POTSDAM — The joint recreation department between the town and village is officially dissolving.
“The town and village are splitting up the joint recreation department,” Maggie McKenna, village trustee, said in a Facebook post. The post links to the page of the new town of Potsdam Recreation Department for Postwood Beach.
The beach, which has remained closed this summer, centers at the controversy between the town and village.
Village Recreation Director Trey T. Smutz has said that he doesn’t have the resources to safely open the beach. The town thus decided to assume full operational and financial responsibility for the beach in order to open it.
The new Facebook page for the town recreation department posted: “It’s official... Postwood Park WILL be opening this year! Please tell your friends and check back frequently for more details!”
It is unclear exactly when the beach will open, but Town Supervisor Ann M. Carvill said the town aims for early July.
Ms. McKenna said that, “it’s a sad day for the town and village of Potsdam to lose this connection with one another and lose this collaborative opportunity.”
“I don’t think that this move is in the best interest of our community,” she added.
She continued, “I would like to find as many ways as possible for the town and village to work together, but this is a step in the wrong direction.”
Ms. Carvill said the town will divert the $80,000 it previously designated for the joint commission to run Postwood this summer.
Because there likely won’t be any summer recreation programs, Ms. McKenna said it shouldn’t cost as much as normal to run Postwood.
“That decrease in activity and programming will mean that we need less funding,” she said.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.