■ The Cold Spring Village Board, at its Wednesday (Aug. 7) meeting, discussed the next steps to implement a 5 percent occupancy tax. The board will likely set the date for a public hearing at its Aug. 14 meeting. Initially, the tax will apply only to hotels and bed-and-breakfast operations such as the Hudson House River Inn and Pig Hill Inn. Mayor Kathleen Foley said the village clerk has been communicating with proprietors. “They know it’s coming,” she said. “We’d like to get it on the books and rolling in September.” Short-term rentals, such as those booked through Airbnb and VRBO, which are far greater in number, will not be affected yet, Foley said. “That’s a larger pool, and we need to have systems in place for that,” she said.
■ The village plans to install security cameras at the pedestrian tunnel and riverfront bandstand to deter vandals. The cameras will be purchased with a $55,000 grant from the federal Department of Justice that earlier paid for cameras at the entrance to Village Hall and in the courtroom. The tunnel and bandstand cameras are expected to cost $15,000; the village will pay a maximum of $17,948 for labor and installation.
■ As part of her update on repairs funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of severe storms in July 2023, Foley said that the village is awaiting cost estimates for floodgates for the pedestrian tunnel. She said older villagers have noted that the tunnel in the past was equipped with doors. “There is hardware there, so at some point there were doors,” Foley said. “I don’t know why they were taken off.” A status report on FEMA-funded projects is available at coldspringny.gov.
■ The board approved the purchase of an electric Ford Lightning F-150 pickup at a cost of $46,876, which was the low bid from Ed Shults Ford. Foley said the dealer honored the price originally quoted for a 2023 model. The truck, which will be used by the water and wastewater department, is the village’s first purchase using funds from a $100,000 grant it received from the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities Program.
■ Discussion continued with a Netflix location scout about filming in the village on Labor Day weekend and the following weekend as part of the Knives Out movie series. The first weekend will involve footage shot with drones; the second weekend could include brief traffic disruptions on Main Street.
