Lower Hudson Valley leaders aim to save Greenway agency from state budget cuts

An agency best known for promoting regional cooperation on projects in the Hudson River Valley would be eliminated under Gov. David Paterson’s proposed 2009-10 state budget.

Paterson wants to eliminate the Hudson River Valley Greenway Council and Conservancy to save about $939,000 in each of the next two fiscal years.

Paterson proposes transferring some of the functions of the Greenway to the state Department of State, as he and the Legislature try to close a $15.4 billion deficit in the next two years.

Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef was among the local officials calling the action short-sighted, given the efforts of the agency.

“If you look at it, it’s not terribly efficient,” Vanderhoef said. “I don’t see the savings being as important as the regional approach towards the cultural, recreational, historical and environmental connections.”

Vanderhoef said he was writing a letter to the governor to express his opposition to eliminating the Greenway, which he credited for nurturing a sense of community in the larger Hudson River Valley, rather than residents’ individual hometowns.

“I think they galvanized a sense of place from a regional perspective,” Vanderhoef said. “They moved localities to begin to think as one.”

Sleepy Hollow Mayor Philip Zegarelli said helping communities see their connections, while allowing them to retain local control of waterfront activities, including development, helped boost people’s interaction with the Hudson River.

“We’re going back to the future, and the future is the river,” Zegarelli said.

If anything, he said, the Greenway should be expanded to allow more interaction, and he encouraged Paterson to use the agency as a tool to help promote prosperity.

“There is an enhanced need to do more,” Zegarelli said. “It pays dividends down the line.”

Mark Castiglione, acting executive director of the Greenway Council and the Greenway Conservancy, referred a request for comment to the state Division of the Budget.

Paterson’s budget says that the Greenway would be eliminated and “certain” functions of the agency “transferred” to the Department of State.

But Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the Division of the Budget, said the Greenway wouldn’t actually be eliminated.

“This is a merger,” Anderson said. “The important work of the Greenway will continue uninterrupted through a seamless transition.”

He said seven of eight Greenway employees would be laid off. Their work would be done by the Department of State under its current budget and staffing.

Andy Bicking, director of public policy for Scenic Hudson, an environmental advocacy organization based in Poughkeepsie, said the governor’s budget intentions regarding the Greenway seemed clear.

“It says ‘eliminate,’ ” Bicking said. “I take that to mean ‘eliminate.’ “

Anderson said the governor’s proposal was done with purpose.

“The state is facing an extremely difficult financial situation right now, and we have to look for greater efficiencies in our operations,” Anderson said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing here.”

But Bicking also said the Greenway should be used to help Hudson River Valley communities pursue economic development, environmentally friendly development and tourism, among other activities.

He said the current economic climate made it even more important to support such pursuits.

“The Greenway, properly understood, should be considering a top vehicle … to accomplish that,” Bicking said.

The Greenway Council and the Greenway Conservancy were created in 1991 and work in tandem to provide expertise and grants to communities to help preserve scenic, natural, historic, cultural and recreational resources, while encouraging economic development and maintaining local control over land-use decisions.

By Laura Incalcaterra
Lohud.com

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