Once upon a time, Mohican Indians and other natives hunted the land and fished its shores. Now Bethlehem residents can forgo the moccasins and hike, bike and trek their way across parkland in present-day Glenmont with a pair of Nikes.
On Wednesday, March 11, senior landscape architect Kathy Simmons of Clough Harbor and Associates updated the Bethlehem Town Board on transforming what was formerly known as Simmons Road Park into a nature preserve.
The board unanimously named the park, given to the town by the federal government, the Moh He Con Nuck Preserve.
The parcel itself is located at 45 River Road along its western edge, residential properties are along the northern side, the Hudson River along the eastern side and the Job Corps property is to the south, Simmons said.
The town has received a matching grant from Scenic Hudson, a not-for-profit organization that helps preserve open space in river communities, to upgrade the 53-acre plot of parkland for public access.
Simmons said a site analysis identified `several pockets of wetland` and that a `power line and utility pole bisect the site and go right down the middle.` She said the existing site has a lake, large knoll in the middle, a stand of evergreens 60-70 feet tall and some other `considerable topography.`
`There’s a steep slope that goes down to the river before you can get down to river access,` she told board members. `There’s about 130 feet of grade change between the high point of the site and the river’s edge.`
There are still some details to be worked out before trailblazing can begin, she said.
`While the parcel itself is 53 acres in size, it’s bisected by a strip of land believed still to be held by the Job Corps property,` Simmons said. `This section of land apparently is not owned by the town at this time. We have 50 acres and one parcel of approximately 3 acres, and we’re in the process right now of figuring out if the town has access rights over this piece of land to actually get to the river.`
Supervisor Jack Cunningham said during the meeting that the U.S. Department of Interior informed the town that a plan needed to be put in place in order to make the property accessible to the public.
`Based on our site analysis plan, we brought up five or six concepts for review by the town staff and after meeting with them, we narrowed it down to two concepts to present at the public meeting on Dec. 9 [2008],` Simmons said.
The public reviewed the two concepts before a final plan was drawn up.
`The first concept proposed a parking lot out on River Road and the development of a loop trail system kind of circling on itself, and then phase two would be clearing out the perimeter of Frothingham Lake,` said Simmons. `It’s very filled with weeds right now, and at that point in time the intent was to have non-motorized boats, canoes and kayaks and things of that nature.`
After the first phase, the second step would be to build a small access area to the lake from Simmons Road in order to be able to drive non-motorized boats to the lake by motor vehicle, according to the plans.
Phase three would be to continue expanding the trail network. Phase four would include building trails down to the river, and the final phase would create final connections to all of the trails and access points.
`Concept number two incorporated using Simmons Road for access to the park to reduce the overall project costs at the kickoff phase,` said Simmons. `We had thought if we used Simmons Road and had a small parking area here, and then provided a loop system as phase one, it would cut down on the cost with the idea that in phase two we put the parking on River Road and then build a trial to connect the two trails together.`
The plan calls for progressing to the east from River Road to the Hudson River as time and money would allow.
All the adjoining neighbors within 200 feet of the property were invited to a public hearing in December, said Simmons. At the time, Simmons said, the majority expressed a preference for the first option because they didn’t believe the lake was good for access because it is shallow and contains a large number of turtles. They also wanted the main parking lot off of River Road to keep traffic down on a very narrow and residential Simmons Road.
`The general sentiment of the people was that it should be a nature preserve and have minimal intrusion on the existing environment and that also it should be educational, where people could come and we would have identifying signage that would identify the plants and the wildlife in the area,` said Simmons.
Late night access was a concern, she said, and many were against access to the river because the steep slopes would make it `almost impossible` to get an ambulance or emergency vehicles or apparatus to the riverbank.
Simmons said the original plans were revised and then presented during a Feb. 10 public hearing before becoming adopted as the final master plan. The new revised master plan calls for a similar phased-in approach and gravel parking lot off of River Road as in the first option. There will also be a clearing with picnic tables used as a viewing station.
There was one striking difference from the original plans, however.
`We are no longer going to have physical access to the river,` Simmons said. There will be a `water trail,` she said, connecting the Henry Hudson Park and Moh He Con Nuck Preserve by allowing boats to dock along the shores of each. The plans also call for creating views of the river with selective clearing and having the trail stop just short of the steep decline to the riverbank.
Town officials said they are hoping to keep most of the work `in house` with possible help from the Glenmont Job Corps and with local Eagle Scout projects.
Cunningham said he tried to come up with a name with the town’s former Planning Board chairman.
`Back in October, before Parker Mathusa passed away, he and I had a long conversation about naming this area,` said Cunningham, who originally wanted to name it Cedar Ridge because of the number of namesake trees on the land.
Parker was against the name because the location was not exactly accurate, according to Cunningham. The supervisor said he had the opportunity two weeks ago to meet with the historical officer for the Mohican Indian tribe.
`The Mohican Indians occupied a lot of area along the Hudson River. It’s where they first met Henry Hudson when he sailed up the river, which we memorialize on our town seal, and so we believe that it was likely that Mohican Indians occupied this area and hunted there.`
`We came up with the name Moh He Con Nuck Preserve,` said Cunningham. `The phrase means ‘people of waters that are never still.’`
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