Town of Red Hook Town Board
Public Hearing Central Hudson Meeting
July 27, 2005

A public hearing pursuant to Article 2 of the Eminent Domain Procedures Law of the State of New York, the Town Board of the Town of Red Hook held a public hearing at the Red Hook Town Hall Wednesday August 3, 2005 to inform the public and review the public use to be served by condemnation of certain parcels of real property located in the Town of Red Hook and owned by Central Hudson Gas and Utility Company with the following in attendance:

Supervisor – Marirose Blum Bump
Councilman – James Ross
Councilwoman – Sue Crane
Councilwoman – Jean Bordewich
Councilman – Harold Ramsey
Town Clerk – Margaret E. Doty

Also present: Deputy Supervisor William O’Neill, Environmental Conservation Attorney Joel Sachs and approximately 100 residents.

Supervisor Blum Bump opened the public hearing at 7:18 p.m. by welcoming everyone and reading a copy of the legal notice.

Supervisor Blum Bump explained the procedure for anyone wishing to express their views. Everyone would be given three minutes to express his or her view the sign up sheet was available for those wishing to do so. Everyone was instructed to come forward to use the microphone stating their name and address.

Supervisor Blum Bump said over 30 years ago Central Hudson using eminent domain to purchase a large section of Red Hook land at that time they said the land was needed to serve the public. I’m asking you the Town of Red Hook put this land back in service to the public rather than being sold using the legal right of eminent domain if necessary. We need to protect this land because our farm protection program is threatened by the sale of it we need to insure open space will remain open we need to protect our wetlands for our water supply need to prevent development in this strategic corridor. This is part of our open space and trail plan as there is a proposed trail for the Town of Red Hook and also need to expand our recreation facilities for the Town and for the school district and sport field.

This purchase has been supported by all our advisory committees. Have received many letters and e-mails in support of this being very positive.

Deputy Supervisor O’Neill gave a brief summary of how this came about. Back in February the Town received notice from landowners in the northern part of the Town about lands being surveyed on Central Hudson right away. This started out as 29 parcels, 353 acres a right away owned by Central Hudson from the 1960 to be used for putting up power lines if there had ever been a development of generating power plant.

Met with Central Hudson on February 15th. They wanted to sell all 353 acres 29 parcels by the end of the year 2005. On March 1st the Town Board voted to begin the negotiations to purchase these lands from Central Hudson-parcels nos. 1-12, 9G to Town of Milan. In the mean time the Town Board met with other interested agencies and establish partnership, the DEC and Scenic Hudson was interested in the parcels west of 9G. This goes near the Tivoli Bays.

In March the Town had an appraisal done by Peter Hubble. On April 29th after the appraisal was done the Town Board made an offer to Central Hudson for 1.4 million to purchase 1-12 parcels subject to a public referendum. This offer was rejected by Central Hudson.

On May 3rd the next offer we made was 1.6 million and again Central Hudson said this was too low. May 10th we made an offer of 1.75 million for the parcels 1-12. On May 17th Central Hudson again rejected our offer as insufficient. The Town than offered 1.9 million which is the highest the Town could offer for these parcels.

During June on the recommendation of our Advisory Committees the parcels 9, 10& 11, that these parcels could be used for recreation and trails. We could extend a trail all along the right away. The Town made an offer for parcel 1-entrance way for trails and 9, 10 & 11 for recreation. If we purchased these parcels than we would work with Central Hudson and try to obtain a trail easement on the remaining parcels. The Town voted to offer $750,000 for these 4 parcels - June 17th it was denied. On June 21st the Board voted to offer $765,000 and in that letter with this offer Central Hudson was informed we may proceed with eminent domain. Central Hudson was than informed about our public meeting here tonight where to take all the land, portions of the land or more of the land and that’s where we stand.

Joel Sachs, Environment Council for the Town of Red Hook whom he has represented for the past 15 or 20 years… The acquisition of lands for park purposes, recreation purposes, trails, open space and wetland protection certainly are valid public purposes and under the law the Town can acquire the land by negotiation and if this fails the Town has the right to condemn these lands or acquire these lands by a very complex set of procedure known as the eminent domain procedure. The laws set down by the state and the procedures we must follow. This first step was the holding of this public hearing tonight the purpose is to hear from the residents of the Town whether they believe the proposed acquisition of some or all of these lands of Central Hudson is in the benefit of the Town, whether it serves the public purpose, that the Town should proceed to do and under the law the Town Board has to make a finding under this issue and what would make the impact of acquiring these lands on the environment and the impact on the residents themselves. The Town Board may decide to close the public hearing for another session. If the Town Board closes the hearing they have three options. Number 1- they can proceed to condemn all the parcels the Supervisor read or number 2 – they can condemn some of the parcels or, number 3 – they can decide not to condemn any of the parcels that are the subject of the hearing. In the first two cases condemn or some of the parcels the members of the Town Board have already stated they should not be making the final decision but the final decision should be made by the voters of Red Hook by a public referendum and this referendum could be held the same time as the general election in November or held at another time depending on the decision of the Town Board.

Chairman Recreation Commission Douglas Strawinski said we would like to use part of this land for recreation. We have walked this tract of land and it would be ideal for a rec. park. These tracts of land are off of Route 9 and Vosburgh Road. The present Rec. park is busting at its seams so what we are trying to do is to find another place to build some more fields, expand the trails etc. We would like to put in a baseball field, Little League field, 4 soccer fields as that program itself has 500 kids. Would like a couple of parking lots and adequate space for future development. We continue to grow and we do need additional space so we as the committee would like to see it expand.

Susan Ellis, Conservation Advisory Council said the Advisory Council is in strong support of the Town Board action to acquire ownership of the entire Central Hudson corridor right-of-way property from the Milan line to Route 9G through the process of eminent domain.

The question is do we simply ignore the plans we have made and officially adopted for open space preservation, trails and recreational facilities for our young? Our Master Plan, Open Space Plan and Trail Plan are all official Town policy and have been given overwhelming support by the public.

Farms, trails, recreation and open space are the public purposes these lands can serve, it is essential to start the process immediately and allow a public referendum that will let the people vote on this critical matter of interest to everyone in the Town.

Ruth Oja Chairperson of the Town Trails Committee…we urge the Town Board to use its power of eminent domain to buy the entire Central Hudson right-of-way corridor now for sale. Because of its varied topography, its mix of fields and woods the length and the openness of the right-of-way, it is a piece of property that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in Red Hook.

The Town Board should realize the impact their choice will have on the Town and should move to make sure they do not let this opportunity pass, losing the economic recreational and open space possibilities it offers. The Town Board should act decisively to start the process of eminent domain and let the public vote.

Robert McKeon, Chairman of Agricultural and Open Space Advisory Committee…I want to talk about the stretch of farm land between Guski Rose and Route 9. These farms are Linden Farm, Doriedale Farm and the Greig Farm. These great farms constitute about 1000 acres known as the bread basket of Dutchess County, some of the best soils. Some of this farm land is protected; Linden Farm protected over 200 acres by Scenic Hudson and the county. We have protected 10 farms in the Town of Red Hook and only two of them required a contribution from the Town of Red Hook. These people have a right to farm these parcels and to keep it open. This has been kept open for agriculture for 300 years so we have to protect the farmlands.

Craig Vogel member of the Agricultural and Open Space Advisory Committee… the maps speak for themselves on the different characteristics of the lands, the soil wetlands, which way the water is flowing, roads their essential usage the land has. A lot of people have put time and effort in preserving open space and farm lands and we are going to continue doing this in the Town so the next step is condemnation.

Beth Mead member of the Agricultural and Open Space Advisory Committee…as a farmer working to save as much farmland as possible from development I advocate conserving the section of the corridor from Route 9G to Route 9. I think it would be better to use a means of lesser intensity than eminent domain. I urge you to consider this potential hazard to Red Hook’s agriculture. Preserving farms is the policy of the Town spelled out in the Open Space plan. We have an immediate opportunity to put this policy into practice. It would be wise to study every means of avoiding this situation and save eminent domain as a last resort.

Supervisor Blum Bump read a list of names of people supporting or not supporting the purchase of these lands.

Jennifer & George Odlum, Amy Shein, Joanne & Adam Prziworski, Katy Walsh, Hazel Westley, Barbara & Richard Rizzulo, Johanna Moore, Shelia Lynch, Scenic Hudson and Douglas Molett.

Supervisor Blum Bump opened the floor for public comment period reminding all that they had 3 minutes with Sue McCann Deputy Town Clerk as timekeeper.

Linda Keeling 238 Pitcher Lane….

If we have trails at Rec. park I wish you would adhere to Americans with Disabilities Architectural guidelines.

Farmland should remain in production through farmers repurchasing "taken" land or PDR.

Support Open Space initiatives. Board should address the following:

A-cost analysis of Rec. Park & Trail over 10 yrs for acquisition and maintenance-compare to housing development as it relates to road & services to fund these developed areas including school cost.

B-cost per present household for bonding over the same time frame.

C- the potential savings in cost avoidance over time

4- Board needs to be more specific in detail of the proposed use or uses of the properties to be condemned.


Robert Persky, 197 Starbarrack Road…a retiree would like to see the land remain open. We would like to see the open space as that makes Red Hook special. I support condemnation.

Richard Franklin, 95 Manor Road… I believe in open spaces, the Planning and Zoning Boards doing its job by putting in its proper restrictions and easements don’t have to go through the expenses of condemnation. Condemnation is not guaranteed if it goes to court. There is better ways of doing this as it could cost millions. I am sure there are better properties available so we could put in the fields we so desperately need. Legal cost, lawyers, court fee etc. could run 3 million dollars. I don’t support condemnation unless it is the last resort.

Larry Thetford, 229 Spring Lake Road…agriculture has been and still is the number one single industry in the state of New York. Agriculture in the Hudson Valley and Red Hook still remains a viable and stable entity. However agriculture is not an 8 to 5, 5 days a week business entity and because of that is why we have the Right to Farm Law to protect these farmers from nuisance complaints. We in Red Hook must protect and encourage these few remaining farms in our area. I strongly urge any and every means to save and protect that farmland that we have.

Tom Burns, 290 Starbarrack Road… I own parcels on both sides of Central Hudson and heard they wanted to put trails in and than I heard they would be putting in a parking lot. All I want is to protect my lands.

Ralph Choinsky, 538 Budd Corners Road…I own 35 acres near 9G. 17 acres of land was bought from my family by Central Hudson and I am desperate to buy it back. I would like to restore and beautify it. I wouldn’t mind the trails going through my property.

Drayton Grant, Ralph Choinsky’s lawyer….We are in contract to buy back the land from Central Hudson, we have already signed the contract and now it seems you are going to do the same thing taking the property by eminent domain and we would like you to consider that as you go forward.

Establishing a trail network through the land, we would be very happy to work that out.

Whatever you are going to do we ask you do it fast because we are just hanging as nobody knows what they can do until you decide. This family feels it would be great to have their land back.

Laurie Husted, 46 Cambridge Drive…I support that we go to condemnation.

Mark Meritt, 41 Fraleigh Street…we strongly support the Town of Red Hook’s decision to consider initiating eminent domain proceeding to take Central Hudson land originally sold to them for a public purpose.

Susan & John Pelosi, 48 Old Post Road…strongly support the preservation of open land.

Laurie DeCiutiis, 135 Starbarrack Road…I would like the Town of Red Hook to buy the Central Hudson lands to keep open space, support our farmers and to keep the rural character of the Town. If a public referendum is needed, I encourage all to vote for one.

Amy Shein, 105 Kelly Road…My husband and I support the purchase of Central Hudson lands for the purpose of open space, outdoor recreation space that is an important aspect of county living.

Brian Williams, 32 Oriole Mills Road…Red Hook already has a soccer field near the Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Rhinebeck has taken it over, but it is a recreation area. I do want to see open land here, but we don’t own the land Central Hudson does and a strip of land be open real estate, apparently no one has been before the planning board or the Agricultural Committee. The Town should take this land.

Eric Bickmann, 58 Firestone Drive, Fishkill, representing Central Hudson…The negotiable difference here as I see it is difference in value. The Town’s appraiser said it was worth 1.9 public market deemed the value as 2.4 million, Central Hudson feels it has a responsibility to its stock holders and like any homeowner or landowner you want the highest dollars. The Town has a right to come in and will they prevail in court for 2 to 3 years at your expense to give Central Hudson 500,000 less than the fair market value. You hired an appraiser who set it at 1.9 million, we took 3 million to the market and the real estate market said it was worth 2.4 million. Central Hudson would have sold the property to the Town in a heartbeat which would have been one transaction not nine but the Town had a limit. When Central Hudson purchased this real estate it was not taken in eminent domain it was purchased and many of the parcels had cultivation rights already established.

Cheryl Hilbrandt, 18 North Road Tivoli…I have been in contract with Central Hudson, I feel disappointed that it’s no longer just an issue with Central Hudson our bid was accepted before the Town made a decision to go after the land. Can anyone in the Town feel secure their land will not be taken for trails or open space? Eminent domain should be a last resort.

Richard Hilbrandt, 18 North Road Tivoli…we are in contract with Central Hudson. I am favor of farmland. The area that you want really isn’t good for soccer fields you already have soccer fields on Rockefeller Lane so why don’t you take that lands.

Robert Brower, Moose Pond Lane…great opportunity for the Town. Have a problem with the PDR program, if this distracts from that program. I think this is a wrong move. I hope this doesn’t interfere with the PDR program.

Frank Migliorelli, 115 Linden Ave, Linden Farm which we farmed for 35 years. Central Hudson property gave us two paths 50 ft. north & south which we used for our machine’s for agriculture.

John Griffin, 4737 Route 9G…I will vote against anything that has to do with eminent domain. I don’t think it is the right approach and I think Planning, Zoning and PDR is the right approach and prefer seeing this land going to my neighbors on Route 9G and Tivoli.

Rick Willigan, 153 Williams Road…living in Red Hook about 13 years and purchased the land from David’s Island. Would like you to know parcels 13-14-15 have been omitted from this map. Private development is everyone’s right but if unchecked I can assure you it will very much effect the character of our landscape.

Harry Colgan, 30 Clay Hill Road Tivoli…Have a problem with Central Hudson- as public utility, they have a public responsibility to the public. They should be dealing with us as a neighbor. I also feel we should nurture our community we need to do whatever is necessary to take control of this land put it in the hands of people to expand our resources in Town, give to the farmers, to restore their property, get the trails we should have and a more favorable tax rate in the future and nurture the heart of our bread basket that runs right through our prime farmland.

Vicky Perry, 62 Old Post Road…In favor of the Town preserving our farmlands, will be investing in our future. I have children involved in the soccer programs which are basically maxed out. As far as the Rec Park goes that is ready for expansion so I hope that Town will look to building those new fields. The DEC is not going to come in and help us so we want to preserve this area, we’ve go to do it. You may want to look at negotiating again with Central Hudson. As far as eminent domain we have to keep in mind that Central Hudson was concerned about their position and responsibility only when they were selling they were not concerned with the original farm owners when they used eminent domain.

Susan & John Pelosi, 48 Old Post Road….they do support the Town in eminent domain.

John MacDonald, Rhinebeck…this is an environment issue. Now is the time to buy this strip of land as we need agricultural lands as development has to stop.

Natalie LaBossier, 145 Echo Valley Road… my son and daughter are very much involved in recreation. Chose Red Hook for the quality of life for our children and don’t want to see development on the land.

Laurie Lovice, 29 Lavender Ridge Road…wholeheartedly support the open space and farming.

Kathy Stewart, 162 Spring Lake Road… I also support the Town to acquire this land by eminent domain. I also feel when Central Hudson negotiated with the residents for their land and at that time the people knew there was a threat of eminent domain hanging over their heads. The real estate market is flattening out so I think they would be wise to take the good bid from the Town while it is still there. Not only does Central Hudson look to sell to the highest bidder they look to us to pay the school taxes for this highest bidder so they are doing this to us twice, once by what they are doing to our land and second taking all their profit and getting out of Town leaving us with all the taxes.

Mark Levine, 252 Nevis Road Tivoli…contracted with Central Hudson for parcel #10 and I am firmly in support of an easement, would be a benefit to the property. What I want to do is build a couple of nice houses on Vosburgh Road. I think we can all work together without eminent domain as this is a dangerous thing.

Gale Knull, 100 Manor Road…I am not for more taxes and I am not for eminent domain. I am confused as first you wanted all the land, than some of the land. Second of all to use this buy for recreational properties doesn’t float. For ten years we’ve known we needed more Rec. land and have looked at other properties. I don’t see how you can think that this would be good for recreation purposes so take it off your agenda just because this is a sports minded community. You can’t keep taking property off the tax rolls as who is going to bear the burden of that, we the taxpayer.

Norman Greig, 223 Pitcher Lane…my family has been farming some of that Central Hudson property for 60 years. We were granted the right of way use of that property. Now the Central Hudson right of way is being sold and the timing of it is unfortunate as it is the time when the land is very valuable as it is right now.

When I first heard about eminent domain I was opposed to it as I was concerned about my taxes. Right now I am also concerned about additional houses as every new house costs all of us more money. I am now in favor of eminent domain as I think the Town can do it without it costing a lot of money. This is an opportunity to buy the land cheaper an opportunity to take the development rights off the land and sell to neighboring landowners.

Kim Barkie, 59 West Market Street… This land that Central Hudson owns was described in the trails plans running from east to west, it would give people in Upper Red Hook access to the Hudson River which the Town desperately needs. We are talking about hiking, biking, walking for health if this trail is allowed to be developed. If the Board has to act on eminent domain than it should be a vote and let the public decide and needs to be purchased in its entirety.

Michael Rohatyn, 199 Feller Newmark Road…I find it incredible that a giant utility would not see the merit of taking a 25% reduction in order to reward a community an act of good faith and not squeeze the Town on an issue like this. The Town Board is now in a position that you have to act now, let the public decide with a vote.

Brad Howland, 14 Willard Road…I would like to point out that the soccer program is self supporting, we do not get funding from the Town. This year we have even taken on 3 or 4 children who can’t pay. Take a look at the recreation area we do have we are way out of portion with 500 children we run the equivalent of 4 or 5 soccer fields. With privilege Norman Greig has given us to lease the land and maintain it on our own, I thank you very much. Give the community the right to vote on this as a referendum.

Supervisor Blum Bump asked Brad Howland if this land was suitable for ball fields and soccer fields.

Mr. Howland’s reply was that is not ideal, but given our choices.

Councilwoman Bordewich… I understand Mr. Howland you lease the current land and pay all the cost for this.

Mr. Howland reply was yes and local businesses sponsoring the teams.

Councilwoman Bordewich asked how many acres are you leasing.

Brad said they are currently leasing 15 ½ acres. The fields now are being used constantly, after 3 years on a field it wears out. We rotate and change the wear pattern. The Red Hook Rec. Commission is looking into this. We need to find something long term.

John Kuhn, Recreation Director said if you acquire the property the next step in the process you have a design to maximize the use, there is a natural separation in the land that could be used for picnic area, playground areas as well. You would have the parking on both ends and it is a multiple use site not just for a baseball or soccer field.

I have spent many years researching and looking for land for Rec. purposes and not found any land for sale.

Supervisor Blum Bump asked John to explain the needs assessment that was done on the Recreation Park in1994.

John Kuhn….we have a 30 acre park with parking lots on both ends; two softball fields, baseball, tennis courts, football, snack bar, playground, pavilion and bathrooms. All very positive things but expansion is necessary. Parking is a huge problem ingress and egress. The needs assessment was that we should do further development of our park and look for another area to develop so we have been looking for this other site.

Supervisor Blum Bump asked when was the last time we purchased land for our recreation.

Councilman Ross said we bought land from the pool for $80,000 as we had first leased the land than we bought it so now we own and maintain it.

Councilwoman Crane just wanted to be assured if we go to court on this we need to defend that we are taking this land because it is a public need for recreation as Recreation Commission has looked at and not found that land.

John Kuhn replied that there are no 30 acre parcels of land that meet our needs.

Councilman Ross…I was very much in favor of purchasing the property when it first came up as I thought it would meet our recreation needs, our trail needs as well as satisfying some homeowners for the proper price. When it comes to condemnation I really haven’t heard too many in favor of it and I don’t know if we should take that step of condemnation.

Councilman Ramsey… I have always been a strong supporter of the Rec. programs and the Rec. Park and youth programs. I know we need more rec. land and must continue to look for them. I have also been a strong supporter of farmlands and controlled growth in the Town. I supported the purchase of Central Hudson property for Recreation but at this time I agree with Jim I don’t feel the Town should go forward with eminent domain at this time. I’ve hear a number of needs out here tonight, farmland, open space and trails but without specific needs I don’t think we should go forward and I have a lot more questions before we proceed with this, particularly the financial questions.

Councilwoman Bordewich…I am trying to access what everyone said tonight before coming to a conclusion. I am still open to hearing more arguments. I think it is very easy to say no I think it is harder to say yes and go through all the work to make it happen. If you look ahead 30 years I don’t want to look back and say we didn’t have the patience to go through the process and lost the opportunity. I think we do have to assess each parcel as there are residents who want to do good things with their purchase from Central Hudson.

We talked and we responded to Central Hudson who had a very tight deadline. We tried but there is still more work to be done the land for recreation is it in the right place, does it have the right access does the land need work, what would be the cost, these are all questions we need answered.

There is a law that allows the Town to use eminent domain to take land from private individuals but Central Hudson is not a private individual. I would be reluctant to take from an individual. For 30 or more years Central Hudson had use of these lands.

I think we would be missing an important opportunity not to proceed with the additional work to be done, parcel by parcel what the best use of this land is in public interest and how we go about making that happen. My own goal originally was we would not have land that the Town owns rather we would end up with the farm parcels, trail easements, conservation easements on them and private individuals to own the property.

As far as the recreation lands go the Recreation Commission came to us and said this parcel is great so I think we should pursue this. Eminent domain is not a major issue for me.

Councilwoman Crane said there are questions I would like to resolve with our attorney. If we take the land we will be taking from private citizens who have put down money made a deposit to Central Hudson in good faith. We in fact are taking away their rights to purchase that property. If we are going to do that we have to be up front and say yes we are willing to take it away from private citizens. Can we purchase parcels from Central Hudson and than decide to sell it back to the private citizens if we proceed with eminent domain. This is a big question and I’m not ready to go to eminent domain until we have a clearer understanding if we can legally do this proposed maneuver. This is not going to be a cheap proposal. I need to sit down with our attorney and thrash out these questions. I support farming, trails and recreation. I would like to see a proposal from the soccer committee so we would have more understanding of their needs if you have 500 children how many are from Red Hook. How can the Town support this program, these are questions we need answered.

Supervisor Blum Bump…previous to the Central Hudson land offer we have to protect our needs for the Town, we must protect our water supply, our aquifer and wetlands. We want recreation space for our kids to play but recreation program has increased in size over 30 years. We have invested time and monies in the preservation of farmlands and this particular piece of property undermines our farm protection program. We also know this is a place where we don’t want residential development. The Master Plan, a program for growth and development and work very hard to put that growth and development, residential and commercial in the southern part of the Town close to the Village. We have defined where we want our dense growth to be.

Central Hudson said they wanted these properties sold by the end of the year, so we had to work very quickly. I can’t see very many arguments against the purchase of this development that fit into the Town’s use. There is a process that we go through to make these determinations. We have been working since the beginning of the year and have done extensive research. Our advisory committees worked very hard and the input of the citizens has been great. I have received hundreds of communications on this subject from the citizens. This piece of property fits very nicely we have 5 parcels of wetlands. We have the right to define what kind of a community we want to be. Survey after survey shows that the people want to preserve, open spaces, farmlands, wetlands, recreation and we have a great recreation park. Those needs were met long before Central Hudson.

I believe the Town Board should do all the investigation it needs, give all the residents and taxpayers the answers they need than we should vote to put it before all the residents and taxpayers so they can vote and make the correct decision. So I am for following through on this process.

Eric Bickmann…The Board, Central Hudson and I worked very hard to try to establish a solution that met everybody’s needs. Central Hudson recognized it could accept prices on parcels where we were not in binding contracts. Central Hudson did try to find a solution. We did our appraisal in addition.

There are now 10 parties involved here and those are 9 parties who are interested in buying these parcels, 7 are buying their backyards and protecting them for their purposes, 2 of them are not and this represents 19 acres we are talking about 6 lots in a 3 acre zoning, we are not talking about a developer coming in and buying 200 acres and dividing it into 70 lots and stringing it across a 5 mile tract of land.

I ask the Board to make as best a decision that they can because of nine people whose lives are stopped completely on hold, as they are committed to Central Hudson.

There are a lot of acres here in Red Hook so we should be able to find a 40 acre parcel for recreation.

We haven’t gone out for developers we’ve contacted the property owners who want this land. I encourage you to make this decision as soon as possible as 9 people’s lives are on hold.

Susan Elias, upper Red Hook…maybe we could accommodate these 9 people. I just want to say that I am bowled over with Central Hudson as here is a community with tremendous needs the environment, farmlands and they are saying we want our $500,000. I wonder what the share holder of Central Hudson would think about the whole thing.

Attorney Sachs said you can take as much time as you want for a vote. The only way you are going to have a referendum held is three of the five Town Board members support the condemnation of some or all the parcels that were listed in the legal notice. You just can’t vote to have a referendum the referendum by the voters to see whether they approve what the majority of the Town Board decided in a resolution. If three of you don’t vote in condemning some of the parcels than it never goes to referendum.

Supervisor Blum Bump said we did discuss having the vote at the general election, what time frame is needed.

Attorney Sachs said you would need to have an affirmative vote of three Town Board members before September 1st of this year as you have to vote to hold a referendum 60 days before the actual referendum if you want to have it for the general election and not expend the money on a separate referendum you would have to have that vote by end of August.

Councilman Ramsey said he would like to contact these nine landowners and discuss easements and trails with them.

Councilwoman Bordewich we will want to discuss this as we just got the list of owners tonight.

Mr. Burns said he wants to keep his 4 ½ acres of land forever green. There are 2 ¾ acres of DEC wetlands with a 100 foot buffer. I never intend to build or do anything with this land.

Attorney Sachs said Mr. Burns you are willing to commit the land will be forever green and your will to give the Town an easement, and if the Town know it’s going to be protected that’s a very good reason for them not to pursue condemnation.

After much discussion the following motion was passed.

Motion by Councilwoman Bordewich, seconded by Councilwoman Crane closing the public hearing on review and condemnation on certain parcels at 10:40 p.m. and accepting communications from the public until September 6, 2005.

Supervisor Blum Bump - Yes
Councilman Ross - Yes
Councilwoman Crane - Yes
Councilwoman Bordewich - Yes
Councilman Ramsey - Yes

Supervisor Blum Bump thanked everyone for coming.

Town Clerk, Margaret E. Doty