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Thursday, May 7, 1987.

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COUP hires attorneys
to advise river towns

By TOM RUE


FOSTERDALE -- The Conference of Upper Delaware Townships (COUP) voted unanimously on April 23rd to hire two lawyers to represent the interest of 15 river towns and several agencies in matters relating to management of the Upper Delaware River.

Charles E. Zaleski of Tive, Herrick & Pierce in Harrisburg, and William Rosen of Rosen & Rosen with offices in Callicoon and Monticello, were chosen because of their high qualifications, according to COUP chair Phil Fitzpatrick.

"Both of their backgrounds and experiences seem to mesh very well for our needs," Fitzpatrick said.

The lawyers will represent COUP until it is dissolved or until September 30, whichever comes first. Fitzpatrick noted that the pair would likely have "an inside track" on being selected to represent the Upper Delaware Council (UDC), which is projected to replace COUP after the River Management Plan is signed into effect by the Secretary of the Interior.

According to Fitzpatrick, Zaleski came highly recommended by the Westfall Township Board of Supervisor. Rosen presently serves as attorney for the Town of Delaware, and formerly as the Sullivan County attorney.

Each will be paid $125 per hour plus expenses for their work for COUP. The organization has $10,00t2) budgeted for legal expenses for 1987, according to National Park Service (NPS) Superintendent John Hutzky.

In another matter, regional planner Bob Everest of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) announced that a meeting was held recently in West Trenton, NJ between DRBC executive director Gerald Hansler and NPS regional director James Coleman. DRBC agreed to sign the UDC's Articles of Agreement, Everest said.

The DRBC will participate fully as a member of the council, he stated, emphasizing that his organization wholeheartedly supports the management plan, and intends to incorporate the document into its Comprehensive Plan.

However, Everest noted that the DRBC's participation will be on a nonvoting basis. "We've got five bosses and one guy can't sit up here and say this is what we're going to do," he said, referring to the governors of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the Secretary of the Interior.

"I'm going to come along and break a tie when there's five entities involved?" he asked rhetorically.

In a report from the NPS, Superintendent John Hutzky said that the Upper Delaware received an additional $29,000 funding this year, as a result of the controversial "fees legislation" that established admission charges at some national parks. Hutzky said this money enabled the hiring of five extra NPS employees locally. He added that the NPS will never charge user fees 'on the Upper Delaware.

Hutzky said he and chief interpretive ranger Calvin Hite had recently represented the entire NPS in a presentation to the National Water-Safety Conference in Fort Wolton Beach, Florida. The Upper Delaware has been nationally honored for its low number of river-related fatalities.

In other business, Fitzpatrick read a letter endorsing the River Management Plan from the Sullivan County Federation of Sportsman's Clubs; as well as correspondence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Economic Development Council of Northeast Pennsylvania, expressing opposition to proposed hydro-electric dams on Shohola Brook.

The next COUP meeting is planned for May 28 at the Tusten Town Hall in Narrowsburg. By May 15, Fitzpatrick said COUP should complete the moving of its offices to the Contel Building on Bridge Street in Narrowsburg.
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Related external links
Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation