W ell, it's finally happened: the new president of the United States, Barack Obama, was sworn into office this week, and he has begun the work of bringing his much promised change to our nation. Of course, whether or not this actually comes to pass will probably not be apparent for several years, let alone two days after the man sits behind his desk in the oval office and reads the note left for him by his predecessor. Whether you like him or lump him, those feelings won't be justified for at least a year.

In the weeks leading up to his inauguration, President Obama made many statements saying his administration would devote a lot of dollars to funding infrastructure projects throughout the country. Again, no matter what you think of the man or his politics, it's become pretty clear that patching up America's failing infrastructure ought to be something of a priority. We reported on a documentary crew working on a film concerning that very subject coming to the Town of Wawarsing only a few weeks ago. The cracked and broken Delaware Aqueduct is in dire need of repair — or more likely, replacement — and it stands to reason that it will be a shoe-in for receiving those infrastructure bucks.

But what about the infrastructure holding our country's smaller areas together? Dotted all around Ellenville are various bridges that are in need of repair or replacement, if Mayor Jeff Kaplan's urgent pleas to Ulster County are anything to go by. The Kerhonkson Bridge was recently closed by the State Department of Transportation because of how dilapidated it's become — and the project to replace that bridge was initiated years ago. Wouldn't it have been helpful had there been cash available to make repairs then? Or simply enough money to maintain the bridge so that it wouldn't need replacing at all, causing headaches for those who need to drive around that area (not to mention the emergency vehicles whose response times will slow due to their inability to access the bridge)? These are but small examples.

Ellenville's Board of Trustees recently executed an agreement with their engineers to get the plan to replace the village's sewer plant to a place of "project readiness" — with the specific goal of taking advantage of these much-publicized federal funds. The Town of Mamakating, too, has discussed plans to take advantage of federal infrastructure funding at their last board meeting, and they hope to revive old projects in this way.

As for the Town of Wawarsing, they recently received $2 million in funding to upgrade the Kerhonkson Sewer District — an infrastructure project in dire need of improvements — but much of the work to secure the funding was done under the previous administration of Supervisor James Dolaway. As to whether the town board has any future infrastructure projects in mind that would possibly qualify for federal money, the members of the town council haven't said much at their last few meetings. Perhaps it's out of cautiousness (as Ellenville's Mayor Kaplan points out, a lot of municipalities will be vying for this funding, reducing the chances of being awarded grants), but even still, now may be the time to get plans for projects rolling.

Supervisor Ed Jennings has written letters to our senators in Washington asking for help in terms of economic development, or just to receive a helping hand — perhaps now that the new administration has taken office, Wawarsing's town board members should join in and put together a list of projects as well. Who knows? This just may be a change we can believe in after all.

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