The best source for local news from Marbletown, Rochester & Rosendale
Published the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month | Vol. 28, Issue 9
May 5, 2023 | $1.00
Preservation committee proposes land acquisition Purchase to be funded by Marbletown's new real estate transfer tax
Proposed extension of supervisor’s term hears strong public comment
Brooke Stelzer BSP Reporter The Marbletown Town Board meeting was held on Tuesday, May 2, at the Rondout Municipal Building in Cottekill, and streamed on Facebook Live. Board members present in person included Rich Parete, chairman and town supervisor, along with Tim Hunt, Don LaFera and Ken Davenport. Daisy Foote joined virtually. Dale Robbins, chairman of the Community Preservation Advisory Committee, along with Jonathan Bergman, Bill Merchant and Celia Lewis, presented an update on committee funds and future plans in the area. The CPF is funded by the real estate transfer tax (RETT), which was passed in November. The one-time tax is paid by the buyer and is computed at 1% of the portion of the sales price that exceeds the amount of the median cost of a home in Ulster County, currently $350,000. The RETT funds will then be used to acquire or preserve properties in the township, in partnership with conservation organizations, private donors and state agencies. From January to March, the fund acquired approximately $42,000 from the tax. The first quarter of 2023 included a notable real estate sale of over $2 million. “Our goal is to preserve community character, our priorities are creating public access to open space, for recreation, and also to conserve our cultural and natural resources in the town. So this has sort of been in the DNA of the town for a long time,” said Robbins. Upon reviewing the initial RETT funds from the first three months of the year, the CPF is making a recommendation to acquire the Osterhoudt Flats, on Cooper Street, Stone Ridge, near the intersection of routes 209 and 213. The parcel is a 97-acre meadow, split between approximately 47 acres of woodland and 50 acres of open meadows. The property is named for the Osterhoudt family, who settled in Stone Ridge in 1778 and have resided on the original farmstead that flanks both sides of Atwood Road, further north. The committee’s vision is to create a public space and nature preserve on the 97-acre property. Osterhoudt Flats has been on the market twice in the last few years. Recently, the Open Space Institute (OSI) agreed to an option for nine months on the property
Did you see the northern lights last week? PAGE 3
Board split on adding 4-year term to Nov. ballot Brooke Stelzer BSP Reporter
town gets a better idea of incoming revenue, whether it will be necessary to take out a loan, and if so, how much. The town would repay OSI the price they negotiated with owner in the option contract. “To be very clear, any borrowing that the Town might do will be paid back exclusively from the Community Preservation Fund, which gets its revenue from the real estate transfer tax, state grants and private donations,” said Robbins. “In our plans,
Resolution 48 was presented at Marbletown’s May 2 Town Board meeting – a resolution for a local law to have a ballot referendum this November to extend the supervisor's term from the current two years to four years. Town supervisor Rich Parete said, “This is basically the same law that we did four years ago to extend the highway superintendent’s and the town clerk's terms. If it's approved in November, the term will be four years. If it's not approved, then it will be two years, starting in January.” Public comment opened with Vincent Martello, a former town supervisor. “It's something I hadn't thought about since I was a supervisor. And I think it's an excellent idea. And I think it's an excellent idea for a number of reasons. Number one is that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever … a town supervisor with a part-time town board, and have the supervisor’s term be the shortest term of all the members of the board. When that person is ostensibly supposed to be the thread of continuity, you know, for the many projects and other things that the town addresses. I mean, when you think about projects like this, you talk about local laws, zoning changes, what have you. These are things that take a while to develop. They take an understanding. They take a shepherding through the process. And I think that the town supervisor needs that time to really develop those projects and see them through.” Laura Cunningham stated, “I don't think that there's really much of a learning curve if you're reelected.” She said that she is not in favor of a four-year term. Bill Terpening read a prepared statement, which said, in part: “I believe this resolution is an egregious power grab by the supervisor. If the supervisor was not running for office November 7th, only then would this proposal be neutral and less conscionable. Otherwise the degree of
See Land, page 10
See 4-year term, page 15
Osterhoudt Flats are currently used for growing hay and feed corn. The total parcel, an area of 97 acres, consists of 47 acres of woods and 50 acres of meadows, listed as tax parcel (SBL): 61.20-3-9.400 and owned by Claude Osterhoudt, Zoning District: R3, on Atwood/Cooper Road in Stone Ridge.
to take it off the market so that Marbletown would have time to figure out an acquisition and how to pay for it. In September of this year, after the nine-month period, OSI would buy the property for the town. [the town would not disclose the price at this time] A public hearing in June will allow the town board to vote on the decision to acquire the property. As Robbins explained in a statement to BSP on May 3, OSI is generously giving the town an interest-free period of three years to pay back the cost of the purchase while the
Baseball season in full swing in the valley PAGES 12 AND 13
Turtles operate on a different time scale PAGE 19