Letters 11/22/2007

Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to the residents of Olive.
I would like to offer a heartfelt thanks to all the people who supported me. I want you to know how very much it means to me. I have always been a firm believer in the idea that when one door closes another one opens. I eagerly wait to see what is behind the new door. Please be assured that I will always find a way to serve Olive, I have for the past 32 years, and I will continue to do so as long as I am able. Olive is a wonderful town but even more than that, Olive is HOME, our home, and my home. Thank you for allowing me to serve you for the last 8 years as your councilwoman I hope I made a difference.
I will wait to see what is on the other side of the door.
Thank You,
Linda Burkhardt
Olive Bridge, NY

Dear Editor,
It’s time to herald those who often go unheralded.
November 20th was the first official statewide School-Related Professional Recognition Day. This summer Governor Spittzer signed a bill into law creating a permanent School-Related Professional Day on the state calendar. The Governor’s signature on this bill memorializes New York’s commitment to deeply dedicated educators, The School-Related Professional.
School-Related Professionals make-up over 90,000 school district employees in New York State who work very hard throughout the year to keep our students safe and make school districts run smoothly.
The Onteora Board of Education joins Governor Spitzer in recognizing and thanking all Onteara’s School-Related Professionals. Their daily contribution to our students and district is invaluable.
Teachers’ aides, monitors, custodians, building maintenance workers and helpers, school bus attendants, typists, secretaries, clerks and cafeteria staff in a small district like ours are Jack and Jill’s of all trades.
Hall monitors, teacher aides, school bus drivers and attendants become mothers, fathers and social workers when caring for our students.
Maintenance and custodial workers don’t just paint, clean and landscape. They are plumbers, electricians, carpenters and winter plow operators.
Secretaries, typist and clerks acquire knowledge to be payroll specialists, accountants and human resource managers. Staff gets hired, vendors and employees get paid, students are assigned classes and the school runs efficiently.
So to all of Onteora’s School-Related Professionals, thank you for a job well done. We honor your contribution. November 20th is your day.
The Onteora Central School District Board of Education
Mary Jane Bernholz
Cindy O’Connor
Rita Vanacore
Herb Rosenfeld
Maxanne Resnick
Michelle Friedel
Richard Wolff

Dear Editor,
I was very pleased to see Paul Smart's coverage of the growing opposition to the Belleayre Resort on Nov. 8 (in both the Phoenecia Times and the Olive
Press). In the very short time since the announcement of the 'compromise' plan an extraordinary groundswell has appeared, accompanied by an impressive amount of activity, including signs, bumper stickers, movie viewings, and public meetings. The Sierra Club is an influential and courageous ally buttressing our local efforts. An online petition to Gov. Spitzer expressing outrage and concern about the development is accumulating signatures at a spectacular rate, and as more and more folks realize that the plan is not the 'done deal' it's been touted as, they are mobilizing against this dreadful plan. People who live in the Catskills realize it is the relatively unspoiled beauty of these mountains that is the area's greatest asset, and that an oversized monstrosity like the one that is being pushed so hard on the community would harm us all.
Interested parties are urged to visit Savethemountain.net.
Susan Oyama
Highmount, NY

Dear Editor,
I have been reading the letters you have published about the Gitter design to blast our mountain to bits and I am thrilled to hear that so many like minds have expressed their views on this latest disaster. I am not only concerned, I am terrified that a couple of millionaires can have their way when so many of us are completely against this unfair, too humungous, too dangerous, too destructive to every living creature (to say nothing of the damage to the NYC water source, Pepacton). Our trees, our pastures, our grasslands, our wells, our critters, large and small will all be irrevocably damaged by a project such as this. Our governor should be ashamed of himself. The Gitter bunch should hide their heads in shame, as well. More power to the savethemountain.net.!!
Lee Parker
Arkville, NY

Dear Editor,
Opposition to the proposed Belleayre resort has been growing as the luster of the newly minted "compromise" has been tarnished along with the reputations of Governor Spitzer, the Catskill Center and the NRDC. The umbrella website savethemountain.net has helped to bring out the details of the plan and organize the growing ranks of the resort's opponents. The opposition's message that intensive development does not belong on the steep slopes and summit of Highmount is being heard, despite the best efforts of the captive "environmental" groups to spin this enormous commercial development plan as a "victory" for the environment. Shandaken's election results showed the public's concern over the size and location of the development in the resounding defeat of the development's backers and their replacenment with public officials who are empowered to judge the development plan on its merits. Save the Mountain's petition to the governor has attracted over 1100 signatures in just over a week. The documentary, "Resorting to Madness: Taking Back Our Mountain Communities" will be shown at four area venues over the next few weeks-see the website for details. The website also has information about getting Save the Mountain lawn signs and bumper stickers. The developer and his political allies will have to prove that this mega-development planned for the steep slopes and summit of Highmount is environmentally responsible and economically sustainable. And we thought ours was an uphill battle!
Matthew Frisch, coordinator
Highmount Preservation Association
Arkville, NY

Dear Editor,
A friend of mine owns a bed and breakfast in the area. Recently she came upon one of her guests speaking on his cellphone. Naturally, having no cell towers in the area, she queried him about this. He responded by saying he had a special hookup to a satelite transmission. On questioning him further, she learned he is with the CIA. She has every reason to believe he was legitimately connected with the government and not just pulling her leg. Now here's my question: if the capability exists for communicating with cellphones via satelite, what are we doing defacing the landscape with unsightly and possibly unhealthful cell towers? Does anyone out there know any more about satelite transmission for cellphone capability?
Babette Kiesel
Chichester, NY

Dear Editor,
Local papers were full of letters to the Editor during the recent election cycle. Some were promoting their favorite candidate and some were in opposition to a certain candidate. For the most part letters in our local papers were about electing Town Board members in Towns located in the Onteora School district. There were probably many reasons why some writers wanted to see their candidate get elected. It could have been because their candidate was a friend of the writer, a relative or perhaps they felt that their choice would hold the line on taxes. Budgets prepared by Town Boards affect the General property tax. School Board members accept budgets prepared by the school administrating and affect our pocket books the most.
Here’s the thing. Why isn’t there more interest shown in what’s going on at the Onteora School. There’s a lot going on in the Onteora School District and the School Board has a lot of decisions to make in the near future. Decisions that affect tax payer’s pocket book. There’s been plenty of talk about the possibility of the Phoenicia school closing; schools in West Hurley just sitting there costing tax payers plenty of money and most importantly nothing has been made public that the board is taking any cost effective measures. The majority of decisions made by the School Board cost tax payers more and more money. Being cost effective saves tax payers’ money.
William Warnecke
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
Please print this petition to Governor Spitzer as an LTE...
We, the undersigned citizens concerned about the far-reaching and irreparable damage the proposed Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park would do to our environment, our homes, our water supply, our economy, and our way of life, do hereby strongly declare our opposition to the development of this mega-resort in the heart of the Catskill Mountains as proposed in the Agreement in Principle effected under the auspices of your office and negotiated with developer Crossroads Ventures, LLC, and partners Dean Gitter, Emily Fisher and Ken Pasternak.
We continue to oppose the devastation this mega-resort and its high elevation buildings and roads would wreak on the magnificent view shed and night sky of these mountains, on the constitutionally protected ‘forever wild’ State Forest Preserve and the Catskill Park;
We continue to oppose the creation of what would effectively be a new city wholly inconsonant with the surrounding hamlets, with the character of the community, and the intimate hospitality the region has traditionally offered to visitors;
We continue to oppose the destruction of Belleayre Ridge and Highmount through the clear-cutting, bulldozing, and blasting that would take place during the construction of this mega-resort;
We oppose the damage to a unique eco-system and to its thriving habitat, plant and animal life, and we fear the danger of excessive flooding that this environmental destruction will exacerbate, threatening our homes and property;
We continue to oppose the compromising of our water resources, which also supply pure, unfiltered drinking water to downstate residents including New York City, through the deforestation, erosion, construction blasting, risk of toxic substances entering surface and ground water in stormwater runoff, and the excessive draining of our aquifer;
We continue to oppose the negative consequences we believe this development would bring to our economy and our way of life: a sudden and disproportionate population growth exacerbating the current crisis in affordable housing, the potential for uncontrollable secondary growth, a spike in property taxes that could displace many homeowners, pressures on our property values, traffic congestion that would adversely affect business and commerce, rapid and radical change that could imperil the core strength of local communities;
We continue to oppose the use of our taxpayer dollars to provide incentives including ski lifts and snowmaking to a private, for-profit developer, and we oppose the granting of special access to a public ski center for users of a private, for-profit facility;
We continue to oppose the loss of this storied WILD PLACE, historic for its early preservation by the People of New York in our State Constitution, that is a prized, irreplaceable asset belonging to all the people of New York, in order to provide financial gain for a few;
We therefore petition you, Governor Eliot Spitzer, DEC Commissioner Alexander Grannis, and all local, county, state, and Federal permitting agencies to reject and deny all applications relating to the revised proposed Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park.
To add your name to this growing petition go to www.SavetheMountain.net and follow the link to the online petition.
Julie McQuain
UC EMC Rep. Town of Hardenburgh
HART: Hardenburgh Association of Residents and Taxpayers,
a Save the Mountain Group

Dear Editor;
First I'd like to thank you for your unbiased reporting of the Belleayre Resort. Showing both sides of an issue whether you are for or against it is very important. Everyone has the right to hear both sides of a story and make their own decisions. If it weren't for the press everyone would think this resort is a done deal, and it's not.
In my travels I have actually met people who know nothing about what's going on with this resort or how it will destroy our beautiful mountain. It will change our way of life and not for the better. It's hard to believe with a project the size of this that people still come up and ask me what SavetheMountain.net is. Get your heads out of the sand people before it's too late.
Next I'd like to address a billboard on Route 28. It boasts about living here and jobs and our children. It says 542 full time jobs, it must be nice to be so sure of yourself. We were told at one of the meetings that this number has already downsized, at least something about this resort has. As far as our children living here I'd love it, but as maids to the rich I don't think so. There has been a lot of talk going around about wages and how great they will be. There was a mention of fourteen dollars an hour. I doubt unless they are union jobs and after taxes if they will ever reach that amount. Ask the people who have worked at Belleayre Ski Slope for twenty years how much they make right now. Even if these jobs should reach fourteen dollars an hour could your children afford to buy and pay taxes on a three or four hundred thousand dollar house? With this resort is going to come higher house prices, higher taxes, and a higher cost of living. So when your children make this fourteen dollars an hour and walk out the door at the end of the day and find they can't afford to live here anymore, what good is fourteen dollars an hour going to do them? So the answer to this question is no, I don't want my children working at this resort. I'd rather they went to college and had beautiful mountains to come home to. These signs by the way which haven't been stolen or destroyed like our Save the Mountain signs have to be taken at face value. They have told us lies before, why believe their billboards?
I'd like to say there are people out there who are still willing to take on the big money. Who give a lot of time and energy to this cause. Find out the facts, pass them on to your neighbors and friends. Don't let their fight be in vain.
On that I'd like to leave on a personal note. I was raised here on a dairy farm. My dad and my grandfather and my great grandfather were farmers. When I turned eighteen and met my husband I left the farm. My dad told me I didn't know what I was leaving. He told me to go out in the woods and sit under a tree and watch the animals and listen to nature. He said you could not put a price on what was there. Thank God my dad had the sense to hold on to the farm till I reached the age to appreciate what he had told me. I'm back on the farm where I grew up and every day I look out my window I thank my dad for his wisdom. He never had a lot of money but what he had was priceless.
So I ask you to think for yourselves why do you chose to live here? Is it to be rich or is it because you like your way of life? Do you want your way of life changed by chain saws, blasting, jack hammers, endless traffic etc. for years? I hope your answer is no. Whether you are for or against this resort do you like your elected officials making important decisions about your life behind closed doors with big money? I think this is leading to a bad precedent, it kind of makes you wonder what else is being decided behind closed doors.
Bernadette Beyea
Margaretville, NY

Dear Editor,
Bravo to Dennis Kucinich!! Congressman Dennis Kucinich has placed the
Impeachment of Dick Cheney on the floor of the House of Representatives, and it has been sent to the Judiciary Committee. Hopefully, it will be given the full public hearing that it deserves. The public supports the move for impeachment by a wide margin. It's important to let Chairman Conyers if you agree that the impeachment process is vital to the health of the United States.
To my mind, Dennis Kucinich is the strongest candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination. In a recent national grassroots poll, Kucinich easily topped the list with a stunning first place finish in 41 of 50 states. According to results released last week by Democracy for America (DFA), of the 150,000-plus ballots cast, Kucinich received more votes than former Senator John Edwards and Senator Barack Obama combined. Kucinich was the top vote-getter in 41 states, including the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. In South Carolina, another early voting state, Kucinich came in second to Obama by less than one half of one percent.
He's the only candidate among Democrats (or Republicans) to push for a
national not-for-profit "Medicare for All" health care system to take the profit and waste out of health care. He deserves our support.
It's a scandal how the national media continues to ignore him even though he consistently tops the polls among Democrats when asked who agrees most with their policy choices.
I recently sent him a donation, and urge all readers to do the same. Go to: http://www.dennis4president.com/ to support his candidacy.
Go Dennis!
Tobe Carey
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
My name is Adele Pearlman. I’m the person that had a run-in (literally) with a bear a few weeks ago and now find myself in the curious position of having to defend myself against written assaults on my intelligence, and accusations of predatory intentions toward wildlife in general. So, to all who have written letters to the editor or actual editorials pointing out my stupidity in thinking I could let my dog out to go to the bathroom when the possibility existed that there might be bears around, or in actually trying to defend my dog when she was attacked. I’m sorry. What WAS I thinking? The truth of the matter was, I wasn’t thinking at all. The whole episode took all of 2-3 seconds-my brain doesn’t function that quickly. Was I attacked? Certainly. Was it with malicious intent? Of course not. She had me on the ground and could have done anything she wanted to me, but turned around and went back to her cubs and her acorn eating or what ever I had so rudely interrupted. But the fact remains I was injured in the incident and was advised by the DEC wildlife specialists to start rabies shots as a precaution since the bear was acting unusually aggressive. Please realize that I have “coexisted” with bears, deer and other wildlife on this farm and in these mountains for 50 years without any previous serious incidents. I have lived an agricultural lifestyle and have put up with crop predation by bears, deer, rabbits and other creatures without taking sanctions against them virtually all my life. So please excuse me for having fruit and oak trees, a barn with horse feed, chickens and chicken feed. These were not set out as attractions to lure the bears to their death.
As it turned out this was a smallish female bear with cubs, probably pushed off the mountain by larger bears and spending to much time in Phoenicia dumpster diving and losing her natural fear of humans and dogs. While I could be very sympathetic to her situation, I am also as
protective as she was to my family, pets, livestock and living area. I find it unacceptable that some people feel we must be captives in our houses, unable to set foot outside of our doors for fear of being set
upon by one of “God’s creatures”.
The bear unfortunately had to be destroyed and tested for rabies. With the bear population exploding there is going to be a natural increase in disease and altercations with humans. This happens in any animal population, including humans; so rather than spouting a bunch of
sanctimonious drivel, you people need to come up with concrete ideas on how to solve this problem. How about writing letters explaining to people that intentionally setting out food to attract bears so that you
can watch them is ultimately fatal to the bears? How about pointing out that when you see a bear, immediately leave the area instead of going towards it to get a better look? Once a bear realizes how easy it is to injure a human they become dangerous and will ultimately be destroyed. How about education programs in the schools and community organizations?
Oh, and by the way, Eric Hansen, just for your information, my dog is as deaf as a rock.
Adele Pearlman
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
After recently having lunch with friends, they suggested I send a picture of my Dad's price list from May 10, 1966 for your paper. My Dad was a local barber in Accord for over 60 years. He died six years ago. His name was Albert "Spike" Barley. A wonderful man. A friend to All. Thanks for considering this picture for publication.
: The photo wasn't quite clear enough to reproduce adequately, but here's what it said:
PRICE LIST
Haircut $1.75
Crew Cut, Flat Top $1.90
Children's Haircut $1.50
(under 12 years old)
(On Saturdays, And
day before holiday) $1.75
Razor Haircut $3.00
Beattle Haircut $2.50
Massage $1.75
Shampoo $1.75
Shave $1.25
Tonic .25
Price increase effective May 10, 1966
Open Monday During July & August
Brenda Beesmer
Olivebridge, NY