NARROWSBURG, NY — At the recent Town of Tusten town board meeting on March 10, two residents asked the board for help with funding their citizen’s group, the Narrowsburg Cat Patrol. In recent years it has become apparent that Narrowsburg has a feral cat problem. The Narrowsburg Cat patrol was formed in October 2013 with the goal to trap/neuter/release (TNR) and vaccinate for rabies all stray cats in Narrowsburg. In 2014, they spayed and neutered over 50 cats. At the meeting, the members asked the board for $4,500 to help cover the costs. The board agreed this would be a worthy cause and made a resolution to ask the state comptroller if they can legally give money to the Narrowsburg Cat Patrol. Councilmember Ned Lang seemed especially interested in this issue, and said whatever money they receive he will personally match it.

Group members Brenda Seldin and Shirley Masuo handed out an informational letter to the board. (The group also includes Diane Cortese.) It says that they have completed the area around the Upper Delaware Council building, the area about a quarter mile south of that, and the Narrowsburg Lumber area. (The lumber yard specifically has a large stray cat problem.) Their goals are no more stray kittens, and kittens that are born will be fostered, fixed and adopted. The letter states, “As a town that relies on tourism, stray cats running up and down the streets of Narrowsburg, foraging in garbage cans for food, do not present a good image.”

It goes on to say, “We would like to continue with our goal this year and very much need funding for it. Now that we have put together some volunteers and affiliates, and have (through trial and error) fine tuned the TNR method, we are aiming to spay and neuter 100 more cats this year.”

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/NarrowsburgCatPatrol, or call 845/252-3977.

Trash, parking, and signs

Another problem discussed at the meeting was garbage. It has become apparent that people are throwing household garbage into the trash can on Main Street, which is illegal. An unidentified resident of Narrowsburg has been keeping a watch on the trash can, and has taken pictures of people using it for large quantities of household trash and posting those pictures to social media. One person who was a repeated offender has been spoken to. The board discussed putting a surveillance camera near the can and posting a sign. Also, they discussed placing “No Parking” signs on various areas throughout town, including near a fire hydrant on Bridge Street, and on either side of the traffic light on Main Street. Lack of parking was also brought up as a town issue, and the board discussed applying for a grant to turn the lot near the fire station into municipal parking.

The Narrowsburg Main Street deck

Town engineer Wes Illing was supposed to make a presentation regarding the observation deck at the meeting; however he wasn’t there. Supervisor Carol Ropke Wingert said that Illing recently had a phone conversation with Chazen Companies (the firm that designed the new deck), and that once presented with more information it seemed that Illing is in agreement with Chazen’s plan. They will discuss it further and present it to the town board at a recess meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 25 at 5:30 p.m.