A trail marked off by the Bristol Beach Committee more than a year ago is being developed, Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello announced at the regular meeting of the Town Board on Wednesday, March 17. “It’s really shaping up; I think this year for the first time people can go down there and get to the water and enjoy that property in a way that has only been conceptual for many years.”
One outcome of the work being done is that the town is spending down a Greenway grant for the first part of developing the site, just north of the hamlet of Malden, which could lead to further grants and more improvements.
The highway department is working on opening Bristol Beach to visitors, said Highway Superintendent Douglas Myer. “Right now, we have 1,920 feet of road done at Bristol Beach. As of tonight, we went past the brick building at the bottom of the hill. That’s the old maintenance building.”
Myer agreed with Costello’s earlier statement that residents could go down to the river. “What I would strongly suggest is that we get some kind of a gate at the top of the hill and funnel the traffic down through there at certain times.”
Superintendent of Town Parks and Buildings Greg Chorvas said he has been visiting the site and it is coming along well. However, at the north meadow, “we’ve had an ongoing garbage problem,” he said. There’s a sign indicating that the site is a “bring-in, take-out facility,” but “a garbage receptacle that was wired to a tree would fill and then they would throw the garbage down. “Lanny [Walter] reached out to me last week, and we decided to remove it, which we did on Tuesday.” Chorvas also described several old docks that were moored off the property. “The only way they could get them there was through the river, or with a helicopter,” he said. Chorvas said he has also received some requests to hold weddings on the property.
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