Residents of Highland Falls who attended last week’s Village Board meeting got a sneak peek at what a new park in the community is going to look like, thanks to Heather Blakey, a senior park planner with Scenic Hudson.

“People are going to walk back there and say ‘wow’,” Highland Falls Mayor Joe D’Onofrio said as he introduced Blakey at the meeting. “The vistas, the trees … it’s beautiful.”

The park in question is a 31.8 parcel of land purchased by Scenic Hudson in 2020. It’s located on what’s long been called the ‘Aloe Property’, a piece of land located behind My Town Market and Walgreens, along the Hudson River. It’s the former estate of Steven Roe, a steamboat captain, and there are still remnants of a farmhouse, caretakers home and greenhouses on the land. The trail that is being created is .7 miles long – “not lengthy, but it will take you away from the business of Main St.,” Blakey promised.

The trail will be a nature trail, with some picnic tables and benches, signage informing those on the trail about the sensitive habitats in that area, and, of course, Hudson River Views via a cleared overlook. The nature trail is only on about one-third of the overall property Scenic Hudson owns, it was noted, because of the overgrown and sensitive condition of the more southernmost part of it.

Blakey’s reason for being at the meeting was so that the mayor could sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a small easement on village property – off Havens Rd. – for a small parking area (two cars) for people to access the new trail. Scenic Hudson has a public hearing on the matter with the Consolidated Planning Board on March 20, and having that agreement in place will help with that hearing.

D’Onofrio did sign the MOA at the meeting and handed it to Blakey. Trustee Dr. Melanie Guerrero had several comments before he did so, though, specifically about the fact that by Scenic Hudson purchasing the land it has now come off the tax rolls.

“That was premium riverfront property,” Guerrero said, “now we cannot increase our tax base. We aren’t getting anything from you and now you’re asking us for more. Our village needs this revenue. I appreciate you want to keep it green, but we really needed that tax revenue so badly.”

D’Onofrio said that the village will actually receive a small amount of money from Scenic Hudson for help in maintaining the trail – moving fallen trees, removing snow in the parking and seating areas. That amount is still being negotiated.

Blakely told Guerrero that Scenic Hudson is very sensitive to tax issues but added “green spaces like this can attract new residents and visitors,” she said.

In other matters from the meeting, the board approved removing the probationary status of part-time dispatcher Anastacia Krieger, at the recommendation of HFPD Chief Jason Torpey. Regarding two events, they approved the use of the Senior Citizen Center for an American Red Cross blood drive hosted by Senator James Skoufis on Wednesday, June 11 (10 a.m.-5 p.m.), and they approved a Palm Sunday parade on Main St. hosted by Hudson Highlands United Methodist Church, from 2-3 p.m. That event will take place from 2-3 p.m.

Bills and claims in the amount of $152,119 were paid – that was made up of $65,508 from the General Fund, $46,360 from the Water Fund, $33,588 from the Sewer Fund, and $5,645 from the Capital Fund.

During the public comment portion of the meeting several residents – Kat Dagaev, Rita Dougherty, Michael Joyce, Joe DeWitt, Ron Malecot and Pablo Pulido – took a few minutes to thank Trustee Guerrero for her service to the board as she ends her term. She is not running for re-election. “She didn’t do this job for the money, she did it to make the community better,” they said. “She tried to save taxpayers money by being the lone voice of honesty on a board full of deceit.”

Finally, it was noted that as of June 19, the address of the village website will switch from .org to .gov. Official village email addresses will change as well.