Rockland reaps funding in last round of Economic Council awards

BY KATHY KAHN

The Mid-Hudson got some early Christmas presents in the final round of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Councils when announced earlier this month. The Mid-Hudson’s Economic Council is comprised of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan and Westchester counties.

In the fourth and final round of winning applications, Rockland garnered a total of $4,065,375, which will fund the following projects:

• Cambridge Security Seals, Pomona, to expand existing facility-$730,000
• Chartwell Pharmaceuticals, Congers, to expand existing facility-$700,000
• Garner Arts Center, Garnerville, to create a craft beer festival May 19-20, 2019-$120,375
• Nyack Hospital, Nyack, to renovate and retrofit existing space on fourth floor to create a 16-patient Transitional Care Unit-$340,000
• Praxair Surface Technologies, Orangeburg, for training employees in processes such as lean manufacturing, including waste elimination, machine maintenance and workplace organization- $66,000
• Rockland County Shared Services Program, Stony Point, to evaluate the feasibility of shared services between Stony Point and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office-$25,000
• Town of Clarkstown, for a Wetlands Restoration Project adjacent to its town park and enhance revitalization efforts in the Hamlet of West Nyack- $1,050,000
• Town of Orangeburg, to replace culvert along Sparkill Creek-$220,000
• VITS International, Blauvelt, to expand existing facility and purchase additional equipment- $864,000
• Tuxedo-Hudson Company, for Phase 2 of the Sloatsburg-Tuxedo Route 17 corridor- $1,000,000

Rockland will benefit from the $40,000 REDC grant given to Pace University’s Land Use Law Center to focus on Mid-Hudson Redevelopment Readiness, as well as $500,000 in funding given to the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Dutchess to oversee the Mid-Hudson Valley/New York Grown Certificate Program. The county will also reap benefits for hikers and bikers with the $157,149 awarded New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Harriman-Bear Mountain Trails Improvement Project The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference will build and rehabilitate eroded and worn sections of the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail and Kakiat Triangle and Tuxedo-Mt. Ivy trails. These trails intersect with each other and connect with long-distance trail systems, including the Appalachian Trail, the Long Path, the 150- mile Highlands Trail and to the route of the new Empire State Trail.

The Regional Development Councils, brought to fruition in 2011 to replace the skewed Empire Zone program, has awarded the Mid-Hudson $475.9 million for 574 projects to date.