During the economic downturn, the board had sharply cut the fee developers and businesses pay in lieu of providing the required number of parking spaces in an effort to promote more development. Now, the town cannot meet the parking needs in its business areas.
As Woodstock continues to be a popular summer weekend destination, homeowners are cashing in on the short-term rental boom through such sites as Airbnb. That poses more quality-of-life issues as townsfolk clash with revelers. “We really don’t want to interfere with what’s been a Catskills tradition for years. But this idea of renting out for a big party. That’s something new. It appears to work fine if you’re just renting out a room.”
Panza plans to keep a watchful eye on the planned solar array to be installed at the wastewater treatment plant. Though the array would reduce the town’s energy consumption, helping it to be more environmentally friendly, Panza has some concerns about OnForce Solar, the company awarded the contract. After five months, the company has little to show in progress and has a dubious credit history, according to Panza.
Cooper Lake will continue to be an issue, despite Niagara Bottling Company’s abandonment of a plan to draw massive amounts of water from the lake for a bottling plant in the town of Ulster. The town is working on an aquifer protection district and is consulting with a lawyer to defend its rights to have a say on Cooper Lake. The water body is a city of Kingston water supply but is in the town of Woodstock.
“The immediate danger went away, but we need to get actively involved in that,” Panza said.
Laura Ricci
Laura Ricci, the deputy supervisor (an appointed, non-voting position) is running for her first term as a Town Board member so she can make a more productive contribution. “I sit at the able but I don’t have a vote,” said Ricci, who has attended nearly every meeting in her two and a half years as deputy supervisor, even chairing meetings in Supervisor Jeremy Wilber’s absence.
Ricci has two stepsons, David and Vic, a stepdaughter, Jenn and two step grandchildren, Xavier and Gabriella. Ricci’s boyfriend, Tom MacDonald, is her campaign manager. Her husband, Gerry, died in 2010.
Besides the role of deputy supervisor, Ricci has served on the Planning Board for four years and was unanimously elected Woodstock Democratic Committee chair.
I feel like I’ve gotten the right background and experience,” said Ricci. “I think I bring to the table the experience of what’s going on with the town.”
Ricci said she agrees “100 percent” with recent comments by Planning Board Chairman John LaValle that the payment in lieu of parking spaces needs to be increased above the current $100 because developers know they can add more cars to the street for $100 per space.
Ricci said more should be done to make sure those who are not as mobile or physically able can traverse the town’s sidewalks, which she said “can be a little scary.” She said the town also needs more crosswalks, particularly near the library and town hall.
Ricci said she can use her skills as a professional project manager to make sure contractors are held accountable for project, citing the solar array as an example.
Recently the Town Board called a meeting with OnForce Solar because it had been five months since the solar array contract was awarded and the town has had no progress updates. “We need to have a milestone plan,” Ricci said of the project. “They need to be communicating with us.”
Ricci hopes to work with Councilman Jay Wenk on developing an aquifer protection district to preserve the town’s watershed and defend the town’s interests in case another proposal like Niagara Bottling comes to light.
She also wants to use her experience on the Planning Board to clean up outdated language in the zoning laws, particularly in the town’s four commercial districts. “We can go even further with making sure things are right. It can be confusing. We can clean things up,” she said.
The proposed 2016 budget provides more funding for planning consultants, in large part to handle an increase in applications, but also to help clean up the zoning language, she explained.
Jay Wenk
Jay Wenk said he’s running for re-election “because I love this job. I love Woodstock. My love for my home and this town just keeps growing. No matter what I’m doing it feels like I’m on vacation.”
Wenk has called Woodstock his home for 50 years and has two daughters, Emily, who lives in Los Angeles and Sarah in Brooklyn. He has a granddaughter, Megan and a grandson, Conor.
Born in Boston, Wenk grew up in Brooklyn and served in the Army in World War II. He lived in Greenwich Village after the war before moving to Woodstock.
Wenk touts as one of his big accomplishments the leveraging of homeowner cooperation and obtaining generous donations to get neglected and potential leaking underground heating oil tanks removed from property in Bearsville Flats before they posed a grave danger to the aquifer that supplies the municipal water system. Wenk said the aquifer is not in the clear yet. “The tanks were good but we’ve got to complete the job,” he said.
To that end, Wenk is working on the aquifer protection district and hopes to have recommendations for the Town Board by year’s end.
Wenk said he was successful at getting the Comeau Stewardship Advisory Committee set up as a separate body rather than “being subservient to the town.” He also drafted and sponsored resolutions adopted by the board banning drones except for recreational use and ensuring Woodstock will not have an armored police force and will refuse to accept surplus military equipment common in other police forces.
Wenk said he will continue to make the case for increasing town revenue, which can give the town resources to alleviate parking problems in its center.
He is in favor of charging for parking in the Mountain View lot off Rock City Road. The town’s other large lot off Mill Hill Road will likely bring in $50,000 this year and Wenk believes Mountain View has similar potential.
The money could then be used to maintain and expand parking in other parts of town. “It doesn’t affect Woodstockers in any negative way,” he said. “We all can get stickers.”
While the town charges $5 at the Mill Hill/Rock City lot, Woodstock residents can obtain a permit sticker at the Town Clerk’s office, allowing them to park free of charge.
With that revenue, the town can afford to hire someone to direct traffic at the busy intersection of Mill Hill and Rock City roads. The town had to eliminate the part-time position because of budget constraints.
Addressing some quality-of-life issues, he plans to advocate for more crosswalks in town and introduced to the Town Board a proposal to beef up parking signage at the Overlook Mountain trail and Millstream swimming hole, two areas where parking has posed safety hazards.
He is also working with Highway Superintendent Mike Reynolds on creating a foot path from the lower Comeau parking lot to the covered bridge near the former post office on Tinker Street.
Beyond that, Wenk said he has many other projects lined up, too numerous to mention here.
