Notes from the Cold Spring Village Board

Public input on Marathon development
"A More Walkable Cold Spring" will be the focus of a public presentation to the Cold Spring board on March 10 to launch a planning process for the 12-acre Marathon property on Kemble Avenue, the village's largest undeveloped tract.
The Kearney Group, which owns the property, has hired Jeff Speck, co-founder of Speck Dempsey, a Brookline, Massachusetts-based urban planning firm, to explain the fundamentals of pedestrian-oriented neighborhood design.

"We don't have a lot of young people without children, and there aren't really affordable, entry-level houses in the village," Mayor Kathleen Foley noted at the Wednesday (Feb. 11) meeting of the Village Board.
The Marathon parcel, formerly the site of a battery plant, is zoned for a mixed-use planned unit development. Foley said a series of charrettes will be held in April and June. The developer will then create an application for the Planning Board.
Sidewalk grants
Foley updated the board on the status of federal Transportation Alternatives Program grants to add sidewalks along the north end of Fair Street from Mayor's Park to Route 9D and along Morris Avenue/Route 9D at the northern border of the village.
The sidewalks were extended on Fair Street from the municipal parking lot to Mayor's Park as part of the recently completed stormwater drainage repairs. Cold Spring owns a short stretch of Fair Street north of Mayor's Park to the village boundary. Putnam County owns Fair Street from there to Route 9D. The cost of the new Fair Street sidewalks is estimated at $2 million.
The grant would pay 80 percent of the cost, with the remaining 20 percent paid by Cold Spring, which must show it has the capacity to fund the entire project, a requirement she described as "kind of bananas." Foley said Putnam County is willing to front the 80 percent and the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail announced this week it would contribute the 20 percent local share.
"We have had less luck on Route 9D," Foley said. State parks, HHFT, the state Department of Transportation and Putnam County have declined to cover 80 percent of the estimated $3 million cost. "We have a few Hail Mary asks out to some private organizations to see if they would loan the town the funds," Foley said.
In other business …
Village accountant Michelle Ascolillo reported that the cost of snow removal after the January storm was $68,000. In his monthly report, Robert Downey, the Highway Department crew chief, thanked Marc's Landscaping, Sal Pidala and Sons Excavating, Allen's Dumpster Service, Minardi's Excavation, Harold Lyons and Sons, Putnam County, Philipstown, the state Department of Transportation and state parks for their assistance in the aftermath.
Matt Jackson, the officer-in-charge of the Cold Spring Police Department, reported that officers responded to 87 calls in January. The most frequent were alarms (12), assisting fire departments (8) and assisting local emergency medical services (8). There were also single calls for a domestic incident, a dispute, disorderly conduct and a person in crisis. Saturdays produced the most calls (22), followed by Fridays (18) and Wednesdays (15). He said Tuesdays produced the fewest calls (5).
The Cold Spring Fire Co. answered 16 calls in January, including seven fire alarms, two assists to local EMS, two incidents of propane odor and single calls for a transformer fire, motor vehicle accident with injuries, mutual aid to North Highlands Fire Co., smoke in a structure and a pump out. Stephen Etta answered the most calls (14) with 20 volunteers responding to at least one call.
The village said it will forward 16 cases of delinquent taxes, totaling $37,688, to Putnam County for collection.