Late Summer 2026 Newsletter
Joe Pete Wilson, Town Supervisor

Community Master Planning
The steering committee for the update of the town’s
Strategic Plan is looking for volunteers to serve on
various working groups. The working groups will
focus on specific issues and their mandate will be to
research the issue and provide recommendations
to the steering committee. Details of how you can
get involved will be coming shortly. Please consider
being part of this important process.

Keene Valley WD#2 Well Project
Drilling the new well was a success and the screen

to go in the well is being designed. It should be de-
livered in late September, and once it is installed

well development and testing can take place.

Mill Rate comparison
The mill rate for the Town of Keene is $2.19/$1,000

of assessed value. This is used to calculate proper-
ty tax bills, so for every $1,000 of value for your

property, you pay $2.19 in taxes. This is for the

town’s general and highway funds and does not in-
clude school, fire, or water district taxes. Below is

a comparison of mill rates with some of our neigh-
bors. You can see that the Town Board has kept the

mill rate low compared to most towns around us.
This reflects responsible planning, budgeting, and
spending by the town. This doesn’t make it any less

of a burden when your tax bill arrives, but hope-
fully it helps residents see that your tax dollars are

being managed responsibly.
Town of Keene mill rate; $2.19
Town of Jay mill rate; $3.45
Schroon Lake mill rate; $2.74
Elizabethtown mill rate; $4.86

Wilmington mill rate: $2.90
North Hudson mill rate; $7.04

 

Emerald Ash Borer
Essex County Soil and Water
has confirmed that Emerald
Ash Borer is present in Keene.
The invasive species has

probably been in Essex Coun-
ty, but the trapping program

confirms that it has reached
us. If there are eventually
state or federal programs,
this will help us qualify. If you
have a valuable Ash tree you
want to protect, please look at
the following resource for guidance:

dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/emerald-
ash-borer-eab

Clean Keene Day
Join us on September 12 from 9 am–1 pm at Marcy
Field. If you would like to participate, show up at
the Holt House prepared for yard work. Gloves,
tools, and lunch will be provided. Thanks to Tom
and Ellen Dubois for organizing this event. They
request that if any senior citizens need help with
yard work, please contact them:
etduboismail@gmail.com

New Speed Reader Signs
We are installing new speed reader signs. We made
a switch to solar power to help save operating costs.
We are slightly repositioning the signs to get them
further away from the road in order to reduce the
damage from cars and snow plows.

Town Board:

Joe Pete Wilson,Town Supervisor, Teresa Palen, Deputy Supervisor, Robert Biesemeyer, Christopher Daly, Ann Hough
Town Board meetings are held every second and last Tuesday of each month, 5:30 p.m., at the Town Hall. All are welcome.