By Joe Moskowitz
Time and water can do many things, including hide a 500-gallon propane tank. Workers from the Village of Margaretville, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and workers from the environmental clean-up firm Op-Tech, removed just such a tank from Margaretville’s Binnekill stream last week.

The tank was there, forgotten, for at least the last 20 years, but only recently started to leak.
Village Code Enforcement Officer Pat Davis says people recently began smelling a gas odor in the skate park and near Ming Moon Restaurant.

By Joe Moskowitz
Residents of the Hamlet of Arkville are the proud owners of a new state-of-the-art, million-dollar backup water well. Arkville Water Commissioner Terry Johnson says the new well and pump house were always meant to be a backup for the primary system, but no other town officials who spoke with the News, seemed to have any idea when the $975,000 jewel of the total system upgrade had become the secondary well.

By Joe Moskowitz
Fleischmanns businessman William Hrazanek’s plans to start operating a business on newly acquired property just outside the Village of Margaretville may run unto a major roadblock, namely the Town of Middletown Planning Board.

By Joe Moskowitz
The controversial owner of an auto salvage and repair business says Fleischmanns VW Parts is leaving the village, but William Hrazanek told the News his decision has nothing to do with last week’s raids by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

By Brian Sweeney
A number of races are shaping up in town elections this fall, according to petition filings made last week with the Delaware County Board of Elections.

A breakdown of races by township shows the following filings made for party status by the July 13
deadline. Although some candidates have already filed their petitions to have their name appear on the Independent line on the ballot, the deadline for filing those petitions is August 20.

Andes
Longtime Supervisor Martin Donnelly, Republican, has filed a petition seeking another two-year term.

By Jay Braman Jr.
With political party caucuses set for next month for both major parties in Shandaken, and a couple people already announcing plans to run, it’s officially election season in Shandaken.

Town Supervisor Rob Stanley, now in his second two-year term, has announced plans to run again on the Republican line, and so far, Town Democratic party leaders have yet to announce the names of anyone with plans to challenge the popular leader.

By Joe Moskowitz
Three properties owned by a Fleischmanns auto salvage and repair shop operator were raided by more than a dozen officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Tuesday morning.

By Brian Sweeney
Arkville Day promises a fun-filled event to help celebrate the Town of Middletown’s 250th anniversary on Saturday, July 13 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Admission is free to Arkville Day and more than 25 vendors offering various goods, food and entertainment will set up booths adjacent to the Arkville Firehall as well as on the grounds of the neighboring Maple House and the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. A quilting open house will also be held in the Erpf Gallery.

Parade fun

By Brian Sweeney
Gold and silver shovels were firmly planted into the earth as Kingdon Gould Jr. and family members commemorated the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Catskill Recreation Center in Arkville.
About 100 community members turned out for the event on Monday afternoon at the project site on county Route 38. The Catskill Recreation Center will include an indoor pool and other amenities for public utilization. The building will cover about 18,000 square feet and is anticipated to cost approximately $4 million.

By Joe Moskowitz
There may finally be light at the end of the long, dark economic tunnel. For the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession, several long suffering area businesses owners say that they hope that the downtrodden tourism industry has rebounded.