Village of Dryden Achievements
Making the Village of Dryden an even better place to live, work and play!
Together with Trustees Jason “Lou” Dickinson, Allie Buck, Dan Wakeman, and Clay Converse, Mayor Mike Murphy has been tireless in working for Village of Dryden residents – and future residents!
In Mike’s last Mayoral term, the Village has secured $8,320,000 in state and federal grants:
WALKABILITY:
The village won a $5,120,000 TAP Safe to School Sidewalk Grant, in a collaborative effort with the Town of Dryden, TC3, and Cornell University. The sidewalks will be built on both sides of Rte. 13 between traffic light Rte. 38 corner to traffic light Bahar Drive; both sides of Enterprise Drive and Ellis Drive; part of Mott Road and North Road; and north side of Rte. 38 from Rte. 13 to the high school. The grant includes two remote-controlled crosswalk light systems (Rapid) like the units next to the fire station, and corner Union Street/Rte. 13.
PUBLIC SAFETY:
• Secured a $20,000 grant for security video cameras, two in Montgomery Park and one covering the municipal parking lot behind the bank.
• Police Chief Josh Tagliavento has secured an $80,000 grant to purchase a new police vehicle equipped with all the necessary accessories.
CULVERTS TO PREVENT FLOODING:
• Won a $1.4 million-dollar grant to replace the Lee Road culvert, to be done in the summer of 2026.
• Won $1.2 million-dollar grant for Union St./James St. culvert, to be built in 2026 or 2027.
HOUSING:
Received $500,000 federal CDBG grant for 2024-2025 to repair existing homes in the Village. Low-moderate income homeowners whose homes need repair/replacement. An estimate of 14 to 15 homes will be revitalized with $500,000 spent on local contractors and businesses. Prior $500,000 CDBG grant (2020-2021) used the federal money to upgrade 14 homes.
INFRASTRUCTURE:
Used a zero-interest loan to fix sewer pipelines on Lee Road and Rochester Road, eliminating 170,000 daily gallons of ground water getting into our sewer pipelines, saving the energy, chemicals, and cost of treating nonpolluted water, and freeing up sewage capacity to build more businesses and homes. The Village plans to do this in other parts of the Village.
New grant applications worth $8,700,000 have been submitted:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
The Village is a finalist for the NY Forward Grant of $4.5 million-dollar to revitalize our streetscape. Five villages are competing for two awards; winners are usually announced in February or March.
SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES:
The Village sponsored Kayla Lane’s application for a $600,000 NYS Main Street Grant to upgrade the Corner Brew building on West Main Street. It is a finalist and meets the grant requirements perfectly, so we are optimistic.
INFRASTRUCTURE:
The Village is a finalist and should win a $3.6 million-dollar Pro-Housing Infrastructure Grant with money to bring water and sewer to the property line of Ezra Village apartment complex. The Village will also apply for a grant to replace the culvert on Spring House Road this year and seek a mitigation grant to protect the plant from flooding.
ENERGY:
Plan to apply for NYSERDA grant for a fast EV-charging station, doubling the village plug count.
Millions more in private investments are being leveraged by these grants:
With Ezra Village and other housing projects in development, millions more in private dollars will be invested in the Village in the next few years, expanding our tax base, creating new homes for our neighbors, and strengthening the market for our local businesses.
The Ezra Village is eager to start building market value apartments for the working class. Once it gets water and sewer brought to its 42 acres of farmland, they will start building 48 – 72 apartments each year for 10 to 15 years.
Park Grove Realty has purchased the former DOT site for new housing development.
Another developer is developing plans to build 17 new, single-family homes in a new neighborhood.
The Village is growing in physical size by annexing the former red colored gift store on Rte. 13 into the Village. Dryden Mutual Insurance Company has rebuilt the building and designed it to match their main building. Mike is presently working with Home Central to annex the green former Dollar Store land on Rte. 38 into the village. These two annexations will help share the cost of operating the Village.
We’ve used your tax dollars to make strategic investments while maintaining the high quality of our fire, police, and ambulance services and being fiscally responsible.
RECREATION:
Improved Montgomery Park:
• Built a new pavilion and installed electricity in it
• Built picnic tables
• Installed sidewalks and drinking fountain
• Remodeled the band stand
INFRASTRUCTURE:
At our wastewater treatment plant, converted from gas chlorine to hypochlorite, which is much safer, more efficient, and saves money.
ENERGY:
• Converted 193 NYSEG streetlights to LED lights to save money on energy, eliminate NYSEG’s high maintenance fees, and save by replacing short life sodium streetlights with long life LEDs.
• Energy-efficient, code-compliant remodeling of Village Hall: new insulated roof; new insulated sound-dampening windows; new heat-pump heating and cooling; air exchange system; LED lights; two ADA-compliant bathrooms. Saved millions by not building a new hall.
