Public asks questions about Main Street deck; Opinion split, but more so in favor

Posted 8/21/12

NARROWSBURG, NY — Imagine you want to do a major home improvement project. Say, building a deck. You have to decide what kind of deck, you have to find an engineer and an architect and a …

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Public asks questions about Main Street deck; Opinion split, but more so in favor

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NARROWSBURG, NY — Imagine you want to do a major home improvement project. Say, building a deck. You have to decide what kind of deck, you have to find an engineer and an architect and a contractor, you have to take both safety (first) and aesthetic into consideration, and, of course, the cost. Now imagine you are going through this process with the opinions of your neighbors weighing in. It’s bound to get messy.

The Tusten Town Board is going through this procedure right now. The Narrowsburg Main Street deck is in need of replacement. The question is how to do it? Currently the board has a design plan from Chazen Companies. The company designed a brand new deck that would include a new foundation, a retaining wall and a stone design at a cost estimate of $300,000. How did they get there? Let’s review the history.

A river walk has been talked about, by some accounts, for around 50 years. But it wasn’t until 2010 that plans became more solidified, and after the town board received a grant from New York State, they passed a resolution to sign the Big Eddy Esplanade contract in 2011. The project consisted of three phases: overlook deck area, Veterans Park area and walkway behind buildings on Main Street. In 2012, the board awarded the bid to Chazen Companies (they were picked out of four applicants).

The grant money was going to the walkway aspect, but after construction began on the Narrowsburg Bridge, that part of the plan has been halted. The town then received approval to re-purpose the grant money toward the deck. Chazen designed a plan, and presented it to the board and public a few months ago.

Now, the question is whether or not to go forward with the Chazen design, as some people are saying the price tag is too high, and a deck could be rebuilt on the existing foundation for less. The board held a public hearing on Tuesday night to listen to input on if they should go out to bid with the Chazen design, which would cost around $16,000 (with half of that coming from the grant).

Although a relatively large crowd turned out, the few people who spoke were there to ask questions. The town board gave their opinions first. Councilman Ned Lang said the Chazen design is not shovel ready, and he hired another engineering firm to look at the deck. In a flyer he sent out before the public hearing, he quoted the engineer, Joe Gottleib, as saying, “The deck foundation lasted over 30 years and the slope under the deck appears stable at this time, it is my opinion that a similar deck system could be designed utilizing piers and short retaining walls, provided that soil borings and slope analysis were done in the deck area.” Councilwoman Jane Luchsinger said that the Chazen design would last for 75 years, whereas another design option using the existing deck would last only 30 years. Therefore, it would actually cost more to use the existing deck, because it would have to be rebuilt again in 30 years. The current deck is from 1980. Luchsinger also announced that the Narrowsburg Beautification Group may not give their $25,000 grant if an alternate design were utilized.

The lengthy process of what to do with the deck was brought up during the public hearing. Mike Farrell said, “We’re in a poker game here. Given how deep we are in the Chazen process, I propose the town put up the $8,000 for the bid and see what the real numbers are.”

Ultimately, Supervisor Carol Wingert asked the public for a show of hands; 23 were in favor of going to bid, and 15 were opposed. The town board tabled their discussion.

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