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Above: A Google map showing a 2.1-mile stretch of Highway 30A that the NYC DEP is funding repairs to this summer. (Google Maps, whose road names can be capricious in the rural stretches of upstate New York, calls it NYC Rd. No. 6 and BWS Rd. No. 7.)

The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the muddy lower Esopus is being written -- and officials in Ulster County are clamoring to be more than just a footnote in it.

On May 23, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced that they had hammered out a deal with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, called a "draft consent order," that would govern the release of silt-laden water into the lower Esopus.

Under the draft consent order, whose main points are summarized on the DEC's website, the city will have to pay a fine of $1.55 million, reduced from an original fine of $2.6 million sought by the DEC, for polluting the Lower Esopus with muddy water discharges from the Ashokan Reservoir.

The Times Herald-Record reports that Bethel councilman Richard Crumley died unexpectedly on Sunday, May 27 at the age of 69.

The paper spoke with town supervisor Dan Sturm, who said the town board will decide soon whether to appoint a replacement for the remainder of Crumley's term.

Crumley will be missed on the town board:

Supervisor Dan Sturm said he considered Crumley a good friend, remembering the Army veteran and passionate amateur racecar driver for his blunt, straight-talking ways.

“I am deeply saddened by it,” Sturm said. “We were very close on the board.”

Bethel's town board has been embroiled in some tough issues recently. Earlier this month, a lawsuit was filed against the town by Roy Howard and Jeryl Abramson, owners of Yasgur's Farm, who claim that they were slandered by Crumley and Sturm during a dispute with the town over the couple's use of their land to host outdoor events.