Hancock receives matching grant

HANCOCK, NY — Hancock Partners, Inc. has received $200,000 in matching funds from New York State’s Main Street Program, which is designed to stimulate downtown revitalization in communities. The grant application was developed by local architect Bruce Moore and former village trustee Ann Kozak. Hancock Partners will hold public meetings to advise the public of the program benefits, and to solicit applicants for the matching funds. The organization must also submit a detailed action plan to the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, and have a member attend January training classes in Albany to learn plan administration.

Pike County leads income growth

PIKE COUNTY, PA — Pike County is the sixth most prosperous county in PA, as measured by median income, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Pike’s median income grew by $1,798 between 2002 and 2003, the latest year for which data is available, to a total of $48,972. That growth was the most rapid in the state.

According to John Casella, director of the Monroe County Career Link job placement service, the income growth is due to two principal factors. “I think it is a mixture of the 30 percent of workers who commute to jobs in New York, New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley, and it also represents the higher quality of employer we’re bringing in,” Casella said.

Petitioners oppose PA casino

PARADISE VALLEY, PA — Three hundred petitioners in Paradise Valley have opposed a request by the developer who has purchased the Mount Airy property to have the town take over Woodland Road. The developer, Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples, plans to build a luxury hotel and casino off Woodland Road, near the site of the original Mount Airy Lodge. DeNaples is asking town supervisors to take the road over from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), stating that this would give them more control over maintenance of the roads. The opposing petition cites concerns over the impact of such a takeover on the township, and notes that the move appears to be special treatment granted to a powerful developer.

New town proposed for Lehman

LEHMAN TOWNSHIP, PA — A plan to put 5,000 housing units on 2,500 acres near Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center has been proposed for Lehman Township. The plan would require the township to reduce its minimum lot requirements, which at present would allow only 4,100 units. The new development, Highland Village, would be separated into a senior housing community and a mixed-residential community, and would also boast a township center surrounding the current arts center.

John Wolfington, president of Villanova Development-Greystone Capital Partners, told the board that, according to a fiscal impact analysis, the development could bring approximately $26 million in increased revenue to the area.

PA heating assistance gets boost

HARRISBURG, PA — House Bill 135, which would provide about $6 million in state finding to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), was approved in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last week. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Bob Allen (R Schuylkill/Berks), and provides grants to low-income households to help pay heating bills. It also offers crisis grants to individuals in danger of losing heat due to emergency situations. The bill now moves to the senate for consideration.

For more information call 866/857-7059.

Septic system help expanded

MARGARETVILLE, NY — A program that pays half the cost of inspecting and pumping out residential septic systems in the Catskill-Delaware Watershed has been expanded. The program, administered by the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), now applies to all new or replacement residential systems installed after January 21, 1997 that are at least three years old. Property owners who are eligible will soon receive a letter from the CWC explaining the program. Some properties in Liberty, Neversink and Grahamsville would be eligible, as well as areas in Delaware County around the Pepacton and Canonsville reservoirs..

For more information call 845/586-1400, Ext. 15.

Pammer to stay in Sullivan

MONTICELLO, NY — Dr. William J. Pammer Jr., Sullivan County Commissioner of Planning and Community Development, who had earlier said he planned to leave his position to teach at Marist College, has decided to continue as commissioner. In his letter to the legislature, Pammer said, “After serious consideration and thought, I have decided to accept your offer to continue as Commissioner of Planning and Community Development. Teaching is one my deepest passions, but upon closer reflection, I also have a deep passion to implementing the goals of the Sullivan 2020 Strategic Plan, which you have strongly supported since we began the initiative during the Spring of 2004.”

Mohawks unite for casino site

ST. REGIS MOHAWK RESERVATION, NY — The three tribal chiefs of the St. Regis Mohawks buried their differences recently in presenting a plan for a casino at Monticello Raceway to the Department of the Interior. There had been a split recently between Chief James Ransom, who favors continuing the tribe’s pursuit of the Kutsher’s site, and chiefs Barbara Lazore and Lorraine White, who have shifted their focus back to the Monticello site after waiting in vain for five years for approval of the Kutsher’s plan.

Despite these earlier differences, the three chiefs presented a united front in their presentation to Department of the Interior Solicitor Sue Ellen Woodridge. Woodridge had written a letter in November stating that the earlier approvals for the Monticello plans were not still valid, in apparent contradiction to a letter written in September by Acting Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary George Skibine. It is not yet clear how the matter will be resolved.