New Paltz Town Board members agreed at their November 20 meeting to purchase a conservation easement to protect a portion of Humpo Marsh, an important wetland ecosystem adjacent to the Mohonk Preserve along Route 299. The total cost — $844,500 — is being paid out of a local real estate transfer tax voters approved in 2020 over the strong objections of lobbying groups representing brokers. The cost represents 61% of the appraised value of the easement, plus administrative costs for lawyers, surveyors and inspection of the land in question. This ecologically sensitive 175-acre property straddles New Paltz and Gardiner and the 84 acres in New Paltz includes roughly 40 of Humpo Marsh itself, which could not be built upon based on the current array of local, state and federal regulations. It’s the surrounding forest that is vulnerable to development, which is a concern to environmentalists because human occupation would quickly degrade the marsh’s value for mitigating floods and recharging aquifers. Members of the advisory board overseeing this community preservation fund gave this land a score of 19 on their 23-point scale.
Under this multi-entity scheme, an existing easement is being purchased from Open Space Institute, and will be held through the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, with town representatives responsible for enforcing its edicts. The land will become part of Mohonk Preserve.
Several residents spoke in favor of this move, touching on the long-term environmental and economic benefits thereof. William Jonah raised the specter of the cumulative effect of taking land off the tax rolls could be, highlighting a flaw in and antiquated system that bases taxation on land, rather than wealth or income.
While there is a similar transfer tax in place in Gardiner, it was approved much more recently, and the funds in that town weren’t nearly enough to make a similar move. More private funding was needed in Gardiner to effect a similar transfer.
Unsound plan in New Paltz
Attendees at public Town of New Paltz meetings have been complaining for months that it’s difficult to hear officials, particularly supervisor Amanda Gotto, who happens to be soft-spoken. Eager to be responsive to the need for accessibility, a request for proposals for a more robust sound system was put out. According to Kitty Brown, the deputy supervisor, the lowest bid came in at $40,000, and that’s not feasible. “For now, we’ll try to project,” Brown said.
The issue is that the room they meet in was designed as a justice court, despite attempts during the planning process to ensure that it would be easily adaptable to other uses when court is not in session — which is only two evenings each week. As such, the acoustics were engineered to minimize how much sound floats back into the gallery from the front of the room.
New Paltz reporter clarifies a vocabulary blunder
The best practice in journalism is to present facts without embellishment or personal analysis and let the reader draw conclusions based on that information. This New Paltz reporter recently fell short. In an effort to avoid the tedium of repetitive language, the town’s fund balance was described as a “slush fund.” It has been correctly pointed out that the term “slush fund” is strongly associated with illicit activity, while no such issues were raised during the budget process. This reporter is embarrassed not to have known this, and grateful for the reminder that there is always much to learn. A heartfelt apology is hereby extended to supervisor Amanda Gotto, as well as Kitty Brown, Esi Lewis, Edgar Rodriguez and Randall Leverette for inadvertently besmirching their work on the 2026 budget.
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