CWC Board approves stormwater, planning grants; helps Colchester

MARGARETVILLE, April 2, 2008 - The Catskill Watershed Corporation Board of Directors March 25 authorized funding for four stormwater projects and approved four community planning grants.

The Board also voted to issue Revenue Anticipation Notes (RANs) of up to $2.5 million to the Town of Colchester as it continues to make costly repairs stemming from several recent floods. The one-year, zero-percent interest notes, renewable up to four times, will be issued in anticipation of expense reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for repairs to roads and bridges within the Watershed.

The RANs are being offered "because the town faces extraordinary circumstances that without assistance will continue to have dramatic impact on the Town’s residents as well as the economic vitality of the community," according to the CWC authorizing resolution.

The Board also authorized the following new Stormwater Retrofit grants: $108,000 to the Town of Walton to improve stormwater drainage on Murphy Hill Road; $220,743 to Ulster County to improve drainage and manage erosion along Glenford-Wittenberg Road, Town of Hurley; and $107,519 to the Town of Hurley to implement improvements on and near the Bristol Hill Subdivision.

In addition, the Board approved reimbursement of $10,950 to Paul Solodar for stormwater management measures installed in connection with construction of a four-unit condominium project completed last year in the Village of Hunter.

The planning grants, awarded under the CWC’s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), will go to the Town of Halcott ($25,000 to complete a proposal to implement zoning); the Town of Denning ($45,000 to complete a comprehensive plan); and the Town and Village of Delhi ($50,000 to update a joint comprehensive plan).

A $30,000 LTAP grant will go to the Town and Village of Hunter and the Village of Tannersville for development of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the Route 23A corridor that runs through these communities. The award augments a grant for this project which was given through the Schoharie Basin GEIS fund to determine potential turbidity impacts in the Schoharie Reservoir watershed.

The CWC is a non-profit, local development corporation responsible for several environmental protection, economic development and education programs in the New York City Watershed West of the Hudson River. For more information, go to www.cwconline.org, or call toll-free 877-928-7433.