fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Gardiner revives Open Space Commission

by Frances Marion Platt
April 25, 2018
in Politics & Government
1
Donna Smith to replace Jewell Turner as Gardiner’s deputy town clerk

Following more than three years of inactivity, and effective dissolution after all its members’ terms expired, the Open Space Commission (OSC) of the Town of Gardiner has been reconstituted. At its April 10 meeting, the Town Board voted unanimously (with Mike Reynolds absent) to accept councilman Warren Wiegand’s nominations of five new members and two alternates.

The nominees, recruited shortly after Wiegand was returned to the Town Board in the November 2016 elections, include Rebecca Benner, Kay Hoity, Jean McGrane, Laura Rose and Laura Wong-Pan. Linda Geary and Kellie George are the alternates.

The inspiration for the creation of the OSC came from a study of open space in Gardiner conducted in 2003/04 by the consulting firm Behan & Associates. Its findings informed the creation of the town’s original Open Space Plan, adopted in 2006, when the local law was passed creating the commission.

In its heyday, the OSC scored two major successes with the permanent protection of two major tracts of Gardiner agricultural land: the Kiernan Farm, on Bruynswick Road, and the Hess Farm, on Sand Hill Road, where agreements for the purchase of development rights with the help of the Open Space Institute were finalized in 2010 and 2014 respectively. But enthusiasm waned after the conclusion of the Hess Farm negotiation, and the commission — then comprising nine members — had increasing difficulty achieving a quorum for meetings. Downsizing the body to a more manageable five members was part of Wiegand’s strategy for getting the OSC back up and running.

As constituted by law, the OSC is supposed to meet at least quarterly, but Wiegand believes that the influx of large “open space development” proposals before the Gardiner Planning Board in the past year may impel the revived group to meet monthly. Networking with farmers in the township and helping them develop strategies to diversify income streams and maintain family farming as an economically viable system of land stewardship is expected to be a primary focus of the commission’s mandate going forward. The group’s first task will be to draft a “charge” or scope of work for itself, to be presented to the Town Board for approval.

In other volunteer personnel matters before the Town Board last week, Joe Hayes was reappointed to the Gardiner Planning Board for another seven-year term, and Environmental Conservation Commission member John Sansalone was reappointed as the town’s liaison to the Ulster County Environmental Management Council.

Thank you for reading Hudson Valley One. We rely on your support to continue providing local, substantive news. Please check out our subscription options to keep local journalism alive in the Hudson Valley.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Letter: Slow down and enjoy the scenery

Next Post

Amnesty International screens two films on immigrants, refugees in Rosendale

Frances Marion Platt

Frances Marion Platt has been a feature writer (and copyeditor) for Ulster Publishing since 1994, under both her own name and the nom de plume Zhemyna Jurate. Her reporting beats include Gardiner and Rosendale, the arts and a bit of local history. In 2011 she took up Syd M’s mantle as film reviewer for Alm@nac Weekly, and she hopes to return to doing more of that as HV1 recovers from the shock of COVID-19. A Queens native, Platt moved to New Paltz in 1971 to earn a BA in English and minor in Linguistics at SUNY. Her first writing/editing gig was with the Ulster County Artist magazine. In the 1980s she was assistant editor of The Independent Film and Video Monthly for five years, attended Heartwood Owner/Builder School, designed and built a timberframe house in Gardiner. Her son Evan Pallor was born in 1995. Alternating with her journalism career, she spent many years doing development work – mainly grantwriting – for a variety of not-for-profit organizations, including six years at Scenic Hudson. She currently lives in Kingston.

Related Posts

Village of Saugerties planners hold public hearing for Dragon Inn
Business

Village of Saugerties planners hold public hearing for Dragon Inn

May 18, 2022
Ulster collected more sales tax in 2020 than 2019
Politics & Government

New IDA board named

May 18, 2022
Michelle Hinchey hopes to follow father’s footsteps to state legislature
Politics & Government

Dream district for Hinchey

May 17, 2022
Donna Smith to replace Jewell Turner as Gardiner’s deputy town clerk
Politics & Government

Community input this Thursday to shape Gardiner’s Community Preservation Plan/Fund

May 17, 2022
Ryan and Molinaro run for Congress, Gallagher available to move up
Politics & Government

Ryan and Molinaro run for Congress, Gallagher available to move up

May 17, 2022
Just a couple more interviews for Police Commission
Politics & Government

Just a couple more interviews for Police Commission

May 14, 2022
Next Post
Amnesty International screens two films on immigrants, refugees in Rosendale

Amnesty International screens two films on immigrants, refugees in Rosendale

Please login to join discussion

Trending News

  • Bubbe’s Deli opens in Gardiner’s former Mountain Harbor 1.6k views
  • Saugertes man faces multiple charges after domestic disturbance 1k views
  • The moon is down in Central Hudson 713 views
  • Expanded High Falls museum provokes rich insights 347 views
  • Ryan and Molinaro run for Congress, Gallagher available to move up 282 views







Latest HV1 Podcast

Weather

Kingston
◉
70°
Fair
5:32am8:12pm EDT
Feels like: 70°F
Wind: 6mph NNW
Humidity: 24%
Pressure: 29.97"Hg
UV index: 8
ThuFriSat
70/52°F
84/63°F
95/68°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Ulster County COVID-19 Active Cases

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In

© 2022 Ulster Publishing