About the only complaint to come out of the Holiday in the Village celebration in Saugerties was that there was not enough parking. This complaint is often made when a large event is held in the village.
At the village board meeting on December 5, trustee Donald Hackett suggested that it might be time to build another public parking lot. The village owns a small parcel of land at the corner of Montrose and Partition streets that Hackett believes would make a convenient location for a municipal parking lot. He advocated money in next year’s budget to pay for converting the site from a vacant lot into a parking lot. “People said they had no place to park during the celebration,” Hackett said.
Mayor William Murphy said much of the work to make the site into a parking lot could probably be done “in house” by the village Department of Public Works. “This could be a really nice site for a lot,” Hackett agreed.
While Murphy agrees there could be more parking in the village, he thinks some of the problem is due to a lack of education about where there is parking in the village. He thinks more education would reduce the number of complaints.
Currently several lots are available for public parking, including the municipal lot behind Mirabella’s off Partition Street, the M&T Bank lot between Main and Jane streets, the municipal lot behind the village hall at 43 Partition Street, and behind Sawyer Savings Bank on Market Street when the bank is closed. Trustee Vince Buono said St. Mary of the Snow Church officials said their lot on Cedar Street can also be used for parking.
The parking lot across from Cahill Elementary School at Cowflop Field on Main Street and behind the Village Diner are also available for parking, as is the Reis Park at the corner of Main and Market streets.
“I guess the first thing for us to do is to get a survey of the Montrose Street lot,” Hackett said. He believes that 12 to 13 parking places can be fit onto the lot.
There was a general agreement, without a formal vote, to move forward on getting the lot surveyed and getting a cost estimate for the conversion.
The meeting ended with the village board wishing the mayor’s daughter, Jaclyn Murphy, a happy sixteenth birthday.
Join the family! 
