NARROWSBURG, NY — At the Town of Tusten meeting on May 9, Susan Peters of the accounting firm Cooper Arias, LLP had some good news for council members: she told them the town was in good shape financially, and the town’s fund budget has been steadily growing.

From 2014 to 2016, the general fund balance has climbed, and the highway fund balance has increased from $800,000 to $1.1 million over the same time.

The members of the council expressed their satisfaction at the financial progress the town has made.

Other matters were not quite as rosy. The town had reached an agreement with a company to replace the bridge that also serves as a dam on Main Street at the end of Little Lake Erie, and had plans drawn up by an engineer. The town then applied for a state grant to pay for the project and received a award of $198,000. But because the grant money comes from the state, the plan and the engineer must be approved by the New York Department of Transportation (DOT), and neither have DOT approval.

The town also paid some $25,000 for forms for concrete to be used in the project, and at the meeting it was not clear if DOT will allow those forms to be used. The town will be able to use the grant funding to pay for construction costs, but not design costs. The town will contact several DOT-approved engineering firms to move forward.

Council member Ned Lang noted that for projects not needing state approval, the town should select a local engineer to use when the need arises, as council members are no longer going to work with Wes Illing, who created the plan for the bridge.

One project they may need local engineering help in addressing is the issue of large amounts of water seeping into the basement of the town hall, where board meetings and other community activities are held.

Another infrastructure issue arose when Stephen Stuart, who owns the building where

The River Reporter is housed and who is married to the publisher of the paper, discussed pipes and catch-basin issues related to the building. In the huge fire on Erie Street in April, one fire company used at least 30,000 gallons of water that never made it to the catch basin it should have reached; Stuart said it was unclear where that water is going. Stuart said the sidewalk in front of the building is collapsing, and he indicated that the two issues are connected and asked the board to address it.

Another infrastructure issue discussed was the municipal parking lot behind the Wayne Bank. The council is planning to upgrade the parking lot, allowing more cars to park there; the project will include new paving and newly painted lines marking the spaces.

In order to be compliant with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), two ADA compliant spaces will need to be created on Main Street, because creating them in the lot itself would be prohibitively expensive due to the steep hill on which the exit is located.

In other news, a zoning update to address solar installations has been finished and will be the subject of a public meeting on May 22 at 6 p.m.

There will be a special meeting on May 25 at 12 noon to open bids for the replacement project of the Main Street deck overlooking the Upper Delaware River, and another special meeting on May 31 at 10 a.m. to award the bid, assuming the town has received an acceptable bid.

The Narrowsburg Fourth of July Parade is scheduled for July 3.