Committee narrows 2025 trail awards, trims Open Space grant recommendations and orders steps to close multiyear backlog

Saratoga County advisory members voted to allocate 2025 trail grants within a $100,000 budget and to forward recommended Open Space grant awards that together represent a constrained-use approach aimed at closing a multiyear backlog, committee members said.

On the 2025 trail grant program, the presenting staff member reported 14 applications requesting $137,460; the subcommittee recommended staying within the $100,000 budget and reducing most awards so the program remains within that allocation. As summarized in the packet and on the record, “So, basically, a $137.04 60 in request. We had a 100,000 in the budget. Subcommittee was uncomfortable recommending tapping into…county reserves,” the presenting staff member said. The subcommittee recommended reducing most $10,000 requests to $7,500 and noted one…