Honor your obligations

1. The Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, Inc. (UDSB) receives a $510,000 federal grant for an Upper Delaware River visitors’ center in 2005 through Rep. Maurice Hinchey,

2. Then a few years later, Sullivan County government advises the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway to relocate the site from the Town of Cochecton to the Town of Tusten at Fort Delaware after UDSB receives an additional $250,000 from New York State.

3. Then, two years later, the Sullivan County pulls the plug on the whole concept.

4. Poof. All the funds have disappeared—three quarters of a million dollars—originally meant for a visitors’ center for the Upper Delaware River corridor.

County government has had a big hand in, and I use the term loosely, “guiding” this project.

After all these years of shuffling paper there is still no Upper Delaware River visitors’ center for one of the most beautiful regions of the United States.

I’m always amazed when elected and appointed officials don’t want to talk about their past errors since they might find it embarrassing, or they cop out and tell you that they weren’t on board when these actions occurred.

However, if you don’t learn from mistakes, chances are you’ll make them again or fool the public that they didn’t exist, hoping that the public will forget about the chronology of events that actually occurred.

The county should honor its obligations and do everything in its power to assist the UDSB in securing the “new-found” funds for a visitors’ center within the Upper Delaware River Valley, since they previously counseled them in an official capacity to build a center that our region needs and can be proud of.

Tony Ritter

Narrowsburg, NY