Sullivan may seek up to $250,000 in state “resiliency planning” money

MONTICELLO – The State
Office of Economic Development is crafting a Resiliency Planning Program
for some areas of the state that were not previously covered by Governor
Cuomo’s NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program. The program
will develop community resiliency plans that primarily address climate
change risks and vulnerabilities associated with, among other things an
increase in frequency and severity of storms. The program emerged following
Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
Sullivan County could be eligible for up to $250,000. 
County Manager Joshua Potosek said the parameters for qualifying applications are wide and are not limited just to recovering from natural disasters.
”Cover a litany of things such as complete streets, rezoning and planning issues to have smart growth,” Potosek said.  “It’s really we feel a good opportunity to cover a lot of things that we’ve been discussing.  Tough on health issues and a bunch of other items that we’d like to pursue.”
Legislator Ira Steingart suggested looking at whether some of the money could be used to address a longstanding issue: lack of broadband access in wide areas of the county. 
Planning and Environmental Management Commissioner Freda Eisenberg had a bit of good news in that regard.  She said she received a call from state officials saying under the Time-Warner Cable TV sale to Charter Communications, some unserved areas of Sullivan County will finally get broadband.