TEAR DOWN THE UPTOWN CANOPY

I see an article in the Freeman regarding the uptown sidewalk canopy and the bid proposals going out. I anxiously await to see how many contractors in the area are willing to tackle the repair of the "Pike Plan" for the 1.6 million that's offered.

September 13th is the deadline. What happens if the bids that come in, if any, are higher than what has been allotted? If you consider the repair work to the historic buildings that is hidden behind decades of neglect and tar patch, the cost is going to increase dramatically.
As I have said before, there is a non-historic structure attached to historic buildings that is causing harm to those buildings with more than half of the building owners asking for the structure to be removed.

Sue Cahill from the City Planners Office, said “Hopefully, with these improvements and the upgrade it will entice more business to locate in the Uptown business district and rejuvenate the economy of Uptown.” No disrespect, but I would have to disagree, but she has to follow the talking points of those who are pushing the repair project.

Alderman Hoffay, on the other hand, is not beholden to anyone or any entity, so his advocacy for the canopy repair is strictly his own initiative. It's still wrong!
He thinks: “The investment of over $1.6 million for the restoration of the Pike Plan and accompanying streetscape work will attract additional tourism and interest for our shops, restaurants and historic attractions.” I think the property and business owners have to make their own changes at the street level to alter the steady decline of walking business.

The bids are available at city hall. Does that mean only those who happen to read the local papers will know where to find the package or have we sent out additional copies to companies across the state? I don't think the bid should be limited to just those in the area because I suspect most couldn't do the job for the amount offered. I'm just sayin.

Some history noted in the Freeman... The Pike Plan was named after Woodstock artist John Pike, who designed the canopies and oversaw their construction in the 1970s.

When this push to upgrade the canopy began back in 2004, the original consultant offered the most honest proposal to date. They said tear down the structure, repair the historic buildings, return the original streetscape and get the trees back in the curb line.
With 28 parking spaces consumed by tree boxes and tempting double parking all day, the busted up boxes create more mayhem than good. So I would have to agree with that original assumption.

I dont hear other uptown property & business owners clamoring for a new canopy over their storefronts. Ask in any direction from the ends of the existing one and you'll hear a profound "NO". This money could have been redirected to a larger project, like a parking garage on North Front Street.

UPTOWN PARKING: BY THE NUMBERS

This beautiful piece of uptown real estate can be yours for just…

Check out the finished product of the Arold Paving Company. A fine accomplishment where a crumbling “disaster in waiting” parking garage once stood.

I admit, I had my concerns about the experience of several of the companies that bid on the demolition, but let the pictures show, the end product looks good.

You will notice the numbered spaces. Those are numbered for a reason. The city will not handle the collection of funds the way they had in the past. This time it will be automated.

A parking Kiosk will be installed where individuals can manage their own private transaction for their designated space. No city hall visits and no space confusion.

Unlike the parking meters, parking lots have a funneled point of exit. Like train and bus terminals as well as the UC Office Building, people culminate at a focus point where an easy financial exchange is handled privately. Although not scheduled until next year, the meters have the capacity to handle “smart card” transactions. This soon-to-be Kiosk will be card ready on day one.

Now where are those stairs?

KUBA MEMBERS SEEK ANSWERS

Tuesday evening, I had the pleasure of attending a short notice meeting with members of KUBA at the beautiful storefront at Backstage Productions (BSP).

The meeting was orchestrated by Dominic Vanacore and Tom Jacobe. With little notice, about 20 people attended the meeting, including council members Hoffay and Whitlock.

The audience included commercial property owners as well as homestead owners, which broadened the points of view on the tax burden transfer issue; the subject of the meeting.

I have to say, those of us working inside the political bubble make a lot of assumptions when it comes to the greater public’s understanding of issues that directly affect them. Information dispersal failures and public apathy on these matters create a huge gap between those who understand and those who don’t. Shame on us!

The three of us did a fair presentation on the tax transfer up to a point. Then I had to go into a detailed lecture on how we got to this stage, what the possible answers are and who is responsible for the misleading tax letters and where the misinformation is coming from. It was exhausting.

Abel Garraghan, Brian Cafferty and a host of other voices had good points on this dilemma, which didn’t end here. Tom, Shirley and I assured that the Council had plenty of work ahead to provide a compromise on the overbearing tax burden on commercial taxes, and we mean it.

Jesse Smith of the Kingston Times will have more details.

PARKING GARAGE: COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Everyone knows the uptown parking garage is coming down. With only minor engineering delays, the demolition is right on schedule and without injuries.

With the space cleared of debris, we will soon have a large open hole with temporary parking at the ground level. Not the best outcome, but temporary.

My suggestion: (as if anyone is listening) Once the land is cleared, offer the property to one of the large Parking Garage Managing Companies that operate as a “for profit” business. Any one of them would operate such a facility better than the City of Kingston.

This is Prime Real Estate people! A huge piece of commercial property located in the heart of the business district up-town and it’s off the tax rolls! Anyone out there think we need to build our tax base?

From North Front St to Schwenk Drive, the land is perfectly situated to offer the optimum parking location. I am sure that any interested company would offer designs to provide Retail on the upper level and architectural themes to compliment the city.

Big names like KINNEY, CENTRAL PARKING, and PRO-PARK would be a good place to start.
To take out the issues of building maintenance, employee benefits, insurance, and security, for the shot in the arm in additional tax revenue, what are we waiting for? Do I have to put this out to public referendum in November?

I suggested this sale of the Garage about three years ago, with little or no interest. What a shame.

Now that the drama of demolition is almost past, lets prepare for the future of our city. Ask your representative to seek a qualified private parking company for the better use of this prime commercial property.

Kinney System, Inc (Kinney Parking) - New York, New York (NY) Company Profile

Parking Lots and Garages - Parking Management Services Company - Parking Lot a

Central Parking : Our Business