WAWARSING – With the passage of the Federal Stimulus bill this past Tuesday, the question of how that money will be put to use has been discussed ad nauseum. While many of the recipients of the funding have already been decided, the board of the Greater Wawarsing Local Development Corporation (GWLDC) has offered several suggestions to our elected representatives in Washington D.C. about municipal projects that would make excellent recipients of future federal dollars.

At the last Wawarsing Town Board meeting on February 5, a list of eleven projects designed to help improve the town was presented. The list was a collaborative effort between the board members of the GWLDC, and was created in response to a request from the office of Senator Chuck Schumer, who himself was responding to a letter from Wawarsing Town Supervisor Ed Jennings.

Local attorney Mike Siegel, who holds the position of executive director of the LDC, spoke to some of the origins and details of the specific projects should they ever get green lit, federal funding or no. Of the list, Siegel said, "It's a list prioritized from a town perspective of what we would like to see."

Topping that list at an estimated cost of $14.595 million is a "Light Industrial Development Park," which would take steps to subdivide the Schrade property into smaller units as a way to better secure tenants for the long-vacant industrial site.

"In its broadest vision, we are of the opinion right now that it's going to be very difficult to attract a single company to come in to purchase the Schrade property and develop it — it's quite an expensive proposition to do that," said Siegel.

In addition to physically subdividing the property, the proposed project would create an environmental impact statement and get the project approved for certain usages.

"It would allow us to put a roadway through it with power, sewer, and water lines so that any industry coming in to use the site would be shovel ready to go and would have access to those things," said Siegel.

The next two items on the list of projects are the rehabilitation and expansion of the Kerhonkson water system and the upgrade, rehabilitation, and expansion of the Napanoch sewer system, coming in at estimates of $5.85 million and $3.95 million, respectively.

"[The Napanoch sewer system] is operating at capacity right now, and if we are contemplating new development in the area, which basically means if we cranked up the Schrade factory, for argument's sake, it would put pressure on the Napanoch sewer system that it might not be able to handle, so it's become a critical issue that the sewer system be upgraded as a result.

"The Kerhonkson water system is a little bit of a different story; we have several issues in the Kerhonkson water system," he continued.

One issue is that there are two water tanks in the system that are in serious need of rehabilitation, and another is the problem of broken water meters.

"Right now the water metering system in Kerhonkson is not working properly, and the town is probably losing revenues because of it, and so we need to restore those meters so they can monitor water usage properly."

The last aspect of the proposed improvement is similar to the need for the Napanoch sewer system's improvements. Because the other half of Kerhonkson is part of the Town of Rochester, improving the Kerhonkson water system would enable those residents to join the Kerhonkson Water District, thereby delivering another revenue source for the town.

Another project on the list would be establishing an entrance to Minnewaska State Park via Berme Road, a proposition with an estimated cost of $3.4 million which could give a shot in the arm to Wawarsing's economic development by taking advantage of the high percentage of parkland in the town's borders.

"Right now Wawarsing could have 26,000 acres of parkland in it, and that's roughly 31 percent of the town," said Siegel. "But ironically, the large pieces of parkland are not accessible through the heart of town. You have to either travel to the outskirts of town, or even outside of the town entirely to access the parkland. And the Berme Road entrance would provide us with a trail that really begins in the heart of town that would make the parkland available, especially on the ridge."

Siegel said that he had met with Lori DuBord of Congressman Maurice Hinchey's office to discuss the projects, and that the response was positive. Eight of the eleven projects have made it through the first stage of review and Hinchey's office is attempting to get them into committee, he said.

Jeff Lieberson of the congressman's office in Washington D.C. wasn't able to speak about the list in too much detail — and also pointed out the competition Wawarsing's projects will be up against in the upcoming fiscal year.

"There are a limited number of funds available, and there are a limited number of earmarks that each congressional member receives, so we're in the process of reviewing that list, and we'll do our best to try to see whatever funding could be provided to that. As you can imagine, we're probably looking at hundreds upon hundreds of requests," said Lieberson.

Even still, Siegel said he's optimistic about the projects. Of course, he said, it's a tall order to expect that many, or in fact any, of these projects' costs will be footed by the federal government. But Siegel said that the very act of creating the list is significant.

"In order to have development, you have to constantly be evaluating what the town needs and creating projects like we did, and having a list which you're constantly looking at. And you never know when things are going to get funded or when money is going to be available; what's important is that you have projects you've thought about that make sense, and that are ready to be looked at by funders."

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