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Trustees press state for supplemental EIS after Hudson Highlands FGEIS findings
Summary
Cold Spring trustees flagged the Hudson Highlands final generic EIS as inadequate on traffic, emergency response and local impacts and voted to put a request for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the record while consulting the village attorney on next steps.
Cold Spring trustees told the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation that the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS) for the Hudson Highlands project failed to adequately address impacts that affect the village, and they formally requested a supplemental or site-specific EIS.
"Village Of Cold Spring is the municipality that will be most heavily impacted by the Pure Trail project," Mayor Folling said during discussion as trustees criticized the FGEIS for deferring traffic and emergency-response mitigation to post-opening monitoring. The draft letter on the record asks the lead agency to conduct a closer, site-specific analysis for portions of the project that affect the village and requests that the agency not defer core mitigation to a post-opening monitoring phase that would begin two years after opening.
Trustees debated whether to add more technical language (for example, the Monroe balancing test) and whether to include the full catalog of the village's concerns in the initial letter. They agreed to consult the village attorney in a scheduled attorney-client session and to refine the letter before final transmittal. A public commenter urged the board to independently prepare SEQRA findings as an involved agency; trustees said they will confirm procedural responsibilities and timeline with counsel.
