12/17/2009

Budget Worries
Ulster County lawmakers finally voted in a $349.22 million budget proposal for 2010, adopting County Executive Michael Hein’s plan for a 3.49 percent increase in the county tax levy in 2010 by a 16-14 vote. Proposed amendments to the budget, offered mostly by Republicans, were tightly defeated in the days before they retake control of the county legislature after four years. The budget has since taken effect.
Democrats, who currently hold a 19-14 majority in the Legislature, will be in the minority next year as a result of the recent elections, which gave the GOP an 18-15 majority for 2010.
The adopted budget increases spending by 0.93 percent and the tax levy by $2.59 million, to $76.94 million.
Democratic legislators Frank Dart of Kingston, who failed to win re-election, and Richard Parete of District Three voted with Republicans to reject the amended budget.
All budget eyes and ears, and increasing local worries, have meanwhile shifted to Albany, where Gov. David Paterson issued an order on December 14 to delay state aid to schools as a means of holding off the state’s budget crisis, brought on by the recession and Wall Street problems of recent years.
Particularly worried have been school officials, which most are saying affects about 10 percent in their overall operating aid and 19 percent in STAR payments. Even worse, uncertainty about delay specifics, legal challenges to Paterson’s order, and the probability of further permanent cuts has everyone worried that the annual school budgeting and voting process, which starts now for a late Spring wind-up, will be more tense than usual.
Many are saying that Paterson is seeking to have school districts use reserve funds as a way to deal with state budget problems. They contend that the announcement, which was made at a time when routine aid figures are provided by the state, without releasing specific aid figures has created additional work on the district business staff to track down information. Any actual impact on programs won’t be known until state explanations are given for the types of aid affected by delays. There are even depper worries about what will happen in the 2011-12 school year when American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monies, which many school district have benefited from, also go away.
Among other non-educational effects already being discussed are major cuts to the numbers of trains running to New York from Upstate by Metro North.
Tighten those belts, folks…

Phone Problems?
About 300 customers of Verizon Telephone Service were unable to use their phones for several days leading up Thanksgiving because of cables being damaged during the Railroad Bridge construction on Reservoir Road in Shokan.
This marks the second incident of phone interruption for Olivians on Reservoir Road and many on the south side of the Ashokan Reservoir in communities like Olivebridge and Samsonville.
Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said two cables were damaged on Reservoir Road by contractors that were drilling into the ground where the cables were located. The drilling, Bonomo said, was done despite the fact that Verizon crews had previously gone to the site and placed flags to show where those lines were located.
During the drilling, according to Bonomo, the lines were punctured in several places.
He also said the problems were developing over time, not because the drilling actually severed the cables but breached the protective coating around the cables that, as he put it, “are as thick as a fire hose.”
“When you puncture a cable water’s going to get in there and that’s what happened,” Bonomo said.
After making some repairs, he added, it became apparent that there were so many punctures that patching could not be done. Instead Verizon replaced an entire 500 foot section of the cables. Crews continue to do splicing work to connect Reservoir Road customers to the new lines, but Bonomo said the splicing work does cause interruption of service.
Bonomo said that at this point all service has been restored. As for Leifeld’s complaint, Bonomo said there might be other problems unrelated to the Reservoir road incident.
In a related matter, Verizon continues to research increasing cellular phone service in the western portion of Ulster County.
March Gallagher, a spokesperson for County Executive Mike Hein, said Tuesday that while dealing with Verizon on the Reservoir Road incident before Thanksgiving, Verizon officials said the Company is still considering Hein’s request for Verizon to locate on the already erected Cell Tower in Shandaken.
“It’s still under evaluation,” she said.

Marian Passes...
We learned that former town supervisor, county legislator, Ulster County Townsman editor and publisher, and columnist for this paper Marian Callaghan Umhey, 84, passed away the morning of December 16, at Benedictine Hospital as this publication that had already printed her last column went to press.
Marian had recently suffered several health emergencies and stepped back from her long-held and much-cherished work as a librarian’s aide at the Phoenicia Elementary School to dedicate time to her husband, Howard, and many children and grand-children.
As was usual for this inveterate old-school journalist, who began her career with the old Brooklyn Eagle concurrent with her college education at Fordham University, she was well on her way to finishing her next column when she passed away early Wednesday morning.
Umhey moved to the area after meeting and marrying local World War II veteran Howard Umhey. She started working with the newly-founded Townsman in the early 1950s, while simultaneously raising her family, and took over its reins, running it with friend Kiki Minervini Randolph until she finally sold the paper to Blake Killin in 1990.
Umhey was the Town of Shandaken’s first female town board member, as well as its first woman supervisor in the early 1990s. In between, she served many terms as an Ulster County legislator.
She was known for her big heart, her ready humor, and her many stories about local life, many with herself as the lead character she was in Shandaken and Ulster County throughout her life.
Umhey was born in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn in 1925. She is survived by her husband Howard, their children Patti, Sheila, Sharon, Joyce, and Jamie and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, Dec 19 at 10:00AM at St. Francis de Sales Church in Phoenicia. Calling hours will be Friday, Dec 18 from 2 to 4PM and 7 to 9PM at the E.B. Gormley Funeral Home, 87 Main St, Phoenicia.
For additional information, or to light a memorial candle, please visit www.gormleyfuneralhome.com.

28’s Still Safe…
The New York State Department of Transportation has released a report listing the top five percent of unsafe state roads and according the report none of the highways in Delaware or Ulster County, including State Route 28, have made the list, prompting the Supervisor of the Town of Olive to question the department’s thinking in the matter.
The report is based on state 2006-2007 data, the most recent available. The report categorizes the top 5 percent of crash areas based on severity, including number of fatalities, injuries and property damage of more than $1,000.
“They must have skipped Olive,” Town Supervisor Bert Leifeld said. “That’s where it’s the worst.”
Olive, along with Hurley, Shandaken, Middletown, Andes and the Villages of Fleischmanns and Margaretville, make up the Central Catskills Collaborative, which continues to work on preparing for getting a scenic byway designation for 50 miles of Route 28, having prepared a draft vision statement explaining the rationale for request.
Peter Manning, the advisor to the Collaborative, said this week that he was aware of the DOT report, but noted that the Collaborative is also aware of Route 28’s notorious reputation as a dangerous highway. He added that DOT’s report, and it’s failure to include 28, may play a role in the group’s efforts.
“Traffic and accident data have not been collected yet and may in fact influence the wording in this working vision going forward,” he said.
The Draft Vision statement is as follows:
The [Central Catskills] Scenic Byway winds through the heart of the Catskill Park and Catskill Mountain Region, offering the traveler a unique experience of mountain scenery, clear waterways, and rolling farmland, complemented by historic hamlets - and it is this combination of resources that gives the region much of its character and is vital to the region’s economy. The Byway will celebrate the Catskill Park, the New York City Watershed, and the wild scenery that influenced the appreciation of nature in America culture and continues to inspire artists, writers, spiritual followers, and tourists.
The Scenic Byway communities will benefit through increased cooperation and will realize multiple opportunities for interpreting and promoting a wide range of assets for the environmental and economic well being of the region. Travelers will have greater awareness of the numerous historic landmarks and cultural attractions along the corridor. Visitors will gain an appreciation for the role of working landscapes and local businesses. A much improved system of signage will enhance connections with trail systems, waterways, other recreational resources, and vibrant downtowns. Byway communities envision improved public and non-motorized transportation, including bike lanes and corridor trails. Continued restoration of the historic Ulster and Delaware rail corridor will enhance connectivity. These transportation improvements, along with means of sustaining species biodiversity and ecosystem integrity adjacent to and across the corridor, will help retain the rural feel of the traveling experience. A more pronounced gateway will greet travelers and play a key role in the interpretation and celebration of the byway and the region.
Manning said the Collaborative will discuss the matter next month when the group convenes in the Town of Olive on the 28th.

A Healthy Move?
Maverick Family Health expects to close its Phoenicia office early next year and relocate to significantly expanded facilities in Boiceville. According to co-owner and founding physician Randy Rissman, the Woodstock based practice expects to close later this month on a 6,800 square foot building on the north side of Rt. 28 which formerly housed the INDIE project and currently has several offices, and begin interior renovations soon thereafter.
“We didn’t want to leave Phoenicia,” said Rissman, who explained that they’d worked with both the Catskill Watershed Corporation and their engineers, but were unable to design a viable septic system to allow expansion of the Phoenicia site on Ave Maria Drive. “This move, unfortunately, is one of the unintended consequences of the town not being able to solve its septic problem. We love the community, we’re here for the long haul, but we just couldn’t make it work in Phoenicia.”
The Boiceville site, according to Rissman, is an excellent location for the practice – with a new municipal septic system to hook into — and “we’re really excited about what we’re going to be able to do and the kinds of services we’ll be able to provide.”
CWC and Rondout Savings are partnering to finance the building’s purchase, renovation plans are moving ahead and Rissman expects the building to look great when it’s done.
At this moment they’re not sure what to do about the Phoenicia site; we’ll keep you posted with a detailed story in a coming issue…

Free H1N1 Shots
Ulster County’s Health Department will be offering free H1N1 Flu Shots to any county resident who wants one at a local clinic in Boiceville this Friday, December 18. No appointments are necessary. Children must be at least 6 months of age. If the school district is closed due to weather conditions, the clinic will be cancelled.
The clinic is set to run this Friday, December 18 from 5:00 to 9:00PM at Bennett Elementary School, 4168 Route 28, Boiceville. For info regarding the clinic, call United Way at 1-880-899-1479 or the County’s Flu Hotline at 340-3093, or visit www.UlsterCountyNY.gov/health or www.flucliniclocator.org.
The incidence of H1N1 flu or Swine Flu in Ulster County appears to have receded from a peak earlier this fall, but health and school officials say they want to stay ahead of the curve in case another round of sickness strikes.
“Influenza usually comes in waves,” said Nereida Veytia, the director of patient services at the Ulster County Health Department and former interim director of the agency. Veytia said it is possible for the region to experience another peak and that the Health Department is encouraging everyone to get vaccinated to stave it off.
According to hospital emergency room records, swine flu peaked in Ulster County in late October, when about 14 percent of patients reported influenza symptoms. That number has since dropped to around 6 percent. Also, absentee rates are down in Ulster County schools, from a peak of about 13 percent in early to mid-September to 5.4 percent currently
Gov. David Paterson recently announced that because the supply of the vaccine has grown, health care providers may make the H1N1 flu vaccine available to all New Yorkers who want it, including those who are not in priority groups established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.
New York got only about 23 percent of its anticipated supply of the H1N1 virus vaccine in October, the first month it became available. The state now is getting weekly vaccine shipments that are double the volume of earlier allocations, and has so far received more than 5 million vaccine doses, including more than 3 million doses for areas outside of New York City.
Meanwhile, it was reported this week that hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said. The recall is for about 800,000 pre-filled syringes intended for young children, ages 6 months to nearly 3 years. The shots, made by Sanofi Pasteur, were distributed across the country last month and most have already been used, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Doctors were notified of the voluntary recall on December 15. Doctors stressed that parents don’t need to do anything or to worry. The vaccine is still safe; the issue is its strength. Tests done before the shots were shipped showed that the vaccines were strong enough. But tests done weeks later indicated the strength had fallen slightly below required levels. Why the potency dropped isn’t clear.
Children in that age group are supposed to get two doses, spaced about a month apart. Health officials don’t think children need to get vaccinated again, even if they got two doses from the same lots.

Hydro Power…
New York City is currently studying, at its two senators’ urging, the development of hydroelectric at several of its reservoirs (Cannonsville, Pepacton, Neversink, and Schoharie), as well as potentially within its gravitational tunnel aqueduct system. Meetings have been taking place to discuss the project, with members of Trout Unlimited and other environmental organizations seeking to provide their members, and the public, with an overview of the project, and help set standards for reviewing its licensing process and timeline, proposed studies, and the soliciting of professional and public input.
To date, there were site visits to reservoirs this past Tuesday, December 15, plus an informational meeting in Sullivan County, along with meetings at DEP offices in Kingston, as well as at the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors Chambers in Schoharie on Wednesday, December 16.
The possibility of using the reservoirs arose when Delaware Rural Electrical Cooperative, based in Delhi, petitioned the city for such use, after which the DEP came up with its own proposal, which the state is now pushing forward.
Concerns regarding the tentative project are presently centering around mitigation of the city DEP’s original responsibility solely for the safe water supply for 9 million residents, recently made complex by new concerns regarding flooding, economic development, and now power production... with some worrying that the move could push NYC towards eventual filtration and a drop in its support for economic development in our region.
More on all this in the coming weeks and months. Visit www.dep.nyc.gov in the meantime.

Finally Skiing!
Mother Nature finally sent the needed cold weather to the Northeast, along with over a foot of natural snow over the past two weeks, enabling the state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center to begin its 61st season.
Nearby Hunter, Windham and Plattekill mountains have followed Belleayre with openings in the past week.
The first three ski areas to open in New York state this year were all owned and operated by the state - Gore and Whiteface, both in the Adirondacks, and Belleayre.
An old adage in the Catskill Mountains is that winter cannot start until the streams are full. Rainfall in recent weeks filled the streams, and the cold air poured in immediately afterward. Since then, the snow guns at ski centers have been firing around the clock, blanketing the trails with an abundance of new powder.
“And each night, enough snow will be made to open more trails and varying terrain to skiers and riders, so check in every day to find out what’s available for your winter enjoyment,” said Belleayre spokesman J. Blake Killin.
In a telephone interview just following the season opening, Killin said that once Belleayre opened, it didn’t take long for the word to spread.
“We’re going full blazes up here,” he said. “The parking lot is full.”

New Commish...
On the last day of November, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg named his longtime Special Advisor Caswell Holloway as the new Commissioner for the city’s powerful Department of Environmental Protection. Holloway currently serves as Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler and since 2006, has been tasked with spearheading solutions to some of the City’s most complex issues. He will replace the DEP’s Acting Commissioner Steven Lawitts, who has served as Acting Commissioner since the departure of Commissioner Emily Lloyd in October, 2008.
“Since he came to City Hall, Cas has worked a couple of desks away from me and I have watched him take on some of the toughest assignments and deliver solutions, from 9/11 health to the Gowanus Cleanup to reforming demolition procedures in the wake of the tragic 130 Liberty Street fire,” said Mayor Bloomberg at a New York City ceremony announcing his decision. “I’ve seen him work closely with senior managers at a range of City agencies on matters large and small, with a singular focus on results. Under Cas’s leadership, we’re going to complete vital infrastructure projects like the Third Water Tunnel, improve security of our city’s 2,000-square-mile watershed, and move forward with DEP’s ten-year, $13 billion capital program.”
For his part, Hollaway, a Harvard graduate with a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, set to start his new position January 1, stressed the importance of the Upstate watershed in what he does with his $1 billion per year department.
“New York City has the best drinking water in the nation, and the waterways that surround us have always been a key to the City’s prosperity,” he said. “Mayor Bloomberg has led the way in making the investments necessary to prepare our water and sewer infrastructure for the next century, and I am thrilled at the opportunity to work with the talented and dedicated team at DEP to continue that effort, and to press forward aggressively to open as much of our waterfront as possible to renewed investment and recreation.”

Goodbye, Daido
The funeral service for John Daido Loori, Roshi, Abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Buddhism, will take place on Saturday, December 19, 2009, at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in
Kingston. The event will also include an evening of arts performances and tributes by long-time friends of Daido Roshi and the Monastery and is expected to be a major regional event, with approximately 3,000 invitations sent out to friends, family, members of the Japanese and American Zen Buddhist communities, current and former retreat instructors of Zen Mountain Monastery, and students of the Mountains and Rivers Order, inviting them to the day-long event.
It all starts at 1:30 PM with a funeral service that reflects the traditional weeklong ceremony that takes place in the event of the death of a roshi, or teacher, in the Soto School of Zen Buddhism. The various services are to be officiated by Zen teachers from Japan and across the United States. The afternoon funeral service will also include a number of memorial speakers.
The evening arts performance and tribute is scheduled for 7:00 PM and tentatively includes performances by poet Anne Waldman, vocalist Meredith Monk and members of her ensemble, jazz musician Gary Peacock, cellist Robert Een, and dharma holder and senior monastic Joy Jimon Hintz, MRO, who was a professional dancer before entering full-time residential training at the Monastery. These performances will be interspersed with selections from Daido Roshi’s last film project, The Tao of Water.
A banquet dinner for selected guests is scheduled between the afternoon funeral service and evening arts performance.
On Sunday, December 20th at 9:30am, there will be a gravesite service at Zen Mountain Monastery.
All events are by invitation only.

Bad Food…
According to new reports, our bodies are probably home to a chemical called bisphenol A, or BPA. It’s a synthetic estrogen that United States factories now use in everything from plastics to epoxies — to the tune of six pounds per American per year.
More than 92 percent of Americans, reports are now showing, have BPA in their urine, and scientists have linked it — though not conclusively — to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.
Now it turns out, via a series f recent stories, that it’s also in our food.
Consumer Reports magazine tested an array of brand-name canned foods for a report in its December issue and found BPA in almost all of them. The magazine says that relatively high levels turned up, for example, in Progresso vegetable soup, Campbell’s condensed chicken noodle soup, and Del Monte Blue Lake cut green beans.
The magazine also says it found BPA in the canned liquid version of Similac Advance infant formula (but not in the powdered version) and in canned Nestlé Juicy Juice (but not in the juice boxes). The BPA in the food probably came from an interior coating used in many cans.
Should we be alarmed?
The chemical industry doesn’t think so. Steven Hentges of the American Chemistry Council dismissed the testing, noting that Americans absorb quantities of BPA at levels that government regulators have found to be safe. Mr. Hentges also pointed to a new study indicating that BPA exposure did not cause abnormalities in the reproductive health of rats.
But more than 200 other studies have shown links between low doses of BPA and adverse health effects, according to the Breast Cancer Fund, which is trying to ban the chemical from food and beverage containers. And while most of the studies are on animals, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported last year that humans with higher levels of BPA in their blood have “an increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and liver-enzyme abnormalities.” Another published study found that women with higher levels of BPA in their blood had more miscarriages.
Last year, Canada became the first country to conclude that BPA can be hazardous to humans, and Massachusetts issued a public health advisory in August warning against any exposure to BPA by pregnant or breast-feeding women or by children under the age of 2.
The Food and Drug Administration, which in the past has relied largely on industry studies, is studying the issue again. Bills are also pending in Congress to ban BPA from food and beverage containers.
The chemical is found in cans and plastic. Beware.

Movin’ On Up
Innovative Products of America, the company founded by Shandaken inventor Peter Vinci, has purchased a 17,000 square foot building in Woodstock and will be moving its operations there from Lancaster, PA and bringing about 40 new jobs to the area in the coming year. Vinci and the company which own over 120 patents for tools and electronic testing equipment currently run their sales and marketing operations from offices in Mt. Tremper and plan to consolidate operations at the former Elna Magnetics building on Tinker Street, which the Town of Woodstock had recently been looking at as an alternative space for its offices apart from the Town Hall building on Tinker Street it had previously voted, as a community, to renovate.
IPA’s product manufacturing is handled both overseas and domestically, and it sells primarily to automotive and industrial markets. The new facility will accommodate research & development, distribution, and executive offices.
More as this move, and local hiring, become imminent.

Pointed Shotgun
The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office has charged a West Shokan man with illegally possession a shotgun after he pointed it at a motorist in Saugerties. Police said Kirk Carney, 48, of 96 Broadhead Road in West Shokan was involved in a verbal dispute with another man while stopped next to one another at a traffic light at Route 212 and Kings Highway. Carney allegedly pointed the weapon at the other man. The light turned green and Carney sped off.
Deputies caught up with him moments later and found the weapon on the seat next to him along with a cooler of open alcoholic beverages. Carney was found to be intoxicated and his driver’s license was revoked. He had valid court orders against him ordering him not to possess weapons. He was arrested and charged criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal contempt in the first degree, DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation in the first degree as a felony, menacing in the second degree as a misdemeanor, and the infractions of open container, unsafe starting, and improper turning.
Carney was arraigned in Saugerties Town Court and remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. Further charges are being investigated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ashokan Update
On the eve of its annual New Year’s Music and Dance camp, and Dec. 31 all night dance with Jay & Molly, the Red Stick Ramblers and others, the Ashokan Center has sent out an update on its first year stewardship of the former SUNY-owned and operated campus in Olivebridge.
“We ended our first year solidly in the black, our environmental education and living history programs are serving thousands of children, and we are well underway to becoming a model learning center for sustainable living and artistic expression,” they noted in a mailer. “But to stay in operation we must meet a hard deadline - replace our lower camp buildings on higher ground by the summer of 2012, when the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will demolish the lower camp to make way for major water releases from the Ashokan Reservoir.”
To accomplish this, they are doubling down on fundraising activities to augment the basic funds provided by the DEP to replace those buildings in kind, ensuring that they can, “take the extra step of making our new buildings green and sustainable.”
Calling their current fundraising effort “Bridge to a Sustainable Future,” the Center has estimated the cost for this first phase of “transformation” to be about $8 million, for which $6 million has already been raised with help from the DEP, the Open Space Institute, the Catskill Watershed Corporation, and local individuals.
For further information about what is going on at the Ashokan Center, and ways of helping, call Ashokan Foundation Deputy Director Deborah Meyer DeWan at 657-8333 ext. 16 or visit www.ashokan.org.

Census Jobs?
The Pine Hill Community Center will be hosting an application and testing session for work with the US Census. These jobs are temporary and begin towards the spring of 2010. They pay quite well and also reimburse mileage. The testing at the Community Center will take place on Wednesday December 23. It begins at 1:00 PM and will go until 3. They will take walk-in’s but strongly encourage you to reserve a spot by calling 1-866-861-2010. The test is free. The Center is located at 287 Main Street in Pine Hill.

Gas Drilling…
A group of 26 environmental organizations has asked Governor Paterson to toss the draft supplemental generic environmental impact statement for oil and gas mining claiming the document is inadequate. The study, which would apply to the mining of Marcellus Shale, which stretches under parts of the Catskills, as well as the New York City watershed, needs to be redrafted, said Ramsay Adams, executive director of Catskill Mountainkeeper.
“We’ve had our experts look at the document and it is fundamentally fatally flawed; most obviously no cumulative impacts,” he said. “We are saying loud and clear, a unified message from all across the environmental community in the great State of New York, ‘stop, do this right, this is not an adequate draft, so go back to the drawing board’.”
Environmentalists are concerned with the horizontal drilling for natural gas, called fracking, which they feel could be harmful to water supplies including the expansive New York City reservoir system in the Catskills.
Organizations are urging the state, now that public hearings are done, to extend their comment period beyond year’s end…

Bankers’ Side?
Some in the US Senate have accused Republican leadership of signing a political pact with the banking industry: in exchange for help defeating a measure that would make it easier for homeowners to restructure failing mortgages, GOP leadership in the Senate would help banks defeat any additional efforts at regulatory reform.
The allegation of a quid pro quo was based on an email that US Senator Dick Durbin received last spring after his amendment to allow judges to modify mortgages for homeowners who enter bankruptcy was defeated on the Senate floor. During a recent discussion to promote publicly-financed elections, the Illinois Democrat relayed that, shortly after the defeat of his “cram-down” amendment, a “banker friend” forwarded him the note from Tanya Wheeless, president & CEO of Arizona Bankers Association.
“I have contacted the market presidents for each of the three banks (Chase, Wells and Bank of America) and explained that in my humble opinion it’s a big mistake to cut a deal with Durbin and alienate our (in Arizona) Senator,” Wheeless’s email reads. “I also told them that I thought this would drive a wedge in our industry. [Senator Jon] Kyl has pointedly told them not to make a deal with Durbin and then come looking to Republicans when they need help on something like regulatory restructuring or systemic risk regulation.”
“I know every state association will have to do what’s best for its members, but I have told my largest three members that if they cut this deal, AzBA will fight them on it. They may be willing to alienate Republican leadership, but I’m not quite there yet.”
The implication seems fairly clear: banks were being warned that if they negotiated with Durbin on cram-down, they were risking GOP support on regulatory reform. That the banking industry would take such a stance isn’t entirely surprising, when one considers the narrow financial interests that influence the industry. But the willingness of the GOP leadership to, apparently, use regulatory reform as a cudgel to pressure banks is illuminating of the horse-trading process that occurs behind legislative curtains.
Meanwhile, in a call to arms, House Republican leaders met with more than 100 lobbyists at the Capitol Visitors Center earlier this month to try to fight back against financial regulatory overhaul legislation.
Stay tuned…

Katrina Liability
Confirming what many New Orleanians already knew in their hearts, a federal judge ruled earlier this month that the Army Corps of Engineers - and thus the US government - is liable for a big chunk of the damage caused when hurricane Katrina pushed ashore on Aug. 29, 2005.
The landmark ruling awards $719,000 to four plaintiffs from the city’s Lower Ninth Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish who filed suit in 2006. The only such liability suit to actually reach a courtroom, the so-called “Mr. Go” ruling (after a shipping channel in the area) opens the floodgates for a raft of new litigation from as many as 100,000 other residents.
More important, the ruling - which called the Army Corps “myopic” in its maintenance of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet canal (aka Mr. Go) - now puts pressure on President Obama to help the region settle claims that could reach into the billions of dollars. (Without a court judgment, the Bush administration had refused calls for a settlement.)
At the beginning of the trial this summer, US District Court Judge Stanwood Duval asked, “You all know what this is about: ... What did the Corps know, when did it know it, and when should it have known?”
He answered in a 158-page ruling.
“It is the court’s opinion that the negligence of the corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MR-GO properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia, and shortsightedness,” he wrote.
The 76-mile-long Mr. Go was built in 1965 as a shortcut from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. It was closed to ship traffic this year.
Judge Duval had refused lawsuits placing blame on the city’s Corps-designed levees, saying that in the case of storm protection systems the government has sovereign immunity. But because the Mr. Go is a navigation canal, not a storm-protection system, Duval allowed this case to proceed.
The government, for its part, took the “act of God” defense, arguing that the magnitude of the storm alone caused the flooding of New Orleans, the deaths of more than 700 residents, and $90 billion of damage across the region. Its ultimate point: Katrina was such a massive event that no remedial action on the Corps’ part would have prevented the flooding.
The Corps of Engineers made no comment about Duval’s ruling but is expected to appeal.

Hospital Grant
The late industrialist Raymond A. Rich, who owned the Payne Mansion, a 60-acre riverfront estate in Esopus also known as Omega and Wiltwick, has left $1.2 million to the Benedictine Health Foundation to support Benedictine Hospital. Rich died June 19 at age 97. His primary home was in Boca Grande, Fla.
Marist College in Poughkeepsie announced in September that Rich had bequeathed the Esopus estate, valued at about $65 million, to the college, along with a $10 million endowment to support the Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development, which will be housed at the estate.
In a release announcing the gift to the hospital, the Benedictine Health Foundation said Rich long had been a benefactor.
Rich was born in Los Angeles in 1912, raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and started his career at age 18 in the engine room of a tramp freighter. After receiving an engineering degree from Iowa State University, he was hired in the midst of the Great Depression by General Electric Co. and became its youngest national sales manager at that time. He volunteered for active duty in World War II in the Navy and Marines, serving in the South Pacific Islands and in Tokyo after the Japanese surrender. After the war, Rich became vice president and director of Philco Corp. and then accepted the presidency and directorship of Avco Corp. He held multiple, simultaneous leadership positions with companies in oil and gas exploration and production, publishing, glass containers, banking, environmental engineering and production facilities.

More Stimulus?
You won’t find all the stimulus funds being spent on Recovery.gov, the government’s Web site for tracking stimulus money. It turns out that thousands of recipients aren’t filing the required reports detailing what they did with stimulus money and how many people they hired or retained.
With mounting criticism over the accuracy of jobs numbers, the White House budget office is scrambling to identify recipients who didn’t report. Vice President Joe Biden has said that the missing information is unacceptable. And the government’s stimulus watchdog, Earl Devaney, who oversees Recovery.gov, promised to post a list of non-filers in an effort to embarrass them into complying.
But the stimulus act provided no explicit consequences for those who didn’t report, though agencies can cut off recipients from future federal funding. Devaney has called on Congress to add penalties, such as fines.
The missing reports stand to add thousands of jobs to the current tally of 640,000 created or saved by the stimulus. Tracking down the missing reports is also critical for the Obama administration to meet its pledge of unprecedented transparency with stimulus money.
In an effort to show the public how taxpayer dollars are spent, Congress required all recipients of stimulus money – including contractors, local governments and nonprofits – to file quarterly progress reports on a government Web site. The reports must contain about 100 pieces of information, including how the recipients have spent the money, how many jobs ¬– and what types – they have created or saved, and how far along the project is.
The first report was due Oct. 20. After the deadline, recipients are locked out of the system and can no longer file reports or make changes until the next reporting period, in January.
To find out who didn’t comply, officials are now comparing the reports on Recovery.gov with all the contracts, grants and loans that federal agencies have previously said were paid for with stimulus money. Even after eliminating common mistakes, such as different names or amounts, more than 2,500 recipients appear to have never sent in their required reports, accounting for at least $2 billion in unreported stimulus money.
The White House budget office said the number of missing reports could be even higher. It estimated that recipients have failed to file up to 10 percent of the reports on Recovery.gov. Currently, the site lists 131,000 reports and $159 billion in overall stimulus spending.

CWC Funding...
The Catskill Watershed Corp. Board of Directors met December 1 and approved reimbursement to an Ulster County church and a Delaware County business for recently installed stormwater controls. Both projects are funded under the CWC’s Future Stormwater Program for new construction.
Reservoir United Methodist Church on Route 28 in Shokan was required to design and construct new stormwater control measures for an addition that was built earlier this year. The CWC will reimburse $24,365 in costs solely attributable to New York City Watershed Rules and Regulations and not otherwise required by state or federal law.
Approval was also given to reimburse Masserson Properties $42,000, representing half the cost of stormwater controls for a building now under construction that is part of The Roxbury motel complex in Roxbury. The owners are eligible to apply to the NYC Department of Environmental Protection for reimbursement of the other half.
In other business, the CWC Board approved modifications to existing economic development loans to Masserson Properties in Roxbury, Crossroads Veterinary Practice in Arkville, Culwell Development in Ellenville and ARC Foods in the Town of Kingston.
The Board also adopted a Resolution honoring T. Patrick Meehan, long-time supervisor of the Town of Windham, who died last month. Meehan was a member of the Coalition of Watershed Towns in the mid 1990s, signed the New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement on behalf of the Town in 1997, and served on the CWC Board from 1996 to 1998. He had also served on the Watershed Protection and Partnership Council since 2007.
“Pat will long be remembered for his honesty, perseverance and hard work, and for his dedicated service to Windham and the greater Catskills,” the Resolution states.

Onteora Seeking...
The Board of Education of the Onteora Central School District is seeking persons with financial backgrounds to serve as committee members for the Audit Committee. Committees generally meet monthly and are task-driven. Interested persons are asked to contact districtclerk@onteora.k12.ny.us or 845.657.6383 x264
The Onteora School Board has also set aside to future dates for community events. On January 14 the Onteora Board of Education will hold a first-ever Cafe Chat at Sweet Sue's in Phoenicia from 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon. Then, on January 21, ONteoras will hold a Local Government Night at the Middle School/High School Auditorium with local town supervisors.Come ask them questions!