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Follow Up on the
News
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Road
Issue To A Head
At the heart of the town’s argument is a 102 year-old
law requiring the City of New York to "repair and forever
maintain" highways and bridges planned to replace the
ones that would be destroyed during the construction of the
Ashokan Reservoir. The City counters that Olive is only entitled
to a substitute road providing "practicable access from
the north side of the Ashokan Reservoir and to the east."
They contend that a winding section of Route 28A below and
to the south of Monument Road provides that service and is
scheduled for reconstruction to improve access."
Scattered around these basic points are a number of tangible
and intangible elements which drive the points of the contest.
Among intangibles spoken of on the town’s side is the
special meaning conveyed by the convenience, position and
view afforded to residents by the road while, on the City’s
side, there is the "ghost in the closet," as Seligman
terms it, of a terrorist threat to the buried dam it crosses.
According to New York City’s Department of Environmental
Protection, in charge of overseeing the reservoir, the road
was closed "forever" in March of 2003 in accord
with a recommendation within an Army Corps of Engineers report
entitled "New York Water System Physical Security and
Risk Assessment." Requests by town officials to view
the recommendation, if not the confidential report itself,
have been denied but it is said to conclude that the reservoir
was "vulnerable to a terrorist attack from Monument Road
via a truck or car" and that "a relatively small
amount of explosives" could cause "severe structural
damage."
One area of discussion at a May 16 meeting with the city,
according to Seligman, who is petitioning to open the road
to local residents with a vehicle pass, was the passage of
emergency vehicles. In a motion she filed in August, Seligman
noted that the road closure "has had a devastating effect
upon the residents of the Town in that not only has it increased
traveling time for the average resident and school-bus riders...it
has also increased response time for ambulances from Shokan
and advanced life support services coming from Kingston and
has placed the safety of all residents at risk; including
children, residents of the two senior citizen complexes, as
well as numerous Life Line Patients for whom every minute
is critical in a medical emergency."
In a May 22 letter to Olive Supervisor Brendt Leifeld, DEP
Deputy Commissioner Paul V. Rush mentioned that "in response
to the Town’s concerns, DEP will also consider the possibility
of limited and temporary opening of Monument Road, for instance
during peak commuting and school transportation hours, when
Route 28A is partially closed during the bridge construction"
at the Railroad Overpass. Mention is also made of possible
expansion of emergency access for volunteer first responders
but, as Olive councilman Bruce LaMonda points out, the then
DEP Police Chief Ed Welch decided that "only fire trucks
and ambulances could go through but volunteers who man them
would have to go around that crazy detour that they’ve
never fixed. So you could get a fire truck to the scene early
but you don’t have any manpower there."
Seligman questions how that would work, since the stations
at both ends of the road seem to be usually unattended. Referring
to the spurt of building and engineering at the site during
the summer, she said that they now had all of the accouterments
set up to use a pass system but wonders what you would do
in an emergency situation. Call ahead for someone to come
and open the gate?
When reached, Corporation Counsel for the DEP Haley Stein
said she was not authorized to speak about the case and referred
questions to the DEP press office where Connie Pankratz was
not at that time prepared to address specific questions such
as the above but promised an e-mailed response.
Stressing that the idea of closing the road to "save
the dam" is a fallacious argument since there were more
likely ways to attack it than a car bomb, Seligman said that
whether there was a threat or not, she didn’t believe
that all of the preparations at the site have measurably improved
its security.
"We haven’t had too much success with their promises,"
said LaMonda referring to the DEP. "We haven’t
met with their new police chief yet and maybe there’s
a chance of improvement in what’s going on but, as far
as co-operation between the two (DEP and town) police departments,
it’s excellent. They help us whenever they can and,
obviously, we help their efforts whenever possible. But the
‘Lemon Squeeze’ (dam) issue is administrative
and we’re not thrilled about it. They’ve spent
a lot of money to accomplish very little. Will they ever straighten
out the (s-curves in) the detour or is that another futile
promise that’ll never happen?"
Help
Is On Its Way
The CWC maintains a Tax Consulting Fund to help Watershed towns,
counties and villages hire attorneys and assessment experts
to address challenges brought by the City’s Corporate
Counsel office. The Fund was originally capitalized at $3 million
by New York City under terms of the 1997 NYC Watershed Memorandum
of Agreement. However, most of that money has been depleted
as a result of the ongoing lawsuits… especially against
the Ulster County town of Olive, which is currently in another
such battle that will not only effect its future, but that of
all taxpayers in the Onteora School District.
Noting that the City filed suits against 11 Watershed municipalities
in 2007, claiming their properties were over-assessed, the CWC
resolution states, “Each of the 11 was also sued by New
York City on identical claims in prior years, with many sued
by the City each and every year since 1997. . . The magnitude
of the real property taxes at issue in these proceedings, as
well as the burdens of continued litigation, is a source of
concern and cause of fiscal uncertainty to the detriment of
all parties involved.”
Continued the resolution, “In spite of the significant
expenditure of funds by all parties to the proceedings, no court
decision has definitively established valuation methodology
and the disputes remain unresolved.”
The resolution was adopted unanimously by the 11 Watershed town
representatives on the Board present at the meeting. New York
City, New York State and environmental representatives on the
Board are ineligible to vote on matters involving the Tax Consulting
Fund.
In other matters at the CWC’s recent meeting, the corporation
approved an operating and program budget totaling $56.7 million
for 2008. The spending plan includes administrative expenses
for the non-profit local development corporation, as well as
the cost of running 12 environmental protection, economic development
and education programs during the coming year.
The CWC was created in 1997 to help protect water quality and
assist communities in the New York City Watershed west of the
Hudson River. Its 16-person staff runs a variety of programs,
ranging from the replacement of failed residential septic systems,
to the Catskill Fund for the Future which provides low-interest
loans to businesses in Watershed Towns.
At its November meeting, the CWC Board also approved a new,
$37.2 million contract with New York City to continue and expand
the Community Wastewater Management Program over the next five
years. This program, which began in 2002, has provided wastewater
treatment solutions for the hamlets of Bovina Center and DeLancey,
with projects underway in Hamden, Bloomville and Boiceville.
The new contract will assure completion of a wastewater handling
system in Ashland, as well as projects in South Kortright, Lexington
and Trout Creek should those hamlets choose to participate.
Another CWC program – Local Consultation for Land Acquisition
– provides funds for municipalities incurring expenses
in reviewing and commenting on New York City land acquisition
proposals within their jurisdictions. A resolution adopted on
Nov. 27 approved of the addition of $300,000 to the fund pursuant
to a mandate in the 2007 Filtration Avoidance Determination,
and increasing the amount available to each municipality from
$20,000 to $30,000.
In other business, the Board okayed loans to Nicholas Kop and
Kristina Janson, or NJK, Inc, seeking to purchase and renovate
the Gateway Lodge in Highmount, and to a Roxbury excavating
company to erect a new shop and office.
For more information on the CWC and its programs, go to www.cwconline.org,
or call 845-586-1400 (toll-free 877-928-7433).
Master
Planning The Plans
Advisory
Solutions was chosen over two other consultant firms interviewed.
Out of seven board members, only Maxanne Resnick and Herb Rosenfeld
voted against it, although Trustee Michelle Friedel was skeptical.
“If we don’t pass a bond,” said Ford, “we
are still in declining enrollment, we will still have choices
of where we want our children… The bond vote will not
be for a five-eight model, it will be for a building.”
Ford added that in such a situation, academic electives would
get dropped if the board keeps a seven/eight middle school based
on the declining population of students.
In the meantime, KSQ architects will continue to work with the
architectural plans and the bond process.
In other news, William Hannon was terminated from his position
of Athletic Director after only four months at his job.
“It’s a very difficult position to give someone
who lives outside the district, who only works part time,”
said Ford. “The expectations are very high, there are
a lot of hours, he was a young teacher, he gave it his best
effort, but it wasn’t a good match, it wasn’t a
good fit,”
The board unanimously approved as interim Joseph DiGiovanni,
a retired teacher and past athletic director who will take on
the job at $400 a day until permanently filled. DiGiovanni will
also act as Dean of Students grades 9-through-12, taking on
the responsibility of disciplinary officer during his tenure.
Ford added that because of changes required by State mandates,
she is also introducing a new administrative position to combine
the Athletic Director and health coordinator roles. Ford would
like the board to approve the new position by next school board
meeting on December 18 so they can begin the hiring process.
Current Health Coordinator Robin Sears plans to retire the end
of the school year.
A four page list of responsibilities include the coordination
of Kindergarten-through-twelve physical education, extra curricular
sport, health programs, high school discipline, budgets, recruits
coaches and staff, and the administrative paper work that goes
along with it. Ford is looking at a pay scale around $85,000,
which she said is in the medium pay range. School board trustee
Rita Vanacore asked if they could look for someone outside of
the district. Ford replied, “The process is first we look
for an internal candidate and we have one very qualified internal
candidate.”
After some discussion of the interim pay adding up to $14,000,
or more, Vanacore noted how the athletic department “is
very chaotic, there is no leadership at all and I feel this
particular interim we are bringing in is strong enough to stand
up to that and try to pull it together.”
School board president Mary Jane Bernholz replied that, “Even
when we hired Bill Hannon, we knew he was inexperienced.”
Hannon had been hired part time at $11,848 for the school year.
Further discussion centered on hiring Advirosy Solutions for
a report on how the district’s Central Administration
can become more efficient. The matter was tabled.
Finally, it was announced that the school board has approved
Jennifer O’Connor of Roxbury as the new Assistant Principal
at the High School. She will be starting on January 10, 2008.
She has her Masters of Arts from the Leadership Academy at Massachusetts
College of Liberal Arts, Master of Arts in English, Cum Laude
from the State University of New York in Albany, Bachelor of
Arts in English, cum Laude at Saint Bonaventure University in
Olean New York and studied English Literature at Ealing College
in London.
Scoping
Time... Again
Word started leaking last week but official word came out from
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) on Tuesday, November 27 that it will be holding two meetings
in early December to “provide information and receive
comments” about “developments proposed for properties
around and including the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center in the
Catskill Mountain region.” To be specific, the announced
meetings are for 1. A public information session, set to include
discussion of growth plans for the ski center itself, as well
as the multi-hotel and condo-heavy ski and golf resort proposed
by Gitter and given a provisional go-ahead by Governor Eliot
Spitzer in September, set to take place at the Belleayre Mountain
Ski Center’s Discovery Lodge on Monday, December 10, from
6 to 9 PM; and 2. A meeting designed to receive comments about
the scope of the environmental review to be conducted on the
joint projects the following day, Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 6 to
10 p.m., at the same Belleayre location. The DEC has added that
it will welcome written comments on the scope of the upcoming
SEQRA review, through January 8. The proposal to be reviewed,
according to a DEC press release on the matter, includes a private
development (the proposed construction and operation of the
Wildacres Resort and Highmount Spa Resort complex by Crossroads
Ventures LLC) and related proposals by DEC that include the
expansion of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, including “ski-in,
ski-out” access to Gitter’s Highmount Spa Resort;
the acquisition of a parcel known as the Big Indian Plateau
(1,200 acres); and the acquisition of the former Highmount Ski
Center (78 acres) and an easement (21 acres) on the Highmount
Spa property. Also up for a first view on December 10 will be
the DEC’s plans for its own growth, which has yet to be
released in an official Unit Management Plan that needs to be
released according to similar scoping guidelines before the
resort SEIS can begin to be reviewed. Included in that plan
should be plans for the concurrent creation of a new 1500 seat
performance shed for the Belleayre Music Festival, to be located
within walking distance of the ski resort (see News Briefs inside).
The cost of the state acquisitions total $14 million, according
to the agreement in principal announced by Spitzer in September,
and have raised hackles among competing ski resorts in the state
at the amount being paid by the DEC to shore up its own holdings
in competition with the private sector. Those resorts, which
have been rumored to be discussing funding help for organizations
fighting the new resort proposal, are expected to be present
at the upcoming meetings, as well as in all future dealings
regarding the combined review. And although a total of six national
and state environmental organizations publicly signed on to
the Spitzer agreement when it was announced, thus ending their
high-powered opposition to Gitter’s development (as well
a longstanding SEQRA review process that had become bogged down
in legal adjudication for the past two years), remaining regional
and local opposition groups have joined together with the Sierra
Club, America’s largest environmental organization, to
continue fighting the standing proposal as it currently exists.
Those organizations, working under the consortium Save The Mountain,
were quick to spread news of the coming Belleayre meetings via
e-mails and phone calls over the recent Thanksgiving weekend,
as well as at their ongoing series of film screenings and discussion
events being held around the area. As of press time, the possibility
that next week’s informational hearing would be a major
event was noteworthy in a variety of local events, from the
Town of Shandaken Code Enforcement Officer’s request that
a Save The Mountain sign be taken down from lands belonging
to former town councilwoman Edna Hoyt across from Gitter’s
Emerson Resort, to a press release from the Catskill Heritage
Association noting its decision to fund an upcoming Arkville
holiday celebration in Delaware County after the developer’s
Crossroads Foundation purportedly nixed its own grant for the
occasion based on one of its sponsors having also sponsored
a screening of an anti-ski-resort documentary, “Resorting
to Madness,” and discussion session in recent weeks. Further
such screenings and discussions are scheduled for the evening
of Thursday, December 6 at Claude’s Restaurant in Phoenicia
and Saturday, December 8 at the Saugerties Senior Center. In
an official “Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft EIS Determination
of Significance” filed November 21, the day before Thanksgiving,
DEC Environmental Analyst Daniel T. Whitehead notes that although
the revised project proposal was shaped by Spitzer, the New
York City Department of Environmental Protection and approving
environmental organizations to reduce the environmental threats
posed by the previous proposal, it still presents a number of
potentially significant impacts including the city reservoir
system’s water quality, aesthetics, water supply, noise,
transportation and the region’s, and local towns of Shandaken’s
and Middletown’s “community character.” “While
the current integrated project proposals represent an attempt
to create a lower impact overall project as compared to Crossroads’
original proposal, it may still have significant adverse impacts,”
wrote Whitehead in his determination. “In addition, as
a consequence of the modified project plan for the proposed
Crossroads development in relation to the expansion of the Belleayre
Mountain Ski Center, significant cumulative adverse impacts
on some resources are also possible.” Eric Goldstein of
the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the environmental
groups that ended up signing on to Spitzer’s agreement
in September, said this week that he and other former watchdog
opponents of the resort proposal would be on hand next week,
and throughout the upcoming process, to ensure that all proceeds
according to state environmental regulations, and making comments
about the areas where they feel more emphasis needs to be made.
“We’re very happy that both developments will be
reviewed alongside each other,” Goldstein noted. But asked
whether he expected anyone to question the state’s economic
propriety making large investments in skiing at a time when
it has also pledged to fight Climate Change – as noted
in reports that suggest local winters will be substantially
compromised within the next quarter century, the NRDC attorney
said such matters, “didn’t even arise in any of
our negotiations about these matters.” To counter the
effects of the joint Save The Mountain/Sierra Club opposition,
a number of key Gitter supporters, mostly in the Delaware County
community of Margaretville – and including a number of
key advocates for the state-owned ski resort itself –
have formed a new organization, Partners for Progress, to show
support for the project at upcoming meetings. According to their
own e-mail alerts, they seemed to have gotten news of the coming
meetings before any others. Paul Rakov, vice president and spokesman
for Gitter and his Crossroads Ventures development company,
refused comment on the upcoming informational meeting and scoping
session this week except to refer all inquiries to the state
DEC press office, which then referred to the published press
materials. The scoping session is the part of the review process
in which the public and involved parties outline environmental
issues that need to be reviewed, possibly resulting in an issues
conference should new matters arise that appear unsolvable via
a straight review process. For more information on the permit
application, go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/enb/20071121_not3.html
or http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6061.html . Written comments
on the proposed scope for the environmental impact statement
may be sent via mail to Daniel Whitehead, NYS DEC, Division
of Environmental Permits, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1750.
Or comments mail be e-mailed to wildacre@gw.dec.state.ny.us
- be sure to write “Scoping” in the subject line.
A Jar Of Olives
‘Tis
The Season
Alison Tosi and cousin Patty Parete began their shopping quest
at Black Friday Eve at midnight at Woodbury Commons. Traffic
was backed up on the Thruway for an hour with eager buyers ready
to out-race and out-bargain-shop each other. There is nothing
out there that could get me to shop at midnight or four in the
morning. In fact, I am still tying to mentally match a gift
to a person. There’s time for me to shop at non-peak times
now that I am retired.
Actually, I began to shop at the Library Craft Fair this past
weekend. It’s a place where you can shop, visit and have
coffee or lunch with friends like Bev Stein, Margie Jones, Carmen
Ajce, Jack Molloy and Ann Leifeld. Going to the Olive Library
Craft Fair has been a thirty-year tradition with my friend Judie
Rank. I missed her this year, and felt guilty as I carried on
our annual shopping trip while she is still at Kingston Hospital
having dialysis and recouping from renal failure.
This Friday, December 7, there will be a Tree Lighting Ceremony
at the Town Meeting Hall at 7:00 p.m. The little shrub has grown
up to be a fine, respectable tree requiring more lights this
year. Santa and his elf, Linda Burkhardt will be there to give
out candy canes. Children can decorate cookies and make an ornament
to take home. The best part is being able to huddle and sing
and listen to stories. The Sorbellini’s and younger Leifeld’s
are coordinators of this annual event.
A number of people have responded to my idea to donate to charity
and send out our greetings via this column. Sheila Drouet and
Rosie Burgher were the first ones to respond. E-mail me at clamonda@hvc.rr.com
if you want to have your name published as a holiday contributor.
You make the donation to your charity, and the paper will acknowledge
it and send your greetings.
It’s a good time to think of others. After all, that is
the message of the season. You can help Patty D’Errico,
who is in need of funds to support the expensive drug Interferon
that is helping her to cope with Hepatitis C and complications,
by going to the breakfast fundraiser. It will be held on Saturday,
December 15 at the Olivebridge Fire House from 8:00 a.m. to
noon. The cost is $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for children twelve
and under. Tommy D’Errico will serve his famous French
toast and pancakes with real maple syrup, bacon, home fries,
coffee, tea and juice. There will be a raffle for a door prize
worth $300. The winner will have dinner for two at the Phoenix
Restaurant and a spa treatment at the Emerson Spa and Resort.
If you can’t join us for breakfast, donations can be made
to Patty’s Fund and sent directly to the Wilber National
Bank, PO Box 369, Boiceville, New York, 12412.
It is a season to think of others and share what we have. There
are three dogs at the Olive Dog Kennel who are hoping Santa
will find them good homes. Glory is an older (9), sweet and
gentle female lab. Sugar is a big lover who was probably named
“Sugar” because of the color of Brown Sugar and
her sweet disposition. Oliver is a four-year old male lab who
was found wandering around Olivebridge. Wouldn’t a nice
home be a wonderful gift for these dogs? It would be a reciprocal
gift too. A dog repays you every day with unconditional love
and tail wags. The added benefit, in this time of expensive
gas and oil, is that their body heat is four degrees higher
than that of a human. They are natural “hot-water bottles”
if you snuggle up to them. Call Bev Stein to go see these potential
pets.
Our chocolate lab Diva watches television. She loves the public
access station that advertises the dogs in the Shandaken Pound.
She looks and barks and fawns over one particularly handsome
dog. I keep telling her it is only “Puppy Love!”
“Tis time to gear up for this season of love and light.
Just don’t get lost in all that tinsel and wrapping paper.
Sans lights, sans malls, sans hype is the essence of loving
each other and saying so. Happy Holidays!
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