Parete hopes stalled projects resume in ‘21
Marbletown Supervisor Richard Parete says resuming projects stalled by the pandemic are among the goals for 2021.
MARBLETOWN, N.Y. – Supervisor Richard Parete has found that the most important lesson of 2020 is to focus on immediate tasks and then move onto the next project without losing sight of long-term goals.
In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Dec. 22, Parete said the COVID-19 pandemic produced an appreciation for keeping the public safe while making sure a sense of maintaining the community remains.
“There was the Grady Park project and we wanted to do some sidewalks ... that have all kind of been put on hold,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll make up for in 2021.”
Parete added that attention will be paid to how well restaurants recover from the loss of business during the pandemic.
“Our restaurants and smaller shops have been impacted,” he said. “A lot of them are still not doing indoor dining, even though it is allowed at 50 percent capacity. ... They were doing outdoor (dining), but then it became too cold.”
Among the projects that were completed despite the pandemic was the installation of water lines to the SUNY Ulster campus after years of negotiations to connect lines from the High Falls Water District.
“They were f inishing up installing a new water tower and replacing some lines on campus, but the project from High Falls to the college is done,” he said.
Parete said the water line project has provided some encouragement for finding ways to get service in Stone Ridge, either from an additional extension from the High Falls line or asking New York City for service from another point on its Catskill Aqueduct.
Parete also said he expects one of the most significant accomplishments will be taking joint ownership with the town of Rosendale of the former Rosendale Elementary School on Lucas Avenue Extension. The town signed an agreement for the 45,000-square-foot building with the Rondout Valley School District to put its offices in the building. The deal required state legislation in 2015 to allow Marbletown to conduct its municipal business outside of the municipality.
“Marbletown and Rosendale are working with the school district to take over the building,” he said. “That should happen early next year.”
Officials have also begun a review of safety concerns in a study of fire coverage and rescue squad service.
“We got a $25,000 grant to do an emergency service efficiency study,” Parete said. “Currently, Marbletown has seven different fire districts and a rescue squad. So we did a (request for proposals) and hired a company ... that’s going to come in and look to see if there can be efficiencies or if we can work better together or possibly consolidate departments.”