The Halfmoon town board wants to tap into the town’s most visible natural resources the Mohawk and Hudson rivers.
The board signed off on an ambitious Waterfront Visioning Plan that was presented at a public hearing at the Tuesday, Aug. 21, meeting.
Nelson Ronsvalle, a grant coordinator with the town, gave a presentation on the background and recommendations of the waterfront vision.
The project started last year when the town obtained state grants to contract town engineers Clough, Harbour and Associates to assist in developing a vision for how to improve both of the town’s riverfronts.
The first work the group set about to do was to identify what issues they wanted to address as part of a visioning plan,` Ronsvalle said. `The group came up with a set of recommendations or objectives that they’d like to see as part of any future development that takes place on the riverfront. This really is in essence the core of their work.`
Among the recommendations made were improving historic preservation, protecting the waterfronts as a community resource and improving public access to the rivers.
The plan separates both rivers into three sections, each with a different development focus.
For the northern end of the Hudson, the group suggested a mixed-use waterfront community that could serve as a gateway to the town. Similar recommendations were made for the eastern segment of the Mohawk, where the group recommended the development of a visitor’s center.
Other recommendations for the eastern end of the Mohawk were to develop fishing access areas, parking areas and con-tinue the dock permit program.
The group recommended developing the middle segment of the Hudson River as an activity center with restaurants and other businesses, as well as continuing the multi-use trail near the river. Ronsvalle called this area a jumping off point for some of the recommended recreational uses.
`I feel that this plan complements the town comprehensive plan,` Henrietta O’Grady, the town’s trails committee chairwoman, said. `It also provides what the public has requested, and that is more access to the rivers, while at the same time it is very sensitive to the historic character of some of the neighborhoods and the historic sites on the rivers.`
Councilman Jim Bold also voiced his support for the plan.
`It’s bringing us back on the map and it’s really gratifying as members of the board and community to see not only the river cleaned up, to see the shoreline and access points,` Bold said. `To see the people sitting there having a coffee and enjoying the action on the river, five or 10 years ago you didn’t see that.`
Ronsvalle said the next step in the project is to secure grants to make the recommendations a reality.
`I’ve had an opportunity to talk to some of the grant-making organizations in the state and they were very complimentary of the town having taken this step of really creating this kind of plan and really trying to set a blueprint for the future,` Ronsvalle said. `This was the easy part.` “