Last year, the Town of Shawangunk received $50,000 from New York State’s Strategic Planning and Feasibility Grant to revitalize the Hamlet of Wallkill. With so much money and so many factors to consider, how will the town choose to spend the grant?

Shawangunk residents and officials pondered this very question at the Wallkill Fire Department last Thursday, October 10 during a workshop for the hamlet’s Strategic Economic Development Action Plan. Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, a nonprofit organization that helps municipalities with planning and research, hosted the workshop and collected feedback from the community to put toward the plan.

Eric Pierson, senior research planner of HV Pattern for Progress, introduced Wallkill’s SEDAP and explained how residents can participate in the process. This action plan will serve as a blueprint for the town’s steering committee, giving its members ideas for economic and community development to implement into the hamlet. Members of the steering committee include Town Supervisor Ken Ronk Jr., Town Councilman Joe LoCicero, Vision of Wallkill President Donna Barczak, Sal Patella of the Wallkill Lions Club, and Wallkill Valley Savings and Loan President Mike Horodyski.

“We’re really focusing on actionable steps that the town can take, so not just a list of good ideas,” Pierson said. “How do you take steps to do them? What are some funding sources? Who’s responsible for it? What’s an implementation plan for it? There’s going to be a heavy emphasis on the action.”

“This project is guided by community input and a steering committee that we put together. Many of these folks in the committee are here in the audience tonight, and many if not all of them serve in the hamlet and town to some capacity,” he continued. “They’ve been providing us some good local insight and making sure we’re going down the right path.”

Wallkill’s SEDAP will be heavily shaped by public input from surveys, interviews, Weekend at Wallkill, and Thursday’s workshop. The action plan will also align with the town’s 2021 comprehensive plan, which sought to transform the hamlet into “a family-friendly, vibrant, attractive, and well-kept community” with enhancements to recreation, sidewalk connectivity, business diversity, and historic preservation.

“In the world of comprehensive plans, the 2021 plan is very recent, and that’s a great thing. You’re ahead of the curve on that, and it’s a good plan,” Pierson said. “There was a lot of robust community engagement effort. If you’re the type of person that comes to an event like this, you might have been involved in the public engagement from the comp plan as well, which is excellent.”

Following the introduction, Pierson presented the three areas that Wallkill’s SEDAP will focus on revitalizing:

a. The town hall, which will eventually be annexed, and Garrison Park

b. The police station, which will also be annexed, and the Walden-Wallkill Rail Trail

c. Wallkill Avenue and access to the Wallkill River
Members of HV Pattern for Progress divided residents into three groups, each directed to a table representing one of the three aforementioned areas. Each group spent 10 minutes at every table, providing suggestions for improving these areas.

After the groups visited all three tables, Pierson summarized the feedback he received:

a. For the town hall post-annexation, residents suggested refurbishing the building into a community center with additional parking and restrooms. They were not opposed to a business occupying the space but would want something quaint like a coffee shop or grocery store. For Garrison Park, residents want pickleball courts and renovations to the park’s equipment, lighting, and natural shading from harsh sunlight.

b. For the police station post-annexation, residents suggested turning the station into a cafe with several amenities, including a walk-in window, fire pit, indoor and outdoor seating, bike racks, and additional parking. They also wanted more businesses welcoming visitors walking into the hamlet from the rail trail, such as shops, diners, and food trucks.

c. For river access, residents suggested adding more activities at Popp Park, which would give more incentive to visit the Wallkill River. They also want more shops along Wallkill Avenue, such as diners, bakeries, and jewelers.

At the end of the workshop, Pierson thanked both residents and officials for their input and participation. HV Pattern for Progress and Shawangunk’s steering committee will continue molding Wallkill’s SEDAP using the feedback from that night and beyond, creating the best possible revitalization for the hamlet. Pierson noted that the action plan will be finalized by the end of this year.