The Town of Plattekill has received $3.135 million through the State’s BRIDGE NY program to replace the Old Mill Road bridge over the Quassaick Creek.

Plattekill Supervisor Jennifer Salemo made the announcement at the July 5 Town Board meeting after Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a press release earlier in the day announcing that New York State was issuing $516 million in funding for 141 local governments to rehabilitate and replace bridges and culverts.

New concrete barriers and guardrails were installed to make the Old Mill Road bridge safer in September 2022. But only one lane of the bridge is currently open. There are stop signs on either side of the bridge, so vehicles alternate going over the span, which has a three-ton limit.

Town of Plattekill Highway Superintendent Robert Wager was thrilled to hear that the town received the state money so the town could replace the bridge and open it to two-way traffic.

“I’m very excited about it,” Wager said. “There’s a lot of paperwork that has to be done ahead of time. It’s a reimbursement grant. You have to pay a little bit up front and then get the money back. The town will have to decide if it wants to go out for bond or use some of the American Rescue Plan money. We haven’t even gotten to that discussion yet.”

Wager said the town will put the work out for bid and a contractor will be selected to do the work.

“In all reality, it’s probably going to be a couple of years before it’s completed,” Wager said.

In other news, the board voted 3-0 to approve Councilman James Fazio as the liaison to the Town Planning Board. Fazio replaces Councilman Darryl Matthews, who was the liaison to the planning board until he resigned from the Town Board due to personal reasons.

Fazio, who has served two separate terms on the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals, was appointed to the Town Board on May 17 to replace Matthews.

The board turned down an Eagle Scout project for an oversized chess board at the Thomas Felten Park over concerns about storing the large chess pieces when the park was closed. The vote was by a 4-0 margin.

In response to a question from local resident Gerry Dohrenwend about the status of Ulster County’s plans to install a solar array at the Hertel Landfill, Councilman Dean DePew Sr. said no work has been done on the project.

He said a firm Ulster County hired went to the site to do some survey work recently.

“They didn’t do any excavation work up there at all,” DePew said. “I was told there was no groundbreaking. They don’t have approval yet. They still have to go through a lengthy process and come to the town and involve the town in what they’re doing. They just can’t come in and say, ‘OK. We’re going to take it over and it’s done.’ It’s a long process.”

DePew said he hopes to have Ulster County Deputy County Executive Amanda LaValle give an update on the project to the board in a future meeting. LaValle appeared before the board on April 19 to explain why the county would like to build a solar installation at the site.

Salemo announced that Plattekill Day would be held at the Thomas Felten Park on Saturday, September 16. The rain date would be September 17.