Dutchess Community College President David Conklin made a wise decision last week in asking the county Legislature’s Budget, Finance and Personnel Committee to table a resolution that would have authorized a lease with the Dutchess Community College Association to build dorms on a county-owned tract of land. With that request, he may have saved the college’s chance to continue with its dorm plans.
DCC had initially proposed building the residence halls on 25 acres of land off Creek Road near Cottage Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie. According to Conklin, the dorms would hold between 500 and 800 students, and at least 450 students would need to live at the dorms initally to pay for operation costs. But concerns from the Common Council, Poughkeepsie Town Board, local residents and perhaps most importantly, the Fairview Fire Department, convinced Conklin to ask the committee to pull the resolution on Feb. 7, before the Legislature’s regular meeting this week.
Although the parties have their own reasons for opposition, there is still a chance for compromise on the part of the college. City officials want to discuss how current city rental properties and apartments could help fit the college’s housing needs, while town leaders objected over concerns about student pedestrian safety and increased EMS calls for the Fairview Fire District. The concerns about the fire district are especially pertinent, considering that district residents already pay some of the highest fire taxes in the state due to the number of tax-exempt properties it encompasses.
It’s a growing trend for community colleges in New York State to have dormitories, and Dutchess certainly deserves the chance to provide, as college Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas Legrand says, “the total college experience.” DCC is one of the finest community colleges in the state, and housing would allow students from the further reaches of the county and outlying areas to attend the school more easily.
But with the amount of objections they faced, Conklin was right to ask the Legislature to hold off on a vote. Many town residents and Town Board members were surprised that they had only heard about the dormitory plan in the days before the vote. In that case, the college needed to take greater pains in publicizing the lease. DCC also needs to address reimbursement for the fire district, because emergency calls would certainly rise with the addition of at least 450 new residents.
But the college is on the right track in thinking about the future now, during its 50th anniversary. The school’s reputation would be greatly enhanced with the addition of dorms, and if it agrees to work with the city, town, county and fire officials on a plan that will be as beneficial as possible for all parties, then Dutchess Community College can continue to grow as a top-notch learning center.