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Village Approves Study Of Croton Yacht Club Repair

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — With questions growing about an estimated $3 million repair needed on the bulkhead at the Croton Yacht Club, the Village Board of Trustees approved a $17,000 site-use evaluation for the project Monday evening.

The work is needed to stabilize the village property, which the yacht club leases from the village for $12,500 annually.

Additionally, the village authorized a $16,525 agreement with Ocean and Coastal Consultants to a design for a cathodic protection system for the proposed bulkhead project. The system would protect the steel structure supporting the shoreline from erosion caused by direct current, such as those used to power nearby Metro-North train tracks.

As the time to negotiate the club's lease draws near, with the lease expiring in 2014, more residents are beginning to question village officials about possible uses for the property, Trustee Ann Gallelli said.

"'It could be used for this. Why don't they do that?' And we don’t know whether any of that is practical, possible, feasible, so we need professional advice as to what the feasibility of possible uses," Gallelli said at a work session last week.

After one resident at Monday evening's meeting suggested letting the bulkhead fail, yacht club board member Kenneth Gabrielsen said, "I'm just so taken aback by the whole thought that we're an evil organization because we need this repair made."

Another yacht club member, Ray Clifford, said he saw two main issues with the repair. "How do we pay for it, how do we generate income for it. And another issue I see starting to surface, is that we need to find a way for the village to have better access to that property."

The club paid $12,621 in property taxes to the Croton-Harmon School District last year and about $3,476 in other local taxes. In 2010, the 1.5-acre property was assessed at $635,989.

The proposal will look at possible development at the club, market implications of development and strategy. The company commissioned to do the study, Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart Inc., also worked on a study of the Croton-Harmon train station parking lot.

Members of the club, at previous meetings and in letters to the editors, said they contribute more to the village than tax revenue and lease payments and said high-traffic developments, such as a restaurant, would have problems coexisting with a working marina.

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