Public Involvement
Public informational meetings were held for the Dutchess Rail Trail project during February 2006 in each of the four towns in which the project is located, East Fishkill, Wappinger, LaGrange, and Poughkeepsie. The public meetings were scheduled as follows:
| Public Informational Meeting Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Municipality | Location |
| 2/07/06 | 7PM | Town/City of Poughkeepsie | Poughkeepsie Town Hall |
| 2/15/06 | 7PM | Town of Wappinger | Wappinger Town Hall |
| 2/16/06 | 7PM | Town of East Fishkill | East Fishkill Town Hall |
| 2/28/06 | 7PM | Town of LaGrange | LaGrange Town Hall |
The four public information meetings were attended by Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus, Dutchess County Commissioner of Public Works Michael Murphy, and the Town’s Supervisor. The meetings were conducted under the same agenda, which included a presentation regarding the benefits and design features of rail trails. Following the presentation, attendees participated in design workshops, which allowed community participants to provide creative input.
During the design workshops, community participants divided into four work groups, each guided by a member of the County's project team. Each group received large plot-size aerial imagery maps of the project area in the specific Town. Participants were asked to identify existing conditions and features associated with the project area located on the aerial imagery maps. Existing conditions and features identified included,
- Community amenities such as parks, schools, other trails, etc.
- Places of interest such as historical sites, scenic overlooks, gathering places, etc.
- Existing services such as parking lots, convenience stores, public comfort facilities, etc.
- Generators of trail users such as places of employment.
Following the identification of the existing conditions and features, each group was posed with the following question, “How can we improve the Dutchess Rail Trail so that it becomes the most desirable public space in our community?” Participants responded by identifying potential activities that can be incorporated into the trail corridor, users that will frequent the corridor, linkages with neighborhoods, places of employment, and civic institutions, support facilities such as parking areas, comfort facilities, water fountains, and kiosks, and gateway, trailhead, and access locations. Following the 40 minute design workshops each group facilitator presented their group’s efforts and ideas to all meeting participants.
The identification of existing conditions and features, and ideas produced from the design workshops of the four public information meetings are illustrated in the maps listed below:
