The Cold Spring Village Board of Trustees approved a request by Hudson Valley park developer Scenic Hudson to produce a bank letter of credit rather than post a performance bond for completion of the West Point Foundry Preserve in Cold Spring.

The Village Board also lowered the amount of the letter of credit to $250,000 from the $777,216 determined by the Planning Board earlier this month.

In the Nov. 15th meeting of the Planning Board, Scenic Hudson was told of the necessity to post a partial performance bond of $777,216 to cover any possible liability to the Village during the construction and preparation of the West Point Foundry Preserve. The amount was based on an itemized list of construction plans and park items requested by and provided to the Planning Board by Scenic Hudson’s landscape engineer Kim Mathews.

At that Planning Board meeting, Scenic Hudson’s Director of Parks, Rita Shaheen, requested a letter of credit be presented as security for the West Point Foundry Preserve rather than the standard commercial developer’s performance bond, which would require additional fund-raising to purchase. The bond is designed to ensure a project’s completion, especially those aspects of a project that affect public areas or roadways.

Accepting a letter of credit in lieu of a bond was not within the Planning Board’s legal rights, the members decided, resulting in Arne Saari’s recommendation to defer that decision to the Mayor and Village Board.

The vote in favor of accepting a letter of credit rather than a performance bond—and cutting the amount required by more than two thirds—came at last Tuesday night’s Village Board of Trustees meeting after Shaheen referenced two commercial residential developments in Cold Spring. The Grove Court development and the Cold Spring townhouse development at the waterfront, she stated, were required by the Planning Board to post bonds of $346,000 - $385,000.

The fact that Scenic Hudson was being asked to post a performance bond of over three quarters of a million dollars seemed overly burdensome to Mayor Seth Gallagher, and Trustees Campbell and Hustis. Trustee Serradas opposed the decision, and Trustee Falloon was absent.

“The Village board should stick to matters at hand and not look to circumvent the planning board process,” said Serradas after the meeting. His expressed concern was that no one on the Village board has the engineering, construction or planning board background to have reduced or eliminated any part of the performance bond.

“We are charged with protecting the Village. Come what may, I feel that I have done my part by voicing my concerns and standing my ground on this matter,” Serradas said. At press time, Campbell and Hustis were not available for comment.

The Mayor, in a statement following the meeting, supports the view that Scenic Hudson is a different type of developing entity from a commercial development enterprise. Due to the minimal amount of actual construction planned and Scenic Hudson’s sound financial standing, the concern of village liability is preempted -- by funds already secured for the completion of the preserve.

Funding for the West Point Foundry Preserve has come from private donations and two Environmental Protecby tion Fund grants through the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Three gateways to the site will include the Cold Spring Metro-North station; vehicular access via Kemble Ave. and pedestrian access from Chestnut St. The site will be disabled accessible with low-impact composting toilets. A small parking lot at the foot of Kemble will provide 32 parking spaces and 18 overflow spaces.

Among the amenities will be 15 different seating benches, 12 picnic tables near the old Foundry office building (which will remain as a “preserved ruin”), and pathways with metal grating to avoid flooding and mud. Various “gateway totems” will provide different information about the Foundry’s interface with the Village. There will also be “selective clearing” of the greenery along a pathway adjoining Constitution Marsh.

The self-guided route will include special stops overlooking the Boring Mill pit and at a gun platform, illustrating how foundry guns might have been used. Various walls and ruins will be stabilized to make them safer for visitors to be around. The Preserve will be open all year, with gates opened and closed every morning and evening.

—With Annie Chesnut