TRR photo by Fritz Mayer Lawmaker Allan Sorensen, left, explains his objections to the solid waste fee plan as lawmaker Ron Hiatt, who supports the plan, looks on at a meeting at the Government Center on November 5.

Solid waste user fees likely soon

Strong objections from community

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY—Beginning next year, nearly everyone who owns a building will likely start paying a solid waste fee to the county. In return, county residents and businesses will be able to dump their solid waste at a transfer station for no fee.

At a meeting on November 5, Sullivan County legislators voted seven to two in favor of moving a new solid waste user fee out of committee and sending it to a final vote by the board. Single family homes would be charged $182 per year, and the bills will come with the tax bills in January. The bills for businesses wouldn’t go out until May. This gives county officials time to figure out how to formulate bills for what county chairman Jonathan Rouis called “complicated parcels.”

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Challenged voters could turn Bethel vote

County questionnaire produced

By FRITZ MAYER

TOWN OF BETHEL, NY—Supervisor Dan Sturm is 180 votes ahead of former supervisor Harold Russell, so Sturm’s ultimate victory seems fairly certain. But the votes for the two open council seats are more narrow, with Richard Crumley at 773, Denise Frangipane at 716 and Benji Friehling at 619. So, the outcome might hinge on the decision of the board of election as to whether the votes of a number of bungalow colony residents are valid.

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13 UDC-member towns agree to comment letter

Two new letters to address emergency services

By SANDY LONG

NARROWSBURG, NY—Representatives of the 13 local New York and Pennsylvania governments who are members of the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) unanimously approved a comment letter on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program at their general meeting on November 5.

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Other stories in this issue:

• Two PA counties form an animal rescue team program
• DEC fishing site for sale
• Officials in PA and NY watching H1N1
• Get the buzz on invasive insects
• Tempest in the Liberty minutes
• Second bank robbery in Callicoon
• Rules versus permit conditions

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S