The options range in cost from $1.75 million to $5.75 million, with baseline remodeling on one end and a complete teardown on the other.

CMRR, having lost its lease on the tracks between Phoenicia and Mount Tremper, is facing a Dec. 15 deadline for removal of its rolling stock from the Ulster County-owned rails. But it’s not easy to relocate tons of train cars when dealing with zoning regulations, floodplain requirements, and neighbors who oppose the storage of trains near their homes.

The rail trail design is moving forward after years of controversy and negotiation over the long, narrow piece of real estate that is the 38.5-mile Ulster and Delaware rail corridor, owned by Ulster County. While some attendees at a recent public meeting said the tracks should remain, the majority — hikers, cyclists, businesspeople, and members of local environmental organizations — expressed enthusiasm.

The public will have its first opportunity to see more detailed concepts for library expansion and ask the architects and planners questions at a 10 a.m. forum Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center, 56 Rock City Road, Woodstock.

When the lot is full, motorists park along Meads Mountain Rd., creating a dangerous situation. The number of visitors has risen nearly 70 percent in the last three years, according to the trail’s log book.

The issue of protecting water came to Cooper Lake with a demonstration in support of the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, where Native American tribes are protesting the construction of a natural gas pipeline which they say endangers their water supply.