Grant dollars to spruce up town


PINE PLAINS — The town of Pine Plains has had a good grant year, garnering $138,500 since April 1, 2007.

"We are so thankful," said town Supervisor Gregg Pulver, who added that most of the grant dollars came from the office of state Sen. Vincent Leibell or state Assemblyman Marc Molinaro. "We have a great relationship with both the senator and the assemblyman and we were so thankful that they were able to come through and share a lot of this with us."

And there was a lot. The largest grant of $100,000 went to the library; $7,500 went to the fire company; $16,000 went to the highway department for a new generator; $10,000 went to Town Hall; $5,000 went to the ag department; and another $5,000 went to the highway’s generator (from Molinaro’s office).

"For the library, $100,000 is nothing to sneeze at. We’re very grateful to the senator for that. He’s been an avid supporter of the library, but this is the largest gift given to the library and we really appreciate it," Pulver said. "And with the ag program, in the seven years that I’ve been supervisor, he has yet to miss an ag day. He takes a lot of time and effort to walk around, and he helps us out in underwriting the parade and he helps keep it financially viable."

Pulver said that both politicians have made a habit of lending a helping hand when necessary, especially by ensuring that the highway department has the necessary equipment to continue operating when in emergency situations. The fire company, too, relies heavily on grant dollars to support its operations.

As for the Town Hall grant, Pulver said it will help to store town records in a new records retention area, away from the basement, where they now sit. As with all of the other grants, he said the grant will prove helpful when the time comes for utilizing the records.

All in all, the Town Board recognized the benefit of having so many grant dollars come their way.

"This is actually the best year we’ve ever had, garnering these kinds of grants," the supervisor said. "I can’t thank Vinnie Leibell and Marc Molinaro enough. They’ve really remembered Pine Plains."

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