POUGHKEEPSIE – Veteran Dutchess staffer and current acting County Executive Bill O’Neil will not be leaving county government on January first when Sue Serino takes over as the top elected official.
His retirement takes effect at the end of March and he plans to stay on as an advisor to the Serino administration in its early days.
The county’s contract with the private operator that runs its resource recovery agency waste to energy operation expires in 2027 and he wants to assist in developing plans for the future.
“What I want to do is get the RRA on a path that we kind of know what we are doing, make sure that it’s not going to cost the county anything and then figure out a way forward, maybe an exit strategy,” he said.
O’Neil also wants to advance the county’s plans to develop a youth facility on the site of the old YMCA building in Poughkeepsie.
He also wants to environmentally remediate the former Schatz property making it ready for redevelopment.
