Latest News

NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) has awarded $30,000 in Technical Assistance Grants for seven projects that will further goals and address needs identified in the River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.

The latest grant round brings the cumulative amount to $639,692 that the UDC has given to its member municipalities since 1988. In all, 180 projects have been funded through the Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) program.

Combined requests totaled $58,800, competing for the $30,000 funding pool that the UDC budgeted for Fiscal Year 2008.

Member municipalities submitted applications by a July 31 deadline. A special meeting of the Project Review Committee to deliberate over the applications took place on August 12. The full Council approved the recommended slate at its September 4 monthly meeting.

Technical Assistance Grants are available for research, planning, and studies conducted by the UDC’s eight member New York towns, four Pennsylvania townships, and the encompassing river corridor counties.

They can provide seed money for a municipality to embark on a project without having to dip into local tax dollars.

Damascus Township had the opportunity to participate in the TAG program for the first time after voting to join the UDC on July 21, 2008. The remaining three eligible Wayne County, PA townships of Berlin, Buckingham, and Manchester could also receive this member benefit.

his year’s recipients of TAG awards are:

Towns of Tusten, Cochecton, Delaware and Highland (jointly) – $12,000 to undertake a multi-municipal study entitled “Managing Natural Gas Development Impacts: Strategies to Protect Town Infrastructure and Land Use”, to be conducted under the guidance of the Sullivan County Division of Planning and Environmental Management and with a target completion date of April 30, 2009.

Town of Hancock, NY – $5,000 to develop a Town of Hancock Site Plan Review Local Law, in consultation with the Delaware County Planning Department, that will help to assure adequate reviews of potential impacts from proposed development projects.

Town of Fremont, NY – $3,000 to review and update the Town’s zoning laws to conform to the new Town of Fremont Comprehensive Plan.

Pike County, PA – $3,000 to facilitate the development of the Matamoras Borough-Westfall Township Regional Comprehensive Plan and an Open Space, Greenways and Recreation Plan under the coordination of the Pike County Office of Community Planning over an 18-month period.

Town of Delaware, NY – $2,500 to update the Town of Delaware Zoning Law to address and develop standards for alternative energy sources, including but not limited to geothermal, solar and wind energy devices.

Town of Lumberland, NY – $2,500 to compile and print the Town’s Final Comprehensive Master Plan.

Damascus Township, PA – $2,000 to combine and print the Township’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance, and the Multi-municipal (Damascus, Manchester and Oregon Townships) Comprehensive Plan, into one document.

To access a complete directory of the UDC’s Technical Assistance Grants awarded over the past 20 years and to obtain program guidelines and various forms