Cochecton negotiates a lease

LINDA DROLLINGER
Posted 10/11/17

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Twice the Cochecton Town Board interrupted its 2018 budget prep meeting on October 4. First, it went into executive session to meet with county officials renegotiating the …

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Cochecton negotiates a lease

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LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Twice the Cochecton Town Board interrupted its 2018 budget prep meeting on October 4. First, it went into executive session to meet with county officials renegotiating the Western Sullivan Transfer Station lease. Then it listened as Supervisor Gary Maas described a joint meeting he’d attended with 19th District Republican Congressman John Faso regarding Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) oversight of Lake Huntington wastewater management.

Sullivan County Legislature Chair Luis Alvarez, Sullivan County Commissioner of Department of Public Works Edward McAndrews and Sullivan County Legislator Mark McCarthy met with the full board for 35 minutes, renegotiating the county’s lease with Cochecton for operation of a transfer station serving the towns of Cochecton, Tusten, Delaware and Fremont in New York as well as Wayne and Pike counties in PA.

The county objects to the $10,000 lease fee paid to Cochecton last year for land use and site maintenance. Cochecton Superintendent of Highways Kevin Esselman estimated the cost of site maintenance alone at between $5,000 and $6,000 for each of the past two years, both with relatively mild winters and below-average snowfall amounts. Snow removal being the most expensive aspect of site maintenance, a winter with above-average snowfall amounts could easily double maintenance costs.

Following the executive session, Maas said the board had made the county an offer; he declined to state the offer amount, but did say he thought there’d be no further negotiation. County response is expected before the board finishes budget prep on October 25 and presents its preliminary budget to the public at a hearing on November 8.

When state licensing fees came up later in budget talks, Maas segued into a discussion of his recent meeting with Narrowsburg businessman Ned Lang who is also a member of the Town of Tusten Council and arranged the meeting, which included Rick Lander of Landers River Trips, and Faso. Although Lang, Lander and Maas each had separate agendas, all concerned DRBC regulatory oversight. Landers and Lang were concerned about river management, and Maas about DRBC’s role in regulation of Cochecton’s wastewater treatment facility in Lake Huntington.

Said Maas, “The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has had regulatory oversight of that treatment facility since its inception. Two years ago, the town received a bill for a DRBC licensing fee, and we paid it without question. But I want to know if DRBC shares oversight with DEC, if there is an overlap of regulatory authority, and if one or both agencies have enforcement rights.”

Maas said he asked those questions of Faso at their meeting. Faso didn’t have answers at hand, but said he would investigate what appeared to be duplicate oversight responsibilities and get back to Maas.

According to its website (www.state.nj.us/drbc/), the DRBC was established under President John F. Kennedy in 1961 as a regional body with the force of law to oversee a unified approach to managing a river system without regard to political boundaries. The governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and one federal representative, the division engineer of the  North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, make up the commission’s five-party membership. Officers are elected annually, with chairmanship rotating among members. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is the current chair, effective July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.

lake huntington, cochecton town board

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