According to Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus, enough is enough.
After a wait of nearly a year in which the county has failed to hear back from CSX Transportation, Inc. concerning an offer to purchase an approximately 4.6-mile stretch of abandoned railroad tracks, Steinhaus has decided to take action.
The county has taken preliminary steps to condemn the 43-acre property, from the eastern touchdown point of the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge to Morgan Lake, by Dutchess Community College.
By condemning the property, which runs along the old Maybrook railroad line, under eminent domain laws, the county would have a judge set its value.
Steinhaus said the steps toward condemnation were being made reluctantly. After submitting an price in September 2006 that the county considered excessively high, CSX has failed to respond to numerous letters.
“This is not my preferred solution, but the county will exercise its rights and a judge will establish the value. We’ve been stonewalled repeatedly in our attempts to purchase the property,” he said.
The county and the rail company have been in negotiations to purchase the property for more than two years, although there has been an enormous gulf between the two sides’ asking prices.
Steinhaus said a county appraiser had valued the property at approximately $2.1 million, while CSX is offering it for approximately $6 million.
“They have a value in their mind which we think is extremely high. We’re not going to offer taxpayer money that goes far beyond the appraised value,” said Steinhaus.
Part of a grand plan
According to Steinhaus, the law stipulates that the county has the right of first refusal to purchase abandoned railroad property and the CSX land figures prominently in plans to link the northwest point of the proposed Dutchess County Rail Trail to the Walkway over the Hudson project convert ing the historic railroad bridge into a pedestrian walkway.
There are also plans to link the bridge walkway to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in Lloyd, creating a rail trail stretching from Hopewell Junction to New Paltz.
The momentum is certainly going in the direction of a rail trail linking Dutchess and Ulster counties. Last week, the Millbrook-based Dyson Foundation announced a $1.5 million grant to fund engineering and design study for the Walkway over the Hudson project (see story, page 5).
Supporters are hoping to have the bridge transformed into a pedestrian walkway in time for the 2009 Henry Hudson quadricentennial celebration.
The CSX property would directly link the walkway trail from near Pulaski Park to Morgan Lake. Other parts of the trail wind around Marist College, St. Francis Hospital, the former Hudson River Psychiatric Center and the Mid-Hudson Plaza on Route 9.
Steinhaus said the CSX property would create an urban park in a densely populated area, bridging the city and town of Poughkeepsie.
“This is a perfect area for a park. The employees of Marist and St. Francis, which has about 1,000 employees, would be able to go for a walk at lunchtime. People could use the rail trail to commute to their jobs from LaGrange. It will also be a destination park for many people in the region,” he said.
Steinhaus said he instructed county employees to begin developing survey data and conduct title searches on the property. He said he sent a letter to CSX on Aug. 2, but has not heard back from the corporation.
Steinhaus said work is slated to begin on the first phase of the Dutchess County Rail Trail, pending signoffs from the New York State Department of Transportation and the federal government.
If all goes according to schedule, the trail, which would link Poughkeepsie, LaGrange, Wappinger and East Fishkill, could be completed sometime next year.
Multiple calls to Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX were not returned by press time.