Transfers Fair Street property to Cold Spring

The Putnam County Legislature on Tuesday (Sept. 2) approved contributions of $10,000 each for Boscobel and the Garrison Art Center and the transfer of property on Fair Street to Cold Spring for the village's stormwater project.

Boscobel said it will use its funding to expand participation in its Patriots and Loyalists program, an initiative that educates students in about 80 schools about the Revolutionary War. Boscobel wants to involve more schools and older students, said Abby Adams, its communications and marketing manager.

Legislator Nancy Montgomery, who represents Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley, requested the funding for Boscobel and the Garrison Art Center, which will use its $10,000 on Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant building upgrades. Montgomery also requested the $10,000 the Legislature approved for Second Chance Foods, a Brewster organization that distributes free meals and earlier had received $20,000 from the county.

Because Second Chance recently lost $70,000 in federal funding, "there's a lot of pressure on us to meet our community's needs and to find ways to make up that lost funding," said Martha Elder, its executive director.

In another vote, legislators approved spending $17,950 to purchase 500 U.S. flags and poles for the county's Row of Honor, an annual display erected on Memorial Day along Lake Gleneida in Carmel. Karl Rohde, director of the Veterans Service Agency, said the current poles are "woefully inadequate" and must be repaired each year. The program allows residents to sponsor a flag for three years for $100.

Cold Spring land

The Legislature voted to transfer to Cold Spring a vacant 0.9-acre property at 101 Fair St. that the county has owned since 2000. Cold Spring will use the property for a stormwater outfall that is part of its drainage work on Fair Street.

Heavy rains in July 2023 caused a subsurface stormwater drain to fail, and parking adjacent to Mayor's Park has been prohibited since. The project will replace the failed 30-inch pipe with two 42-inch pipes.

"While it seems to be a simple resolution, it's critical for Cold Spring" in managing stormwater and preventing flooding, said Montgomery.

County golf course

Legislators voted to pay off the remaining $4.7 million debt on bonds whose proceeds were used by the county to purchase the Mahopac golf course in 2003. Paying off the bonds early will save $477,000 in interest, but the main benefit will be to release Putnam from restrictive IRS rules governing tax-exempt bonds, said Bill Carlin, the interim finance commissioner, on Aug. 25.

Because of the restrictions, Putnam owns the drink, food and pro shop inventory and is responsible for the cash-handling, John Tully, the commissioner of general services, said in June. Michael Lewis, the former finance commissioner, noted at the time that Homestyle Caterers & Food Services, which provides beverage and food service to golfers, cannot "claim ownership, claim depreciation and/or amortization deductions, investment tax credits or deduct for any payment."

In addition to Homestyle, Putnam contracts with Troon Golf to run and maintain the course and its pro shop, along with a third company "to protect our interests and make sure that those two other contractors are playing nice in the sandbox, and that they're coordinating events and all things together," said Tully.

Being released from the IRS rules "will free up the Legislature to make decisions about how the course is run," said Carlin.

Montgomery voted in favor of retiring the bonds but said she had "real discomfort with what this signals" because the main driver is not debt reduction but the ability of the county to renegotiate a contract with a vendor. With the vote, she said, the Legislature is "strategically reshaping" financing policy to "allow government-owned property to be run more like a private business."

"That's a slippery slope," said Montgomery. "Government's role is n...