NARROWSBURG, NY — A month ago, Tusten resident Star Hesse asked the Tusten Town Board directly, pointedly and repeatedly how it intends to implement the ambitious, wide-ranging draft comprehensive plan developed by the committee, with public input, over the last 18 months.

At that time, it was still unclear if the draft comprehensive plan would meet with the approval of the Upper Delaware Council (UDC), the National Park Service (NPS) and the general public. If it failed to win approval by any of those entities, it would have to go back to the drawing board for refinement, maybe even a major redraft. That uncertainty made Hesse’s question seem somewhat premature.

But when the question was addressed again at the May 11 town board meeting, this time by deputy supervisor Jane Luchsinger, a member of the Comprehensive Plan Committee herself, it seemed timely. The draft comprehensive plan has now been reviewed and approved by the UDC and, according to UDC Tusten Representative Susan Sullivan, has been favorably reviewed by NPS Upper Delaware management and its planning specialist, Cody Hendrix. NPS approval is ultimately determined by the NPS Regional Office in Philadelphia, where the draft plan is now undergoing final review. Because an NPS decision is expected within the coming weeks, the draft plan could be adopted by the town board during its next regular monthly meeting immediately following the hearing.

However, as planning consultant Peter Manning explained in response to Hesse’s original implementation question, a comprehensive plan is a policy document, not a set of ordinances designed to codify those policies. The laws to implement those policies are secondary to the policy statement itself and are usually drafted sometime after adoption of the comprehensive plan.

To ensure that the comprehensive plan does not become a 100-plus-page dust collector, some town-board-designated persons must begin setting in motion the ordinances and programs that will eventually realize the vision outlined in the town’s comprehensive plan. Manning recommended that a separate committee be appointed by the town board for that purpose. Luchsinger noted that the comprehensive plan drafting committee thought the goals of the plan were of a scale that warranted implementation one chapter at a time.

Councilman Al Smith agreed with Manning’s recommendation for an implementation committee. Luchsinger echoed Hesse’s earlier concern: “Without timely and successful implementation, a comprehensive plan is nothing more than words on a page.”

In other business, the board designated Saturday, June 5 as the Narrowsburg Beautification Group’s annual plant swap, voting to permit that group’s use of the municipal parking lot in front of the public library in Narrowsburg.

The board discussed seeking a Smart Cities grant to partially fund the installation of public WiFi on Main and Bridge Street streetlights. The total cost of the project would be $53,000, with the town liable for $16,000 after grant funding. It was noted that most businesses on those streets already offer WiFi to their patrons, but former Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) executive director Elaine Giguere reminded the board that, in years past, the DVAA installed temporary public WiFi on the outside of its building for the convenience of vendors and visitors at large-gathering events like Riverfest.

The board decided that its Tuesday, June 8 meeting will be held in hybrid format, both live at the town hall and via Zoom, and will be preceded by a 6:30 p.m. public hearing on the water district improvement project.