Last Thursday, members of the Lloyd Town Board, the Ulster County Legislature, the New York State Assembly and the Highland Landing Park thanked State Sen. Michelle Hinchey for securing a $200,000 grant that was used to finish the Education Building at the Park.

 

Sen. Hinchey said she became involved in the transformation of the Landing and the rehabilitation of the office building when she took office in 2021.

 

“This was one of the first grants that our office administered and saw all the way through,” she said. “It was an early ask at the time from then Supervisor Fred Pizzuto, and we put it in the bills and was continued by current Supervisor Dave Plavchak.”

 

Hinchey said the funds came through State and Municipal grant funding.

 

“Our office has an allocation of funding for capital projects for towns and not for profits,” she said, adding that she represents 56 towns in her district, “and we had a lot of requests for grant money. This fits into everything that we feel is important; revitalizing the waterfront, it’s providing space for our next generation for schools to use, and it’s a public resource for people to come down here to the river. It’s about the quality of life, quality of experience for people and having access to the water, so it’s incumbent upon us to help restore that and the $200,000 was to help finish the project.”

 

When the sign was unveiled thanking Hinchey for her financial assist, “it was a complete surprise, I’m still speechless by it. I treasure this and I’m so humbled, but it’s a community effort. I do this to help people help their communities and to do the right thing. This is a huge way to help our waterfront and the Town of Lloyd.”

 

Supervisor Plavchak said this entire park project, “has been a perfect example of volunteerism. People volunteered their time, materials, machinery, and it’s a great place to come, and they make breakfast, lunch or dinner and bring it down here to eat. It’s just a great thing to have on the water, and to me, this is one of the prizes of Highland. I hope everyone enjoys it.”

 

The supervisor thanked a number of people who worked on various  aspects of the park and the education building: Matt Smith, Rich Roza, Hank Baer, Peter Bellizzi, Lenny Auchmoody, Gary Breault and Casey O’Connell.