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UDC Closes Out State Grant Benefiting NY Member Towns
NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) presented four checks for $8,125 each to the Towns of Fremont, Cochecton, Highland, and Tusten on September 30 representing their shares of a $75,000 Community Projects State Grant funding program that Senator John J. Bonacic secured for the UDC’s eight New York State member towns.
The checks were the final disbursements to complete the UDC’s administration of the FY 2008-2009 NYS Grant M080103 program. The contract period was Jan. 1, 2009-Aug. 31, 2010.
Since Fiscal Year 2000, Senator Bonacic (42nd District) has secured $365,000 for projects that improve municipal facilities and programs, enhance river access, or promote tourism in the Upper Delaware River Valley towns.
Projects accomplished most recently during this sixth grant round were:
Fremont – Established a Fremont Town Square and Veterans Memorial at the intersections of County Roads 93, 94, and 95 in Fremont Center;
Cochecton – Performed Phase I of a town-wide Roadway Conditions Assessment and development of a Road Use Agreement permit for large industries doing business in the Town of Cochecton;
Highland – Upgraded for energy-efficiency at the Highland Town Hall and Highway Department in Eldred; and
Tusten – Made improvements at the Town of Tusten Baseball Field in Narrowsburg and provided support to the Tusten Volunteer Youth Commission.
Previously-reimbursed projects by the rest of the UDC New York member towns were:
Hancock – Completed transformation of the town’s former gravel pit on Readburn Road into the Town of Hancock Memorial Park for recreational use;
Delaware – Furnished the new Town Hall constructed in early 2009 and the renovated Justice Court facilities at the old Town Hall in Hortonville;
Lumberland – Replaced a 30-year-old, failing, oil-fired furnace at the Lumberland Town Hall in Glen Spey with an energy-efficient steam boiler unit; and
Deerpark – Installed a historically-authentic bluestone entranceway and safety lighting at the Town of Deerpark Museum in Huguenot.
The New York State Department of Economic Development served as the state’s administering agency for this grant, while the UDC received a $10,000 fee for its role as local administrator. The UDC’s services included submitting the draft agreement and required forms for contract execution, soliciting and approving town project proposals, overseeing the work, collecting documentation, applying for interim reimbursements as each project was completed, and publicizing the accomplishments.
The non-profit UDC organization was established in 1988 to oversee implementation of the “River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River” through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service. Its voting members are the two states and 13 local governments (eight New York towns and five Pennsylvania townships) that border on the Upper Delaware River. The Delaware River Basin Commission is a non-voting member.