Summer camp with fewer kids approved

The price for the six-week program will be about double from what it previously cost

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Town Board members have agreed to move forward with youth summer camp for about half the previous number of children at about twice the cost for a six-week program.

The schedule and fees were approved in a 4-1 vote during a meeting Thursday, April 15. Councilman Rocco Secreto saying there would be up to 125 children enrolled for a camp that will run from July 5 through Aug. 13.

“This year with the COVID going on we’ve got to limit the number of kids that attend camp,” he said.

Priority would be given to town residents and there would be limits sought for children who are staying with relatives but don’t live in the town, Secreto added.

“We’re trying to get rid of that,” he said. “That’s where the two proofs of residency come in.”

The cost would be $540 for the first family member aged 6 to 12 years old and $100 for each additional child in a household. Campers would be required to have a temperature screening upon arrival each day.

Town officials did not have a summer camp last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and needed to develop protocols with a revised budget before they could move forward this season.

Councilman Eric Kitchen was the lone opposing vote. He said the cost was too high and the camp would be two weeks shorter than it was two years ago.

“Especially during the COVID (pandemic) this year I feel like it would almost be justified to probably raise the price of summer camp,” he said. “But to go ahead and almost double the cost during these hard times, that’s a hard pill for me to swallow.”

Kitchen added, “You’re going to see the parents who have the money up front running to the clerk’s office and paying ... for their kid to get into summer camp. But you’re going to see the struggling families ... not make it there in time.”

Officials said the camp is expected to break even in the town budget at a cost of about $67,500.

Councilman John Morrow said the camp represents an opportunity for children to meet with friends after more than a year of online school classes and few organized community activities.

“The socialization is particularly needed right now with COVID,” he said.