NARROWSBURG, NY — “Vehicles are speeding through Narrowsburg with reckless disregard for anyone or anything else on the road,” said Tusten resident Star Hesse during a public comment segment of the October 13 Tusten Town Board meeting. Although participation via Zoom was still an option, it was the first in-person public town board meeting held for Tusten since the pandemic shutdown began in March.

“It’s not a new problem,” said Tusten supervisor Ben Johnson. “I’m currently working with the Narrowsburg Flats Neighborhood Watch and appropriate law enforcement agencies to implement ‘traffic calming’ measures in compliance with traffic safety laws.”

Hesse was skeptical. Worried that reckless drivers will not be wreckless for long, she said, “I’m not sure traffic calming will work on drivers who gun their truck engines and flip the bird at pedestrians as they do it.”

The calming measures to which Johnson referred are road safety signage. In this case, it would mean a “Yield to Pedestrians” rubber reflective sign in the crosswalk section of Bridge Street. Speaking by phone on October 14, Johnson said, “At $400 each, these signs aren’t cheap, but they meet state safety standards. They’re designed to survive being run over and do minimal damage to vehicles that strike them.”

Hesse also complained about the difficulty of enforcing existing traffic laws. “The police can’t get there in time to catch speeders.”

“That’s true,” said retired state police officer Johnson. “The police can’t be everywhere at once. But we do have a state police barracks in town, and we have good coverage by sheriff’s department deputies.”

In other business, Stephen Stuart raised concerns about failure of the Little Lake Erie culvert project plans to include two existing drainage pipes that he thinks are necessary to protect his property at 93 Erie Avenue from flooding during heavy rains. “Were it not for those pipes, our building would have been under water several times in the past,” said Stuart. Deputy supervisor Jane Luchsinger acknowledged his concerns and noted that they were presented to culvert project engineers for consideration some time ago. Remarking that although there appears to be no action at the lake, Luchsinger said project planning work is ongoing and final decisions regarding infrastructure have yet to be made.

The board voted to approve a curfew for minors unaccompanied by adults on October 30 and 31 (Halloween and the night before it) between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. The Tusten Youth Commission’s (www.facebook.com/TustenYouth) Halloween festivities will include a socially distant trunk-or-treat (formerly known as “Tricky Trunk”) from 4 to 7 p.m. on October 31 on the Narrowsburg flats. Trunk-or-treat will begin on Second Avenue, continue onto Fourth Avenue, and end at the park. The trunkers will hand candy into trick-or-treaters’ bags. Street closures will be in effect on the trunk-or-treat route. Additional trunkers are wanted.

The board also voted to approve Main Street closures on October 16 and 30 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. for an arts fair sponsored by One Grand Books.

Anticipating an election win by town attorney Danielle Jose-Decker, who is running unopposed for Sullivan County Judge, the board appointed Kenneth C. Klein of Jeffersonville as Tusten’s new attorney and replaced retiring town court officers Harold Camacho and Jeffrey Richmond with two new officers: Crystal Gadson and Scott Schoonmaker.

Lastly, the board set a 2021 budget preparation workshop for October 27 at 6:30 p.m. and a public hearing on that budget for Tuesday, November 10 at 6 p.m.