A weighty cause

NARROWSBURG, NY — Members of the Narrowsburg chapter of Weight Watchers have joined with chapters across the country in using their weight watching efforts to help stock food pantries locally and across the country.

For each pound lost by members from September 7 through October 18, the national Weight Watchers organization will donate a pound of food to two national nonprofits that provide food for the hungry, Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger.

On the local level, members are donating a pound of food to the Narrowsburg Ecumenical Food Pantry for each pound lost, which as of this writing was 58 pounds over two weeks.

Individually, some of the members have achieved impressive results since joining the organization. In the picture above, Mary Snedeker, left, has lost 50 pounds, Karen Fisher has lost 65 and Barbara Schultz has lost 50.

Town of Highland assessor resigns

HIGHLAND, NY — Effective October 1, Town of Highland assessor Lorry King will resign her position. In a letter submitted to the town board and read at its last monthly meeting, King stated, “I have accepted another position as the assessor in the Town of New Paltz. Up until this year, I’ve enjoyed my position as your assessor and I have enjoyed serving the taxpayer. I wish the town all the best.”

New Pike Library receives $1 million

PIKE COUNTY, PA — Representative John Siptroth has announced that $1 million in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RCAP) funding will be released to the Pike County Public Library (PCPL) for the construction of its new headquarters in Milford. The total cost of construction is estimated to be between $4.5 million and $5 million.

The 2005/2006 and 2007/2008 Budget Itemization Acts passed by the Pennsylvania State Legislature authorized up to $3 million in RCAP funds specifically for the new library system headquarters. The release of the remaining $2 million is still pending.

House destroyed in Honesdale fire

HONESDALE, PA — A house at 1733 East Street was burned to the ground in a fire on Thursday, September 18, but no residents were harmed. Some were away from home at the time and others escaped successfully. A pet cat was killed, however, and the contents of the building destroyed along with the structure.

The call to the Honesdale Fire Department came at approximately 3:00 p.m., and other companies were also called to the scene. The building had reportedly become entirely engulfed with flames in only about 10 minutes, however, and firemen concentrated on saving the house next door on the right, to which fire had spread, and preventing flames from spreading to the house on the left.

The household that lost a cat as well as their home and belongings was Adam Constable and his girlfriend and two young children. Some donations to help them recover have already been received, and Constable’s mother, Shelley Frechen, said those who wish to help are welcome to call her at 570/493-1940.

Property tax information on line

MONTICELLO, NY — The Sullivan County Legislature has installed a technology called “Image Mate” on the Sullivan County website.

Image Mate is a real property tax tool that allows residents to access assessment, pictometry and tax information via the internet. It also includes a tax calculator for buyers to calculate a property’s tax assessment, as well as PDF documents of tax maps for viewing purposes.

The county is also in the process of converting the paper tax maps to the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) digital format for each property in every municipality in the county. The entire GIS mapping is expected to be completed by 2011 or 2012, but the already completed GIS will also be available through Image Mate on the county website.

Image Mate was made possible by a grant from the New York State Office of Real Property Services. To use it, visit www.scgnet.us and select “Real Property Tax Services” from the drop-down menu, and click on the “Property Assessment Data” link on the left-hand side of the page.

Thornton lauded in ECS audit

ELDRED, NY — Andrew Pavloff, CPA, of Knack, Pavloff and Company, presented a 67-page draft of the audit for the Eldred Central School District at its meeting on September 11. “Overall, we’ve found the records to be in much better shape than in prior years,” noted Pavloff. Partner Donald Knack, CPA, added, “I have to tell the audit committee that there was a substantial turnaround in the time we spent and the information we got. Everything we needed was available. We made a miniscule amount of journal entries. I think you should be very proud of the business office. He (ECS business manager William Thornton) knows what he’s doing. And he does it well.”