How Webb Summons Wind

"The goal is threefold," explained Matt Savatgy, an Olive parent whose wife, Shelley, teaches sixth grade at Bennett and worked with Leonard for ten years. "We want to memorialize Webb, educate the students, and facilitate communication about alternative energy and its possible applications. We're hoping it will to serve as a motivation for larger-scale projects in the district and the community. The school has the goal of trying to establish a larger turbine in the school district for taking electric consumption off the grid and saving money."
Savatgy is on the committee for the Webb Leonard Memorial Fund, which needs another $2500 to reach its goal. Working in tandem with the Bennett student government, the group has been raising money for a little over a year through private donations, substantial gifts from the Bennett PTA and the Onteora Retired Teachers Association, and a series of fundraisers. Events have included a crafts fair, a penny social, and a recent dodgeball tournament, in which the Phoenicia Elementary School team of parents and teachers took two of the three prizes.
Savatgy said the dodgeball event was wildly successful, in terms of money raised (nearly $4800) and community spirit generated. "It made triple what we expected," he reported. "We didn't even advertise-everyone in school community was so excited. We had a total of 800 people, and 600 paid at the door. There were 160 players, both men and women, representing 16 teams of staff, alumni, parents, and co-workers from all the elementary schools, the middle and high schools. We had police and fire company teams, and several businesses had teams. It was a lot of fun."
Cash prizes of $200 each were awarded in three categories. A group of recently graduated high school students won the actual tournament. The Phoenicia team, dressed as Village People, won the awards for team spirit and for bringing the most people (120), who "were just going nuts in the stands," said Savatgy. "The Phoenicia team had crazy outfits, banners, fans with signs and songs, and they donated back their cash prizes. It was a good event for the district in terms of unifying people. We hope to continue to capture that energy."
The committee has a couple more fundraisers planned, and they are still soliciting donations from the public. The Bennett School has chosen the bobcat as their mascot, and Bennett Bobcat t-shirts will be sold to support the turbine construction and other student government projects.
The original proposal was to build a turbine that would power the school library, but the expense seemed prohibitive. "Now we want to look into the possibility of grants that may be available for alternative energy," said Savatgy. "State agencies don't want to give grants if you don't have money, but they might be able to match what we've raised."
The planned turbine will be 30 feet high, with a small solar component for backup power on days when it's not breezy. Volunteer labor was considered and rejected due to insurance considerations. Several construction companies were contacted at the start of the process to obtain rough estimates, and appointments are now being made for representatives to visit the school and discuss the layout. Current plans call for the turbine to be located in front of the school, with landscaping, a bench, boulders, a bronze plaque, and interpretive signage. "We're hoping to have it in place by the fall of this year," said Savatgy, "although it may be delayed if people on the committee decide to pursue grants for a larger turbine."
Savatgy, who runs an Internet business selling Adirondack chairs, describes himself as "an environmental geologist by education. Webb established an Earth Day program at the school, where he brought in guest speakers and got kids outside doing presentations, and I was always a presenter for him. I ran a Boy Scout camp for 10-plus years, and I managed construction projects and memorial funds for them. When someone passed away-scout leaders, campers, one young man who died in car accident-the family would choose a project. With that experience, and having worked with Webb, I offered my services to the principal." Gabe Bono, the principal, is on the turbine committee. Savatgy has also, in the past, contracted with the school to create an environmental lab, spruce up the nature trails behind the building, and serve as a scientist-in-residence.
"We want to remember Webb in a meaningful way," he added, "We hope this will be a stepping stone for future things at Bennett, maybe an outdoor classroom, and other ideas floating around. Once people see we can do good things, it's easier to motivate folks to do more."
Donations may be made in the from of checks made out to Bennett School Student Government and mailed to Bennett Elementary School, c/o Matt Savatgy, PO Box 300, Boiceville NY 12412.

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Homegrown Tea Party?

Johansen, who's also headed the Olive Conservative Party in recent years, e-mailed later that work precluded his getting out for a Saturday tete-a-tete.
"There are three or four of us trying start a local Shandaken, Olive Woodstock T-Party," he writes. "The Party is a very loosely organized grass roots group and we will stay associated with the Kingston group."
I asked Johansen if he would be maintaining his work with the Conservative Party, and whether there was any active crossover with other local efforts, from the issue-specific Olive Matters to the old Woodstock Landowners Association and other entities.
"Because it such a free flowing group I can't tell what's going to happen at our meeting; we'll see what's on their minds," Johansen replied. "I plan on having our Congressional candidates at a May meeting at Shokan Park; one of the candidates has said he will come. They will both be invited."
McGee and Langbert have been somewhat regular writers to our papers over the years. The latter also maintains a blog that lambastes progressive political trends in all guises, albeit in a studiously intellectual tone. Occasionally it wanders into local issues and races, including the most recent Olive elections and continuing alarm over Congressman Maurice Hinchey's current plan to have the Hudson Valley studied for possible National Park status of some sort. But mostly it's a running commentary on how government's getting too big, our nation's creeping towards socialism, and Democrats are pretty much flat-out wrong.
I mention parallels I've been noticing between today's political atmosphere, including some of the voices rising in opposition to the National Park study, and regional upheavals during the post-midterm election Clinton years, when a local application to have the Catskills declared a United Nations' World Biosphere region was met with underground meetings, town and county-okayed memorializing resolutions. Eventually, the outcry drew the attention of then-Congressman Gerald Solomon, who convened a Congressional Hearing on property rights matters at the Hunter-Tannersville High School that included appearances by some of the farthest right members of congress at the time, including Don Young, Richard Pombo and Helen Chenoweth, as well as still-incumbent Maurice Hinchey.
Those events mirrored a time when U.N. takeover conspiracies and militia talk were rife within the region, which saw the withdrawal of the Biosphere application, threats to the creation of a Heritage Trail and other joint planning efforts, and the rise of opposition to New York City's regulatory control of its watershed holdings. The latter led, after a year of catastrophic flooding that tempered the discussion somewhat, to the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between Upstate communities and New York City in 1997.
"It's happening again," McGee replies. She notes how a doctor friend involved in Tea Party activities in Oklahoma alerted her to U.N. Agenda 21, which another teacher acquaintance from the city dubbed, "the sort of thing you file away in the 'too bad to be true' category."
What she's referring to is the sustainable development protocol that's been an agenda-item of the United Nations since its 1992 Conference on Environment and Development (the "Earth Summit") held in Rio de Janeiro, and is aimed at stemming the environmental and economic degradation effects of modern globalization. Included in its purview are such items as, "combating poverty, changing consumption patterns, population and demographic dynamics, promoting health, promoting sustainable settlement patterns and integrating environment and development into decision-making."
McGee lumps the initiative in with new pushes to link major population centers with high speed rail lines as a means of "herding people into concentrated population centers," and grimaces as she then mentions the idea of "Cap and Trade" energy policies and their champion, Al Gore.
"The whole concept of sustainable development..." she notes, as Langbert counters his own belief that high speed rail MIGHT not be such a bad idea. "If it's wet the UN wants it... My view of the Tea Party is that it's all about post-partisan citizen awareness."
Langbert swinga the conversation back to specifics. He notes how a number of people he knew, who considered themselves true conservatives or Libertarians, started worrying under the Bush Administration. Then came the bailout moves of late 2008, which sent everyone over the edge.
"The war was mismanaged," he adds. "I was disgusted seeing McCain vote for the bailout, along with his saying it wasn't his issue. It should have been his issue!"
I ask again about the local Tea Party efforts and the two focus, for a moment, on the Kingston events they've been attending. They tend to average 50 to 60 people a meeting at the Ulster Town Hall in Lake Katrine the second Monday of each month. They've held a few local events, including a roadside Tax Day protest opposite the Wendy's on Route 9W in Kingston set to be repeated this April 15. And they've sent busses down to events in the nation's capital, including Glenn Beck's 912 rally.
"The whole movement's extremely decentralized," Langbert notes.
McGee adds that she's noticing a lot of "Constitutionalist" initiative on the part of those she's been in contact with nationwide, and starts to talk about the "biometrics card" being talked about in current Immigration Reform matters.
Both note how it's been Johansen who's had the names of people to set up a local capter of the Kingston Tea Party, saying he could bring out 30 or more people "very quickly."
Checking online at that entity's website, it turns out the local tea party started off as American Patriots of the Hudson Valley, and was founded "in conjunction with over 850 nationwide tea parties that symbolized the original Boston Tea Party of 1773."
"Our mission is to promote public awareness of the contents of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and other founding documents. We are committed to upholding those documents by supporting the fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers," reads their "About Us" information on their Kingston Tea Party website. "We also support their beliefs that the American Republic was established on the bedrock of truth that government derives it's just powers from the consent of the governed under the guidance of Divine Providence. Today, 233 years after the initial signing of the Declaration of Independence, We The People, have discovered that government once again is bordering on a state of tyranny fueled by the concept of socialism. In recent decades we have observed the progressive transfer of power from the people to the government. We have seen our liberties systematically erode, thus abridging our God given rights."
As of press time, the organization listed a total of 138 members in a wide range of local communities.
"I think when everyone's paying attention to politics something is terribly wrong," says McGee, speaking about how government's gotten top heavy of late and describing herself as a "wonk."
"You have to cut benefits," Langbert says after correcting some quotes by McGee regarding percentages of economic control on the part of the public sector.
I ask about Hinchey's national park study proposal, recently okayed by a House committee and currently being championed in the Senate by Sen. Kristin Gillibrand.
"Hinchey put fear into a lot of people with this proposal to federalize five local counties," McGee says. "People are just now trying to understand the implications of this."
Langbert brings up Huinchey's previous involvement, earlier in his career as a state legislator, with the setting up of the Adirondack Park Commission.
McGee notes how she owns 100 acres in the Adirondacks; instead of the $1500 a year she pays in taxes here, she notes she could be paying $50 a year were that same property in Missouri.
"I am a Confederate now," is an entry Langbert put on his blog in relation to the National Park matter earlier. "I no longer believe in the union. I believe in the Tenth Amendment and the Articles of Confederation. My heroes now are not Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, but rather Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun."
Later, Johansen provides specifics about the new SOW Tea Party forming locally.
"I think the Party should keep a distance from any of the Established Political parties," he writes. "I think the T-Party has sprung from the dissatisfaction with the organized parties. What I think you will see is no recommendations or endorsement from the party. They may come up with a set of questions where the candidate will take a pledge; Pledge himself to term limits, less government, et cetera..."
He signs the missive, "Stay with us."

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Working A Budget Down

The potential tax increase for a 3.9 percent levy, broken into dollar amounts, will be approximately $37.60 per home market value of $100,000. The current $49.8 million budget would increase by $395,205 in 2010/2011 to $50.2 million.
If voters were to reject the budget two times, a contingent budget would offer a 2.85 percent levy. Board members warn if the budget were rejected, however, programs would be negatively affected.
The current proposal restores some programs initially slated for elimination, such as volleyball, golf, indoor track and the strings teacher. Also restored was a stipend of $16,094 from Gifted and Talented, a program that will be eliminated to save the district over $200,000. The stipend will help to create an enrichment program for students that were enrolled in the cut program.
Additional administrative cuts include paying off a bus purchase from 2008 using unreserved funds. This would eliminate additional debt and save the district $43,306 in penalty fees. Attorney fees are projected to drop by $25,000 because of settlements in contracts. The largest budget decrease will be due to the elimination of five teaching positions at a savings of over $350,000. INDIE will also see a reduction of $50,000.
McLaren presented charts of the nine school districts in Ulster County. In 2009/2010 Onteora ranks highest per-pupil cost in the county at $29,212. The second highest is Rondout, at $24,708. On the other hand, Onteora ranks lowest, $9.63 as the true tax rate in Ulster County per every $1000 in home value. The second lowest is Saugerties at $13.31.
Factors driving the budget increase are primarily come from benefits. Health insurance is projected to increase 14.9 percent, a higher increase than initially expected. Ford said the district has seen an increase of staff illnesses and it contributed toward the hike. Retirement contribution will be increasing from 6.19 to 8.62 percent. Contracted salary, unemployment, benefit trust and workers compensation will also be increasing. State Aid and revenue interest rates will be taking a dramatic decrease.
Past school board member Meg Carey said, "I think that this budget season, that we all in the community are facing, is the worst one I have seen since I have lived here for 30 years."
Carey served as a board member for six years and voted in favor of closing West Hurley School in 2004. Carey supports moving grade six to the middle school and closing an additional elementary school.
"If another elementary school were closed," she asked, "what are the savings?"
Carey said in all fairness people should be able to see the cost savings and weigh it against the current cuts proposed. She told the board that it was not too late to close another elementary school.
Trustee Donna Flayhan said her daughter went to Woodstock the year it merged with West Hurley. "There was no plan in place, there were kids everywhere, there were boxes everywhere and my daughter's advanced reading class was literally a closet."
School board president Laurie Osmond said they plan to have a discussion on such matters based on past committee and district studies. However, she added that the district needs to comply with square footage of how many students can be educated in a classroom.
"And don't forget that previous plans for the future of the district involve new construction and this isn't something that we can do overnight and it isn't something we can do for free," she concluded.
The administration continues to work the budget as new information comes in. The Superintendent Budget Recommendation is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13 at 6:00 PM at the Middle/High School.

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Holding Up The Economy

Much of the gathering was taken up with slide show presentations of the various programs run by the city-funded agency initiated in 1997 to oversee watershed regulations and development. And most of those presentations included examples of projects undertaken in Shandaken and Olive, from business septic systems to educational programs and dinners for visiting water specialists from Brazil and Mexico at such eateries as Ricciardella's in Phoenicia.
"Keep the water clean to begin with. That's our rule number 1," said Environmental Engineering Specialist Leo Labuda in a talk about successful septic replacement programs around the region, which numbered 363 in 34 of 41 watershed towns for the past year. "What you get at the end is a lawn..."
Labuda's peer, Nate Hendricks, addressed newly completed and pending community wastewater treatment plants CWC has been managing, with much emphasis on the new Boiceville system set for completion this summer (but nada on Phoenicia, which has been reluctant to sign on to a system to date). He also spoke about new work to upgrade stormwater systems to accommodate changing weather patterns in the region, including the initiation of low impact grassed parking areas, retrofits, the pushing of sustainable rain gardens, and stream corridor aid meant to stem erosion, a major source of sediment that causes drinking water turbidity, a health threat, as well as seasonal flooding.
Mike Triolo, CWC's Economic Development Director, addressed the ways in which the Catskills have been affected by the national economic downturn, but also spoke about the ways in which the CWC has helped local businesses with "collectors and forebearances," and continued to be the engine for much of the region's sustenance and survival.
In further presentations, it was noted how a three year pilot program allowing canoes and sailboats on the Cannonsville Reservoir seems likely to be promulgated throughout the Catskills system, the opportunities inherent in emerging grass bio-energy pellet technologies, and the partnerships CWC has been nurturing with other funding entities to renovate or build new community-enhancing centers throughout the watershed.
And it seems that the organization and its programs are now being seen as a model for other systems, nation- and world-wide.
Later, Carol O'Beirne spoke on behalf of the Water Discovery Center, which the CWC granted $1 million to in the past year. She noted discussions with General Electric about major sponsorship funing, as well as pending grant applications with the O'Connor Foundation, the Erpf Fund, and other entities. She said that former NYC DEP head Chris Ward, now at the Port Authority, has offered to help the ambitious WDC board search out the $25 million it is seeking.
A digital video presentation of a virtual walk through the proposed Water Discovery Center, to be placed on acreage in Arkville, completed the presentation, with no discussion offered by anyone in attendance afterwards.
At meeting's end, mention was made of the late Pat Meehan, the longstanding Windham town supervisor who was one of the organization's founders, as well as a longterm chair of the still-existent Coalition of Watershed Towns from which the CWC was birthed.
"Without everybody working together for a common cause we wouldn't be able to do what we do well," said CWC Board President Georgianne Lepke in a rare statement.
A board resolution earlier in the meeting established her new salary in her position at $15,450 a year.

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Blocked Because Of Prices?

This news was presented in the context of Dicker's reportage on another Paterson-administration plan involving the Nature Conservancy that was described in terms of giving "the wealthy environmental group a staggering 57 percent profit on wilderness land - even as property values collapsed across New York." That deal involved the state Department of Environmental Conservation paying nearly $10 million for 20,000 acres. In October, 2008, that the group purchased for $6.3 million just a few years earlier. "Official state records examined by The Post and statements by local officials show the purchase price was heavily inflated and relied on outdated appraisals from a year earlier, when real-estate values in New York and other parts of the nation were still skyrocketing," Dicker wrote. The original Big Indian land deal, which smoothed the way for approval of the AIP via removal of an entire golf mini-resort from the plans for Crossroads' Belleayre Resort plan, was for just under $13 million for a little over 1,200 acres. According to recent reports, a final approved deal reached between DEC and Gitter in recent months has seen that figure drop to around $6 million, total, which is likely why it was the Adirondack land sale that made the lede of the Post story on Monday. "The state process is much slower than, say, a private home sale. It takes months," DEC spokesperson Yancey Roy was quoted by Dicker, in relation to the relationship between sale figures and comparables in both cases. "The notion that the state wanted to 'reward' The Nature Conservancy is absurd." In regards to the accuracy of Dicker's reporting on DiNapoli's current hold on the Belleayre Resort deal, DEC District 3 Regional Director Willie Janeway said on Tuesday, April 6, that the reporter was known for being strong with his sources, but added that the slow and careful movement of bureaucracy shouldn't be construed as a permant block to any project. Calls to Gitter and Crossroads Ventures regarding the reports were unanswered as of press time.

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