Lawmakers OK bonding $8.25M for Ashokan trail

KINGSTON, N.Y. » To the cheers of the dozens of trail supporters, Ulster County legislators on Tuesday approved funding for the construction of a recreational trail along the Ashokan Reservoir.

By a 20-3 vote, the Legislature authorized issuing an additional $8.25 million in bonds to pay for construction of the 11.5-mile trail along the north rim of the reservoir.

The county already has spent $1.75 million for tree clearing and track removal in the former Ulster & Delaware Railroad corridor.

Voting against the funding were Legislators David Donaldson, D-Kingston, Manna Jo Greene, D-Rosendale, and Joseph Maloney, D-Saugerties.

Also by a 20-3 vote, the Legislature approved contracts for engineering services related to construction oversight, construction support and management for the project with the engineering firm Barton & Loguidice DPC; and with A. Servidone Inc. for construction services for the project.

Donaldson, Greene and Maloney again cast the dissenting votes.

Approval of the three contracts clears the way for construction of the controversial rail trail to begin. County Deputy Planning Director Chris White has said construction could start as soon as the end of this month.

Prior to the vote, legislators heard from 29 individuals, the vast majority of whom urged lawmakers to approve the funding.

Some speakers, though, called for lawmakers to delay a vote, saying the county was rushing through the resolutions without a full public airing of the issues.

Greene also called for the vote to be delayed, saying she still had questions about the cost of and funding for the project.

Donaldson agreed, saying the county already is being called on to ante up $3.4 million that “we didn’t know we were going to spend.”

“We were originally advised it was going to cost no county tax dollars. Now we know it is going to cost significant tax dollars,” Donaldson said during an earlier Democratic caucus. “I think we need to get a handle on what is happening.”

White has said the higher costs are the result of additional work that must be done to avoid wetlands that he said developed over years of neglect by the Catskill Mountain Railroad. The railroad held a lease on the 38-mile, county-owned corridor for 25 years until May 2017.

Of the total $9.98 million cost of trail project, the county will kick in $3.37 million. The remainder is coming from a mixture of state and New York City grants.

After four years of debate and discussion over the future of the former rail corridor, the Ulster County Legislature in late 2015 adopted a policy that provides for tourist-related rail opportunities on two sections of the right-of-way and for a recreational trail along the north rim of the reservoir.

The Catskill Mountain Railroad offers scenic and theme train rides on the tracks between Kingston and Hurley, and a company called Rail Explorers provides “rail bikes” for self-propelled use on the tracks between Boiceville and Phoenicia, where the Catskill Mountain Railroad used to operate.