Pike County Tourism Visitors Guide and map available

MILFORD, PA — The Pike County Hotel Tax Board and the Pike County Commissioners have released the first Pike County Visitors Guide and Map. The guide is funded in part by the hotel room tax collected by each lodging facility in the county. It showcases the county and surrounding areas with listings, charts, event information, hiking trails with GPS coordinates and additional facts about Pike County.

Fifty thousand copies have been printed. The guides will be distributed through reader services requests from print and online advertising, at 300 locations in five surrounding counties, PA Welcome Centers, the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, visitors centers and website requests.

For more information visit www.DiscoverPikePa.com or call 570/840-1314.

Natural gas drilling lobbying day set

ALBANY, NY — An emergency lobbying day to Albany has been set up by the New York Gas Coordination Group (NYGCG) for Tuesday, June 9, to let New York State legislators know about voter concerns about natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale area.

The lobbying is not directed toward any particular legislation, but is meant to open doors and start communication with regard to the issue preparatory to the next session of the legislature, which reconvenes in January. A visit to the governor’s office is planned as well.

NYGCG is a Google group that may be found at groups.google.com/group/nygcg---new-york-gas-coordination-group?hl=en. Interested parties should email nygcg---new-york-gas-coordination-group@googlegroups.com with name, address, email, phone and the names of your state senator and assemblyperson. Those with firsthand stories from your area about how drilling is already affecting or may affect your community are especially encouraged to participate.

Scenic Character Program expands grants

MILFORD, PA — Pike County’s Scenic Rural Character Preservation (SRCP) board has produced a new manual that will assist landowners who wish to donate conservation easements but can’t afford the associated costs.

Donated conservation easements have expenses that are typically the responsibility of the landowner. The expenses can include surveys, title searches, baseline documentation costs and monitoring stewardship costs. The new manual offers a maximum grant award of $25,000 for land trusts working with landowners. With this grant, more acreage will be preserved while maximizing the use of the county’s $10 million bond, said Jessica Grohmann of the Pike County Department of Planning.

For more information visit www.pikepa.org/Plan ning/SRCP.htm or call 570/226-6293.

Wurtsboro gets stimulus loan

WURTSBORO, NY — Congressman Maurice Hinchey has announced that the Village of Wurtsboro has been awarded a $1.5 million low-interest loan through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to pay for a variety of upgrades to its water system. The funding is being administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development’s Water and Environmental Program.

The Village of Wurtsboro intends to use the federal assistance to rehabilitate its 300,000 gallon water storage tank; install 589 water meters; install fire hydrants in the Woodland estates area; replace non-operable valves; replace transmission pipes along Pine Street; replace all lead-based gooseneck connections in the system; and replace land line telemetry between well houses with radio telemetry.

USDA Rural Development’s Water and Environmental Program provides loans and grants to ensure that the necessary investments are made in water and wastewater infrastructure to deliver safe drinking water and protect the environment in rural areas.

Empire gets temporary reprieve

MONTICELLO, NY — Empire Resorts, which after several serious quarterly losses faces the possibility of insolvency hearings, has staved off disaster one more time.

The company has struck a deal with the Bank of Scotland, one of its major creditors, to postpone payment on a loan of about $7 million from May 29 to June 20.

The bank made the extension conditional on Empire’s finding another lender to pay off the balance of the loan. The financing must be secured by June 30.

Local nonprofit wins New York Dental Foundation award

MONTICELLO, NY — The PRASAD Children’s Dental Health Program was honored with the 2009 “Give Kids a Smile Award” by the New York State Dental Foundation (NYSDF.) The award ceremony took place on May 21, at the Sullivan County Government Center, with state, county and local officials looking on.

Each year, the foundation presents the award, and a $5,000 prize, to a community health center or service program that expands education, access and/or capacity for oral health care for children.

A key to PRASAD’s success is its mobile dental clinic. A certified NY Department of Health facility, the traveling clinic brings comprehensive dental care to students at their schools, thereby removing the obstacles of parents not having transportation or time to take children to the dentist.

PRASAD collaborates with nine school districts, and various agencies in Sullivan and Ulster counties. In the last 12 years, this program has served more than 50,000 children at 17 community sites in Sullivan and Ulster counties.