Follow Up on the News

Shifting The Dam Value

According to DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis, ”These draft regulations increase DEC’s enforcement authority, bring New York’s program in line with federal standards, and make clear that dam safety is foremost the responsibility of the dam owner.”
That same subject of safety also appears high on the priority list for the big dam owner in the Catskills, NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Six weeks ago, DEP officials announced a 5-year, $583 million reconstruction project for the imperiled Gilboa Dam on Greene County’s Schoharie Reservoir. While emergency stabilizing work on that structure was finished nearly a year ago to alleviate fears of its catastrophic failure, the final engineering solution, a near-full reconstruction, will take until 2013 to complete, at a cost more than twice earlier estimates.
Included in that project are plans to make mechanical and architectural improvements to the Shandaken tunnel intake chamber which sometimes moves over 500 million gallons per day into the upper Esopus Creek. That discharge which is responsible for the creek’s generally red color, is something the City is under court order to fix, while it continues to challenge the $5 million fine levied against it for allowing the problem to continue.
Turbidity of the water in the Ashokan is an ongoing issue, posing potentially significant health risks to City residents, and compelling its treatment with enormous quantities of alum in the Kensico Reservoir, prior to reaching city faucets. Whether the scale of planned improvements at the Schoharie will significantly solve the problem in the Ashokan basin is yet unclear.
In Olive, 250 million gallons of water per day have begun moving through the Ashokan Waste Channel, dumping some of the more turbid water from the reservoir’s West Basin and discharging it into the lower Esopus. DEP’s primary intent is to improve water quality but the move, according to the agency, “also has the potential to help improve flood attenuation.” The reservoir is currently at 99.9% of capacity. The opening of the channel was facilitated by conversations with Campus Auxiliary Services, an affiliate of SUNY New Paltz which owns the Ashokan Field Campus property, and with whom the agency is now concluding a purchase agreement that will both allow the discharges on a regular basis, and ensure continued educational activities at the site, presumably through relocation of some of its buildings.
Meanwhile officials in Olive are preparing for yet another legal close encounter with DEP on the taxable valuation of the Ashokan Reservoir. Thus far Olive and Hurley have spent about $1.2 million attempting to establish such a valuation, and at issue once again are the wildly divergent valuations for the reservoir holdings in Olive.
Those valuations have been set by the Town’s professional assessors at $650 million, by the State Office of Real Property Services at $340 million, and by the City, at $123 million.
In recent months the Governor, the Catskill Watershed Corporation, and the City have all been involved in attempting to establish criteria that would be used for future valuation of all city-owned reservoirs. Whether such criteria will be in place in advance of the issue’s next court date remains unclear.
A trial date has been set by Judge O’Conner in Ulster County Supreme Court for April 7. Two pretrial conferences between the Judge and DEP and town officials are also set for March.
Announcement of the City’s financial commitment to the Schoharie project has raised more than a few eyebrows in Olive, according to Supervisor Berndt Leifeld.
“Here you have the Ashokan, which the city values at $123 million, and which our professional, out-of-state appraisers say should be valued at $650 million,” Leifeld said. “Nobody’s arguing about whether they’re going to spend $583 million to fix a dam on a reservoir that’s probably a third the Ashokan’s size. But it does make you wonder how they came up with that valuation for us…”

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Where’s That Scope?

Furthermore, it’s not expected to be released for public perusal until next Wednesday, March 5, at the earliest. Even though a form of the document, which serves as something of a blueprint for longer environmental statements subject to intense review, was available two weeks ago, as originally proposed by the state.
“According to protocol, it goes to the applicant to look at first,” said DEC Region 3 spokeswoman Wendy Rosenbach on February 25. “They have an option to review it. They can also suggest changes.”
Rosenback added that whether suggested changes are made is the state’s prerogative, something she couldn’t address at present.
“All I know is that it’s a very long document and it’s very comprehensive,” she added. “It’s a big production.
Added DEC Region 3 Director Willie Janeway, in a February 26 e-mail, “Availability of the expanded Belleayre Crossroads Scope should be announced, as per regular process, in ENB.”
He was referring to the weekly Environmental Notices Bulletin the DEC publishes on its website each Wednesday. Rosenbach added that she didn’t see any release before March 5, and noted that the process had been complicated by the need for the Scope to address the long-hinted at but never formally proposed ski center expansion, as well as the Unit Management Plan the DEC would need to achieve such changes.
On the eve of an earlier anticipated Scoping Release date, pro development forces joined forces Monday, February 18 to try and spin their view of the region’s need for such investment in a press conference at Ulster County Chamber of Commerce offices in Kingston.
Simultaneously, a coalition of groups and local landowners opposing the project, first proposed nearly a decade ago by Shandaken-based developer Dean Gitter, sent out their own spin documents noting how their beef wasn’t with skiers or the state-owned ski center at Belleayre, but the private resort planned to buttress what they note was originally planned in the 1940s as a populist recreational facility.
Two news items seemed to have triggered the press conference called by Joe Kelly of the Coalition for Belleayre, which announced its intentions to change its name back to the Coalition to Save Belleayre, and Partners for Progress, a Margaretville-based coalition of local business owners and other supporters of what they call “the governor’s compromise.”
One was a January 10, 2008 letter from The Greene County Coalition for Economic Equality to the state DEC as a comment on Scoping, per the state’s request. The detailed letter, handed out at the Chamber meeting, noted how two of the new coalition’s members, Hunter and Windham mountain ski areas, as well as the entirety of Greene County, would be adversely impacted by any major expansion at Belleayre Mountain, which they said was already hurting them via the state’s unfair business practices.
Hunter Mountain President Russ Coloton, who attended the Monday session in Kingston without comment, later handed over a full 20-page White Paper stating their position that Belleayre has been able to undercut other area’s prices because the public, via state coffers, covers so many otherwise heavy industry-related expenses.
The other point of opposition that Kelly and others said the press conference was called to counter involved the Greene County Legislature’s passage of a resolution backing their ski areas’ objections to the expansion, as well as a more serious state Senate bill calling for the establishment of a statewide “Blue Ribbon Commission on fair competition in the outdoor recreation industry,” which Coloton later said had been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Ski Areas of New York, the industry’s main advocacy group.
The latter bill, put forth by State Senator Jim Seward on January 28, asks Spitzer to okay the naming of an 11-member commission by his office and the state legislature to look into Hunter and Windham’s charges, as well as similar complaints elsewhere in the state, with a report due by year’s end.
Kelly opened his session for five members of the press with talk about how his coalition was originally formed in the early 1980s to battle a previous state move to close Belleayre.
“We’re here today because Belleayre is under attack and it’s time to fight back,” Kelly said, as members of Partners for Progress, several Delaware County chambers of commerce and governmental agencies, and representatives of a number of key local unions stood around and nodded in agreement as the talk veered between the ski center’s expansion and the private resort plans.
Also on hand were David Donaldson, Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature, who noted his support of the ski area but withheld comment on the private resource; legislator Susan Zimet, who withheld all comment excepting a few words of interest; and Ulster County Development Corporation and Industrial Development Agency head Lance Matteson, who would eventually speak about the importance of bringing investment dollars to the county.
Former Ulster County Chamber chairman Joan Lawrence Bauer, currently a member of the Delaware County IDA and director of the not-for-profit M-ARK Project, a housing and local development agency, as well as a former Gitter employee, aided Kelly with his presentation and handed out materials, including a “Rumor Control” set of pages apparently created by the resort developers countering various assertions it has been saying its opponents are touting.
Gitter’s Vice President of Public Relations, Paul Rakov, nodded approvingly as presentations were made but did not say anything publicly himself.
“We think the state is doing a fantastic job of being in the ski industry,” Kelly said, after lamenting the attacks of Ulster’s “northern neighbors.” He talked about how the New York constitution, “mandated the state to be in this industry” and that any problem private ski areas were having had nothing to do with state business.
Sam Fratto of the Hudson Valley Building Trades union talked about how “We give too much credence to the opponents of projects” and noted the promises of full employment that Gitter has made to his and other area unions.
Others spoke of possible ghost towns should the resort and ski center expansion not go through. Several people denigrated environmentalists for holding back the local economy, and Lawrence Bauer again spoke of the state constitution as though any failure to meet its maximized ski center size were an affront to some unnamed founding fathers.
Planned business rallies for the resort, including one at Cold Spring Lodge in Olivera on March 5, and a new billboard campaign of giant signs labeled “Say Yes To Compromise” were mentioned.
Asked whether Belleayre was under actual threat of closure, and whether the purpose of the press conference was more about support for Gitter’s private project, Kelly and others talked about “the cost of paralysis,” “a culture of decay,” having to “grow or go,” and “a thousand little pinpricks of pressure” similar to what led to the state’s 1984 attempt to close the ski area.
“I think what you’re seeing here is our frustration coming out,” Kelly said.
Could the entire problem actually reflect an industry-wide fear, much reported in the national and international press, that climate change pressures are increasing competitive worries amongst ski centers?
“When and if that comes technology will have to deal with it,” Kelly said as others rolled their eyes. “If it gets too hot I’ll pull out my Speedo and go to the pool at the resort.”
What, Kelly was asked, would be the problem if Seward’s bill passed and a Blue Ribbon Committee was put into place to study public/private competition in the recreation industries?
“Delay, delay, delay,” Kelly replied. “We can’t afford any delays.”
Would there be further such press conferences throughout the coming process, including the impending release of the Scoping Document whose comments this event was indirectly focused on?
“The Coalition will have a constant opinion as this continues to move forward,” he replied. “We have been pushed into a corner here.”
Meanwhile, Save The Mountain, the coalition of groups opposing the current expansion and resort plans outlined in Spitzer’s AIP, sent out a press release the day after the Chamber press conference touting their support of the state owned ski center and noting, in a headline, “Don’t be fooled by attempts to confuse! There are 2 Belleayres”
“Some statements made by others are intended to blur the lines between our PUBLIC Belleayre Mountain and its Ski Center, part of the Catskill Park, vs the proposed PRIVATE Belleayre Resort, a real estate development,” their release reads. “On the contrary, we say put Belleayre Mountain and Ski Center first. We’re concerned that building the huge PRIVATE high-end, for-profit Belleayre Resort, as proposed, may impede expansion, overwhelm the great PUBLIC Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, and even raise lift and rental prices… We are also concerned about using our tax dollars and yours to build and maintain private ski lifts, trails and snowmaking for the enjoyment and private profit of a few.”

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Tragedy On Morgan Hill

According to police, Leshkevich beat her about the head with a blunt object and suffocated her. Then, leaving his wife's lifeless body in the bedroom, he made his way to a large attached garage stuffed with boxes of merchandise for his online auction business where he hung himself.
Police discovered the apparent murder-suicide around 11 a.m. Tuesday after Deborah Leshkevich's co-workers became concerned when she didn't show up for work and called police to ask that they check on her.
On Tuesday, state police investigators donned white protective suits as they prepared to enter the two-story home with a Christmas wreath on the door and a large pile of firewood in the front yard. Police removed evidence from the home including computers and a number of firearms, and say they're checking to see if the guns were legally owned.
At Woodstock Elementary School, where the Deborah Leshkevich worked, crisis teams were deployed Tuesday, February 19, and Wednesday, February 20, and Onteora Central School District superintendent Leslie Ford has been speaking in the classrooms to students and teachers who were shocked by her death. "I spent the day telling the kids," said Ford.
The portraits of Deborah Leshkevich that emerged from those who worked with her and from the parents of students who came into contact with her were vastly different from the internet ramblings of her attacker.
"Mrs. Leshkevich was a person who went the extra mile, providing much more than just her daily job to the school," said Ford. "Our district stands behind Mrs. Leshkevich's positive reputation, and encourages the community to join us in remembering her warm smile, sense of humor, and legacy of caring."
Most parents knew her as the person who checked off names of children during dismissal, so the kids would not get lost in the shuffle during pick-up time. The kids called her Mrs. L.
Some parents who knew her were shocked to hear she was even married to him. They said she never spoke about him, and instead poured herself into work while also teaching Catechism at St. John's Roman Catholic Church in West Hurley.
Others were shocked by her husband's blog and said that the posting continued the spousal abuse, making her a victim even after her death. Angered by his distorted views, some parents wanted to make sure that it was understood that she was a person and a professional who was the total opposite of her husband.
She was president of the Onteora non-teaching employees association (ONTEA) and ran the student council, was part of the conflict management team, and was on the Site team for many years. She also worked on environmental projects around Woodstock school and helped raise money to buy flowers.
Ford also said that many in the community were sad and angry at the way the media covered it. "We're taking it one day at a time, and counseling is available for as long as they need it," she said.
Morgan Hill Road neighbors say the house, on a rural road of ranch homes and bungalows, was the site of frequent loud verbal arguments between the couple, but the only time they'd seen police on the scene was a few years back when opponents of Leshkevich's white supremacist, anti-Semitic views organized a small protest outside his home.
"I didn't even know who lived there until that happened," said one neighbor who asked to remain anonymous. "After that I started calling him Adolph Hitler."
Another neighbor, Casey Bann, said he'd heard the fights but was unaware of any serious problems in the home until a detective knocked on his door Tuesday morning asking if he'd heard any screams coming from the house. Bann said Deborah Leshkevich was rarely seen outside the house while her husband spent hours in the front yard chopping firewood.
"I only met him one time," said Bann who moved into the home next door to the Leshkevich's four months ago. "He seemed like kind of an oddball, an ignorant redneck type for lack of a better terminology. When I told him I was from California he went right into a whole thing about the Mexicans."
Bann said he was especially disturbed when he realized Leshkevich was expounding on his views to neighborhood kids. According to Bann, one 13-year-old neighbor related James Leshkevich's reaction to him and his girlfriend moving into the neighborhood. "He told him 'thank God they're white, if they weren't white I'd be hanging my flags.' This is a 13-year-old kid he's talking to!"
But Jim Leshkevich broadcast his views far beyond Morgan Hill Road. At least as far back as 2002 when he handed out anti-Zionist literature at a pro-Israel rally in Uptown Kingston, Leshkevich has been active in the white power movement. In November 2005, Leshkevich helped organize a rally led by white supremacist radio host and (unknown at the time) FBI informant Hal Turner. The rally, prompted by an attack on a white Kingston High School Student by a black teenager, brought out Neo Nazis from as far away as California along with hundreds of counter-demonstrators and police.
It was on the internet though where Leshkevich most loudly disseminated his overtly racist views. He was a frequent visitor to the online reader response forum of the Daily Freeman where he seemed to delight in the outraged reactions to his rhetoric. On his blog dubbed - much to the horror of staff at the daily newspaper - "The Hudson Valley Freeman", he would repost articles from local media along with commentary from white nationalists from across the country. He also hosted a weekly internet radio show titled "Free Talk Live."
The final entry on Leshkevich's blog is dated Monday at 10:30 p.m. In it he describes the dissolution of his marriage and Deborah's purported relationship with a local man over the course of 2,553 words. Supposed excerpts appear from a cell phone conversation he says he secretly recorded between his wife and her alleged lover on January 19. He goes on to detail a series of arguments which ensued after he confronted her with the recording. More ominously, he rants about recently divorced friends of his wife who he blames for egging her on to leave him and pursue the affair.
On Wednesday, February 20, State Police Capt. Wayne Olsen of the Troop F, Major Crime Investigation Unit, said police were aware of the blog entry and had contacted all of those identified in the post and some who were not. The angry rantings on the blog, which also identifies Deborah Leshkevich's alleged lover, are of particular concern because of James Leshkevich's status as a well known and popular presence on white racist internet message forums. On one such forum where tributes to "Yankee Jim" were accompanied by laments that he had not gone out on a "martyrdom operation" after killing his wife, several posts explicitly threatened or encouraged violence against the alleged lover and one poster claims to have called him and left a message.
"We are aware that [the alleged lover] is not on their fan favorite lists and we're taking appropriate steps," said Olsen of the danger of retaliation by Leshkevich extremist associates.
Olsen added that state police investigators were immediately aware of Leshkevich's extremist background and carried out a slow methodical investigation before arriving at the murder/suicide determination.
"We're fairly comfortable at this point that this is what it appears to be," said Olsen. "But to be perfectly honest, given his background, we were very careful in coming to that conclusion."
A Memorial Service for Mrs. L will be held on March 10, 6:30pm at the High School auditorium. Children will be making presentations, there will be music and family members will be attending.
Lisa Childers contributed to this report, which originally ran in the Woodstock and Kingston TImes

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A Jar Of Olives...
That ‘Rashomon Effect’
Truth Comes Down To Many Viewpoints

Reporting exit, entrance and survey polls of the primaries has convinced me that numbers mean relatively little when they are tied to subjective questions. Each candidate has its share of positive “Look what I can do” advertisements and an equal number of pundits to interpret each debate and sound bite. I am tired of the election that is still three seasons away and has been reduced to “He said-she said” and then “He meant-she meant” as reported by the evening news.
As I watch the stock market reports, as I do, I am more convinced than ever that we are in a Bull/Bear Market in a Recession/non-recession period of time. I have been told, during the same broadcast, to sit tight, sell, invest in financials, buy bonds, cash in gold and buy base metal commodities. Huh? Does anyone out there see the same thing and react the same? The answer is a resounding “No!”
This week I sadly read a newspaper account of a murder-suicide. It infuriated me. First it was a senseless loss of life, but what brought my normally even temper to a boiling point was the way the “facts” were reported. It reminded me of a film we studied in a college Media of Communications course. We students were told to view the 1950 Japanese film entitled Rashomon about a murder and rape crime that was filmed from six points of view. Each character in the movie: the wood cutter, the priest, the bandit, the Samurai and his wife told “his or her story” through the camera’s eye. Then the camera, representing the objective TRUTH, told the story once more. It is a classic film that reveals that there is an impossibility of telling the truth about an event when there are conflicting witness accounts. Unfortunately, we all process truth through our own experiences and biases. It is difficult to be neutral and unbiased, but the media should strive to that ideal.
So, as I receive information, I am reminded that the message I am getting only what someone is sending me. Debates are good. So is investigative journalism that considers all sides, as in Roshamon, but projects the objective facts, not the perceptions that might be based upon omission, slant, or personal or, worse, political bias.
I realize that I do not write a news article. I write a column that is definitely Carol biased. I write my ideas, my feelings, my personal likes and dislikes. If you really want to know what is going on with a cell tower or landfill construction, ask questions, lots of them of many different people. Do not rely on an editorial or diner/coffee shop interpretation of a rumor of a half-truth.
Speaking of a coffee shop, I will miss Henry Gruendel who died this week. I don’t think we ever had a real conversation, but we share many pleasantries and smiles and “Good Mornings/Have a Nice Day” greetings at the bakery and at Kasey’s Café. I will look at his chair by the window or his stool and miss him.
I didn’t know Wilma Eberhardt’s husband either, but I sure knew Wilma. We worked and laughed and cried together at Onteora when she worked there. When you work with someone day in and out, you get to know their families because you share their lives vicariously.
I proudly attended Martha Frankel’s book signing at the BVI and read her book on a snowy Saturday. I also visited Barry De Baun’s gallery at the Trail Motel in Boiceville. I bought a print of a stone icehouse with a red door. Someday, when I am rich, I will buy one of his beautiful landscape paintings. What talent we have in our town!
Perhaps the senior art class, which is scheduled to begin at the Reservoir Methodist Church on Monday, March 3 from 10 to 12, will produce the next Grandma or Grandpa Moses. Come if you want to begin painting, resume painting, or just enjoy the company of other art lovers. The instructor is Judith Boggess.

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