BY PATRICIA BREAKEY
DELHI NEWS BUREAU
DELHI _ The Delaware
County Board of Supervisors
approved a resolution Wednesday
to apply for federal funds
through the American Reinvestment
Recovery Act of 2009
to join several other counties in
developing a fiber-optic broadband
network.
County Emergency Services
Director Rich Bell said county
officials were contacted Friday
by Southern Tier Planning and
ECC Technologies about joining
several other counties — including
Broome and Otsego
— to join forces to apply for
broadband stimulus funding.
Bell said the county needs to
upgrade its communication system
because the current system
is outdated and does not adequately
address the county’s
public safety needs.
Bell said the multicounty local
distribution company would
be set up as a not-for-profit, and
a portion of the network would
be leased to private industry
and businesses. Each of the
counties involved would have a
seat on the board of directors.
The entire project would
cost $5.493 million in Delaware
County, but that would be offset
with $3.8 million in grant
funds, making the out-of-pocket
cost for the county $1,263,528
minus 30 percent in in-kind services.
That would bring the cost
down to the $800,000 to $900,000
range.
“If this happens we are going
to have a far superior system
at a much lower than expected
cost,” board Chairman James
Eisel said.
In other board business:
The board passed a resolution
opposing the continued
closure of Bear Spring Mountain
Campground, which was
announced by the state Office
of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation in 2009.
The proposed state 2010-11
budget calls for the continued
closure of the town of Walton
campground.
Bear Spring Mountain represents
a major tourism draw
for Delaware County and crucial
source of revenue for local
businesses and residents, according
to the resolution.
The board also passed a resolution
opposing Senate and
Assembly bills to amend state
labor law to require overtime,
unemployment and disability
benefits for farm employees.
According to the resolution,
the proposal forces mandates
on family farms that will put
New York at an extreme competitive
disadvantage, seriously
jeopardizing the long-term viability
of the upstate economy.
PATRICIA BREAKEY can be reached at
746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com
