UPPER DELAWARE RIVER — The new year is upon us, and a whole year’s worth of stories have yet to be written. Calendars, planners, notebooks and diaries all stand ready and waiting to …
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UPPER DELAWARE RIVER — The new year is upon us, and a whole year’s worth of stories have yet to be written. Calendars, planners, notebooks and diaries all stand ready and waiting to record a new year’s worth of living.
However, the filled-in pages of 2024 still have wisdom to offer. The River Reporter has compiled some of the top stories from the past year—the biggest issues, the brightest impressions and the most unique incidents of the year—so that we can remember where we’ve been as we look ahead to where we’re going.
January
The River Reporter began 2024 with strong intuition when writer Jonathan Charles Fox predicted in January that 2024 would be the year the old tollhouse on 17B in Bethel, NY would fall. It was.
In Pennsylvania in January, it was announced that Kinder Morgan, the infrastructure giant that operates the natural gas compressor in Milford, PA, recently contributed $10,000 to support emergency services in Pike County. According to Pike County Commissioner Matt Osterberg, the donation helped provide scholarships to 14 people wishing to become Emergency Medical Technician trainees. Kinder Morgan is looking to expand its operations in Northeastern Pennsylvania with its Orion Project, a 12.9-mile pipeline loop in Wayne and Pike counties.
In January, on the New York side, the newly elected Sullivan County Legislature pledged unity as its members entered office and sidelined controversial county attorney incumbent Michael McGuire by appointing Robert Freehill. The new appointment came on the heels of a controversial grand jury report, also released in January. The report found that the county attorney’s office, when led by McGuire, failed the Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services (CPS) and the vulnerable people it serves in numerous ways.
Sullivan County also continued to fight the highest overdose rate in NY State along with a new additive found in drugs, making the presence of fentanyl even deadlier. Meanwhile, in January, Eldred Central School looked ahead with conversations about acquiring electric school buses.
February
By the beginning of February, Berlin Township, PA had made its final payments on the Berlin Community Center, finalising the community’s ownership of the building. The township had been making regular payments to Wayne Highlands School District since 2006, for a total of $82,000. The building is a former school building, and currently is a town hall and a community center. Later in the year, Berlin Township received $32,000 for repairs to the community center.
In New York, February brought the unprecedented and abrupt closure of Sullivan County Head Start, which left families across the county in a lurch. The abrupt closure was said to be due to issues with funding on the part of leadership. These failures threw into distress nearly 400 children and their families, who had nothing to go by but the brief Facebook post on February 2 that announced the program was closed.
In the Town of Tusten, NY, a community group formed around a controversial proposal by the town board for a pavilion to be erected in the center of the residential neighborhood known as The Flats. Meanwhile, in the Town of Highland, NY, the new town board found its footing amidst resignations and new hires, and held a community meeting in response to controversy stirred by the deputy supervisor appointment.
March
March shined a light on Sullivan County, NY’s farmers, as a new starter farmer program by Cornell Cooperative Extension worked to nurture farming and agriculture across the county. One program participant, Brett Budde of Majestic Farm in Mountaindale, NY, said, “When I look at this program and grant, and what Sullivan County is doing, it’s going to shape farming in the county for the next 10 years; really, we are building a farming community. This is exactly the program’s goal.”
In Damascus, PA, the township settled a lawsuit from Tyler Hill Solar LLC. The solar company proposed a five-megawatt solar development off of Cochecton Turnpike. The township had denied Tyler Hill’s application, saying that it was incomplete. Tyler Hill sued, and the settlement of the lawsuit granted Tyler Hill the ability to move forward with its project. The township updated its zoning regulations for alternative energy projects, including solar and wind projects, following an April public hearing.
April
Effective April 10, the entire staff of the Honesdale, PA Department of Public Works quit their jobs. The department had been in talks to unionize with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; workers alleged that employees at the borough hall may have waylaid their union paperwork, and that they had been harassed by borough staff. The borough began using outside contractors to make up for the loss of DPW employees, and in December hired former councilor David Nilsen as DPW director.
In April, Sullivan County legislators urged the state to transfer the county-owned adult care center to private ownership. Families and community members who had consistently advocated against private ownership persisted in pushing back and demanding accountability of the care center’s current conditions, while it continued to be operated under county contract by a private consulting company.
Head Start returned in April, re-opening its doors; and Sullivan County’s first legal recreational marijuana store opened for the first time.
May
In May, the Sullivan West Central School District, along with other public schools across New York State, waited with bated breath as school aid at the state level threatened to be cut. Sullivan West prepared for the worst, with the potential of state aid to be lowered by $2 million, while hoping for the best. Meanwhile, the state of housing in the county reached a Code Red. County residents struggled with an inability to afford spiking rental prices, fewer rentals available due to properties being used for Airbnbs and other barriers that put home ownership further out of reach. The Sullivan County Legislature in May first discussed forming a trust to address housing affordability in the county.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro released his budget proposal for 2024-25 in May, which included a $1.8 billion increase for public schools, including additional dollars for the most underfunded schools. This came on the heels of a January report from Pennsylvania’s Basic Education Funding Commission, which released a report claiming that the commonwealth’s schools were underfunded by $5.4 billion. Wallenpaupack was set to receive $1.4 million and Wayne Highlands was set to receive $1.7 million in increased funding and savings for that year.
June
For the fifth year, NEPA Gives, a one-day fundraising event dedicated to local nonprofit organizations, took place in Pennsylvania in June. In 2024, the event raised $1,243,673 from 7,002 donors to support 241 local organizations, according to the event’s website. Later in the month, municipalities in the Wayne/Pike area received a total of $900,000 in state funding, with awards including $100,000 to the Lackawaxen Township Volunteer Fire Department for an airboat and related safety equipment.
Sullivan County’s local emergency service leaders discussed the strain they were under with lack of money and volunteers. EMTs are usually the first on the scene when people call 911 to report a heart attack, accident, drowning, shooting or other crisis. They also transport patients from one hospital to another. With fewer volunteers and less in-county medical services, the units do their best to meet demand.
June also marks the onset of summer. Every summer, the river valley opens its arms to tourists, and those numbers grew. For the first time since 2010, the number of visitors to the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River surpassed 300,000, and is reaching levels not seen since the 1990s, according to data collected by the National Park Service. Local leaders say that the state of camping has changed and short-term rentals have become more popular for visitors to the area.
July
Flames set the main barn on Russell Farms ablaze. Originally owned by Max Yasgur, the legendary farmer who rented one of his fields for the original Woodstock Festival, the barn, located along Route 17B in Bethel, NY just past the intersection with County Rte. 115, burned down. Over 20 emergency units from the area contributed to fighting the blaze. Sullivan County Fire Coordinator John Hauschild said fighting the fire was a team effort involving local EMS squads and businesses that donated sustenance to the responders.
Also in July, the closure of Sullivan Correctional Facility was announced, stirring bipartisan anger over the potential for local job displacement. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Executive Budget, passed earlier that year, included a proposal to close up to five correctional facilities, citing a declining prison population. Sullivan was chosen as one. Local elected officials blasted the closure, citing the fates of hundreds of prison workers who would lose their jobs if they didn’t want to commute.
Carriages on the Stourbridge Line in Honesdale, PA suffered two break-ins in July, separated by several weeks, with the same perpetrator found responsible for both. The Stourbridge Line is a scenic railroad that does short runs on the former Erie Lackawanna Railroad tracks. The vandal stole two suitcases of historic items on the first trip, and broke into several carriages including a caboose and another private car on his second trip. The Honesdale Borough Police Department ultimately filed charges against Michael Tyahla, 20, of Honesdale for burglary, criminal trespass, theft and other charges, for multiple train car break-ins, including the two against the Stourbridge Line, as well as a July 25 break-in at the Runaway Train Brewery.
August
August brought budget cuts to Sullivan County. SUNY Sullivan announced money-saving cuts, striking and trimming down academic programs, dorms and the health clinic. Goshen’s Planned Parenthood (PP), the closest PP to Sullivan County, announced its closure in August. Local advocates and politicians expressed concerns about affordable care moving further away for Sullivan County residents given the Goshen closure.
Pennsylvania’s Wayne County Commissioners pledged money from a first wave of opioid settlement funds for a women’s sober living facility, with at least $601,065 from the settlement to be used to renovate a county building at 650 1/2 Park St. in Honesdale. The facility will coordinate with Wayne County’s Drug and Alcohol Commission but will not be a county-run program. The county had previously accepted $1.5 million over 15 years to fight the opioid epidemic, as part of a second wave of settlement money, with the settlements coming against pharmaceutical companies found liable for contributing to the opioid crisis. These funds added to the $2.2 million Wayne County received during the first wave.
September
Residents of PA’s Berlin Township attended a hearing about a solar energy project being proposed by developer New Leaf Energy. The Berlin solar farm would be constructed at 57 Navajo Rd., Honesdale, and would cover 18 acres, consist of 8,000 solar panels and generate 3,000 kW of electricity. Following the meeting, some Berlin residents expressed concern for the continuation of the township’s rural agricultural lifestyle.
Concerns over the state of health care in Sullivan County led to the convening of a town hall with leadership from the county’s largest health care provider, Garnet Health. Residents and elected officials expressed concern about the lack of women’s health, staffing and the general trend of services moving outside of the county.
October
In October, candidates for New York’s 19th Congressional District discussed the county’s opioid crisis, candidates for NY-100 discussed Sullivan’s health care, and state Senate candidates for the 51st district talked about New York State’s foundational school aid.
Wayne County, PA dignitaries celebrated the opening of the newly-christened Sycamore Point Park in October, a trail and river access point onto the Lackawaxen River in downtown Honesdale. Decades in the making, the park is located at what was formerly known as Industrial Point, which housed a cluster of industrial buildings.
November
November’s election saw substantial changes come to the political landscape of the Upper Delaware River Valley. In New York, Josh Riley defeated incumbent Marc Molinaro in a rematch of their contest two years ago for the 19th Congressional District of New York. Proposal One, an amendment to the constitution to ensuring equal protection for all persons regardless of race; color; ethnicity; national origin; age; disability; creed [or] religion; or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy, was passed by New York voters.
Across the river in Pennsylvania, newcomer Rob Bresnahan defeated Matt Cartwright, taking the 8th Congressional District of Pennsylvania seat Cartwright had held since 2013.
Democratic candidate Paula Elaine Kay defeated Republican Lou Ingrassia for the 100th District seat in the New York State Assembly, succeeding longtime representative Aileen Gunther.
In light of the election, political leaders of Sullivan County, NY ruminated on the county’s low voter turnout in November. Turnout in Sullivan County, which historically has low voter turnout, dipped even lower in the 2024 election. Despite a presidential race that both parties called consequential to the future of the country and record spending in the election cycle, voter turnout in Sullivan County was lower than in 2020. Anne Hart, chair of the Sullivan County Democratic Committee, said “There is a lesson to be learned here, but I’m not sure what.”
Also in November, $9 million in federal investment was announced for construction work to restore passenger rail between Scranton, PA and New York City. Notably, rather than being used for continued research of the route, this money will be used for construction to get the route ready. Amtrak has projected that the route would bring over $84 million per year in additional economic activity to Northeast Pennsylvania.
December
In December, Sullivan County, NY outlined goals to use its vape settlement money to expand educational anti-vaping programs and moved forward with widening the county’s internet access by expending $30 million from ConnectALL grant to enter into a 10-year agreement with Archtop Fiber for broadband.
After years before the planning board, Camp FIMFO’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement was accepted by the Town of Highland, NY planning board, moving the $40 million-plus proposed renovation of Kittatinny Campground to the public comment period where the public can weigh in for the official record of the application.
Also in December, Wayne and Pike counties both released budgets with proposed tax increases. Wayne County’s 2025 budget included a slight tax increase, from 3.240 mills to 3.483 mills. According to the Wayne County Commissioners, a minimal tax increase was necessary in order to accommodate the rising costs of food, insurance and electricity, in addition to a loss of funding for various mandated health and human services programs. Pike County proposed a more substantial tax increase, from 24.99 mills to 27.99 mills, a 12 percent increase. “I think we have to do it to be responsible in leading a county,” said Pike County Commissioner Ronald Schmalzle.
Here's to 2025!
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