Scenic byway visitor center may be delayed

County’s tentative budget provides no funding

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — The construction of the proposed visitors center in Cochecton was supposed to begin next year, but because of the austere budget proposed for Sullivan County for 2008, the start date may have to be postponed.

In July, county lawmakers agreed to provide a $150,000 matching grant to help pay for the facility and to enable the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway to receive about $600,000 in federal funds that have been earmarked for the project. However, the tentative budget put forward by county manager David Fanslau did not provide the funds.

According to Laurie Ramie, the grants coordinator for the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway committee, if the county does not provide the matching grant this year, the opportunity to do it next year will still exist, but she said the committee members are disappointed that the project might not be able to start as planned.

The effort to fund the center dates back at least to 2004, when Congressman Maurice Hinchey got the funding included in a transportation bill. In 2005, state Senator John Bonacic secured another grant of $250,000 to go toward the project.

Larry Richardson, chairman of the committee, said he has talked with one lawmaker and will talk with another to try to get the funding in the budget for 2008. Failing that, he will suggest to lawmakers that the project be started in 2008 using Bonacic’s funding, because that grant does not require a county match. He is concerned, however, that if the federal funds go unused for too long, lawmakers may decide to use them elsewhere.

He said the opportunity for the county to get a $1 million visitor center for only $150,000 in county funds was “too good to pass up.”

County lawmakers will vote on the final budget on December 20.

The goal of the center would be to promote local business and tourism, thereby boosting the local economy. The center would also provide restroom facilities to the public. The center would be located at the current site of the restored Cochecton Train Station on Route 97, which is currently owned by the Cochecton Preservation Society.

The committee envisions that the railway station, which is believed to be the oldest surviving station in the state, would be the focal point of the center.