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Thompson plans to buy former Camp Jened

Public had no advance notice of board's intent

Rich Klein - Reporter / Photographer
Posted 9/22/17

ROCK HILL — The Town of Thompson Board has entered into a formal agreement with United Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York to purchase the former Camp Jened on Adams Rd. for $1.5 million and …

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Thompson plans to buy former Camp Jened

Public had no advance notice of board's intent

Posted

ROCK HILL — The Town of Thompson Board has entered into a formal agreement with United Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York to purchase the former Camp Jened on Adams Rd. for $1.5 million and plans to make the 175-acre property a town park. The agreement, executed on August 7, could close as early as November.

The pending purchase was first brought to the public's attention in the minutes from the July 18 meeting. The Meeting Agenda listed the action under Executive Session as “Contract Matters.”

Town Attorney Michael Mednick said, “When the agenda was completed there was nothing scheduled for any action to be taken. After the executive session was completed, the town board reopened the public meeting and took action in connection with matters that came up during the executive session.”

The vote on the resolution came late in the evening of July 18 after the public was asked to leave the room because the board went into Executive Session. Members of the public left the building, and the board came out of executive session, and the resolution was approved.

“Contract matters regarding the property were discussed and the board decided to come out of executive session and, in their discretion, took action during the reopened public session,” Mednick said.

“There was no oversight since it was included in the agenda under contract matters for the executive session,” Mednick said. “The meeting room was reopened to the public after the executive session ended and the public meeting was recommenced where action was taken on the Camp Jened contract Resolution.”

The board said in a statement issued Wednesday, “The purchase will be in cash from surplus fund balance with no borrowing. We do not contemplate a tax increase in Thompson for the foreseeable future as a result of this purchase.”

Jay Rubin, owner of Rubin Livestock Service on Sackett Lake, who is running for one of the two seats on the Board, said that this transaction, “should be able to be brought to a vote and let town people decide.”

Steve Kurlander, also running for the Thompson Board, said, “It's about vision. As I understand it, the rationale behind the purchase ... it's being done with the idea that the Town of Thompson will use it as the start to develop recreational facilities on our lakes, rivers and parks, including both Somerville Field and DeHoyos Park in Monticello.”

Mike Taylor, who lives in the township and is the owner of Combined Energy Services, questioned why the town needs a park in Rock Hill when there are already many existing home and lake associations in Rock Hill with their own recreational space.

He said he'd prefer if the town spent monies on “critical infrastructure” like the Highway Department building and repairs on existing town trucks.

Mark Newfield, who owns the adjacent Camp Iroquois Springs, said that he has wanted to purchase the property and even asked several board members to let him know if and when the property goes on the market.

Newfield said if he was given the chance to purchase it, he would have added greatly to the Town's tax base and he even would have donated some of the land back to the town for a park.

Newfield added that if he had the opportunity to purchase Jened, he would have likely offered a similar $1.5 million price but, in addition, would have invested approximately $2.5 million into the property.

“And one of the things that

I said to one of the councilman is that my camp produces a tremendous economic value to Rock Hill ... we have 250 people on staff ... they are buying coffee, they are buying gas ... and hundreds of families come up every summer.”

He added that he would have been able to hire local labor, including carpenters and maintenance people, who would also benefit the local economy.

But the statement from the Town of Thompson, signed by Supervisor Bill Rieber and all the board members, said, “there is absolutely no formal request by Mr. Newfield to have the town ‘let him know' if the opportunity comes up to purchase this or any other property. To allege that the Town would allow an obligation such as this to be imposed against it by this or any other individual is preposterous.”

Some in the Village of Monticello community, with its nearly 6,700 residents, have sought more park space in an area that has a much lower income population than Rock Hill.

Monticello Village Trustee Jill Weyer, who is Assistant Commissioner of the Sullivan County Division of Planning & Environmental Management, said, “It is important for the town (and village) to pursue land to preserve for open space for the future.

“With impending development on our heels, it's important to start somewhere. While I would like to see the Town [of Thompson] focus more on bringing public open spaces to the denser population in and around the village, they are working with us on Somerville and the North Street Commons project, which will hopefully lead to more public open space in the village and more projects.

“With the Town Park and YMCA (both great parks) being on the fringe, this purchase also creates another park out of reach for many of the town's population - but I still think it's important to start planning where you want to protect land with the development happening,” she said.

The Thompson Board said in its statement that, “It (the property) was offered to the Town at a reasonable cost as the owner had an interest in preserving this property for the public.

“The town has a unique opportunity in Camp Jened to secure a tremendous natural resource for the use and enjoyment of the public,” the statement concluded.

The Jened property also includes approximately 40 buildings that would reportedly have to be demolished.

Both the town and village are working with the Monticello Central School District to assume maintenance and oversight of Somerville Field (off Richardson Avenue near the George Cooke Elementary School), according to Monticello Village Manager David Sager. The Thompson Board noted that those improvements would include new LED lighting, upgrading the cinder running track, building a basketball court and more.

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