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Philipstown Recreation Commission Presents Proposed Master Plan
Town to interview additional planning firms
by Mike Turton
Feast or famine seems to be the rule when it comes to attendance at meetings of the Philipstown Town Board. While recent 2008 budget meetings often played to an all-but-empty house, that was not the case last Thursday, December 27, 2007 when the VFW Hall on Kemble Avenue hosted a standing-room-only crowd at the Board's year-end meeting.
At least two significant issues were on the agenda: continued discussions regarding the hiring of a planning and engineering firm to work on behalf of the Town and the presentation of a proposed Recreation Master Plan. The mass exodus from the hall at the end of discussions regarding the hiring of a planner seemed to indicate that was the issue which had drawn the crowd.
The Recreation Master Plan may not have been the biggest draw but it certainly holds significance for Philipstown residents and taxpayers when implemented. The plan was outlined by Al Zgolinski, who recently took over from Claudio Marzollo as Chair of the Philipstown Recreation Commission, and Amber Stickle, Recreation Supervisor. The plan was presented only as a concept, with the Town Board taking no action.
The last Recreation Master Plan covered the years 1990 - 2000, a period during which Philipstown had no recreation facilities of its own. The Town has since taken over Philipstown Park on Route 9D; Glenclyffe, also on Route 9D, site of the Philipstown Recreation Center, and the Depot Theatre in Garrison. The proposed master plan calls for the upgrading of aging, inefficient buildings; replacing equipment that is past its useful life expectancy; restoration of playing fields and long-term creation of new facilities. The plan calls of expenditures of 1.1 million dollars in the first year with an additional 9 million dollars being spent over the next five years. If funds are available, a total of almost 18 million dollars would be spent to implement the plan's recommendations over a ten-year period. Funding sources identified in the plan include: savings by heating buildings more efficiently; state, county, corporate and association grants; private donations; a Town bond and increased user fees. Funds are also available through Town Law 277 which requires developers to pay fees for recreation facilities when building new homes. Three criteria would guide expenditures: life safety; providing facilities that are most needed and reducing operating costs. Immediate expenditures in year one would include payments owed to the Open Space Institute (OSI) once the property is transferred to the Town; creation of a new entrance road - a requirement of the agreement with OSI; repairs to the Community Center including the leaking roof and replacement of the aging boiler and hot water heating system. Five-year items include upgrading the Community Center building shell mainly for heating and cooling efficiency; making the building Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant; wiring and plumbing; sprinklers and alarms. This phase also calls for major works to be undertaken on the playing fields at both Glenclyffe and Philipstown Park, playgrounds, equipment storage and comfort stations, walking paths, improved parking and improved storm water drainage.
Workshops will be held in 2008 to solicit public input. While the date of the first workshop has not been set, copies of the Plan will be available on the Town of Philipstown and Philipstown Recreation websites and will be on display at Butterfield and Desmond-Fish libraries.
Supervisor Bill Mazzuca provided an update on the Town's progress in hiring a planner to assist the Town with a variety of planning and engineering tasks. The planner would work out of the Town office on a part-time but regular basis. Mazzuca indicated that two firms, Chazen and AKRF, had been interviewed and that two other firms have also recently expressed interest. He went on to say that while he had originally hoped the planner would be hired by the start of the new year, "That's not going to happen." Councilor and Deputy-Supervisor Richard Shea expressed his strong desire to go into 2008 with a new planner. He pointed to the importance of new planning documents such as the comprehensive plan and open space protection plan and the need to "institutionalize" the implementation of those documents. "We need a new way of thinking, "Shea stated. Mazzuca commented further that "I want the public to understand it's time to move into a new era. That will be done - not for a whole bunch of other reasons - but for what is best for the Town." Shea somewhat reluctantly agreed that the other two firms ought to be interviewed. Residents asked a number of questions regarding Tim Miller Associates' status, with one resident querying if Miller had been informed prior to the election of the Town's intent not to keep him as the Town's planner. Richard Shea responded that as a courtesy he had informed Miller that the Town would be looking into hiring a new planner. When questioned further regarding why a new planner is needed Shea replied that he felt Tim Miller was not in support of the Town's new comprehensive plan and that that opposition would slow the implementation of the plan. Shea also said that he took serious issue with what he felt was a slight made by Mr. Miller against the Chair of the special committee that developed the comprehensive plan. "I can't see any good reason not to have a new planner who can take us forward and who is not mired in the Town's past" Shea concluded. Mazzuca indicated that Miller would continue to serve as planner until a new firm is hired.
In other business the Town has received notice from the NY State Department of Transportation that Route 403 from Route 9 to Route 9D will be repaved. There was no indication as to when the work would be undertaken.
Supervisor Mazzuca distributed a summary of salary adjustments to salaries for the Town's clerks. A contingency fund had been established as part of the 2008 budget which will permit salary adjustments to be made based on seniority.
Mazzuca also reported that due to corrected assessment values just received by the Town, tax rates would decrease slightly, although it would have little if any effect on what individuals would pay in taxes. He also indicated that, while the law is somewhat vague, concerns raised by resident Russell Dushin regarding budgeting for a Sheriff's Deputy hired to patrol Philipstown roads in 2008 appear to have been born out. At more than one 2008 Budget Workshop, Dushin had argued that the cost should be put in the "A Budget" which covers the entire Town including the villages. Supervisor Mazzuca argued that because the deputy would not be patrolling village roads, village residents could not be taxed for services they don't receive, and that as a result the charge ought to be made to the "B Budget" for areas outside the villages. Mazzuca said that the state's Audit Control office indicated that to be safe the charge ought to be made to the "A Budget" but that the correction should be made next year.
The meeting concluded with a near-empty hall. Supervisor Bill Mazzuca and Richard Shea heartily thanked councilors Dave Brower and Al Hosmer for their many years of community service both as members of the Town Board as well as in several other capacities. It was the last Town Board meeting for both as they did not run in the last election.
The Board will hold their annual re-organization meeting on Thursday, January 3, 2008 starting at 7:30pm.
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