One aspect of the NYS Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is that it offers the governor a nice opportunity to be Santa Claus and distribute hefty sums to municipalities across the state. Fresh off her victory in the election last week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced $33 million worth of CDBG funding to around 54 recipients, of which Wawarsing was granted $874,000.

CDBG grants are meant to help communities provide safe living environments, affordable housing and other benefits mainly to low- and moderate-income residents. In practice in the Rondout Valley, Wawarsing in particular, they have meant major investments in water and sewer projects, essentially bringing the sewer systems for Napanoch and Kerhonkson into the modern age.

Town of Wawarsing Supervisor Terry Houck had a simple and heartfelt response to the news that Wawarsing had scored another major CDBG grant. “Mark Blauer is just the best!”

Blauer, an engineer based in northern Pennsylvania, has worked on behalf of the town of Wawarsing for a couple of decades now and with this new $874,000 grant has now raked in over $10 million in terms of grant monies for vital town projects.

Other awardees in the Mid-Hudson Valley were the village of New Paltz, which got $860,000 for sewer system improvements, and the town of Ulster, which won $995,000 for improvements to the Spring Lake Sanitary Sewer system, to bring the region up to $2.7 million in this round.

The importance of CDBG funds cannot be understated. Considering taxation levels and how tightly local municipal budgets are stretched, the relatively enormous expenses of water and sewer systems are beyond their means.