Like Kingston’s very own version of Michael Myers, it seems the debate over the Pike Plan is very hard to kill.

The last time the Disco Era system of canopies and planters along North Front and Wall streets was in the news was more than five years ago, when the city was trying (and close to completely failing) to get back some of the millions it had spent on a poorly executed renovation. While it did get fixed up a little better, there are still major problems — leaks into buildings, structural decay, etc. Alderman Don Tallerman, who will not be on the council next year, is pitching that the city spend a little over a million dollars to get it fixed properly, and add an annual allocation in the city budget for upkeep.

The story of Uptown’s relationship with the Pike Plan is long, twisted and offers much insight into how people are governed at street level. (We would not be surprised if at this very moment some Bard kid is doing their Ph.D. on it. We suggest the title “Got Your Goat: Kingston’s Pike Plan a Case Study in Civic Disassociation.”) There are few if any Red Goats remaining in the Stockade, but once the spray-painted symbol of ruminant rebellion was all over the place: a last-ditch protest against city government imposing a Pike Plan renovation, rather than a widely supported removal of the thing altogether.

But the canopies are here and we see it as unlikely they’ll be taken down. Which is fine — the debate over whether Uptown is better with or without them migrated from the realm of facts to articles of faith many years ago. For people who work and live in that neighborhood, the Pike Plan is a godsend when it’s pouring rain or snowing; for better or worse, they’re a hallmark of Uptown and the city as a whole. Compared to the other mid-’70s attempt at keeping a city’s traditional business district afloat in the face of shopping plazas with ample parking, Poughkeepsie’s Main Mall, the Pike Plan’s a smash hit. In contrast, the Main Mall utterly failed and got turned back into Main Street decades ago. Let’s just say that these days, some parts of it are better than others and leave it at that.

It doesn’t make fiscal sense to ignore the canopies’ issues, so we think Tallerman’s idea is a good one. To a point. While the alderman foresees taxpayer money footing this particular bill, we have a different source in mind: the developers of the Kingstonian. We call on them to step up and pay for fixing it up, and then, in conjunction with others looking to make bank off of Uptown, set up a fund to keep it fixed.

While this is partly an attempt to get a little of the $26 million Kingstonian PILOT back, it’s also vital for Messrs. Bonura and Jordan to make sure the Pike Plan is as functional and attractive as it can be. After all, they’re going to be charging big bucks to live there, and they’re using the neighborhood’s charm as their top selling point. Trust us, there’s nothing charming about having your head dripped on by a leaky canopy. While some find the Stockade’s remaining dinginess attractive and somehow comforting, those who have the kind of income to be able to afford to live in the Kingstonian may feel differently.

Plus, it would be a good public relations move. We do not mean to minimize Herzog’s support for many local good causes and the developers’ setting aside 14 units (out of 143) for affordable housing, or say that Messrs. Bender and Blaichman should be let off the hook. If it was up to the Editorial Team, we’d assess a Hipster Exploitation Tax on anyone who’s come to town to try to make money off of the Brooklynization of Kingston and use the proceeds to establish and stock more community fridges.

Yes, it’s an unusual proposal. But the circumstances under which the Kingstonian got its PILOT were unusual too, and they’re still stuck in the craw of many in town. For some, the only good outcome to the Kingstonian saga is the developers packing up and going away, but Kingston being as hot as it is right now, we see that as unlikely unless there’s another 2008-style collapse of the housing market. The developers stepping up and taking over the Pike Plan would go some way toward making amends, akin to how oftentimes the winner of the 50/50 raffle gives some or all of it back to the cause.

If we’re going to have the Kingstonian, which will radically change life for everybody in Uptown, they should not only be good neighbors, they should be the best of neighbors. So come on, Joe and Brad — show us you’re committed to the community and pay for the Pike Plan repairs.