LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “Does Cochecton want summer camps?” Planning board chairperson Earl Bertsch’s pointed question to the Cochecton Town Board at its November 11 monthly meeting came after he told the board that the Stanzoni RV park application is currently on hold and before he said that the town presently has no regulations pertaining to summer camps.

Bertsch said that neighbors of the proposed RV park had voiced concerns about the proposal at a recent planning board meeting and that those concerns would be addressed before the application is allowed to proceed.

“If you want to encourage summer camps, then we’ll develop regulations; we need the town board to tell the planning board what to do.”

After comments that summer camps might be a good thing for Cochecton, Supervisor Gary Maas said that the town could declare a moratorium on camp applications until the regulations are developed and adopted.

“There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel,” said Maas. “Let’s use existing regulations as a model.” Several towns in Sullivan County already have extensive summer camp regulations in place, Bethel and Liberty among them. Town code enforcement officer Greg Semenetz, who serves Bethel in the same capacity, offered to provide a copy of that town’s regulations to Bertsch, who already had a copy of Liberty’s regulations.

The planning board’s next monthly meeting, normally held the fourth Thursday of each month, instead will be held November 19, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

In other business, the board voted to pay its 2016 New York State retirement bill early, saving the town $642. It also scheduled two public hearings for December 9, one at 7 p.m. on the adoption of the Gold Star Parent veteran’s tax exemption, and one at 7:15 p.m. on expenditures relating to sewer plant upgrades.

As town highway superintendent Kevin Esselman delivered his report to the board, Maas said that he’d had multiple inquiries about the huge gravel piles outside the former Fiddlers Three building. Esselman said they were earmarked for paving projects in the coming year. He and Maas also agreed that, per recommendations from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding the algae blooms in Lake Huntington, it would be advisable for the town to adopt that portion of Route 52 encircling the lake. Salt runoff from winter road maintenance has been a contributing factor in the blooms, and the county highway department uses much higher salt concentrations than does the town.

On another matter, Maas said that only one bid has been received for construction of a deck on the new town hall.

Councilmember Sean Nearing announced availability of a $15,000 grant that could be used to build a baseball field adjacent to the new town hall. The board voted to send a letter of intent to make application for the grant.

The board adjourned into executive session to discuss labor negotiations and sewer plant upgrades.