The Cortlandt Town Board hopes to use federal grant money to construct an aviation-themed playground at the former Seaplane Base at the Steamboat Riverfront Park in Verplanck, among other projects.

The board approved five applications for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for the 2009-11 funding cycle at a public hearing on Tuesday.
The town wants to build the playground at the site of the former waterfront airplane runway to memorialize its history.

The town plans to fund half of the $100,000 project.

Residents of Rita Drive and Jerome Drive should see less service interruption due to pipe breaks if the town receives the grant money to replace the water pipe with a larger, modern iron pipe. The town plans to cover half of the $500,000 expense.

The town also filed a CDBG application to build a new sidewalk on Heady Street to connect to Oregon Street, plus refurbish sidewalks on Oregon Street, and build a new section of sidewalks on Locust Avenue.

The town plans to contribute half of the $500,000 project.
The town has applied for grant money to purchase a 36-seat passenger bus to transport residents with disabilities to therapeutic recreational programs. The town will not contribute any money. Nor-West Special Services will pay $30,000 of the $120,000 expense.
Finally, the town wants to move ahead with phase two of constructing the Broadway sidewalks from 5th Street to the Hudson River at a total cost of $700,000, with the town agreeing to pay half.

In other news
* The Town of Cortlandt will permit office owners within 1,000 feet of the Hudson Valley Hospital to build accessory apartments onto their buildings.

The apartments will be no larger than 60-square feet and will provide housing for caretakers.
Property owners had petitioned the town for the amendment to the zoning code.
* The mother of Jefferey Keesler, who tragically died in a car accident on Oct. 2, 2005, requested the town rename Meahagh Park after her son who loved to play basketball.
“With the start of the new reconstruction of Meahagh Park, we felt this was the perfect place as basketball was Jeff’s favorite sport, and he and his friends spent many hours playing there,” said his mother, Patrice Keesler.

Supervisor Linda Puglisi agreed to discuss the idea with the recreation department.
The family will also hold the second annual Jeff Keesler memorial softball game this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at George’s Island. The family invites the public to turn out for the game.
* The town signed the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Change Protection Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Cortlandt. The agreement asks participating communities to reduce its emissions seven percent below the 1990 levels by 2012.