The Saugerties village board has rebuffed a proposal to close a portion of Main Street every Saturday from the middle of spring to the middle of fall for the Saugerties Farmers’ Market. Trustee Jeannine Mayer, speaking at the February 6 trustees’ meeting, said the organizers of the market wanted to have the village close Main Street between the intersection with West Bridge Street and Market Street. She said the organizers feel they do not get enough exposure at their current location at the Cow Flop across from Cahill elementary school.
The trustees disagreed. “I don’t think the idea is appropriate,” said trustee Terry Parisian. “There are just too many questions about this.”
Alex Wade, who’s in charge of special projects for the village, said such a closure would interfere with the UCAT bus that goes through that intersection several times a day, even on a Saturday. “There’s also lots of people that go to the farmers’ market at the Cow Flop location,” added Wade. “I don’t know what the problem is about.”
Trustee Brian Martin, a former fire chief, said the proposed closing would create problems for emergency-service vehicles.
It was pointed out that Kingston closes Wall Street for its farmers’ market. The trustees noted that Wall Street was not a state highway, which Main Street (Route 9W) is.
Mayer suggested maybe the organizers could go back to the Reis parking lot at the corner of Main and Market streets, where the market was held before it moved to the Cow Flop. But Parisian noted there was “more parking at Cahill than there is at Reis.”
While they did not take a formal vote, the trustees said they were against the idea of closing any portion of Main Street.
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