Bonacic again supports Delaware River Valley Greenway

Senate and assembly versions need to be reconciled

By TOM KANE

COCHECTON, NY - Senator John Bonacic announced a plan to put forward for the second time a bill to establish a Delaware River Valley Greenway. What is now necessary is to reconcile Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther’s version of the bill with his.

The state senate and the assembly approved the project, but the two bills were never reconciled because the session ended before it could be done.

“I will go to the local municipal officials with the new version of the bill and have them sign off on it. If they do, the new bill will be presented in the 2007 session and funded during that session,” Bonacic said during a stop in Cochecton in advance of the elections on November 7. “I’m highly optimistic that the bill will be passed by the legislature.”

What would the Delaware River Valley Greenway do?

Like the Hudson River Valley Greenway, which has existed since 1991, the Delaware River Valley Greenway would promote cooperation among the various communities along the river and would provide local communities with funding for planning.

“For years, towns in other parts of the state have received funds because of a greenway designation.” Bonacic said. “Why shouldn’t the towns along the Delaware River receive a similar boost from the state?”

The Hudson River Greenway Act created a process for voluntary regional cooperation among the 259 communities in the 16 counties in the Hudson River. Two organizations created by the act to facilitate the greenway process are the Hudson Valley Greenway Communities Council and the Greenway Conservancy.

If the Delaware River Valley Greenway is passed into law, the act would get the state to work with local and county governments to promote land-use planning and create a way that communities can work together.

Joining the greenway project is entirely optional, Bonacic said. Communities are free not to join or drop out later if they wish.