CWC assists Cannonsville boating program

MARGARETVILLE, March 4, 2009 - The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) Board of Directors on March 3 authorized the allocation of $150,000 from the Catskill Fund for the Future (CFF) to support a new pilot program allowing recreational boating on the Cannonsville Reservoir.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which owns the reservoir and buffer lands, will open the reservoir to non-motorized recreational craft beginning Memorial Day Weekend. The Cannonsville, like all City water supply reservoirs, has historically been open only to fishing boats under permit. Extending boating to other light craft is an attempt to help the local economy by encouraging more tourism in western Delaware County.

The CWC funds will subsidize the operation of five steam cleaning stations where rowboats, canoes, kayaks and sailboats with removable centerboards will be cleaned before they can enter the reservoir. Cleaning stations will be run by local vendors who will receive grants to purchase equipment from the Delaware County Economic Development office. Vendors will be selected through a bidding process. The Delaware County Chamber of Commerce invites inquiries from interested parties (607-746-2281).

CWC funds will also be utilized for rental of portable toilets to be placed at eight launch sites around the reservoir. In addition, a consultant will be hired to document and study boating on the reservoir over the three-year pilot period.

"We’re very happy to be working with the City, the County Economic Development office and the Chamber of Commerce to make this beautiful body of water more accessible to watershed residents and visitors," commented CWC Executive Director Alan Rosa.

Added Michael Triolo, CWC Economic Development Director, "This has the potential to bring new visitors to our area and they can be expected to rent boats, eat, stay and shop locally."

In other business, the Board approved a low-interest loan from the CFF.

BTH Properties (Pine Bush Equipment) will utilize its loan to purchase and renovate a 12,000-square-foot building at 403 Harris Road in Ferndale, Sullivan County. The property, situated on a ten-acre parcel, will serve as a satellite store for the firm’s equipment sales and rental operation, and will also be the headquarters for a new national used parts center for construction equipment.

The next meeting of the CWC Board of Directors will be held Tuesday, April 7 at 1 p.m. The public is invited.

For more information on CWC’s environmental protection, economic development and education programs, visit www.cwconline.org, or call 845-586-1400.