Schoharie Tackling CDBG Grant

By Joshua Walther

SCHOHARIE - Last Tuesday, the Schoharie Village Board met with Julie Pacatte from Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corporation to move forward on their next large grant.

Part of the CDBG BEST Project, the grant would offer $100,000 to assist a local business within Schoharie and train a workforce that benefits low to moderate income persons.

The business in question is Harva Co., a plastic manufacturer within the Village. The potential grant would not only give the business a new machine, but it would allow them to train four full-time employees.

With Harva Co. on board and pledging to their end of the deal, Mrs. Pacatte finalized the last few motions with the Board, moving to accept, complete the environmental review, and choose SEEC to be the sub-recipient of the grant.

While Mrs. Pacatte still held the floor, members of the Board asked for an update to the Parrot House construction, which is confirmed to still be moving along.

Mrs. Pacatte explained that while they work on closing their financing, construction is still on track for its twelve month cycle, and she relayed that the Parrot House should still be open by next year.

In other news, the Department of Transportation has approved rectangular flashing beacons for the crosswalk by the dentist’s office on Route 30.

While the exact beacon that the Board requested was denied, the DoT still allowed for the same flashing lights that Cobleskill and other municipalities have, so long as the Board puts forth funds to the sum of $7,000 for two of them.

A few people within the audience expressed interest in placing more of those same lights at other crosswalks for a safer experience, however the Board countered by saying that it was out of their hands until DoT confirms those locations as well.

Finally, the Creek Trail project is progressing smoothly, as the Village has now declared itself to be the lead agency on both of the required SEQR applications.

Mayor Colleen Henry wanted to thank the private landowners for working with the Board to build the trail, along with the kayak launch on Letterman Lane. She and the rest of the members are excited for the project’s progression and subsequent opening to the public.