Does Luxton Lake plan include everybody?

To the editor:

Regarding your article, “On the comeback road” in the June 28 issue of The River Reporter: The “new” Luxton Lake Property Owners Association (LLPOA) represents a very small portion of the owners in the area. They are representing the community as though the history starts with them. I am glad that a former Luxton Lake Association president responded to correct that impression (see letter “Luxton Lake a well-to-do community” in the July 7 issue). Many concerned owners are not active and not encouraged to participate.

The association’s calls to “bring back the lake” and “rebuild the dam” are, at best, disingenuous. Most of the community has not been acquainted with the “plan.” Shouldn’t the community know and approve of the plan? Or is it just a good fund-raising tool? I would ask the LLPOA to report the position of the DEC on the practicality of rebuilding the dam. Have they done that? What engineering standards would have to be met? Is it practical—or is the call to restore the lake a ploy to gain political influence over the few while ignoring the many?

Who owns the clubhouse, which was recently demolished? Who owns, controls and has rights to the property? Were owners notified of the drastic action to be taken? Who owns the lakebed? Can the lake be restored if there is no negotiation with the owner of the lakebed?

As African Americans are losing real estate throughout the south, it is also happening on a small scale in Narrowsburg, NY. Tax sales, estate transfers and foreclosures are decimating the number of African American property owners in Luxton Lake. Is the LLPOA combating or facilitating the problem? Or is the new leadership manipulating for its own purposes? Again—what is the plan referred to in the article?

As a property owner, I have not been consulted or informed and I am not alone. There are a lot of questions that need to be addressed.

Kudos to local communities for joining driver safety program

To the editor:

Community Driver Safety Programs, Inc. would like to thank Roscoe, Livingston Manor, Liberty, Tri Valley, Fallsburg, Eldred, Ellenville and Monticello high schools for helping their students in learning to drive safely. These schools, during the past months, have given their students the opportunity to take the National Safety Council’s Alive@25 Program and a Defensive Driving Course. To date over 650 students have taken the course.

We at Community Driver Safety Programs, Inc. would like to give thanks to Phil Valone of Rolling V Bus Company and Alan Kesten of Yellow Cab, among other businesses that financed this program.

To the students who took the course: we hope you received enough information to help you make the right driving decisions.

We hope that more people will assist us to continue the program this coming school year.