RONDOUT VALLEY – Just as a heavy locomotive doesn't move very quickly in the first few feet, the proposed O&W Rail Trail Coalition is getting off to a slow start. Hurley town supervisor Gary Bellows held off obtaining his board's approval to join the coalition last week because, he said, "I don't want to be the first."

The cooperative body has been on the drawing board at least as far back as 2013, and is slated to include all the communities that the old O&W ran through in Ulster County: Ellenville, Wawarsing, Rochester, Marbletown, Hurley, and Kingston. Marbletown supervisor Michael Warren was quoted as describing the agreement as a "marketing document," with recommendations about management practices and standardized signage, suggesting it would exist largely to make it possible to obtain grant funding for improving the rail trail overall.

The proposal itself says that the coalition would be organized "for the purposes of advocating and marketing the intermunicipal connection of the O&W Rail Trail for recreational and non-motorized transportation use by residents and visitors." Participating municipalities are being asked for $500 each to get the ball rolling, but there are no expectations for additional funding laid out.

Other municipal boards are expected to vote on joining the coalition in the near future. So long as no other elected officials balk at going first, it could become a reality in the next month or two.