Expanded grants available to fire and ambulance companies

HARRISBURG, PA — The window of opportunity for volunteer fire departments and volunteer ambulance service units to apply for state funding will be open until 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 11.

Applications for grants may be submitted on the website of the Office of the State Fire Commissioner, osfc.state.pa.us. Grants are used to improve and enhance capabilities of vital emergency preparedness services such as construction or renovation of a unit’s station, the purchase or repair of equipment, training or debt reduction.

The recently passed act funding this program expanded funding for the current year, doubling the total available to $50 million. The maximum grant request for this year’s program has also been doubled, to $30,000 for volunteer fire companies and $20,000 for volunteer ambulance services. Next year, however, grant funding levels will return to previous levels.

Local towns receive assessment award

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The towns of Highland and Lumberland have qualified for the New York State Office of Real Property Services’ Excellence in Equity Awards. Highland qualified for the sixth year since 1999, and Lumberland for the fifth year. Both met the criteria for the award by conducting a reassessment that met state standards for equitable assessments.

NYSORPS Executive Director Donald C. DeWitt said, “Many taxpayers do not realize that reassessments do not raise additional taxes for municipalities. Rather, reassessments help to ensure that the taxes to be collected by the school district, county, and city or town are distributed fairly. The taxpayer is the ultimate beneficiary of fair assessments.”

In addition to qualifying for Excellence in Equity Awards, these municipalities may be eligible to apply for State Aid for Quality Assessing. This program grants up to $5 per parcel aid to qualifying municipalities.

For additional information visit www.orps.state.ny.us.

Sun power to light up Sullivan nights

LIBERTY, NY — The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will undertake a solar street light demonstration in Sullivan County that will bring solar lighting to the Village of Woodridge, the Town of Liberty and Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel. The project was initiated by a Sullivan Renaissance proposal to NYSERDA. It was inspired by the presentation “Why Solar Makes Sense in New York Now,” given by Richard Perez, Research Professor, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the University at Albany.

The $338,425 NYSERDA contract includes $138,425 in matching funds from other partners, including: HadcoŽ Lighting of Littlestown, PA, and SolarOneŽ Solutions of Framingham, MA, which jointly developed the solar-powered post-top style lamppost fixture. The units will operate independent of the electrical grid through a storage battery concealed in their bases. Educational banners – engineered and designed by Amelia Amon, solar designer of Alt Technica – will be hung behind the solar panels.

Included in the funding is a field evaluation of the fixture performance by the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. Results will be published in a report that will be available on the LRC’s website.

Community rallies to help fire-ravaged Hills Country Inn recover

CALLICOON CENTER, NY — The Clubhouse at the Hills Country Inn was destroyed in an early-morning fire on Sunday, September 16. A call was made to 911 by a neighbor at about 3:45 a.m., but the building had been largely destroyed by the time firemen arrived. Firemen succeeded in saving the main house, though it suffered external damage including melted vinyl siding.

The inn started as a boarding house built in the 1900s, and later expanded to become a full-scale resort during the glory days of the Borscht Belt. The clubhouse, built in the 1950s, has served as a venue for many community functions and was not insured.

A benefit to help owners Cima and Ela Bue repair the damages will be held from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 22, called Beerfest. It will cost $15 at the door. A DJ and emcee will be on hand and raffle tickets to win prizes and services from local merchants will be sold. Additional monetary donations are encouraged. Donations may be sent to Cima and Ela Bue at PO Box 2, Callicoon Center, NY 12724.

Emergency regulations in New York to protect dogs from traps

NEW YORK STATE — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has issued emergency regulations that will help reduce or eliminate the capture or killing of pets in body-gripping traps, in time for the opening of New York’s 2007-08 trapping season (October 25 in most areas of the state).

The DEC’s original proposed rulemaking was posted for public review on May 30. It has been revised in light of those comments, and the revision will be published in the New York State Register ( www.dos.state.ny.us/info/register.htm ) on Wednesday, October 3, starting a 30-day public comment period that closes Friday, November 2.

In the interim, DEC has adopted the proposed regulations on an emergency basis. They include additional designs for body-gripping traps set in dog-resistant containers used with baits; restrictions on body-gripping traps set without the use of baits in so-called “blind run sets;” and a new setback restriction for body-gripping traps set on public lands near trails.

Relief channel to be dug for Callicoon Creek for flood mitigation

CALLICOON, NY — A plan has been approved for a flood mitigation project that will provide Callicoon Creek with an alternate outlet to the Delaware River. The Department of Environmental Conservation and the State Historic Preservation Office have both signed off on the plan, which will be funded by the Sullivan County government with the help of the new sales tax. The plan involves digging a channel alongside the last 800 feet or so of the creek. The project is expected to have little impact on the Delaware Valley Youth Center, but may involve moving the current public access slightly.

Though the 60-foot-wide channel should reduce the amount of flooding in downtown Callicoon during major high-water events, it cannot entirely eliminate it during floods of the dimension that occurred in June of 2006.

Work is scheduled to be finished by Monday, October 1, at a cost of $45,000.