South Nyack Aftermath: No Minutes, and Many Months of Finger-Pointing Later

STORY AND PHOTO BY JANIE ROSMAN

While South Nyack Mayor Bonnie Christianโ€™s first year in office โ€” punctuated with her constituentsโ€™ rage and surprise โ€” was no honeymoon, her second year has been fraught with more challenges.

Last weekโ€™s announcement that the new bridgeโ€™s shared use bike and walk path would end in a residential neighborhood confirmed what some felt was a fait accompli early in 2014, when Christian and the South Nyack Task Force updated village trustees during a specially-calledย January 9ย meeting.

Street view of entrance from S. Broadway
Street view of entrance from S. Broadway

After nixing the stateโ€™s plan to end the path at Smith Avenue, the mayor decided โ€” and the task force agreed โ€” Cornelison Avenue and South Broadway was a better choice. โ€œThey (trustees) thought the idea โ€” keeping cars off village streets while maintaining the character and integrity of the historic village โ€” was plausible.โ€

So why was her announcement last week seen by some as a fait accompli?

โ€œThis is bigger than the village, and I feel the Rockland County Planning Board should be involved,โ€ Legislator Nancy Low-Hogan said. โ€œPerhaps thereโ€™s another egress, like Franklin Street. This is a county issue, too, so letโ€™s also involve town supervisors and village mayors.โ€

What really happened?

For starters, the task force reports to the village trustees and records no minutes, one member said, because itโ€™s not a government body. Residents have been asking for minutes to be kept and for more transparency so they know whatโ€™s being discussed on their behalf. Summations werenโ€™t enough, they said.

By early November, even task force member Connie Coker was surprised no date had been set and agreed residents could have been better informed. โ€œWe should have been more vigilant so residents know theyโ€™re being benefitted, and that weโ€™re not operating behind closed doors.โ€

Second, of the task forceโ€™s seven meetings, two were discussions about noise levels, โ€œso only five meetings were dedicated to the terminus,โ€ Christian said.

Third, only Christian, the task force, village trustees and project officials were privy to her idea. โ€œWe were thinking we could get something back for the village, and get something nice done,โ€ she said of the plans to relocate Village Hall and make the location into a parking lot. โ€œMaybe that could be one of the concepts.โ€

Onย March 20, the public weighed in. โ€œAbout 20 people spoke and said they hated it,โ€ Christian recalled of the meeting at Nyack College. โ€œWe hadnโ€™t done anything yet, it was just a concept, and we said we need to do something with Interchange 10.โ€

Unbeknown to the village, she said, one-third (7,000 square feet) of Robert Wisnerโ€™s property at 21 Cornelison Avenue was now state property through eminent domain proceedings. โ€œThat made it look like it was a done deal.โ€

Village officials asked the task force, which later added two more members, to devise new ideas. Project engineers, using 10 comparative locations, crafted intensive questionnaires and collected data for a parking demand study, while village officials were looking forward to seeing ideas for Interchange 10.

The summer and fall came and went.

โ€œThereโ€™s got to be some that just arenโ€™t going to work, and to use that as excuse that we have to go through every one of the 14 in front of us is absolutely ridiculous,โ€ John Cameron said at the village boardโ€™s October 14 meeting.

โ€œIโ€™m sure, John, that when it comes down to it, thereโ€™s probably three or four that theyโ€™re really looking at,โ€ Christian replied. โ€œIโ€™m with you folks, but I canโ€™t say that because they said theyโ€™re working on all 14.โ€

Residents blame the mayor and village officials for making a decision without their input, and the mayor points to project officials. โ€œThey kept telling me they need more time to study the concepts,โ€ Christian said. โ€œNow the state made a decision? That was appalling and outrageous.โ€

Given South Nyackโ€™s historic district, and the difficult and dangerous intersection that leads to the Thruway entrance, Christian said, โ€œso many things need to be looked at that wouldnโ€™t come to fruition. We hope the state works with us.โ€

Special project advisor Brian Conybeare maintained that the project team has โ€œbeen working collaboratively with South Nyack, its task force and other stakeholders for months on this issueโ€ and moved the shared use path once from Smith Avenue, a tiny dead-end street off Piermont Avenue, spending โ€œhundreds of thousands of dollars.โ€

The state sees no reason to opt for a plan that would cost taxpayers highly, only to find that it may have to be redone in the future once the village decides its plans for the Interchange, he reasoned. โ€œWhileย we will continue to work with the village on reasonable solutions, we also have a responsibility to protect taxpayers and tollpayers,โ€ he said.

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