FORESTBURGH — The Town of Forestburgh is trying to get off on the right foot in 2020 by holding its reorganizational meeting on January 9.

Returning to the town board is Councilwoman Karen Ellsweig, Councilman John Galligan, Town Supervisor Dan Hogue, Jr., Councilwoman Susan Parks-Landis, and Councilman Steven Budofsky.

For 2020, the Forestburgh Town Clerk is Joanne K. Nagoda, and the Highway Superintendent is Joseph Ruggeri.

LEDs

Forestburgh is looking to update their lighting in and around the town hall with a more “green” LED lighting array.

Hogue said that an electrician would visit Forestburgh Town Hall soon to provide an estimate.

According to Hogue, he hopes to see some progress by next month.

Currently, the town has high-pressure sodium-vapor bulbs, and according to Hogue, they flash on and off.

During a December 5 town board meeting, Hogue said, “We just absolutely need to have these lights.”

Hogue said that Town Judges use the justice court at “all hours of the night” for arraignments.

“It needs to be properly lit,” said Hogue.

PPD LAW

After a public hearing and reviewing comments from numerous sources, the town board decided to repeal the Planned Development Districts (PDD) law created to accommodate the Lost Lake development.

Currently, a New York City investment-sales brokerage firm—Highcap Group—is marketing the 2,000 plus acre Lost Lake property for $22 million after the original developer ceased construction.

According to Danielle Jose-Decker, Forestburgh Town Attorney, the repealing of the law is a Type II action under New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) and needs no further review by the Department of Environmental Conservation.

In 2019, the town imposed a six-month moratorium on PDD applications, which expires this month.

A PDD is used when a developer is building in a zone that might not allow a specific type of development. Such considerations would enable the developer to develop and design property with varied land uses of commercial and residential.

The town board has raised concerns in the past over the PDD law and how it deals with high-density developments that are not in line with the Forestburgh Comprehensive Plan.

Now that the town has repealed the law, they will rely on the Forest Conservation Subdivision (FCS) code, which will allow much of the same development as a PDD would but without the flexibility.