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OSI Presents Philipstown With Another Land Offer
Old Capuchin property on Rt. 9D could be used for joint school activities
by Brian O’Donnell
At the May 2nd monthly meeting of the Philipstown Town Board, Supervisor Bill Mazzuca announced Open Space Institute’s stated desire to work with the Town, to utilize acreage of the Capuchin Friars property on Rt. 9D that OSI recently acquired.
Pointing to the model established by the Malcolm Gordon School/Philipstown Town Park arrangement, Joe Martens, president of OSI, wrote Mr. Mazzuca that he would like "to offer the Town the opportunity to help OSI craft a plan for the St. Ann’s facility and associated grounds to meet your goals as articulated in the 2020 forum" while continuing OSI’s goals of protecting open space. He cites the 2020 report recommendations of cooperation between the school districts and exploration of potential of consolidation (of the districts) as the intent of the proposal.
Mr. Martens pointed to the nearby properties of Arden State Park and the Highlands Country Club (owned by OSI) and its recreational facilities as advantages to a plan to create an "extraordinary campus/learning center for the area’s youth."
Supervisor Mazzuca was clearly excited about the prospect of exploring the possibilities.
"It behooves the town working with the school districts to see what could be accomplished. I think this is an opportunity that can’t be just put aside right now and forgotten about."
"This is a tremendous opportunity, when they talk about the Highlands Country Club, there’s some real exciting things that could happen there involving the school districts, golf course, swimming pools, tennis courts, I believe everything is on the table to discuss."
Mazzuca has been in contact with the two school superintendents and he characterized them both as "enthused." The Supervisor said he could not set a specific date for further public discussions without checking with OSI and the Superintendents.
Mazzuca finished by saying, "In the end, it will be a decision of the School Boards. I offered the Town as a facilitator. If it doesn’t happen with the school, then we’ll be looking at other uses for it — Town uses, and Town input on what it could be used for."
Garrison School Board President Cathy Lilburne was present and remarked that she had not received the letter but was also enthusiastic and appreciative of the Town’s efforts on behalf of the school districts.
The regular town Board Monthly Meeting began with a public hearing on the proposal to float a bond for the improvement of Ethan Drive Road in Continental Village that would result in paving of the road and ultimately the acceptance of the road by the Town as a Town Road. The normal procedure for this action is for the property owners who share frontage on the road to share the cost of the improvements proportionate to their amount of frontage. However, in this case the property owners have decided that they would split the cost equally amongst the owners. A few procedural questions were dealt with before the Hearing could be opened, but once opened the procedure got delayed by the unusual funding arrangement. After hearing from a number of property owners, the Board decided to continue the hearing at a future date, once the board received written agreement from all the property owners on the funding question.
The first speaker after the committee reports was Chuck Roda, who came to speak about the problems that are caused by the large deer population in Philipstown. He said that the number of deer hunting "kills" last year was not sufficient to keep the herds under control. The resulting large herd then causes problems by overgrazing the understory in the forest and moving out of the parks during the winter, seeking forage on the front doorsteps of many residents. In addition they become traffic hazards when crossing roads.
He blames current State Parks Department regulations preventing rifle hunting for the problem, saying that the Parks Department does not have the proper focus to deal with the issue. Roda claimed that the NYS Parks Department is charged with managing parks and facilities, not wildlife. He suggested that the DEC might be better positioned to manage the area parks that are in Philipstown with an eye more towards wildlife management.
The Board took no action on his request.
Caryn Cannova, from the Village of Cold Spring, presented the Board with a proposal to create a skate park at Mayor’s Park in the Village of Cold Spring. With a complete proposal including estimates of construction costs, a list of monetary pledges from Philipstown residents, and a petition signed by over 350 people, Ms. Cannova explained the need for the park. She explained that she had proposed the park to Cold Spring Mayor Phillips on March 7th and was told to present the plans to the Town Board.
Supervisor Mazzuca thanked Ms. Cannova for her efforts but explained that the park was under the jurisdiction of the Village and that if anything were to be done, the Village would need to do it. He did say that he would speak to the Mayor about the park.
The Continental Village Fire Department came before the Board to seek a solution to a zoning problem with their proposed addition to the CV Firehouse. According to the Zoning Department, the new construction will intrude into the setback of a mapped road that is drawn in front of the current building. John Fuchek from the CVFD Board of Directors explained that the road does not exist as a road, but is incorporated into a large paved area that is used for equipment maneuvering. The area that the road exists on has been maintained by the Department for many years and that the Department owns all the properties having frontage on the road.
Town Attorney Ed Doyle explained to Mr. Fuchek that the Town Board does not have the ability to change the road without the consent of all the property owners that may have claim to use of the road. He suggested that the Department should seek assistance from their title insurance company to ensure that all the property owners’ rights would be protected.
Councilman Richard Shea requested a new revision to the Town’s Timber Harvesting Law. The revision would insert the restriction that no "tree cutting, harvesting or removal on slopes over 25%," would be permitted, according to Attorney Doyle. The hearing was scheduled to take place on June 6th at 8pm.
The County has requested that the County take over responsibilities of plumbing and heating inspections for new installations. The permits and final Certificate of Occupancy’s would still be issued locally, however the fee for the inspection would go to the County from the plumbing contractor. Town Code Enforcement Officer Tom Monroe has indicated he is in favor of the proposal, and a similar arrangement is already in place with regards to gas inspections. The issue will be discussed at a future meeting.
The proposal to add "self-storage" to permitted uses under certain commercial zoning designations moved forward through the labyrinth of governmental procedures. The Town at this stage of the process needs to submit the proposed changes to the law to the County Planning Board for their review. The Board moved to send the plan on to the County, and set a public hearing for June 12 on the issue.
The Town Board will next meet on May 15th at 7:30 pm when they will hold a workshop with CableVision to discuss the franchise contract.
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