By Rob Sample
The Marlborough Town Board approved a resolution on Monday, April 8 that is expected to partially fund nighttime lighting and other improvements at Cluett-Schantz and Young’s Parks.
The move came from a resolution that okayed an intermunicipal agreement with Ulster County, through which the town will receive $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The money is part of a $2 million fund created recently by the county to partner with local municipalities on parks and recreation projects. The agreement calls for the county to match up to 50 percent of a municipality’s cost, up to a maximum of $100,000.
Town Supervisor Scott Corcoran noted that the town is beginning the bid process and once estimates are in, the Town Board will determine whether to do both fields. He said the town would prioritize Young’s Field because it currently is subject to heavy use.
“The last figure [cost estimate] we received was $75,000 per field, and that was about a year ago,” Corcoran said. “And everything has gone up since then. We will see how the bids come back.”
James Mullin, rookie director for Marlboro Youth Baseball and Softball, pledged his organization’s support for this initiative. “The opportunity for kids to play at night, under the lights, when they’d otherwise have to be done at 6 to 6:30 p.m. is a great thing,” said Mullin. “We hope you’ll move forward with this, and Marlborough Youth Baseball is going to step up and help you with anything we can do to make that a reality.”
The Town Board postponed, possibly until next year, any discussion of pickleball courts at Cluett Schantz Park. Corcoran said the price tag for these courts would be higher than anticipated. “If we had to push it back a year, there are other monies that would become available then,” he said.
Also of note, the Town Board scheduled a public hearing for its new version of the town’s Ridgeline and Steep Slope Protection law. The first version of that law was introduced in December and became the subject of hot debate. Ultimately, the Town Board went back to the drawing board to make changes. The public hearing for the new law will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 22 at Town Hall.
“This new version contains substantial changes,” said Corcoran. The full text of the proposed new law can be found on the town’s website under the “Town Board Agendas” section; click on the link for the April 8, 2024, agenda. The proposal was discussed at length at the Town Board meeting on Monday, March 25. Key points include:
• In Section 1 (b): There shall be no disturbance of the tree line area above the highest points of the structure and the highest point of the Ridgeline.
• In Section 1 (c), language was also added requiring a survey of the lot’s topography within 200 feet of the of the proposed building areas and showing elevations with two-foot intervals.
• Other proposed language forbids the use of “bright or fluorescent-colored materials or highly reflective shiny metal or similar materials,” specifying the use of brown, black, gray, beige, and green tones. The law also calls on lighting not to be excessive and dark-sky compliant, ruling out bright LED lighting.
Among other business, the Town Board held a public hearing for the proposed creation of the Vineyard Hills Subdivision Drainage District. The board later unanimously approved the Drainage District and okayed an associated “negative declaration,” a detailed statement illustrating that the new district poses no adverse environmental effects.
The Town Board also reviewed a proposed zoning change by Darren Stridiron of Heritage Land Surveying, representing a client/landowner. Stridiron’s client owns a 2.5-acre parcel at the corner of Route 9W and Grand Street Extension and wants to rezone a .43-acre part of that parcel to “residential” from high-density/commercial. Ultimately, the client would build a house on that smaller lot while retaining the remaining acreage as a commercial parcel.
Complicating matters, the proposed smaller lot is just outside the boundaries of the water and sewer district. Corcoran said that the process might be lengthy and expensive – but might be feasible.
Finally, the Town Board approved a resolution authorizing Greenman-Pedersen Inc. (GPI) to publicly bid for the Marlborough Department of Public Work (DPW) garage.