The Tusten town board voted four to one to commit to replacing the deck along Main Street, and as a result may receive a $106,000 grant from the state.

At the town meeting on August 12, Councilmember Jane Luchsinger, who is also a member of the Narrowsburg Beautification Group, said the group would probably be willing to donate the $25,000 that it won with the Golden Feather Award from Sullivan Renaissance in 2012 to the project.

The $106,000 from the state was originally granted to the town as part of the plan for an esplanade or river walk, but that plan had to be shelved because of various obstacles.

The town asked the state if it could use the money instead to replace the deck, and the state wanted a commitment from the town that it would follow through on the deck project.

Luchsinger said, “The state has been asking the town to make a decision. I think we have to know tonight whether the town is going to agree,” to move forward.

Councilmember Ned Lang said there were cheaper alternatives than the one put forward by the consulting group that drew up the plans. He said the deck that’s in place now could be rebuilt, and he added, “$106,000 is a lot of money for a deck.”

The current deck dates to 1980, and Councilmember Norman Meyer said the town engineer will not sign off on the safety of the deck after this year. Meyer said, “We’ve always had the deck. To replace it with something structurally better is a good idea. I think we have to try to keep the cost to a minimum. But I would like to see something that’s anchored and that’s not floating out there and scaring the hell out of me every time it rains.”

The cost of rebuilding is estimated to be up to $250,000 but the board is going to put the project out to bid and the cost may be lower.

Lang, who voted against the commitment, said, “The only issue I have is that we’ve never gone out to bid, so we don’t really know how deep the water is.”