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County's Rescinding of Funding for Weekend Garbage Pick Up Source of Protest at CS Village Board Meeting
by Kevin Foley
Talk of rebellion and protest were in the air during the weekly
workshop meeting of the Cold Spring Board of Trustees at the Village Hall on Tuesday, February 19.
A gathering of merchants and officials from the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce met with the trustees to discuss common problems, notably the perennial issues of parking congestion and garbage collection. But a letter from Tony Hay, Chairman of the Putnam County Legislature, read aloud by Mayor Anthony Phillips, informing the village the county would no longer provide $7,500 in annual funding toward weekend garbage pick up on Main Street, set off a chorus of criticism of the county for shortchanging the Cold Spring and greater Philipstown area.
Adding insult to injury the Mayor pointed out that the county did not intend to provide the money in the current fiscal year but neglected to inform the village so felt obligated to send it.
"This is a considerable expense for the village to bear," said Mayor Phillips. "We use our highway people which means three men working double time for at least four hours each time." The Mayor has publicly complained before that the expense of weekend commerce on Main Street should not be borne by village residents.
"Putnam is one of the few counties in New York State that doesn't revenue share with municipalities," said Trustee Seth Gallagher who was especially vocal about the issue during the meeting.
"They spend money promoting tourism and it mostly takes place on this side of the county but we have to fight for everything," added the Mayor.
The dialogue amongst the trustees and the audience of approximately twenty people was freewheeling and veered between proffered solutions to both the garbage and parking problems and further embellishment of the argument against the county.
Referring to the weekend garbage problem, Gallagher said he was "dedicated to finding a way to solve it." "This past Thanksgiving weekend was a real mess," he added.
Suggestions for more garbage containers, better placement of them and cost comparing private carting options were all suggested as remedies for the infusion of refuse that can be especially burdensome on weekends with concerts or other special events.
Seeking to establish clarity on the matter, Randy Chiera, a local attorney and the newly appointed Chamber government relations representative, asked the trustees: "Could we have more pails and are merchants using pails for their own garbage-if so that needs to be addressed."
"Owners and renters on Main Street use them very soon after they are emptied on Friday. Some people might be going away for the weekend so they just fill the pails and go," said Mayor Phillips.
Trustee Karen Dunn added that she knew merchants who did not want garbage pails in front of their shops because of smells and insects.
Seeking to drive home his point about expenses caused by commerce, the Mayor said he hears complaints all the time about the $2,500 a year it costs to maintain the public restrooms at the railroad tracks at the foot of the Main Street shopping area. "It doesn't sound like a lot of money but our budget is limited. Residents wonder what they get out of it," said the Mayor.
The audience contributed suggestions to charge admission, accept donations and/or allow paid advertising in the rest rooms.
Asked by Karen Dunn if there were other issues to discuss Cathryn Fadde, outgoing Chamber president and owner of Cathryn's Grill said, " parking is the one thing you hear from customers all the time, day and night, during the week and weekends." Several other merchants nodded agreement. Continuing Fadde said," it's a shame the county doesn't share revenue. Why should residents care if businesses do well?"
"Let's demand it be investigated. Revenue sharing would mean a lot more then $7,500," said the Mayor.
Adding fuel to the fire, Anne Impellizzeri, who led the Special Board survey of Cold Spring residents, said research had revealed that the 10516 zip code produced between $500,00-600,000 of sales tax revenue to the county.
"The state Comptroller's office recommends revenue sharing. All the counties in the Hudson Valley do it except ours," said Seth Gallagher.
"There has always been an east side/west side attitude in the county," said Randy Chiera, who volunteered to work with the trustees in pursuing the issue with the county government. "We have to go meetings and have voices that are reasonable and keep at it," he added.
The dialogue of protest continued with calls for forming alliances with other local governments (Dunn) and developing a citizen awareness campaign on revenue sharing (Gallagher).
Karen Dunn called for a meeting with county legislators, particularly local representative Vincent Tamagna, who came in for some criticism for being distant from the concerns of the village.
"They need to come over here and hear what we have to say," additional spaces. The idea generated no enthusiasm from the trustees.
The Mayor said he thought it was important to look at Main Street parking patterns and consider metering which would create a revenue stream for the village.
Michael Armstrong then reframed the parking issue, which he has been studying as part of the work of the Comprehensive Plan's Government, Public Services and Infrastructure Working Group. "You need a whole plan. People avoid metering and then they block resident's parking spaces, he said. "The fundamental problem is that parking for visitors is free."
He then explained that in Europe and parts of the U.S. municipalities have developed plans that account for every parking space available and then establish a graded system of metering with different prices at different times of demand. A permit system is also included to protect the rights of residents to park for free.
Armstrong also said that as part of the creation of a Parking Benefit District, the village could authorize private properties to create metered parking thus generating even more revenue while opening more spaces.
The Mayor, clearly intrigued by Michael's thought process, asked him if he was prepared to make a formal presentation to the board. But Michael demurred saying more study was needed and that the village would probably need a consultant to prepare an actual plan.
Although no formal plan was adopted to continue the night's momentum on the county revenue sharing front, Mayor Phillips tried to punctuate the consensus by declaring: "We've been quiet for 100 years, it's time we said something."
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