Scenic Byway wins grant for mapping project

NARROWSBURG, NY — The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has awarded the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, Inc. a $12,000 grant to produce and copyright a professional base map of the designated byway route along New York State Route 97. The map will be utilized for a variety of print and web applications, including on promotional placemats that will be distributed widely throughout the byway corridor to raise awareness of the route’s identity and amenities.

The $12,000 allocation represents 80 percent of the total project cost of $15,000. The grant will cover the hiring of a consultant through a Request for Proposals process to collect the data and develop the map, as well as the purchase of graphics illustration software, and the design, printing and distribution of 100,000 Upper Delaware Scenic Byway placemats.

For more information visit www.upperdelawarescenicbyway.org or call 845/252-3022.

FERC commissioner recuses himself from NYRI case

WASHINGTON, DC — Marc Spitzer, the newest member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), said in a letter to the commission’s chairman last week that he will not take part in any deliberations regarding the project proposed by New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI). He said he was taking the action to ensure that residents of New York State retain “the highest respect for the FERC’s adjudicative process.”

In early August before taking his position, Spitzer spoke to a newspaper in Arizona, his home state, about the 200-mile power line. “It’s a no-brainer, but there is opposition to the transmission line. New York City is near blackouts as we speak,” he said.

Critics such as State Senator John J. Bonacic (R/I/C - Mt. Hope) accused Spitzer of prejudging the project and called for him to recuse himself in the matter. Bonacic said, “By taking NYRI’s best friend out of the jury box, we will make this proceeding more fair and are removing some of the stacked deck that NYRI has tried to line up.”

If New York State officials don’t approve the project, it might still move forward because FERC has the ability to override state officials.

Hinchey calls for complete flood damage estimate

Washington, DC — Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) today led a bipartisan group of six New York House members in calling on New York State officials to provide them with a complete estimate on the damages that the state endured from this summer’s flooding. The numbers are essential to move forward in obtaining additional federal aid for flood relief in New York.

Hinchey and his colleagues wrote to New York State Emergency (SEMO) Director John R. Gibb and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSA&M) Commissioner Patrick H. Brennan to request that the estimate include all individual, public, agricultural and economic damage that is a direct result of the flooding.

“We have toured the damaged areas and continue to hear from many constituents whose needs simply cannot be met through existing disaster assistance,” the letter said in part.

Federal farm aid falls short of state request

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded the state of New York $2,259,000 million in farm aid for farmers who suffered losses from the June flood. The funds come from the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP).

The amount awarded falls short of the $4 million in ECP funds requested by New York’s branch of the Farm Service Agency (FSA). ECP funds are used to provide emergency funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters, and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought.

The USDA has not announced funding for the Emergency Watershed Program, which relieves imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural occurrences. The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) New York branch had identified $33 million worth of needs that could be met through this program.

Motorcycle crash proves fatal

COCHECTON CENTER, NY — On Sunday, September 4, at approximately 9:50 p.m., deputies from the Sullivan County Sheriff’s office responded to a fatal motorcycle accident at the intersection of State Route 52 and County Route 115. The deputies, the Lake Huntington fire department and the Cochecton ambulance corps all met at the scene, where they located Richard Noble, age 63, who had apparently been ejected from a motorcycle.

Deputies believe that Noble, who resided in Cochecton Center, was traveling southbound on Route 52 on his 1970 Harley Davidson motorcycle, when he failed to stop at the “T” intersection, and went straight across the road into a field. Noble was pronounced dead at the scene by Sullivan County Coroner Elton Harris.

Local officials fear losing bargaining power

NEW YORK STATE — A broad coalition of local government leaders and the business community has sent a letter to New York’s gubernatorial candidates condemning a “flood of amendments” to the law that governs public employer/employee relations in the state.

The letter to Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Tom Suozzi, and Republican John Faso, said the legislature passed more than a dozen bills that would strengthen the negotiating power of public-sector unions while taking no action to defend taxpayers’ rights at the bargaining table. The letter was signed by leaders of the Association of Towns of New York State, New York State Association of Counties, New York State Conference of Mayors, New York State School Boards Association and the Business Council of New York State Inc.

“One-sided changes to the Taylor Law will drive up taxes by making it harder for local governments—and the state itself—to control costs,” the local government and business groups said. “Efficient local government suffers when Albany ties local officials’ hands at the bargaining table.”