LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — The February 8 Cochecton Town Board meeting agenda was a laundry list of ongoing matters. Topping that list is the still uncertain status of the Western Transfer Station. After protracted renegotiation of its lease agreement, which expired on December 31, 2016, the county consented to a new one-year lease with payment terms significantly lower than it has paid for the last three years.

However, as of February 8, Supervisor Gary Maas had not yet received from the county an executed lease agreement and two past-due 2017 monthly lease payments. Follow-up with county officials on February 9 produced an executed lease agreement whereby the county will pay the town $10, 000 in leasing fees for calendar year 2017.

As the board turned to Scenic Byway liaison Larry Richardson’s report of that organization’s most recent meeting, it heard that attention will be focused on the specific needs of cyclists using Route 97. “It’s about time we look to serve the needs of bikers on a road officially designated as a bike route,” said Richardson.

Maas questioned the wisdom of that designation, saying that hairpin curves, steep hills, narrow shoulders and—in some places—no shoulders, combined with a heavy volume of truck traffic and less-than-stellar road maintenance make cycling on Route 97 tantamount to a suicide mission. Richardson said, “You’d think the Scenic Byway designation would make for priority road maintenance, but amount of usage is still the sole criterion for determining how quickly maintenance is done.”

Maas gave an update on free senior tai chi classes due to begin this spring at the town hall. Taught by a registered nurse, this gentle, ancient martial art performed in slow motion is designed to prevent debilitating falls among the elderly. So, the insistence of the town’s liability insurance carrier that participants sign a waiver of liability “in the event of accidental injury resulting from this rigorous exercise class” took Maas by surprise.

“Should we change the wording of the waiver?” Maas asked town attorney Karen Mannino. “No,” said Mannino, adding that the carrier’s language presents no downside to the town and that changing it could invalidate the policy. But board member Paul Salzberg, MD, an enthusiastic proponent of the class, worried that the disclaimer could frighten off prospective participants.

The wording will stay. But participants are advised that this program, designed specifically for seniors and done under the supervision of an instructor licensed to teach it, is appropriate even for those unable to stand or walk. Although there is a waiting list for the Cochecton class, it will also be offered at The Narrowsburg Union.

Maas said the town supervisors’ recent meeting with the county legislature about sales tax revenue sharing had been less than productive, and that revenue sharing among Sullivan County towns seems unlikely to happen.

Richardson reported that the county’s charter commission has concluded, after two years of testimony from all county departments, that Sullivan County needs an elected county executive “to run the county like a business.”

Maas thanked Richardson for his work on the commission and his sharing of the thinking that came out of it. Then Maas said, “I just hope this recommendation, like so many others before it, doesn’t get shelved by the powers that be.”