Board of Supervisors Awards $148K to 15Saratoga County Municipalities for Trail Development 

BALLSTON SPA — The county Board of Supervisors at its monthly meeting on Aug. 20 unanimously approved the awarding of $148,000 to 15 different county municipalities as part of the county’s Trails Grant Program. 

The program provides a pool of up to $150,000 to local municipalities in matching grants to fund trail development and construction projects, including related feasibility studies, engineering work, and construction in local municipalities. 

The Trails and Open Space Committee received 15 applications from municipalities for the funding, totaling $148,000, and recommended to the board all of them be funded.  

The Board of Supervisors approved the following municipalities receive the funding, upon the condition that each municipality provide matching funds or services in-kind:

1. Town of Ballston: $10,000 to be applied toward the Jenkins Park Trail Extension and Existing Trail Restoration to include the construction of 885 ft. of trail extension on the existing 2.5-mile trail network within the existing town-owned, 43-acre multi-use recreational park, and restoration of 2,450 l.f. of the existing trails with resurfacing and drainage repairs.

2. Town of Charlton: $10,000 to be applied toward the LaRue Creek Covered Bridge Replacement to include replacement of a covered bridge that expands LaRue Creek and is part of the Saratoga County Snowmobile Trail Network. The bridge will be replaced with a 50 ft. x 8 ft. x 7 ft. covered bridge.

3. Town of Clifton Park: $10,000 to be applied toward the Trail Boardwalk Restoration: Brookhaven to Park Lane Estates to include a repair/restoration of the existing 17-year-old pedestrian boardwalk section of the existing trail route that traverses wetlands on the south side of a steel bridge that expands the Dwaas Kill. This trail connects with other local trails that connect residential neighborhoods with public parks, school areas, and commercial ventures in town.

4. Town of Corinth: $10,000 to be applied toward the Trail Network/9N property to include funding for Phase I of the town’s Master Plan of town-owned property to be utilized as a recreational park. Phase I will include the design, layout, and possibly material for 1.6 miles of planned trails in the park.

5. Village of Corinth: $8,000 to be applied toward the Upgrade Corinth Recreational Area Trails to include funds for a feasibility study and trail amenities, such as a new kiosk in the parking lot, benches along the trail, new trailhead markers, and new trail identification markers along the village’s existing Upper Reservoir Trail Network.

6. Town of Hadley: $10,000 to be applied toward the Tennis Court/Basketball Course Refurbishing to refurbish existing tennis and basketball courts and replace some fencing surrounding the tennis courts in the town park.

7. Town of Halfmoon: $10,000 to be applied toward the Erie Canalway Trail Paving to pave a portion of the town’s Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway – or more specifically, 1,200 l.f. of existing stone dust trail from Whites Lane to the Crescent Boat Club.

8. Town of Malta: $10,000 to be applied toward the Malta Community Park Trail Restoration to refurbish a 0.62-mile nature trail of the 22.69-acre Malta Community Park with engineered wood fiber and replacing existing wayfinding signage with new signage.

9. Town of Moreau: $10,000 to be applied toward the Big Bend Trail Phase I Completion: Trail Amenities to include providing an accessible kayak launch into the Hudson River from the town’s Phase I of the Big Bend Trail.

10. Town of Northumberland: $10,000 to be applied toward the Meadow in the Sky Trail – Hudson Point Crossing (Phase II) to include funding for the provision of over fifty (50) understory, native species of plants in between the oaks that will provide ecological benefits to the area. In 2023, Hudson Crossing Park completed Phase I of Meadow in the Sky Trail with a segment of “Allee of Oaks” of seven different varieties of oak trees.

11. Town of Saratoga: $10,000 to be applied toward the townwide Restoration and Maintenance Project to include resurfacing of several trails, including trails connected to the Siege Trail, the Champlain Canal Trail, the town’s Boat Launch Trail, and one more that connects to the Town of Stillwater with stone dust and fine rubble with emphasis on maintenance where trails are worn or washed out.

12. City of Saratoga Springs: $10,000 to be applied toward the Bog Meadow Brook Nature Trail Improvements to include the following: fix parking lot pot holes on both Route 29 and Meadowbrook Road parking lots, repair drainage issues in the Route 29 parking lot as well as Gilbert Road, perform maintenance on culverts and/or add new culverts between the Route 29 parking lot and the bridge over the Bog Meadow Brook, and replace or refurbish aging trail identification signs throughout the trail. The original improvements for the existing Trail Network date back to 1993, making them over 30 years old.

13. Village of South Glens Falls: $10,000 to be applied toward the Betar Byway Public Restroom (Upper Trailhead) to include placing an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant portable toilet facility that connects to municipal water and sewer. The proposed restroom facility will be placed on the village’s DPW lands in the upper section of the existing trail.

14. Village of Stillwater: $10,000 to be applied toward the Village of Stillwater Pedestrian Park to include construction of a Village Overlook Park on property neighboring the Stillwater Blockhouse. The project will include the creation of walkways, an expanded parking area, and a Hudson River Overlook constructed of Alaskan Cement Slab with stainless steel posts and cables.

15. Town of Wilton: $10,000 to be applied toward the Northern Pines Road Fishing Access Parking and Trail to include providing a parking lot and trail access to the Snook Kill off Northern Pines Road to provide fishing access to the Veterans Housing Community as well as to the general public. Funds will be used to provide grading of raw land and purchase of parking and trail construction materials.