Last year at just about this time, we had a more than SOLDOUT field show up at Saratoga National Golf Cource for the Chamber's 2018 Annual Golf Outing. This meant, I was out as a golfer so that our members who had shown up could all play. With 4 hours of "FREE" time, I decided to pull out my laptop and to begin work drafting a Downtown Revitalizations Grant for the Village of Schuylerville.

For the better part of three months before this date, our Chamber via volunteers like David Cummings and Peter Goutos - - who serve on our Board of Directors - and our staff had been meeting and talking with leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors within the Village of Schuylerville and the Town of Saratoga. These local leaders and others had already done so much and we were looking for a way to be helpful. Through these visits, we had compiled an extensive and impressive list of investments that had already been made and others that were planned. It was clear the Village of Schuylerville was moving forward and the hope was that by writing and helping to submit a DRI application that we might shine a light on these efforts and maybe secure some additional state support.

Here's the opening vision statement from this application:

Our Vision for the Village of Schuylerville includes three key strategic goals: (1) To move the Village of Schuylerville beyond the PCB cleanup to a community recognized for lifting itself up via a focus on environmental responsibility, historic preservation and rural entrepreneurship; (2) To create more jobs and establish the Village as a unique year-round destination along the Empire State Trail, the Champlain Canal Trail and the Hudson River; and (3) To attract more people, workers, talent, families, tourists, residents and entrepreneurs to live, work and play, in Schuylerville, by building an integrated multimodal infrastructure system that allows everyone to easily and safely move around the Village, from the water to the business district to the parks and historic sites on foot, bike and boat.

One year after this vision statement was written a great deal of progress has been made toward this lofty goal.

First, the section of New York State's Empire State Trail - - which runs through the Village itself - - is NOW under construction. Village Mayor Dan Carpenter and Town Supervisor Tom Wood teamed up with the LA Group with support from New York State secured by Julie Stokes to develop this trail plan and the bid documents required to get this project moving. The Empire State Trail itself will create a mix of on-road and off-road connections establishing a trail from Canada to New York City. The Empire State Trail enters Saratoga County from the North over the Dix Bridge, through Hudson Crossing Park, along side the Old Champlain Canal, to Fort Hardy Park, across Ferry Street adjacent to the Gateway Visitor Center, and down near the Schuyler House where it comes out to Route 4 heading south past the Sword Surrender Site to Stillwater and beyond. This approximately 2 mile stretch - - when completed - - will itself create a new outdoor recreational amenity for families looking for a safe and fun trail system for bikes, walking, snowshoeing in the winter, etc. It will be an even bigger deal with more connections and opportunity when the entire Empire State Trail is opened.

Second, we hosted a meeting in March of 2018 with the new Regional Director of the EPA, Peter Lopez, and some of his staff, to discuss a related project - - restoring the Old Champlain Canalway. This 1.5 mile canalway meanders adjacent to the Empire State Trail from Hudson Crossing Park to Ferry Street. It is just 28 to 40 feet wide. But the water in this canalway is stagnant with the Village and Canal Corporation unable to clean out various culverts until it is known whether or not there are any contaminants within the water. Testing the Old Canalway was NOT a part of the Hudson River Dredging project. Instead, it was considered part of the floodplains which are now being studied by the EPA and GE. But waiting for these studies to be completed could take years or even decades.

So at this meeting with Director Lopen in 2018, we had Mayor Carpenter, Supervisor Wood, Julie Stokes, Peter Goutos, David Cummings, the Chamber's professional staff and leaders involved in the Empire State Trail helping us to ask for his assistance to make testing of the Old Canalway a priority. Shortly after this meeting, the Chief of Staff to the Regional Director came to Schuylerville for a tour of the Old Canalway. Our group was asked to develop a plan to outline how restoration of this waterway could help revitalize the Village of Schuylerville. With help from the EST and LA Group, a vision document was prepared and provided to the EPA. 

Just a week ago, the first-phase of testing the Old Canalway began. As we learned from Regional Director Lopez in a letter sent to the Saratoga County Chamber this week, "Sampling of the Old Champlain Canalway is continuing this spring to determine if PCB's are present in areas where near-term recreational development plans are underway. Sampling is being conducted in two phases. First, additional samples will be collected from surface sediments along the length of the Old Champlain Canalway, including areas previously sampled by NYS DEC. Once results of that first phase come back, EPA will review the plans for the second phase of sampling with NYS and make any necessary adjustments."

As was stated in the DRI Application from 2018, we view the restoration of the "Old Champlain Canal as a centerpiece attraction offering residents, visitors, and tourists a unique four season recreation attraction that would feature family friendly space within the Village for kayaking, paddle boarding, paddle boarding yoga, and skating in the winter."

Please note: The Chamber has simply been a very small part of the team of people supporting these two projects, in particular. But with shovels now literally in the ground to build the Empire State Trail and testing being done within the Old Champlain Canal, we felt it was appropriate to share this story. Stay tuned because its clear to us that the local leaders in Schuylerville who are really leading this charge are committed to making even more progress this year and next. We're happy to support them anyway we can!