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Forestburgh summer camp reborn?

Parents and town reach an agreement

Patricio Robayo - Staff Writer
Posted 2/10/20

FORESTBURGH — Parents and children in the Town of Forestburgh might have a camp to attend this summer after a cohort of concerned parents banned together.

After learning Forestburgh did not …

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Forestburgh summer camp reborn?

Parents and town reach an agreement

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FORESTBURGH — Parents and children in the Town of Forestburgh might have a camp to attend this summer after a cohort of concerned parents banned together.

After learning Forestburgh did not have enough funds for a complete summer camp for 2020, parents made their voices heard during the December, 2019 town board meeting.

The town said they tried to find ways to save the camp program, but due to rising operating costs, the board needed to cut items from the budget.

According to Town Supervisor Dan Hogue, Jr., the recreational program for the children cost over $15,000 last year in salaries and materials.

Furthermore, the town board stated the recreational program recently was riddled with problems and complaints.

“The last couple years exposed an awful lot of deficiencies in the recreation program,” said Hogue.

At the town's suggestion, parents formed a recreational committee to explore ways on how to save the camp and presented those ideas to the board at the February 6 town board meeting.

The committee suggested having a six-week program, from 9 a.m to 3 p.m., with various programming, including swim instruction.

The committee proposed camp would be limited to Forestburgh residents with tighter restrictions on what defines a Forestburgh resident.

The committee between the December 2019 meeting and now, had researched how camps are managed in other towns for inspiration for the Forestburgh camp.

The town said some summer renters and extended family members were finding loopholes in the program that allowed their children to attend the camp for free.

Anyone who wants to be in the camp that does not live within Forestburgh would pay a $200 fee.

Moreover, the camp would be maxed out at 20 children.

There would be a recreation director, swim instructor, youth counselors, and junior counselors.

The total cost of the program would be $10,608, with the town needing to fund $5,000.

Additional funding would come from fundraising and a grant that the town would need to apply for from the Sullivan County Youth Bureau that is allocated to recreational programs.

Hogue said the town would try to find extra funds in the budget that he could relocate for the camp and any money that was leftover in the recreational program, close to $3,000.

“Anything above that could jeopardize other parts of the budget,” said Hogue.

The parents and the town board reached an impasse at the meeting, as the parents listed a way to open the camp, and the board stated; unfortunately, they do not have the funding they are seeking.

The application for the Sullivan County Youth Bureau is due by the end of February, which could bring in close to $5,000 to $7,000.

Parents needed to know at the February 6 meeting whether they could move forward with the project or not as the grant application deadline is fast approaching.

Councilman Steve Budofsky suggested that the parents should scale down their idea more, and maybe then, there could be enough funding.

Using another town's camp as an example, Budofsky suggested the camp be four weeks instead of six.

Budofsky said it might be better to have something this year and the option to build on the new program and maybe expand it to six weeks next year if more funding comes in.

With the changes, the funding needed for the camp would now be around $7,000.

Brian Geringer, a concerned parent, said, “I want to have something; it's better than nothing.”

“It [camp] definitely needed some restructuring,” said Hogue.

Supervisor Hogue said he wishes there was more money in the budget for programming and says the budget has to be balanced so taxes won't be raised for residents.

The supervisor said they would fill out the needed paperwork for the grant for the summer camp program as long as the program does not exceed $7,000 this year.

The committee is looking into creating a non-profit to aid with fundraising for the camp.

However, the town board said they would need to speak to the town attorney to find out how they could receive funds from a non-profit.

Moreover, the committee says they are happy they have been able to reach a compromise, and they now need to reassess how the camp will run with their budget.

Supervisor Hogue asked the committee, “Now that you have a commitment from the board, let's come up with the best program in Sullivan County, then build off of that going forward. Let's have these kids do some cool stuff that they'll be talking about for years.”

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