TUSTEN – The Town of Tusten Planning Board gathered on Tuesday, February 22 and voted in favor of an eight lot subdivision of the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp. They also voted to approve becoming the lead agency for an application of a mixed-use retail location and brewery at 90 Main Street in Narrowsburg.

The proposal for the Ten Mile River Scout Camp is projected to divide the property into eight separate lots with a number of them being retained by the Boy Scouts of America for future use for summer camps.

According to Amador Laput, Project Manager at Fellenzer Engineering LLP, the eight lots will be divided as such; parcel one will contain 7,153 acres, parcel two will contain eight acres and be reserved for a river access subdivision, parcel three will be set aside for a parking lot intended to be used by a local church with 0.19 acres, parcel four is projected to be eight acres and intended for a Route 23 House, parcel five is projected to be 195 acres, contain a headquarters at Turnpike Pond, and be retained by the Boy Scouts. Parcel six will be 315 acres and be retained by the Boy Scouts as well and will contain Camp Aquehonga at Half Moon Lake, parcel seven will be 1.3 acres as a fish fry house, and parcel eight will contain Trout Pond with 157 acres.

According to Tom Duffus, Vice President and Northeast Representative for The Conservation Fund, the organization works to ensure a property is secured, acting as a placeholder so that organizations that may be slower in their processes have time to properly move forward.

In this case, the Conservation Fund is holding the property so that the State of New York may eventually come into possession of the property.

The Conservation Fund has played a part in securing lands for other organizations and State governments and has a previous track record of successful transfers of land from their organization to said States, according to Duffus.

The plans were met with concerns from the crowd, one being the future possibility of industrial or residential plans being developed on the property.

According to Richard Davies, Chief Scout Executive and CEO of Greater New York Councils, the Boy Scouts of America have no plans on building anything.

Duffus stated that there was instead “undevelopment happening,” with the Scout’s removal of derelict buildings to get it ready for the Conservation Fund’s purchase and eventual State management.

Something Brewing on Main Street

Applications for a prospective brewery and multipurpose retail building located at 90 Main Street in Narrowsburg were set in motion at Tuesday’s meeting.

On May 18, 2018, a structure fire caused what was Rasmussen’s Furniture Store to ultimately close, which had left the building unusable.

The property has recently been purchased by a separate entity who are not opening a business themselves but are fixing the building and restoring the commercial and apartment space, according to Architect Karl Wasner. The area will become available for rent.

A pair of prospective business partner tenants who seek to install a brewery presented their plans before the Board.

Big Eddy Brewery, co-headed by Jacob Johnston and Russell Miller, is on track to refill that space and become another addition to Main Street.

The applicants spoke before the Board and answered questions asked by the council members.

One prominent concern discussed was the limited parking situation among the businesses on Main Street.

Both Miller and Johnston said plans that would make use of “every square foot” of parking available, and they’d work in tandem with other businesses to ensure mutual benefit between them.

While much work remains to be done, the Board voted unanimously in favor of becoming the lead agency as the project moves forward.