Grants help towns take down derelict buildings

LIBERTY, NY — Applications are now available for the Municipal Clean-Up Grant Program, designed to assist towns and villages with the clean-up of roadside sites and the removal of derelict, unsightly and unsafe structures. The program is sponsored by Sullivan Renaissance.

Municipalities may apply for matching funds up to $5,000. They may use in-kind contributions, private and/or foundation funds and other sources of revenue for their match. In addition, Sullivan County will cover the tipping fees associated with disposal of the construction debris at the county landfill. Applications must be received by March 30.

Last year’s pilot program distributed $15,000 in matching grants to take down derelict buildings in the towns of Fremont and Bethel and the Village of Liberty. Because the program was popular and successful, the number of available grants has been increased this year.

For more information call 845/295-2445.

Committee approves methane to energy operation for landfill

MONTICELLO, NY — On March 1, the Public Works Committee of the Sullivan County Legislature unanimously approved a contract that will allow Minnesota-based Planergy International to build and operate a methane gas to energy operation on Phase One of the Sullivan County Landfill.

The agreement, which must still be approved by the legislature at its full board meeting on March 15, is similar to the agreement the county considered in late 2006 from PPL Energy Corp. The agreement with Planergy, however, calls for a minimum of $1.7 million to the county over the 10-year contract, as well as 50 percent from all profits garnered from the sale of the energy created, compared to 8 percent offered by PPL.

The contract includes a clause allowing the county to buy the energy generated from the landfill directly from the company. According to commissioner Meyer, the project will not increase odor problems at the landfill, and may actually decrease them.

Snowpack data may improve PPL flood control

HAWLEY, PA — PPL Corporation has received interim approval to use regional snowpack data in setting the water level in the lake.

The change, suggested by PPL and approved on an interim basis by the Delaware River Basin Commission, means that PPL can lower the lake level in March based on the amount of snow on the ground, allowing the lake to hold back more water during heavy spring rains. The more water the lake holds back, the less flooding there is downstream.

“Many people have asked us to keep the lake level low in advance of heavy runoff, and using snowpack as a factor to manage the lake level will help us do that,” said Paul Canevari, PPL’s community relations director in the lake region.

Until now, PPL did not have accurate data on regional snowpack. That data was recently made available to the public by the National Weather Service, Canevari said.

Two killed in car accident on 17B

TOWN OF DELAWARE, NY — A 1999 Chevrolet Blazer went off the road on Route 17B on Friday, March 2. Both occupants were found dead.

Sullivan County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to the scene at approximately 9:30 p.m. At the scene, deputies found the Hortonville and Jeffersonville fire departments in the process of extricating the occupants of the vehicle, which required cutting open the top of the car. Sullivan County Coroner David Sager pronounced the driver, Alan Heifetz, age 47, and passenger Ruth Rosenberg, age 46, dead at the scene.

Heifetz and Rosenberg lived together at 609 Columbus Avenue in Manhattan and were en route to Rosenberg’s second home in Hankins. Deputies believe the vehicle was proceeding westbound on 17B when it encountered a patch of black ice near Lux Road, skidded sideways, overturned, then struck a tree with the roof of the vehicle. Both occupants appeared to have suffered head trauma. Upper Delaware Ambulance Corps and state troopers from Liberty assisted at the scene.

Clinton opposes gag on injured service members

WASHINGTON, DC — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has called on the Secretary of the Army to respond to reports that service members being treated at Walter Reed have been told they are no longer permitted to speak to news media. In a letter to Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who has since resigned in connection with the scandal, Senator Clinton underscored the need to hear directly from wounded service members who have been subjected to these conditions.

Harvey has been replaced by acting secretary Peter Geren. However, it is still not clear that issues regarding the access of servicemen and women to the media and Congress have been resolved, according to a March 6 Washington Post article. The article reports that a soldier with a prosthetic arm tried to gain access to current Congressional hearings on Walter Reed, but was turned away on the grounds that only those who had been “preselected” could enter. The article goes on to note that only a few of the seats in the three rows reserved for the Army were filled.

Major party registration declines in Wayne

HONESDALE, PA — The number of voters in Wayne County and their party affiliations were announced by Cindy Furman, Director of the Wayne County Board of Elections, at the commissioners meeting on March 6.

By latest count, there are 8,714 Democratic voters registered, 16,976 Republican voters registered and 3, 999 others registered.

In February 2006, the count was Democrats 8,859, Republicans 17,171 and others 3,765, meaning that registration in both the major parties has decreased somewhat, while the “other” category has increased.

“The category of ‘others’ would include independent parties, and announced parties like the Green Party or the Socialist Party or other parties that are not considered independent parties,” Furman said.