MONTICELLO — The Sullivan County Legislature passed a resolution to transfer revolving loan funds to the Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) during their meeting on Wednesday, November 22. 

Heather Brown, Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Community Development, explained that it had come to her attention that there were issues as far as the administration of the revolving loan programs. 

Brown said that the loans originated from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding, USDA funding and various other grant sources, while the earliest one dates back to 1997. 

“So we’re actually closer to 30 years on some of these,” Brown said. 

“The bottom line is that we have the money that is supposed to go out into the community to spur economic development. It’s supposed to be made available to small business owners of various types of businesses that need a very specific criteria.”

She said that some of the funds are going out and that it has helped somewhat, but that the same businesses are coming back for assistance. 

“We’re not really seeing new businesses,” Brown said, “and the bottom line is, that when we started having these discussions, probably back in May, we said ‘what are we going to do with this?’”

She said that the staffing in planning just wasn’t there for them to go out and “pound the pavement” on the programs. A restructure of the division is something that Brown said they are working on. She said that a lot of businesses that were applying for the revolving loans were also going through the programs available through the IDA or the Sullivan County Funding Corporation. 

Brown stated that after many discussions between her office, the County Manager’s office, County Attorney’s office and trying to get in contact with HUD, she came to the realization that it would be much easier for businesses to go to one location for funding help. 

“It would be nice to have one stop where someone can talk to them and counsel them on,” Brown said. “This is what we have available, this is how we can package this for you and this is how we can help your business survive. At the end of the day, I just want to make sure that this funding is not sitting in a fund right now, which a lot of it is. There’s quite a bit of funding there that’s not getting out into the community.”

Brown said that it would be best to see the funding in a location where there is the human infrastructure to go out into the community to advertise it and make sure that it is working for all communities. She also said that there were issues with people not paying their revolving loans, with 11 active loans that are current on their payments and four that are old. 

“One that is delinquent is about 33 cents,” Brown said, “but the other three are more significant than that. It’s a few thousand dollars… this program in general, when you know that you are taking a risk when you loan to some of these businesses. That’s why the program exists. To begin with one of the first criteria to be able to apply for this revolving loan funding is that you have been denied by the bank. So it’s a last resort kind of stop for them to be able to get access to this funding.”

She said that aside from the four loans that have been delinquent for several years, all the other ones are current to her knowledge.

Allocation of funds to aid county youth programs

The Executive Committee also passed a resolution to allocate 2023-24 State Aid to  county youth programs in the amount of $151,866.

The Sullivan County Youth Advisory Board recommends the allocation of Office of Children and Family Services State aid to the following projects:

State Youth Development Program Funding

Total: $72,983.00.

Boys & Girls Club - Project Triple Club Liberty: $7,500.00

Nesin Cultural Arts, Inc. El Sistema: $1,500.00

Nesin Cultural Arts, Inc. - Musical Theatre: $1,500.00

Nesin Cultural Arts, Inc. - Visual Arts: $1,500.00

Town of Tusten - Youth Club :$2,000.00

Town of Cochecton - Youth Recreation: $7,500.00

Center for Discovery Integrated Arts Events, Etc. :$2,500.00

Town of Rockland Rotary: $7,500.00

Town of Mamakating - Youth Recreation: $7,500.00

Town of Thompson - Youth Recreation: $7,500.00

Town of Thompson - Monthly Events: $1,000.00

Livingston Manor Free Library - Manor Ink: $7,000.00

Homestead School - Excursions: $1,536.00

Cornell Cooperative - 4H: $2,500.00

Sullivan Public - Eldred After School Program: $1,500.00

Town of Fallsburg - Youth Game Club: $1,000.00

Town of Fallsburg - Youth Drama: $1,000.00

County of Sullivan-Administrative Costs (15 percent): $10,947.00.

Youth Sports & Education Opportunity Funding (YSEF)

Total: $27,090.00.

Town of Thompson - Sports: $4,000.00

Nesin Cultural Arts, Inc. - Dance & Movement: $4,381.00

Nesin Cultural Arts, Inc. - Body & Mind: $4,000.00

Town of Fallsburg - Youth Basketball: $4,000.00

Town of Fallsburg - Learn to Swim: $4,000.00

Town of Fallsburg - Youth Yoga: $4,000.00

County of Sullivan - Administrative Costs (10 percent): $2,709.00

Youth Team Sports (YTS)

Total: $41,449.00.

Town of Fallsburg - Pop Warner Cheer: $10, 950.00

Hudson Valley Youth Club - Soccer Training and Tournaments: $26,354.00

County of Sullivan - Administrative Costs (10 percent): $ 4,145.00

YSEF - Infrastructure (No administrative Costs Allowed)

Total: $10,344.00

Homestead School - Soccer Goal Equipment Upgrade: $3,341.00

Homestead School - Soccer Field Improvements: $7,003.00

Appointment of a Fair Housing Officer for Sullivan

As a requirement of several Grant agencies in order for the County to receive funding, Legislature approved the appointment of a Fair Housing Officer during their Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday, November 22. The person appointed to the position, which has no additional compensation associated with it, was Heather Brown, as it has been designated as a responsibility of the Commissioner of Planning. 

Brown said that the Fair Housing Officer’s role is to disseminate information related to fair housing laws, to identify barriers to equal housing opportunity and to develop a strategy to overcome barriers. 

“The Department of Planning has historically worked with the Rural Sullivan Housing Corporation, RUPCO and other agencies to fulfill the responsibilities of this role,” Brown said. “It is likely that we will continue these partnerships as we implement the 2022 Housing Strategy.”

Brown also said that they are currently contracted with Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress to update the County’s outdated Fair Housing Plan. Monitoring progress on the implementation of the plan is one of the key responsibilities of the Fair Housing Officer, according to Brown. 

While there is no additional compensation with the role, Brown said that in order to fulfill responsibilities, contracts with the aforementioned third parties will be necessary from time to time. 

Other business 

After discussing it at a prior meeting, the Legislature approved a $19,000 salary increase for the County Clerk position, which is currently held by the re-elected Russell Reeves.

The resolution to authorize the County Manager to execute the lease of three vacant hangars at the Sullivan County International Airport was untabled at Wednesday’s meeting and brought back to Public Works for their meeting on Thursday, December 14 at 10:00 a.m.