relocation is well underway. Beginning Tuesday, January 13th, business and programming will resume there, even as moving continues. Chair Yoga with John O'Brien will be at 10 AM will be the inaugural program in the new space, followed that day by The 607CSA delivery and pick-ups and a Craft Cafe in the evening.from 6:30 to 8:30. A grand re-opening celebration is planned for President's Day weekend.

IMPROVING COMMUNITY one project at a time--Hobart Community Alliance members and Village Officials focused much of their discussion on The Hobart Activity Center along with the adjacent Community Field and Playground at a recent Village Board Meeting.

By Carolyn Bennett

HOBART—A wish list of community projects for which the Hobart Community Alliance is seeking partners quickly became a subject of discussion at the January 5th meeting of the Hobart Village Council when Alliance volunteers sat down with Village Trustees to discuss a number of proposed public-private partnerships identified by Alliance members at their end-of-the-year meeting on December 22 at the Hobart Community Hall.

The Alliance wish list was long—including street lighting on Cornell Avenue; slide replacement and basketball court fencing at the playground; slowing traffic on Main Street (Route 10); improving access to the second floor of the Hobart Activity Center; and grant funds for Main Street improvement—but the list of volunteers to implement the projects was short.

“The turnout was strong, especially taking into consideration the weather and the holidays,” said Alliance coordinator Julie Rockefeller.

Community group members worked to identify which concerns and projects they would like to present to the Village Board at its January meeting. Five key items had the strongest support, enough people to form a work group, and designated spokesperson willing to present the group’s ideas at the next village board meeting.

Several members of the HCA attended the most recent Hobart Village Board Meeting (Jan 5, 6:30 PM Hobart Community Center, 80 Cornell Avenue) where five community members—Federico Zimerman, John Muccino, Barbara Balliet, Michelle Stephens and Evelyn Aguirre—took part in a brainstorming session with Village Board Trustees that was characterized by Alliance Coordinator Julie Rockefeller as “congenial and productive” with several “overlapping” interests.

The group focused much of their discussion on The Hobart Activity Center along with the adjacent Community Field and Playground. Some possible improvement projects at that location include the desire to replace the playground equipment and play surface; install a fence around a portion of the basketball court to help prevent balls from rolling into the streets, expand the fitness center, acquire indoor volleyball and pickleball equipment for community recreational use, and exploring options for improving accessibility to the second floor of the building. Some of these measures are already slated to be addressed in the Village budget, but most would be accomplished by pursuing grant opportunities, or direct funding appeals.

The group of lawmakers and community members also discussed what measures can be taken to discourage speeding and improve safety on Main Street (Route 10), options for replacing defective holiday light fixtures, the need for better lighting on Cornell Avenue and in the Community Center parking lot, the intention to identify grant opportunities for Main Street Revitalization and the intention to update and revise the Comprehensive Plan.

Village officials were also informed that the businesses and community library formerly located at The Hobart Inn are in the process of relocating to 40 Cornell Avenue, the former location of MacArthur Funeral Home. The businesses' names are More Good Books, Quarry Books, Caban Company and The Hobart Exchange. The community library is called The Book Nook. Relocation is well underway. Beginning Tuesday, January 13th, business and programming will resume there, even as moving continues. Chair Yoga with John O'Brien will be at 10 AM will be the inaugural program in the new space, followed that day by The 607CSA delivery and pick-ups and a Craft Cafe in the evening.from 6:30 to 8:30. A grand re-opening celebration is planned for President's Day weekend.

"This was a good meeting,” said Hobart Community Alliance Coordinator Julie Rockefeller. “It is good to know that the Village and the HCA share several priorities. It will be easy to find projects that we can work together on this year."

The next Hobart Community Alliance meeting is Thursday, January 29th at 7 PM, also in the Community Center. Please invite your friends and neighbors to attend. The more people that are involved, the more we can accomplish. Anyone who is interested in working on Hobart-centric projects is welcome.