By Brian Sweeney
The recreational boating program on the Pepacton Reservoir continues to be very popular as the first year of the program winds down.

Recreational usage at the Pepacton easily exceeds the boating activity at other reservoirs where the NYC Department of Protection (DEP) authorizes the program.

By Geoff Samuels
New sidewalks, lighting and trees that were slated for the Village of Margaretville this fall have been officially “put on the back burner” until next spring.

The project will likely undergo some type of reorganization with the introduction of a project supervisor to oversee the work. Although at the special village board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12, it seemed likely that things were ready to roll pending some final bids, evidently there were too many loose ends for the project to proceed.

By Geoff Samuels
At Monday morning’s Middletown Flood Commission meeting, the acronyms were flowing as fast as a raging river.

To anyone not familiar with many of the county and state agencies, understanding all the details about the area’s flood mitigation projects is a daunting task. But when all was said and done, two major themes emerged: Most of the pieces of the short-term flood mitigation program are well underway, while the longer term plans are still in their beginning stages.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Shandaken Building Inspector Richard Stokes, 54, was arrested late last Tuesday, September 18 and charged with forcible touching.

The charges stem from an alleged incident that occurred in April at the opening night party for J Rocco’s, a then new steakhouse in town, and coincide with Rocco’s owner, Eric Risher making a public complaint against Stokes just 10 days prior to the arrest, claiming Stokes has been using the power of his position to harass Risher ever since the grand opening.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Fleischmanns Mayor Todd Pascarella has asked the Delaware County Department of Public Works to do an about face on its recent decision not to replace the Bridge Street bridge in the middle of his village, and he is also calling on the county board of supervisors to immediately support that position.

In a matter of fact letter to the board of supervisors, Pascarella laid out what he wants to see happen, and soon.

“I respectfully appeal to the County of Delaware to fully restore the vehicle bridge on Bridge Street that was destroyed in the flood,” he wrote. “

By Jay Braman Jr.
The City of New York is getting a lower tax assessment on its Ashokan Reservoir property and the move is expected to make the rest of the taxpayers in the Onteora School District pick up the slack.
About $200,000 worth of slack that is.

Earlier this month the Town of Hurley, which hosts a portion of the Ashokan Reservoir, agreed to reduce the assessment of the 5,700-acre reservoir property in the town from $185 million to $155 million.

By Brian Sweeney
The bridge spanning Swart Street in Margaretville bridge is scheduled for replacement next April, Mayor Bill Stanton confirmed this week.

The bridge has sustained damage from floods in 2004, 2006 and was again hard-hit by the historic August 28, 2011 flood. The latest flood blew a hole in the bridge just below the area that had been repaired on the southern end of the bridge.

After the latest flood, the bridge was initially set up for one-way traffic until additional damage developed and the entire structure was shut down.

By Geoff Samuels
There’s more to a sidewalk than meets the eye! On Wednesday, Sept.12, the Margaretville Village Board held a special meeting to address questions about new sidewalks that are slated to be installed in the village next month.

Mayor Bill Stanton and Village Trustee Iris Mead explained to the small group that grant money had been received from the Smart Growth Program for this project, including new street lighting and new trees along Main Street.

By Brian Sweeney
Students at Margaretville and Onteora received innovative instruction last week when the districts were visited by a mobile tractor trailer focused on watershed education.

More than 500 area students in grades two through high school experienced the “America's Watersheds in FOCUS,” exhibit, part of a seven-city educational tour presented by the US Forest Service and the Wyland Foundation.

The mobile unit was located at Onteora on Monday and Tuesday, the 10 and 11 and at Margaretville on the 12th and 13th.

By Jay Braman Jr.
In the new Phoenicia Diner, it seems like old times.
The diner, which stands alone along side Route 28 in Phoenicia, had been closed for more than a year after husband and wife team Mike Cioffi and Helene Banks purchased it.

A retired scenery and set designer, Mike had been at work inside the place polishing the chrome and shining up the image of the 1960s classic structure.

When they unlocked the doors for the grand opening last Friday it was as if folks had been waiting all year for the chance to return, and each brought three friends.