At a special meeting on August 5, the Marlborough Town Board approved the issuance of $1.2 million in serial bonds for a 20 year period to pay for the reconstruction of the Milton Landing South Pier. The vote was unanimous. The total cost of the project is tagged at $1,568,730.

The town has also received a grant for $313,000 from the Empire State Development Fund that will go toward this project. Supervisor Al Lanzetta said the ESD understands that reconstructing the pier has tangible economic benefits that will bring in revenue, create jobs and boost economic growth in Marlborough and the area.

Lanzetta said the town will pay $140,000 in engineering fees that will be offset by $50,000 in recreation fees collected from developers, $10,000 from the cell tower company that will be building a tower on the old town hall site, and $20,000 from Danskammer Energy, that is proposing a new gas-fired power plant next to their old one in the Town of Newburgh.

Lanzetta said the board’s action is subject to a permissive referendum, a method by which residents can challenge the expenditure within 30 days by collecting signatures of 5% of those who voted in the last Gubernatorial election. Should that happen the matter will be put on the November 5 ballot for residents to vote.

If this does not occur Lanzetta expects the town will move forward in September and spend about $200,000 to fix the pilings on the pier by going into the bedrock of the Hudson River. This is time sensitive because they do not want to disturb some fish that may be spawning.

At that time Lanzetta will be speaking with bond counsel to firm up the legal details and what the interest rate will be during the 20 year payback period. He is hoping the rate will fall somewhere between 3.5 and 4 percent.

“The more you do a bond resolution the lower the interest rate,” he said.

Lanzetta said the Town Board feels that reconstructing the old pier is a great opportunity for the town, “to have an economic source, not only for the town but for the county.” He said tourism is Ulster County’s largest economic driver and he is anticipating that Marlborough can tap into that in the years to come. Visitors to Marlborough can take in 7 wineries and a distillery, visit pick-your own orchards in the summer and fall seasons, tour the SportsDome, avail themselves of the many eateries in town and be entertained at the Falcon Music Club.

“We just put in for a CFA [Consolidated Funding Application] grant for the Landing and we’re hoping the development brings in tourism because of the river.” He pointed out that Marlborough is a designated part of the Empire Water Trail; “We’re one of those stops and we have a deep water port. This pier will not only allow for tourism but for education about the river by having the Woody Guthrie, the Clearwater and the S.S. Columbia dock here.”

Lanzetta said in 2009 he obtained funding to purchase the pier just before he left office after losing the election.

“At the very last minute I signed the papers because the person that was coming in was not in favor of that being a park,” he said.

Lanzetta explained the reason for funding the project rather than relying on volunteers.

“We can’t afford the time with this pier. If we have a bad ice storm this winter and it wipes all of that out, we’ll never build anything there because the Department of Environmental Conservation won’t let you.” he said. “This will be a great thing and it won’t cost the taxpayers that much.” Estimates to pay for the pier will increase taxes to residents by $33.50 per year on a home assessed at $250,000.