Main Street Project, Coal Tar Remediation Near Completion

Cold Spring, Philipstown to share building department services

By Michael Turton

The sound of jackhammers has ended on Main Street. At the June 28 meeting of the Cold Spring village board, Deputy Mayor Marie Early reported that construction is “substantially complete” on the Main Street Project, at least on the thoroughfare. Landscaping, tree planting and lighting improvements are all that remain to be completed.

The last component of the project — extensive improvements to Furnace Street —  will begin after Independence Day. The work will include drainage improvements, repaving the street and installation of new sidewalks and curbs. The overall project has been running on or ahead of schedule and is on track to be completed by the end of summer.

Sharing resources

The trustees authorized Cold Spring Mayor Dave Merandy to sign a letter of intent with the Town of Philipstown to share building department services. The move anticipates a possible merger of the departments. In recent months, the town’s code enforcement officer has served as village building inspector on the Butterfield Project.

Merandy also announced that Philipstown has hired Gregory Wunner, the former deputy building inspector for the Town of Fishkill, to replace Kevin Donahue as town building inspector. Donahue resigned recently after accepting a similar position in Westchester County.

The project to remove toxic coal tar from the site of the Cold Spring Boat Club is now substantially complete, Merandy reported. Final grading, landscaping and fencing is scheduled to be finished by July 8.

In other business …

• Early reported that through the third week of June, $2,000 had been collected at the newly installed pay station in the municipal parking lot on Fair Street. Early said complaints have been received regarding signage at the lot as well as the cost of fines for unpaid tickets. Parking tickets issued for violations in the lot cost $50. If a ticket is not paid within 30 days the fine increases to $75 and then to $100 if payment is delinquent for another 30 days. Early said that 70 percent of the revenue collected at the pay station has been by credit card. Merandy indicated that the operation of the village’s first parking meter will be reviewed after it has been in service for a few months.
• Trustees accepted the low bid of $14,500 from SP Landscaping to complete drainage improvements on Grandview Terrace. Con-Tech Construction, the company completing the Main Street Project, also bid on the work.
• The board approved hiring Terry Cominsky as an officer with the Cold Spring Police Department. Merandy said that the hire was necessary because the resignation of another officer made it difficult to fill all shifts. With the hire, CSPD employs 13 part-time officers.
• The village board will hold a joint meeting with the Cold Spring Recreation Commission on July 2.
• The mayor congratulated the Cold Spring Film Society for the successful launch of its 2016 movie series at Dockside Park. The first film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, brought 1,200 people to Dockside Park on June 25.
• Cold Spring experienced an afternoon of life in the fast lane on June 29 when a Jaguar commercial was filmed on lower Main Street. The producers paid the village $1,500 for the shoot and also absorbed the cost of policing and other expenses.