Tivoli board approves Furrow Avenue drainage plan, extends engineering services and signs parking lease

The Village of Tivoli Board of Trustees voted to advance stormwater work on Furrow Avenue and approved related municipal agreements at a regular meeting that also included a lease renewal for a municipal parking lot and formal support for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad New York Scenic Byway.

The board approved task order number 7 to move the Furrow Avenue drainage improvement project toward design and construction. The project’s total cost was described at $840,000; a $672,000 Climate Smart Communities grant will cover most of the work and the village will contribute a local match of about $82,000 drawn from its CHIPS (Consolidated Highway Improvement Program) funds. Trustees were told survey work has begun and officials expect to go out to bid in January with construction hoped to begin in spring.

Trustees also approved a three-year addendum to the village’s professional services agreement with Ty and Bond Engineering and Landscape Architecture, keeping the firm on the village’s list of on-call engineering consultants. Board members said the extension does not commit the village to a specific project or specific dollar amounts; rather, it maintains Ty and Bond as a prequalified consultant the village can use for water, wastewater and related engineering tasks. The village also works with Crawford Engineering on other categories of work and the firms have subcontracted with one another on past projects.

In separate action the board authorized continuing the long-standing municipal lease of a Mason-owned parking lot — described in the materials as Monumental Hudson Widow’s Son No. 73 and Associated Masons, Inc. — for $1,500 a year through June 30 of the next fiscal year. Trustees said the leased lot helps relieve parking pressure in the village’s core.

The board adopted a resolution supporting the nomination of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad New York Scenic Byway and the associated corridor management plan. The resolution states the village will participate in stewardship and program development for the 544-mile corridor and will not approve requests for new off-premise outdoor advertising (billboards) along the portion of the byway that runs through the village.

Why it matters: The drainage work targets recurring flooding on the village’s north and south sides — described by trustees as chronic problems affecting properties between Furrow and Montgomery streets and in the Tivoli Acres area. The design work authorized Tuesday covers stormwater collection where none now exists, culvert assessment under Broadway, and upsizing drainage where needed; trustees said the work should reduce stormwater ponding in residents’ yards when completed.

What happened next: Trustees recorded motions and votes adopting the task order, approving the Ty and Bond addendum, renewing the Mason lot lease and adopting the Scenic Byway resolution. The meeting materials identified the drainage item as task order number 7 and named the grant source for the Furrow project as a Climate Smart Communities grant.

Votes at a glance

- Task order No. 7: Furrow Avenue Drainage Improvements — approved. Motion text in the packet authorized payment of the village’s portion of design and construction work and moved the project toward bidding; village match approximately $82,000 against a roughly $840,000 project budget, with $672,000 covered by a Climate Smart Communities grant. (Outcome: adopted; individual roll-call detail not specified in the transcript.)

- Ty and Bond professional services addendum (three-year extension) — approved. The addendum maintains Ty and Bond on the village roster for on-call engineering services; it does not specify project-level spending. (Outcome: adopted; individual roll-call detail not specified.)

- Lease with Monumental Hudson Widow’s Son No. 73 and Associated Masons, Inc. (municipal parking lot) — approved. Lease payment described as $1,500 for the year through June 30 of the next fiscal year. (Outcome: adopted; individual roll-call detail not specified.)

- Resolution to support the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad New York Scenic Byway and adopt the corridor management plan — approved. The resolution commits the village to stewardship and states the village will not approve new off-premise outdoor advertising along the designated corridor. (Outcome: adopted; individual roll-call detail not specified.)

Background and next steps: Trustees said DPW crews have been clearing a filled-in swale that historically drained the Tivoli Acres neighborhood and that the village previously passed a resolution to send an inspection robot into the culvert under Broadway to determine obstructions and capacity. The board discussed using CHIPS funds as the local match for the Furrow project and expects to advertise bids in January for construction documents and then to schedule physical work in the spring.

Meeting presenters and named staff who handled agenda items included Gary Beck, the village building inspector, Treasurer Bonnie Day and Village Clerk Chris Cleaver, all identified in the meeting record. The board thanked staff and volunteers for coordinating grants and survey work that made the drainage design possible.

Ending: Trustees set the next board meeting for Wednesday, July 16, 2025, at 7 p.m. at the historic Watts DePeyster Hall, 86 Broadway, Tivoli, New York. The board said staff will continue grant administration and design work on the drainage project and will post procurement notices when bidding begins.