Margaretville

Editor’s note: Catskill Mountain News writer Joan Lawrence-Bauer kicks off her series of articles on municipal finance this week with a look at the Village of Margaretville’s current budget.

By Joan Lawrence-Bauer
“Follow the money” is the mantra adopted by investigators of all stripes – from lawyers and detectives to journalists and accountants. So we’ve followed the money in the Village of Margaretville to see where it comes from and where it goes. It’s a complicated task.

By Brian Sweeney
The success of the Margaretville Sleep Center has spurred a move and expansion into a Catalog Outlet Store.

The “new” business is located in a portion of the Bussy Building at the corner of Main and Walnut streets. In addition to beds and mattresses, the enterprise features items such as complete living room sets, TV consoles, coffee tables, end tables, lighting, recliners and many related items.

By Brian Sweeney
The results of large-scale flooding are widespread. In addition to the immediate reactions of protecting lives and property, the aftermath of a flood always leaves one big question: Am I going to stay at this location?

Char and Art DeBari, longtime owners of Now and Then Video in Margaretville, had faced that question on several occasions after their Bridge Street building stood in the midst of flood waters racing through the village.

By Diane Galusha
When the East Branch of the Delaware River and the Binnekill stream became one last August 28 and swallowed the valley that includes the Village of Margaretville, the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) office was among the buildings engulfed by the muddy torrent.

The stone structure at 905 Main Street, built in1965 as the home of the Catskill Mountain News, was strong enough to withstand the physical force of the flood, but water nonetheless seeped in under three doors, two of them four feet above the parking lot.

By Brian Sweeney
Vandals damaged a dozen gravestones in the Margaretville Cemetery last week.
Village workers arrived at the site on the morning of August 7 and discovered the damage. Officials said that all three gates to the cemetery had been locked and the vandals cut through a lock on the upper gate to gain entry.

The damage reportedly occurred some time Monday night or early Tuesday. The vandalized headstones were located in the oldest section of the cemetery.

Margaretville — Come out here! On the weekend of August 24, 25 and 26 when a celebration of fun, adventure and education will be featured at the Central Catskills Great Outdoor Experience Festival sponsored by the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce (formerly the Annual Street Fair).

Practice for fall sports programs at Margaretville Central School are scheduled to begin next week.
The schedule for the first practices follows:
• Boys’ Varsity Soccer on Monday, Aug. 13 at 7 a.m.
• Girls’ Varsity Soccer on Monday, Aug.13 at 6 p.m.
• Golf on Tuesday, August 14 at 11 a.m. at the Meadows Golf Center.
MCS Athletic Director Jeremey Marks reminded athletes that an updated sports physical is required to participate.
 

By Brian Sweeney
Margaretville officials are awaiting formal approval of funding to make improvements that would again have water flowing through the Binnekill Stream.

Mayor Bill Stanton told a group of community leaders at a meeting on Monday that he was received a verbal commitment that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will allocate money for upgrading the bulkhead that allows water to flow into the Binnekill.

By Brian Sweeney
The graduation rate at Margaretville Central School improved to 92.1 percent during the 2011-12 academic year, school officials said recently.

Superintendent Tony Albanese provided the News with updates on a number of topics involving district matters.

The superintendent said the graduation rate improvement was welcome and that “we will always aspire to 100 percent graduation.”

He noted that graduation statistics for districts with smaller enrollments can present a distorted picture.

Margaretville — A workshop for forest landowners in the Catskill Region will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Margaretville Fire Department, 77 Church Street.

Sign-in begins at 8:30 a.m. This is one of a series of workshops organized by Audubon New York in the largely forested regions of the state; similar workshops have been held in the Adirondack and Tug Hill regions.