Some $500,000 of this year’s Community Development Block Grant funding for Kingston will be used for engineer studies, design work and sewer repairs in midtown Kingston, and $25,000 will go toward asbestos removal and the demolition of the former Planet Wings restaurant building.
There was some discussion about the inclusion of wording for Prospect Street in the sewer work. Alderwoman Michele Hirsch expressed her concern about the language of the resolution. She was unsure why it couldn’t simply say “for Prospect Street” instead of “including Prospect Street.”
Alderwoman Rita Worthington said it would give the Common Council “a bad look” if the funding weren’t used for Prospect Street,, which is in need of repaving, a project that can’t begin until the sewer work is completed.
“We understand that we had been asking for some of the streets to be paved but they could not because of the sewer work,” said Worthington. “You definitely do not want to pave over some streets and dig it up again.”
Demolition of the Planet Wings building is a part of a project to realign the nearby intersection of Broadway, Pine Grove Avenue, Grand Street and Prince Street. The city purchased the property for $450,000 in July 2019 after it had been closed since February 2017.
Alderman Steven Schabot, who is also chair of the Community Development Committee, explained that the city needed to use funding from the Community Development Block Grant or it might be “penalized” in the future.
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