NEW BERLIN – Memorial Day won’t be the same for Pat Patterson and her family. “We would have been there, definitely,” the Otsego County resident said, referring to Hunts Pond State Park in New Berlin. She and her family have made camping and fishing at the quiet, secluded park a family tradition for many years.
This year, however, while Bowman Lake State Park and other parks across New York are gearing up for the summer season, Hunts Pond State Park remains shuttered. Notices on the Parks Department’s website indicate that the 250-acre New Berlin facility will not be open for the 2010 season “due to New York State’s fiscal crisis.”
Hunts Pond is not alone; it is one of 41 parks and 14 historical sites closed this year as a result of $6.3 million in cuts to the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historical Preservation budget. Service reductions have also been made at a number of properties in an effort to meet the savings target handed down by Governor David Paterson in his executive budget proposal.
But is this all she wrote for the park, which has welcomed campers and outdoors enthusiasts since 1976? An announcement made earlier this week by the Department of Environmental Conservation may give new hope to those who wish to see this and other parks reopened.
On Monday, the DEC announced the Caroga Lake campground it operates in Fulton County would be reopened as a result of a financial deal struck with the Town of Caroga.
Located in Adirondack Park, Caroga Lake is one of 52 campgrounds and seven day-use facilities managed by the DEC. Its closure was announced in March, along with six other campgrounds and two day-use areas which fall under the purview of the state agency.
Working in conjunction with the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce, the municipality has pledged to cover the campground’s approximately $36,000 revenue shortfall in order to see the facility reopened for the 2010 season, the DEC reported. The campground is expected to be back in business by Memorial Day.
Following the DEC announcement, a Parks Department official confirmed that the OPRHP is open to similar arrangements.
“We have said all along that we would be happy to discuss options with local governments or interested groups to keep facilities open,” agency spokesman Dan Keefe reported via e-mail. “We have an agreement with Orleans county to keep the Oak Orchard Marine Park open, for example, and are working on others.”
How much would have to be anted up to keep Hunt’s Pond open remains unknown, but in March Keefe reported the parks closure would save the state $8,500. That’s the difference between the $14,500 the state expects to save in operating expenses, less the $6,000 in revenue the property brings in each year.
Upon learning of the deals the Parks Department and DEC have struck with other municipalities, Richard Decker, chairman of the Chenango County Board of Supervisors, said he would have the county’s planning department contact the state as soon as possible to see what would be involved in reopening Hunts Pond for the season as well.
“I’m sure we would consider funding part of it,” Decker said.
For Patterson, even the hint that her favorite state park could be reopen is good news. In March, she sent Senator Jim Seward a petition signed by more than a 1,000 area residents who were keen to see the park stay open. She said she will send copies of that petition to local officials to encourage them to take action.