Knock down build up

Sullivan Renaissance program gets rid of eye sores

By FRITZ MAYER

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — Sullivan Renaissance continues its push to beautify Sullivan County this summer with a plan to tear down 22 unsafe and unsightly buildings, and clean up three roadside areas.

The program was announced at a news conference in Livingston Manor on May 12 outside of a vacant house on Pleasant Street, which had been repeatedly damaged by floodwaters over the past five years, and which the Town of Rockland had purchased from the owners with the help of a Sullivan Renaissance grant.

Last year, the beautification and community development program helped demolish a total of 10 buildings. Glenn Pontier, the Renaissance program director, said the program was able to expand this year because of the growing number of partners that have joined the effort.

Partners include the Sullivan County Legislature and Division of Public Works (DPW), Taylor Recycling of Montgomery, Waste Management of Beach Lake, PA, Weinert Recycling of Ferndale, Thompson Sanitation of Rock Hill and Sullivan County First Recycling and Refuse of Woodbourne.

Sullivan Renaissance will contribute just over $50,000 in grants, to be matched by the recipients. Sullivan County’s free landfill space has a value of $32,500, and other partners will donate over $23,000 in services.

In the western part of the county, the projects include derelict houses at 5090 Route 52 in Jeffersonville and at 520 Old Taylor Road in Kenoza Lake. The program also includes a cleanup of a site on Luxton Lake Road in the Town of Tusten.

For more information, visit www.sullivanrenaissance.org and click on Municipal Clean-up Program.