Cochecton supervisor suffers stroke

Lake Huntington, NY – Sal Indelicato, the longtime supervisor of the Town of Cochecton suffered a stroke on April 11. He was doing some yard work at the time, and was taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center.

Larry Richardson, the deputy supervisor of the town, said he had visited with Indelicato on Tuesday, and that his condition showed some improvement. He said he was hopeful that Indelicato would make a full recovery and be back at the helm of town business before too long.

In the meantime, Richardson convened a special meeting of the board for Wednesday night with the purpose of trying to divide some of Sal’s responsibilities among the members.

He said “Sal works very hard at the job,” which is called part-time, but it’s really a full time commitment. Richardson works a full time job in Liberty, and can’t be as available as Indelicato.

Orange land trust places easement in Sullivan County

MAMAKATING, NY — The Orange County Land Trust has recently closed on the placement of its first conservation easement in Sullivan County, a 155-acre parcel in the Town of Mamakating along the Shawan-gunk Ridge, adjacent to New York State lands. This brings the total preserved acreage by the trust to almost 3,200 acres.

The 155-acre parcel has important conservation value as well as scenic beauty. In addition to being of sufficiently extensive contiguous acreage important for wildlife habitation, the parcel is located within the Shawangunk/Neversink/Catskill Plateau priority region as identified by the Land Trust’s 2005 Land Conservation Plan. It contains an 85 percent unfragmented forest tract, a chestnut oak forest and is a documented habitat for the timber rattlesnake, which is classified as a threatened species by the state.

For more information visit oclt.org.

Monticello school board approves budget

MONTICELLO, NY — The Monticello Board of Education approved a $73,806,760 budget for the 2008 to 2009 school year at its April 3 meeting. The proposed spending plan would raise taxes by 5.1 percent, the lowest budget increase in 10 years. The budget represents a 5.72 percent increase over this year’s operating budget.

Some of the new program initiatives include the College in the Classroom program aimed at expanding college class offerings to juniors and seniors, the pre-engineering program Project Lead the Way and the re-establishment of a football program at the high school.

A public budget hearing will be held on Tuesday, May 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria.

District residents will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 20, to vote on the budget, a proposition to authorize the purchase of three replacement buses and to elect three board of education members.

Confusion reigned at the hearing regarding quarry expansion

LACKAWAXEN, PA — The second attempt at a public hearing on a conditional use permit to expand the Holbert Brothers’ Quarry on Plank Road was aborted when opponents of the permit saw that one of the supervisors was missing.

“We insist that the third supervisor be present at this important hearing,” said attorney John Klemeyer, who represented the opposing residents.

The two Lackawaxen Township supervisors present, Chairman Brian Stuart and Fred Gelderman, looked around for the missing Rich Krochta and couldn’t find him. It wasn’t clear why he was absent or where he was.

The house was full, additional chairs had to be brought in and people were standing outside the meeting room. Groans emerged from the audience.

The meeting was rescheduled to Thursday, May 15 at 6:00 p.m. at the Lackawaxen Fire Hall.

Information sought in fatal dog shooting

LAKE ARIEL, PA — Humane Society Officer Marlene Metzger, of Dessin Animal Shelter, is looking for any information about a fatal dog shooting in the Lake Ariel area. The incident took place Sunday, March 30. The dog in question was a bichon/poodle mix and was shot on his own property, in a pen.

Anyone with information should contact Marlene Metzger at 570/647-0239.

Lumberland man seriously injured while burning brush

GLEN SPEY, NY — An 84-year-old Lumberland man was burning brush on his property when embers landed on his clothing and caught fire. Eric Chaboty, undersheriff with the Sullivan County’s Sheriff’s Office, said Osyp Lewycky, of 32 Taras Schevanko Road, was burned over 90 percent of his body and was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center. He was listed in critical condition.

Chaboty said the call came in at 11:00 a.m. on April 14, and that Lewycky did have a permit allowing him to burn the brush.

Bethel contracts with Kelly to build new town barn

BETHEL, NY — The Town of Bethel has voted to use Kelly Engineering to design its new $3 million town barn.

The current building is in a state of poor repair and is not large enough for the town’s growing needs. The new structure is to be 21,600 feet, and will be designed along the lines of the barn in the Town of Liberty.

The location of the new building is yet to be determined. One possible site would be on Route 55 near to the transfer station.