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Wallkill Valley Times , Wednesday , May 16 , 2018

PUBLIC AGENDA WEDNESDAY , MAY 16

Wallkill Board of Education , 7 p . m . Plattekill Elementary School . Village of Walden Planning Board , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 1 Municipal Square .

THURSDAY , MAY 17 Crawford Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 121 Route 302 , Pine Bush . Shawangunk Town Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 14 Central Ave ., Wallkill .

MONDAY , MAY 21

Valley Central Board of Education 6:30 p . m . Administration building , 944 Route 17K , Montgomery .

WEDNESDAY , MAY 23

Village of Montgomery Planning Board , 7:30 p . m . Village Hall , 133 Clinton Street .

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The Wallkill Valley Times , ( USPS 699-490 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , N . Y . 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , N . Y . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Wallkill Valley Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , N . Y . 12550

By JASPREET GILL jgill @ tcnewspapers . com

After a recent Gardiner town board meeting where it was announced that the state is proceeding with draining Tillson Lake , Gardiner residents are continuing to push back .

During a May 8 meeting , the Gardiner town board presented a letter they received that asked if the town wanted to be the lead agency to proceed with the plans to dewater the lake , but after some deliberation the town board ultimately decided they would not be the best fit . Now , the New York State Office of Parks and Recreation has taken over the lead agency role .

Grassroots organization “ Save Tillson Lake ” hosted an “ I Love Tillson Lake Day ” recently , where neighbors and visitors came together in support to resist the current efforts being taken by the state .

“ We wanted to bring as many people from the area together in order to have a campaign to reach out to our elected officials to let them know that we feel as Senator Bonancic does that it ’ s unacceptable for them to drain this lake ,” says Morey Gottesman , President of Friends of Tillson Lake , Inc . “ They ’ ve not done a good real faith effort to find funding , we feel there are funds available if they look hard enough .”

On May 2 , Senator John Bonacic sent a letter to James Hall , Executive Director of the Palisades Interstate Parks Commision , the agency that deemed the Tillson Lake dam unsafe saying it would require corrective action that could cost anywhere between seven million dollars to nine million dollars . A portion of the letter reads :

“ As you know , the announcement your office sent to the residents of the area specifically sighted that the Commission had failed to secure funding required to repair this damn ( sic ). I am disappointed that the Palisades Interstate Parks Commission ( PIPC ), Office of Parks , Recreation and Historic Preservation ( OPRHP ), and the Department of Environmental Conservation ( DEC ) failed to make any effort to secure funding in the budget , not just this year , but in any year . While the letter cites a cost of $ 7- $ 9 milion to repair the dam , it fails to inform the residents of what the studies , permits and ultimate removal of the dam will cost ... When the state acquired this land , they ultimately took responsibility for preserving this beautiful piece of The

People signed letters in support of keeping Tillson Lake during “ I love Tillson Lake Day .”

‘ Gunks ’. The apparent “ off-loading ” of the responsibility of maintaining the lake for the current and future users is unacceptable .”

Those attending “ I Love Tillson Lake ” signed their names on sample letters that are being sent to the state and elected officials , but “ Save Tillson Lake ” member Annie O ’ Neill encourages people to call their elected officials .

“ We want neighbors to get to know neighbors and see that there ’ s some force behind this and really how much it means to locals and visitors to the area ,” says

O ’ Neill . “... The most important thing you can do is to make phone calls .”

A complete list of the elected officials you can call voicing your concerns about the state moving forward to dewater the lake can be found at savetillsonlake . org .

“ Draining this lake would really be a travesty for Minnewaska State Park , the Town of Gardiner , the County of Ulster and ultimately the State of New York ,” says Gottesman .

Although it seems like Tillson Lake could once again possibly be drained , residents are not giving up .

Daniel O ’ Connor ( L ), who lives by Tillson Lake , wears a shirt to show his support keeping Tillson Lake . He is pictured with Todd Wilhelm .