Milton Supervisor Dan Lewza has big plans to attract businesses to the town, increase the tax base and enhance the quality of life for residents.
The first-term supervisor presented a conceptual strategic plan at a Monday, Jan. 7, Town Board meeting that includes a revision of the Geyser Road Corridor project that has been in the planning stages for several years.
The project, which is backed by a $1 million grant from the state Department of Transportation, was introduced last fall and includes several phases. Phase one is already in the planning stages, and last month MJ Engineering was appointed as the project planner and has since begin surveying.
Lewza said the town came up with a plan to attract tourists to the area while also keeping the town fiscally sound. The focus of the project will be the development of the town center and revitalization of Geyser Road, and includes plans to build a new town park on Rowland Street and revitalize Burgess-Kimball Park with an eye towards selling part of the park for business development in the future.
Lewza said the Geyser Road Corridor project was a reaction to the town’s financial difficulties.
“Due to the fact that we have not had enough sales tax revenue over the last decade to support the town’s tax cuts, the well is about to run dry,” he said. “We need to continue to move the town forward, I believe this will be a good, sound start to Milton’s economic turnaround.”
Since the original outline of the plan, Lewza felt a need to revise the plans in order to better manage the ambitious project.
“The goals are the same, I just want to make sure we’re not biting off more than we can chew.”
Phase one will include sidewalks, curbing and lighting on the north side of Geyser Road to the Saratoga city limits, the construction of a new town park on Rowland Street and the revitalization of Burgess-Kimball Park.
Most of the revisions to the project were targeted at Burgess-Kimball Park. Original plans called for the sale of approximately 9 acres of the 23-acre parcel for business development. Now those plans are on hold. Lewza is now calling the project a “revitalization” of the park and not a selloff.
“Nothing will be sold at this time,” he said. “There are certain steps that I want to take before we get to that part, as far as selling the 9-acre parcel and I just want to make sure all those steps are followed. I want the residents to see what the new facility (the new park on Rowland Street) will look like and what the revitalized Burgess-Kimball Park will look like before we go through with the sale of the parcel.”
The new plans include moving the playground off the road, overhauling the softball fields and providing additional parking.
According to Lewza, the star feature of phase one will be the construction of the new park on Rowland Street. A Powerpoint presentation at the Town Board meeting outlined the possible layout of the new park and was well received by the audience. The proposed layout includes two soccer fields, picnic pavilions, basketball and tennis courts, a dog park/ice rink and a bicycle/pedestrian path that would connect the park to the town center.
Lewza said several steps need to be taken before the new park can be built, but he wanted to give the public a chance to see the plans. Within the next month or two, he plans to get comments from the Town Board, hold a public workshop and then a public hearing.
“That way, the public has a say on what they’d like to see in their new town park,” he said.
Lewza hopes construction of phase one can begin sometime in the spring.
“There’s nature that comes into play that we can’t control, but I’m hopeful for the late spring start,” he said.
Building and Codes Officer Wayne Howe was encouraged by the forward momentum of the project.
“I think the project was very well received by the public that was in attendance,” he said. “This project has been anticipated for a long time and we kept hitting roadblocks. Now we actually see there’s a little light at the end of the tunnel and we see this is going to move forward.”
Besides providing for a more attractive Milton, Lewza said the ultimate goal is to lower the tax rate through attracting business.
“I hope to eventually limit tax altogether in this town,” he said.