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NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) distributed $17,011.17 to fund four projects by three towns in its Fiscal Year 2020 Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) round.

The planning-oriented grants are available competitively to the UDC’s 13 member towns and townships, and their five encompassing county governments in NY and PA.

The non-profit organization has opted to allocate a portion of its annual federal operating funds received through a line item in the National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River budget for TAGs since its 1988 inception.

Accomplished this year were the following projects:

Town of Tusten – Comprehensive Plan Part 1 Update, for which the Tusten Town Board retained consultant Peter Manning from Genius Loci Planning of Bovina Center, NY to work with an appointed committee on updating the town’s 2007 Comprehensive Plan, with public workshops and preliminary drafting of document sections, for a $10,000 award.

Town of Hancock – Recreational Access Study along the Main Stem of the Delaware River from Hancock to Long Eddy, NY, for which the Hancock Town Board contracted with Tom Shepstone from Shepstone Management Co. of Honesdale, PA to work with Woodland Design Associates, Inc. and an advisory committee representing Friends of the Upper Delaware River, Inc., the Village of Hancock, Town of Hancock, Hancock Gateway Tourism Council, Hancock Chamber of Commerce, and Sullivan County Planning, to research land ownership, route options, cost projections, and permitting issues which generated a report detailing the steps necessary to develop proposed walking/water trails and to improve direct river access for fishing and boating, for a $5,000 award.

Town of Delaware – A “Guide to Permits” brochure to answer frequently asked questions about building requirements, for which Town of Delaware Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer James McElroy and Town Clerk Tess McBeath supplied the content to Dorene Warner of W Design of Barryville, NY for graphic design services and the file to Spencer Printing of Honesdale, PA to produce 1,000 copies, for $1,104.57 in actual costs out of the $1,127 that the UDC had awarded.

Town of Tusten – Zoning Ordinance Updates including the preparation of draft local laws for Zoning & Subdivision Amendments, Noise, and Mass Gatherings by Peter Manning of Genius Loci Planning in consultation with a zoning rewrite committee, for $906.50 in actual costs out of $7,250 that the UDC had awarded for the project’s originally larger scope.

Applications for the FY 2020 program (encompassing October 1, 2019-September 30, 2020) had been due by Aug. 30, 2019, awarded by UDC resolution on Oct. 3, and projects had to be completed within 10 months by Aug. 28, 2020.

From 1988 through the October 1st approval of TAGs for the Fiscal Year 2021 cycle that will end August 20, 2021, the Council has awarded a cumulative total of $916,952 to fund 260 municipal projects.

Please visit the Grants Program page at www.upperdelawarecouncil.org, or contact UDC Resources and Land Use Specialist Shannon Cilento at shannon@upperdelawarecouncil.org or (845) 252-3022 for more information on the UDC’s Technical Assistance Grants program.