Board OKs spending $25K for trail development
The Town Board has agreed to kick in $25,000 toward the completion of the Hudson River Brickyard Trail despite some doubt about the economic wisdom of permanently taking a potential revenue stream offline.
Supervisor James Quigley, in a telephone interview Tuesday, said the funds will help Scenic Hudson build the trail in East Kingston as part of a longterm plan for it to become part of the Empire State Trail.
For years, the area had been eyed for a housing development that was never built.
“At this point in time I don’t have enough information on the benefits of everything that’s going on there between Scenic Hudson and New York state converting it to a state park and the Empire Trail (that is) being built,” Quigley said.
Town Board members last week approved abandoning a section of John Street in East Kingston for use as section of the planned trail. The move gives Scenic Hudson-affiliated
Quarry Waters LLC ownership of the 0.17-mile stretch of road, which will be named the Hudson River Brickyard Trail as a section of the Empire State Trail.
The road is part of the 162.6-acre property that Quarry Waters plans to sell to the state under a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to create a 508acre state park consisting largely of former brickyards along the Hudson River.
Scenic Hudson will receive $1.2 million in grants toward trail construction. In 2012, the town and city of Kingston had been awarded a $1.2 million grant for a pedestrian walkway planned by the developer for the sincewithdrawn Hudson Landing housing project.
The road had previously been proposed as an entrance to the Hudson Landing housing project. Quigley said the entire area, as a result, will cease of have any value as a potential revenue source for the town.
“I use the (Route) 209 Hurley Rail Trail,” Quigley said. “I see the level of usage. I don’t see how the level of usage translates into economic benefit.”
Quigley said the Hudson Landing project had been envisioned as the “life blood of the town” because it would have kept the land on the tax rolls.
“The town had no problem making a commitment to public improvements down there and requisite maintenance requirements when we had tax revenue,” he said. “Now we have no tax revenue. We have a site that’s going to be forever green, with no prospect of any development, and we still have the same level if not higher level of maintenance costs.”
Scenic Hudson representatives were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday.