Watkins hears Clute Park ideas, updates

WATKINS GLEN--The Watkins Glen village board met Wednesday, May 20, and listened to an idea of using Clute Park as a drive-in movie theater during the summer.
Eric Hollenbeck, board chair of the Finger Lakes Film Society, spoke during the public session to make the board aware he was exploring the possibility.
"We are in the early stages of asking to rent Clute Park for the summer to do movies in the park... it would be like a drive-in," said Hollenbeck.
Hollenbeck, who was clear that he was only in the early stages of seeing if the idea was feasible, said it would be a for-profit project and would run roughly from July 3 to shortly after Labor Day.
"We are kicking around the idea to see if we can do it safely and bring entertainment and life to the community since everything was shut down," Hollenbeck said.
Board members expressed tentative interest and asked Hollenbeck to walk Clute Park with village officials to get a better understanding of where the construction scheduled to take place in Clute Park this summer will occur.
Clute Park and Campground Manager Michelle Hyde informed the board that despite COVID-19, campground reservations remain strong.
"We are getting cancelations but then as many reservations to replace them so we are holding steady on camping numbers," Hyde said.
While most campers have been respectful of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, there have been issues on the playground.
"Parents are taking down the caution tape to let their children play on the playground equipment," Hyde said.
As a result park staff are going to zip tie and plastic wrap the playground equipment so that it can no longer be used.
"We are trying to stay safe with this COVID situation," Hyde said.
The board voted unanimously to renew the village recycling contract with Cardinal Disposal despite the price increasing from $3000 to $4000 a month.
While there was some disagreement between Laurie DeNardo and Mayor Luke Leszyk as to how to pay for the program, with DeNardo in favor of examining a $1 per month surcharge for residents and Leszyk opposed, both were adamant they supported maintaining the program.
Board members also agreed should the price for the program continue to increase annually at or near the same rate, other alternatives would need to be examined.
Village finances were briefly touched upon, where it was revealed that despite the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic the village will end the year in the black financially. The board voted unanimously to support a resolution calling upon federal funding to be allocated to local municipalities to help mitigate current or future shortfalls caused by the pandemic.
The board also discussed the possibility of reopening the village hall June 1. However, it was pointed out new signage and procedures must be in place before a final decision can be made.
Towards the end of the meeting, which was held online, the meeting was briefly hacked. After a short break, the meeting was resumed.
"Hopefully we won't have to do this too much longer," DeNardo said of the Zoom meetings.