GLEN SPEY, NY — The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) has turned down an application for grant funding for an informational brochure on the Lumberland Town Cemetery.

Nadia Rasjz, Lumberland’s UDC delegate and county legislator, reported on October 9 that the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) application had been denied and that federal authorities would no longer be considering cultural or historical projects for TAG funding. Rasjz said the UDC had become “stringent” in usage largely devoted to land-use issues and zoning ordinances.

Lumberland had been seeking $833.50 of the $1,017 project to create “The Glen Spey Cemetery FAQ Brochure.” Over the past 30 years, the basic restriction on TAG funding was that it was unavailable for “bricks and mortar” work.

Since the UDC was established in 1988, the organization has awarded approximately $868,575 to fund 253 local non-construction projects that support the goals and objectives of the River Management Plan (RMP). Many of those have been related to cultural and historic projects
Reviewing Lumberland’s application in September, UDC project review committee chair Larry Richardson found the language describing how the project supported the goals and objectives of the RMP to be “vague.”

Resource specialist Pete Golod said he was unable to find any reference to cemeteries in the RMP. While an effort could be made to find historical or cultural links, he said they had been “advised against that already.”

On a separate matter, Rasjz also spoke about the importance of getting an accurate count in the upcoming 2020 census.

“It’s so important. If it’s not accurate we don’t get the federal money. We need to get the word out,” she said.

In other business, the town board will hold a public hearing for the 2020 town budget on November 6, at 7:05 p.m.; the Lumberland Highway Department will open bids for anti-skid sand on November 12 and bids will be awarded on November 13; the board re-appointed Nancy Giancontieri to the board of assessment review; renewed an inter-municipal agreement for road salt; and renewed the rental of the former highway garage with the Eldred Central School District for a school bus garage.