Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that two months after the Cairo Town Board approved the dispersal of almost $62,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant funding, town board member Tim Powers called for the board to amend the resolution it passed on March 7. Powers presented that amended resolution during a public meeting May 2, claiming the measure would correct the public record on the board’s decision to grant $50,000 to the Cairo Development Foundation and $5,930 apiece to Mountainview Enterprises and Emmy Cross as part of the HUD Residential Rehabilitation Grant. As Powers began to read the amended resolution, Town Supervisor Jason Watts interjected. “We’ve talked about this every meeting so far, Tim,” Watts said “We’re going to until I get a vote on it,” Powers replied. Powers voting yes on the resolution and the rest of the board abstained. After the meeting, Watts said that legal action has been taken against the town as a result of the HUD funding. He said each of the parties involved is suing the town. Powers said he will wait to see the minutes from the May 2 meeting before deciding if he will present his amended resolution to the board again. In the original March 7 resolution, Delaware Engineering was authorized by the town to act as a residential specialist for the HUD funding so it could determine the appropriateness of the various applications the town received for the money. Powers did not attend the meeting where Watts and board members Debra Bogins, Michael Flaherty, and MaryJo Cords voted unanimously to approve the dispersal of the HUD funding. “Delaware Engineering made their recommendations to this board and the numbers were all changed, but the resolution itself wasn’t,” Powers said. Under Delaware Engineering’s recommendation, the Cairo Development Foundation would have received $22,680, Emmy Cross would have received just over $18,500 and $17,000 would have gone to Mountainview Enterprises. The original HUD grant dates back to 1998, and the town collected almost $12,000 in interest on the original $50,000 grant over the past 24 years. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.