Regional Economic Development and Community Revitalization Strategy Seeking Public Input
The MARK Project, in collaboration with The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, and several municipalities, has contracted with the firms of Community Planning & Environmental Associates and E. M. Pemrick and Co. to assist in the development of a Regional Economic Development and Community Revitalization Strategy for the Towns of Olive, Shandaken, Middletown, Andes and Roxbury. This will help the region capitalize on the natural, agricultural and recreational assets of the communities along both the Esopus Creek and East Branch of the Delaware River and its tributaries and associated lands. Funded in part by the NY State Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and Catskill Watershed Corporation, the project will result in a clear and concise action plan for sustainable economic development that promotes village, hamlet and Main Street revitalization as well as enhanced access to waterways.
“The Strategy will not reinvent the wheel but rather synthesize the knowledge and creativity learned from nearly a decade or more of some excellent planning projects,” says MARK Executive Director Peg Ellsworth. “The strategy will build upon past planning efforts and our current and ongoing recovery efforts.”
To date the planning process has completed a thorough review of previous plans and studies in all five Towns to determine common threads, surveys of local businesses and part-time residents, development of a regional market analysis and a regional profile of resources, trends, local conditions and supportive maps.
Now it’s on to the public input stage, where communities and stakeholders can help shape the direction of economic development activities and identify and prioritize opportunities and actions. “Some of these activities will be regional and some targeted to the individual needs of any one community, but input is critical to the success of the project,” says Ellsworth. “The finished product can be a valuable tool that guides these communities, but that also helps identify and leverage potential funding sources.”
The meeting schedules are as follows:
Saturday, 6/9 10 am at the Shandaken Town Hall
Monday, 6/11 6 pm at the Andes Library
Wednesday, 6/13 6 pm at the CWC offices in Margaretville (conference bridge number available on request)
Saturday 6/16 10 am at the Erpf Center in Arkville
Monday 6/18 6 pm at the Skene Memorial Library in Fleischmanns
Tuesday 6/19 6 pm at the Olive Free Library
Wednesday 6/20 6 pm at the Roxbury Town Hall
For more information: www.markproject.org or 845 586 3500.
[...] significant scenic and natural resources. Information on upcoming community meetings can be found here. If you live or work in one of the seven communities targeted by the study and are unable to [...]
Where is the link to the survey that Peg speaks of in her radio spots?