fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Woodstock Town Board will oversee renovations to town offices

by Nick Henderson
February 14, 2020
in Politics & Government
0
Renovation of Woodstock town offices to cost $2.3 million

Artist’s rendering

Artist’s rendering

Woodstock Town Supervisor Bill McKenna surprised some town lawmakers by announcing at the end of the regular meeting February 11 that he’s stepping back from the Comeau renovation project and leaving it largely up to the Town Board.

Councilmen Richard Heppner and Lorin Rose will continue to work with Walker Architecture to fine-tune the design for the main offices at 45 Comeau Drive. Councilwoman Laura Ricci and Reggie Earls will also discuss the designs with the Walkers ahead of an upcoming public presentation to the board so everyone is on the same page. “It has come to my attention there are questions about the process and the design,” McKenna said.

This came as a surprise to Heppner who said he had spent time in McKenna’s office and this had not come up. McKenna said he thought about it more today and decided to let the board become more involved.

“I believe the whole town feels like they own the Comeau,” said Ricci, who wanted to make sure the public knows the details of the project.

With past town projects, the board had been more hands-off and let the architects largely make decisions, McKenna said.

Rose raised concerns the current design does not fit with the rest of the building and the public may not be receptive to it. “If we put it up for a referendum and it goes down, then what do we do?” he said.

McKenna said he has heard some, but not many objections from the public.

The Town Board last year hired Walker Architecture to design a $2.3 million renovation of the town offices at 45 Comeau Drive and the Supervisor’s Cottage. The main offices will be brought onto the first floor through an addition, allowing them to be accessible to people with disabilities and freeing up the second floor for meeting space and offices for the Town Board. In the plans, the original building will get new insulation, energy-efficient windows and a new geothermal HVAC system as will the Supervisor’s Cottage. 

The project is subject to permissive referendum, meaning, once the Town Board approves bonding, it is put on hold for 30 days to allow for a Woodstock resident to file a petition demanding a public vote. But the Town Board will likely bypass that process by authorizing a public bond vote at the town offices.

In a roundabout way…

Given increasing traffic woes in the summer months, Cornelia Rosenblum of the Commission for Civic Design arranged for traffic planner Georges Jacquemart to give a revised version of a presentation he gave at the Woodstock Public Library in 2008. He said there are smart parking strategies the town can employ to deal with on-street and municipal spaces.

Jacquemart suggested encouraging shared parking instead of a set amount of spaces per square footage or per residential unit. Offices that need daytime parking can share a lot with apartments, where more of the parking demand is at night, he said. He noted on-street parking and nearby municipal spaces should be prioritized for short-term to allow people to patronize businesses.

While Woodstock does not charge for on-street parking, it could do so through more modern parking kiosks where people pay and place a pass in the windshield. The same is a possibility in the Mountain View parking lot, which is now free. Jacquemart said parking should be priced so that there is always about 15 percent vacancy.

To improve traffic flow, the intersection of routes 375 and 212 “could lend itself to a roundabout,” he said. Pedestrian crossing at the intersection could be made safer by pulling back the crosswalks so they are about one car-length from the entrance to the roundabout. Jacquemart is a big proponent of positioning crosswalks so the pedestrian is in front of the motorist instead of to the side. 

A mini-roundabout might work for the intersection with Rock City Road, he said. A mini-roundabout features a slightly raised middle “button” that directs cars around it but is low enough so trucks, buses and emergency vehicles can safely drive over it. That would help with traffic flow and pull back crosswalks to make pedestrian crossing safer, he said.

“Not only is the speed limit terrible, the pedestrians cross in between the crosswalks,” CCD Chair David Eckroth said.

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Nick Henderson

Nick Henderson was raised in Woodstock starting at the age of three and attended Onteora schools, then SUNY New Paltz after spending a year at SUNY Potsdam under the misguided belief he would become a music teacher. He became the news director at college radio station WFNP, where he caught the journalism bug and the rest is history. He spent four years as City Hall reporter for Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, NH, then moved back to Woodstock in 2003 and worked on the Daily Freeman copy desk until 2013. He has covered Woodstock for Ulster Publishing since early 2014.

Related Posts

Spectrum negotiations
Politics & Government

Spectrum negotiations

July 16, 2025
Rent regulated landlords face the pressure to sell. Who will buy?
Politics & Government

Rent regulated landlords face the pressure to sell. Who will buy?

July 10, 2025
Zena Development principals explain their project
Politics & Government

Zena developer wants to keep his options open

July 10, 2025
New Paltz police commissioners named, council members shamed
Politics & Government

The goal is to re-establish New Paltz’s police commission in a different form, town supervisor Gotto says

July 15, 2025
Police arrest Poughkeepsie man for filming sexual abuse of unconscious person; believe there may be other victims
Politics & Government

Town of Woodstock hires sex offender

July 10, 2025
Community discussion begins on New Paltz policing
Politics & Government

New Paltz police tension

July 8, 2025
Next Post
Gerald Benjamin announces phased retirement after 50+ years at SUNY New Paltz

Gerald Benjamin announces phased retirement after 50+ years at SUNY New Paltz

Weather

Kingston, NY
79°
Partly Cloudy
5:33 am8:30 pm EDT
Feels like: 84°F
Wind: 5mph SSE
Humidity: 83%
Pressure: 29.9"Hg
UV index: 0
ThuFriSat
93°F / 66°F
81°F / 55°F
86°F / 70°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • 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
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing