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| May 05, 2024 |
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General News: Residents Voice Concerns About Riverfront
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| The river was once the center of village activity |
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| The Seaman's Chapel sits on village land |
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| The view from Donahue Memorial Park |
October 20, 2006
The development of the village riverfront brought out some strong opinions, and even some harsh remarks, on Wednesday evening at the first public hearing about what, if any, action should be taken to enhance usage of the area.
Frank Vogel spoke first, denouncing the idea of building a boating pier that would require tax dollars to maintain yet benefit only a handful of boat owners. “The rest of the people, like myself, who don’t own boats, we’re going to be paying for it and not getting any use out of it,” he told the Riverfront Revitalization Committee, which had organized the hearing to solicit public input. “This is not fair to senior citizens that are on strictly limited incomes," he said.
Others among the group of 20 or so residents in attendance agreed with Vogel about not making changes. Bridget Flynn said that she didn’t want to see the commercialism that has sprung up along Newburgh’s riverfront.
“Why do you want to make any changes? I want the village people to have the freedom of the river the way we have it now,” she said, making a comment that was shared by many in the room. When asked if she had any suggestions, Flynn mentioned cleaning up along the river’s edge and making a ‘nice dock.” Another woman pointed to the lack of bathroom facilities.
John Wenz, the chairman of the Riverfront Revitalization Committee, told people several times that the committee was not pushing changes but rather looking for direction from the public about what should be done. “We came to hear everybody’s opinion of what they want to see“ he said.
A boater, Eric Bicknese, talked about his disappointment when he discovered that the local yacht club was not part of the municipality when he moved here five years ago. He proposed creating a mooring field south of the yacht club where boaters could drop anchor and come into the village for a meal. Referring to a recommendation of the Village Master Plan Committee, he said “the village will never be a destination if you don’t open the back door.”
George Burger suggested looking into having a connection between the yacht club and the village that would help both entities. The yacht club faces a huge jump in its tax bill this year and the idea of working with the club to address issues of boater access to the river was mentioned several times. Chairman Wenz noted that the yacht club did not send a representative to the hearing and that he hoped one would be present at the next session on October 26.
Deke Hazirjian said that he believes that the riverfront is underutilized. “All summer long I expect to see people, boats, swimming, playing, using it, and they’re not,” he observed. “Our children can benefit from improvements. They can learn to sail, learn to kayak, and windsurf. “ John Wenz noted at that point “maybe we wouldn’t have so many kids skateboarding out front of the school if they had something to do at the riverfront.”
Hazirjian also favored working with the yacht club to enhance access to the river without raising taxes. “I think it is something this community can aspire to,” he said, “it’s not going to cost that much money.”
The topic of preserving the historic Seaman’s chapel that sits on village property was raised by Joe Gross, who also spoke about making the whole park more welcoming and about exploring other sections of village-owned land. The Seaman’s chapel is currently used for storage by the yacht club. Gross also proposed a riverfront shelter and the installation of racks for kayaks and small boats.
By the end of the meeting, more and more practical suggestions were voiced and Wenz says now that he is optimistic that the process will move ahead.
“We’re going to add more of these meetings,” he said later, “in addition to the two already scheduled. After the first of the year we will compile the list of these proposas and make a cost benefit analysis to present to the community. “
The next public hearings are scheduled for Thursday, October 26 at 7 p.m. and Friday, November 3 at 1 p.m. in the Village Hall.
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