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Masterplan Issues Dominate Cold Spring Weekly Workshop
Assistant to Building Inspector included in next year's budget plan
by Michelle Woods
At the request of the Special Board, who will be putting together Cold Spring Village's next Masterplan, the Cold Spring Board of Trustees discussed the potential scope of the Masterplan at their Weekly Workshop on March 6th 2007.
There was general consensus amongst the Trustees that the plan should be both a vision and an action plan; that it should be, as Trustee Ed Mancari said, "do-able." The Trustees felt that they should learn from the previous Masterplan process, which though it had, as the Mayor said, "a good vision," did not see some of its recommendations implemented, partly because of funding difficulties. It was agreed that the Special Board should define the scope, through its own, and public, discussion, but that the likely issues to arise would be land-use issues, zoning, infrastructure, local economy and quality of life issues. Trustee Karen Dunn pointed out that "community discussion will really determine where we end up." The Mayor counseled the Special Board to start with specific issues, for instance with infrastructure and zoning, and to check the previous Masterplan to "see what we have good in there" and develop on from it.
Trustee Seth Gallagher suggested that a consultant be brought in to guide the Special Board as "an outside force" who would have "dealt with these things specifically", but in general the other Trustees felt it too soon and that hiring a consultant would be of more value down the line. Karen Dunn, who is the Trustee liaison with the Special Board, pointed out that the Special Board is exploring free and cheaper alternatives for the moment; for instance, getting advice from the Planning Federation and from Pace University's Land-Use Center. The Special Board has some monies to work with: a $7,500 grant from the New York State Hudson River Valley Greenway project, and $3,500 from the Village as well as a $50,000 grant pending from the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program.
Trustee Phil Heffernan envisaged the final Masterplan as "a guideline, a spine which we could hang these [legislative] decisions on" and as a "strategic entity," Karen Dunn pointed out that the Masterplan would have to be revisited every five years to check what had been implemented in the time given, and, as Ed Mancari said, it should be viewed as "a living document" to be continuously referred to.
In other discussions, the Board decided to budget for an assistant to the Building Inspector, George Tompkins, because of increased demand and growth in the Village. It was agreed, pursuant to a public hearing, that some Village fees, including building fees, would be raised to, as Ed Mancari said, "bring them in line to what other municipalities have." The Mayor felt that the building fees the Village charged were "well below what other people charge." The raise in fees would help offset the cost of an assistant.
Mancari asked the other Trustees for input to the Village Budget and the Trustees agreed to put aside $2,000 for the Code Enforcement Assistant, $3,500 for the Masterplan, $3,500 to develop a Village website, and $600 for the bi-annual Village newsletter. The Mayor also pointed out that there would be costs related to the New Street coal-tar investigation and also the transportation bond.
In other business, Karen Dunn queried the issue of free weekend parking at the Metro-North Station, which should be available to Villagers. Currently the sign at the parking lot indicates that the lot be used only for Metro-North customers, but the Mayor said that he had contacted Metro-North and that they intend to add "Except at weekends" to the sign.
The Board briefly discussed the easement from Foundry Pond Road to the dam. The Mayor clarified that the easement would be given "only if the owner receives his building permit," which is still under discussion. However, he underlined that the Village has a right-of-way that it would, if necessary, defend legally.
Seth Gallagher asked about the status of the Butterfield site and the Mayor informed the Board that the bid process has been extended until March 31st (from February 15th) and that the County will not be bidding for the site. He also added that the owners, Hudson Valley Hospital Center, have put locks on the doors of the buildings.
The Village Board meets in a weekly workshop every Tuesday at 7:30pm, except on the second Tuesday of the month when they meet at 7:30pm for their monthly meeting.
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