Rudd Pond may need state to stay open

MILLERTON — The best chance to save the Taconic State Park at Rudd Pond from closing this year, an ad-hoc group of municipal leaders, business owners and concerned citizens believe, is a collaborative effort with the state.

The state’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced last month the proposed closings of 41 state parks and 14 historic sites, in response to Gov. David Paterson’s executive budget proposal.

Since then, Millerton Mayor John Scutieri has spearheaded a campaign to save the park by any means necessary. Several informal meetings have been held involving other municipalities, including the towns of North East and Amenia, as well as representatives from the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Scutieri has argued that village business owners would feel the brunt of the park’s closing, as they benefit from customer traffic when people visit the park and its campgrounds.

As was reported at the group’s latest meeting, held the evening of April 7 in the Salisbury Bank & Trust conference room, it remains unknown to even the state agency whether the park will close. It’s been reported that members of the state Senate are looking to reinstate the approximately $11 million needed to avoid any park closings, but with the state still without an adopted budget, it’s impossible to know whether funding will definitely come through. And, as Scutieri pointed out, even if the $11 million is put aside, it’s not a guarantee that Rudd Pond won’t be closed anyway.

There are several state indications that point toward the park closing: The park’s Web site states the Rudd Pond site will be closed for camping this coming season, and it was reported that reservation fees have been refunded.

Talks last week revolved around what direction the area would choose to take to save Rudd Pond. It became clear that the most viable option would be to work out a collaboration with the state in which New York would maintain ownership and control of the park and surrounding area organizations (including some combination of municipalities, not-for-profit organizations and private citizens) could work to bridge the funding gap to keep the park economically viable.

What didn’t seem to be a viable  option was trying to run the park without the state’s help, and the group acknowledged it would be impossible to completely take over operations in time for this upcoming season.

“I don’t want to walk into this without the state’s involvement,� stressed North East Supervisor Dave Sherman. “That would be crazy.�

Determining exactly how much money would be needed to keep the park open has been a difficult task over the past month. As Scutieri explained, they still don’t have a real idea of the total cost of running the park, and the estimations have increased significantly each time they’re brought up. The most current numbers are somewhere around $75,000 per season, but seeing that services at Rudd Pond are often shared among other parks, the total number could be somewhere around $200,000 per year for absolutely everything, said Ray Doherty, who operates the Taconic State Parks at Copake and Rudd Pond.

The group’s mission is still exploratory at this point, with unanswered questions about revenue numbers, finding an attorney to work with the state in drawing up an agreement and getting in contact with the right person at the state agency’s office. There’s also the possibility of forming an official not-for-profit group, tentatively titled Friends of Rudd Pond.

It’s acknowledged that the area could do much more to market the park to the community, and a number of ideas and event suggestions were thrown around as possibilities, including fireworks, a food vending fair, a historical weekend and fire department breakfasts. All of these could incorporate the Rudd Pond park and help break any negative connotations, the mayor explained.

Scutieri said the two complaints he usually hears about Rudd Pond are that it’s too weedy to swim in and there are often goose droppings on the beach. Those are both areas that would be fairly easy to address, he said, and would go a long way toward reviving the park’s appeal.

The mayor  expressed optimism that due to public outcry across the state, there was a good possibility that the $11 million to keep the parks open would be reinstated. Amenia town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard, who has suggested that Amenia could incorporate the pond into its summer recreation program, shared similar feelings at last Thursday’s Town Board meeting. And if that doesn’t happen, many are hoping a good marketing presentation and strong initiative with the state agency could open up the possibility that New York might selectively decide Rudd Pond would remain open.

Sherman reminded everyone that camping season was approaching rapidly and that he wasn’t sure where the municipalities would find funding in their budgets to cover any gaps if local fundraising doesn’t cover it. But the group as a whole seemed to embrace the feeling that if there’s a will, there’s a way.

“We know that we can help fund gaps,� Scutieri said. “We need to know who to talk to, to say, ‘We can work out plans to bring more people to the park.’�