Home - Editorial - POV - Masthead - Contact The Olive Press

 

Follow Up on the News

City’s Rec Rules Tossed

Hunter also argued that the new rules were illegal because state law required state Health Department approval before the city agency could enact them. The Department of Environmental Protection did not seek such approval.
Last year, Hunter Supervisor Dennis Lucas complained that the rules were thrust upon the community, which he said was not asked to participate in their development. Lucas viewed that as a violation of the “partnership” between the city agency and the watershed communities.
“The petitioner alleges it is entitled to a declaratory judgment finding the Recreational Use Rules are illegal, null, void and of no legal effect as the DEP failed to comply with public health law,” wrote state Supreme Court Justice Joseph C. Teresi in his June 19 decision.
“(The ruling) means that all of the city’s recreational use regs have been annulled and the city has to submit them to the state Department of Health for approval - which will entail its own procedures,” said Jeff Baker, the attorney who, represented Hunter in the case.
“Consistent with state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner (Alexander “Pete”) Grannis’ statements at his confirmation, the state does not believe that the city regulations properly allow access for hikers, hunters and fishermen,” Baker added. “Therefore, we do not expect that the state will approve them as written.”
The rules were formally announced last summer at the Delaware County Fair in Walton.
“Preserving New York City’s watershed land is a crucial aspect for maintaining a clean, healthy water supply for more than nine million residents of New York state, but these lands are also beautiful, inviting natural spaces,” Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd said at the time. “For the past several years, the department has been working with local and county governments and sporting groups to expand recreational activities and access to DEP land.”


One Last Time To Run

Sporting a hound dog gaze and a disarmingly direct manner of approach to knotty questions, Leifeld has captained the township through two stormy decades and voters have repeatedly tended their support in the form of ballots cast.
"I wasn’t going to run," reveals Leifeld, who’ll be 70 in November and has been thinking about traveling after retirement. "But there isn’t anyone, right now, from the Democratic side that’s ready to do it. They’re saying ‘one more time, one more time- we’re not ready.’ So, that’s one factor in the decision. Another thing is that there’s a few things going that I just think need my guidance at this time. Not that I can’t be replaced. That’s not what I’m saying. But the sewer project has its pros and cons and I would like to see that be at least three-quarters down the road because I think there’s some people, as we go through this thing, that are going to have an awful lot of questions as to why they’re doing this and why they’re doing that. I just feel I’m more qualified to answer them than anyone else right now."
Leifeld appended that he wasn’t implying that the rest of the Olive town board wasn’t capable of navigating through the project but that no one at this point was clamoring to take the reins and that his position with the Catskill Watershed Corporation was a strong compliment to his Olive post in negotiations with New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection concerning the waste water facility scheduled to be constructed in Boiceville.
"I’m on the board up there at CWC and they just made me second vice president, for whatever that means, but it is beneficial when you sit down (to talk) with the City," Leifeld points out. "I really think there’s got to be some talk, if not an agreement right away, on some sort of a universal agreement, idea, formula. What we’re doing now certainly doesn’t work. I think it’s an important thing for Olive to have someone who’s been through these lawsuits to be sitting there talking about it."
The incumbent supervisor is referring to New York City’s repeated court challenges to local assessments on their properties in Olive, a point of contention ever since their decision to build a reservoir system here forever changed the environment and the future of the town. Now, since the funds afforded Olive (and other watershed towns) by a "Memorandum of Agreement" signed in 1997 to defend against the lawsuits has run out, the problem is exacerbated by a new court date looming in September. The case, originally slated for the Spring before State Supreme Court Justice Vincent Bradley, had been postponed by his death last November.
"With the CWC defense money gone, we’ve got to get an intermunicipal agreement with the (Onteora) school and the county," Leifeld nods. "We’ve had one with the county so we could run up to CWC and say ‘Look, we’ve got all these towns here and you’ve got to help us out.’ It worked but now that the money is gone, why should the Town of Olive, alone, spend $500,000 it doesn’t have in a defense against the City when the school stands to lose more money than we do? And they don’t even seem to be interested in talking about it. I realize schools are in a different position in that if they don’t get it one way, they’ll get it another but they should be interested enough so they don’t have to go to their taxpayers say ‘Now, we’re going to have an increase and it’s all going to New York City.’ They don’t seem to want to join the boat other than sit on the side and have some lawyer write us a letter to tell us how they’re making out. They’ve got to be a player here."
Complaining that Onteora’s business management, which doesn’t directly tend tax assessments, has too slight a grasp on the overall situation, Leifeld expressed some hope that the school’s new superintendent, Leslie Ford, will understand the gravity of the situation for the institution when he explains it directly.
"Look at it this way," Leifeld proposes. "Suppose Hurley and Olive - and this isn’t a far-fetched idea, we’ve actually talked about this - say, the next time a lawsuit comes down that the CWC doesn’t pay for, that we’ll sit down and cut a deal with the City. Now, is this deal going to be beneficial to Onteora? Don’t you think they’d want to sit in and say ‘Hey, wait a minute! You can’t do that!’? Well, come up with some defense money then - especially with this ‘Large Parcel’ nonsense! Why should the town pay $500,000 and then get beat over the head with Large Parcel every year on the tax bill? So Woodstock can pay less? It just doesn’t work that way."
Leifeld refers to a recently enacted law which gives the school board the option of using the proceeds of the taxes on New York City’s land in Olive and Hurley to pay the school tax of other towns in the district.
"Okay, so they don’t do the assessment work at the school but in this case, with the City, you’ve got to pay a little attention if you’re in school management," Leifeld insists. "Do they realize, if we lose this case, how many millions they’re going to have to pay back to the City? The judge can say ‘Okay, New York, you’ve been suing for six years. You’ve been over assessed for six years. You paid the school so much more than you should have, so the school has to pay it back; the town has to pay it back; the county has to pay it back.’ This has happened before, you know, in the 1990s and the only thing that helped us was (Judge) Bradley’s ruling that let us put it in the General Fund, so the City ended up paying part of it anyway. But that can happen. Who knows what this new judge will be thinking?"
The paperwork documentation was exchanged last week, Leifeld notes, for a hearing in September from which a trial date is expected to be set. Brendt is hoping that the groundwork he’s laid through the CWC and his contacts with other watershed supervisors will lead to a resolution of the larger conflicts with New York.
"If some of the towns got together and said ‘Hey, we want to meet with the Mayor and the (DEP) Commissioner. Just sit down and talk instead of flinging lawyers back at forth at each other. There’s got to be something we can do. This is stupid. It’s stupid for them, for us, for anybody involved that wants to take five minutes to think about it. Where’s the common sense in all this? They’re sitting down there (throwing) away money like crazy. They’ve got these stupid security gates that come out of the ground. I don’t have a clue of what they cost but, knowing the way the City does something and the way this outside outfit’s been digging up the ground for, what? Over a month?, you know it’s got to be over a million dollars. And that’s just one thing as they keep going on and on. Yet they’ll (object to) our assessment. It makes no sense anymore. I believe if somebody sat down and thought about it, they’d say ‘What the hell ARE we doing?’"
Leifeld feels that there has to be some deep uneasiness in the DEP hierarchy; "If you talk to management, yes. If you talk to the attorneys, well, they want to keep things going. They’ll sit there with a straight face and tell you the whole thing (Ashokan Reservoir) is worth $150 million. Give me a break. They just bought two acres of swamp over there in Shokan for $50,000 and it’s water. Nobody would build on it anyway. And then they’re going to turn around and tell us that the land over here where you overlook the mountains and the water is worth $1,500? ...The lawyers that have been fighting (the City’s lawsuits) all these years will tell you the same thing- they’ve got to come up with something other than the equalization rate. It doesn’t work. There’s no way you can justify the value for us on the equalization rate. That’s where the argument is- it shouldn’t be brought into the equation when you’re talking about New York City property."
Bringing up Congressman Maurice Hinchey’s June 13th endorsement of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed extended 10-year waiver of regulations which would require New York City to build a multi-billion dollar water filtration plant, Leifeld said he agreed with half of Hinchey’s argument. Hinchey’s statement spoke of "continued weakening of partnerships" in the watershed arrangement which threatens the City’s ability to comply with the FAD (Filtration Avoidance Determination- an agreement to guarantee water quality through means other than a huge filtration plant, renewable after a 5 year period).
"(P)ursuing a more aggressive and ambitious acquisition program is critically important to the overall health of the watershed but doing so, in the context of universally challenged property tax assessments hurts local municipalities and contributes to the erosion of these important strategic partnerships," Hinchey declared. "New York City owns no property of greater value to its residents than the property within the watershed and they should therefore pay an amount in property taxes that is commensurate with the value of the land... Adding to the frustration over the constant legal challenges to local property assessments is the cessation of contributions made by New York City to the legal defense fund of the Catskill Watershed Corporation for the purpose of defending against lawsuits generated by New York City challenging local property assessments. The depleted legal defense fund requires individual towns and their taxpayers to bear the financial burden of defending against constant lawsuits. Recognizing the importance of maintaining these critical partnerships, New York City should continue to make contributions to the legal defense fund. Furthermore, the City should seek out appropriate settlements to these assessment issues in order to put aside one of the most damaging issues affecting the strategic relationship between the City and its watershed partners."
Obviously Leifeld could have little to criticize in Hinchey’s statement. Where their views diverge is in Hinchey’s enthusiasm for a ten year, rather than a five year, extension. Although there are some locally who may object to the City’s ambitious program of acquiring more watershed land and feel not enough is being done to improve a hamstrung local economy, the consensus would appear to support protection of the watershed through suppression of development. Many current residents have gravitated to the area to escape overly developed landscapes.
"What growth situation?" Leifeld asks. "We certainly don’t want abundant commercial growth here. Who’s going to come in? They’re not going to build factories or anything like that. Concentrated housing wouldn’t work here. First of all, I don’t think the people want it and secondly, by the time they got done meeting all the DEP requirements, it wouldn’t be worth it. As far as growth in Olive, it’s going to be residential, if anything. Down the road, who knows how long the City is going to stall the EPA here. They’re going to make them build a filtration plant eventually. As for ten years, the New York City record shows that if they get ten, they won’t talk to us for seven. Then they’ll talk to us for two and there’ll be a year where they DO something. At least with 5 years, they don’t talk to you for 3, talk to you for one and do something for one." With these comments, Leifeld echoes the views of Republican Senators John Bonacic and James Seward who have posted a "FADISBAD" website with State Assembley members Peter Lopez and Clifford Crouch to oppose the extension.
"There needs to be some reasonable ‘plaintalk’ when you’re dealing with the City" Leifeld contends. "When I’m talking about what some people call a ‘global agreement’ here on taxes, I mean getting away from middle level and most upper level cogs and talking in the mayor’s office with the Commissioner of DEP and saying ‘Hey, you know, this ain’t right."
There are other reasons Leifeld speaks of that urge to make an extension of his own stay in office for another two years. He mentions the pressing need for new town offices, another project he’d like to see started before he leaves office.
"I’m not looking for a big office building but we have to do something," Leifeld gestures. "It’s cramped, old, inefficient. We’ve got leaky roofs and we fix them so they’re good for a while and then where do you go? You can’t break down a wall and make an office bigger anymore unless you spend big bucks and why spend it on that building? We should be looking at how to come up with an economical building to give us more, affordable space. Five years from now, maybe less, we’re going to be forced to do something. If we start now, we might be able to do it a little more leisurely, without breaking the horse."
Leifeld says he would like to keep town offices in West Shokan but "we haven’t really sat down and talked about this as a board other than saying we’ve got to do something." Moving to the area where the trucks are now housed would not be a long term solution, he suggests, and then where would you put the trucks? You’d have to build a garage.
"Remodeling this old shack we’re in is just not feasible," he observes. "In the end, you’re going to spend a lot of money and still have nothing. This is something else that needs attention and I’d like to at least get started."
Then there’s the creek bed across the road from the town offices that threatens to flood when rains are heavy and needs clearing out. Another immediate concern: "We’ve got till the middle of August or the grant money is gone. I’ve gotten an extension until September 20-something but I still don’t have permits from DEC or DEP. They’re telling me ‘Don’t worry’ "
In reflection, Leifeld is surprised that he’s held office as long as he has: "Mainly because I didn’t start out thinking that I would be as effective as I think I’ve been. I DO like what I do, I’ve got to admit that much. There are times when it’s frustrating but, mostly, I do enjoy it. You get a chance to help people in a way that only they know. There are many things people don’t know about- personal problems that families have, kids getting into trouble, that sort of thing. That’s the part I get the most satisfaction from, I guess. When somebody comes up to you a year later and says ‘You know, if it wasn’t for you, I’d have been in jail.’ It means a lot to me, when somebody stops in, now and then, and says ‘I had time to step back and look at things differently.’ That’s the real thing."
Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Leifeld spent most of his life in the Olive area after a hitch in military service. His parents had bought Silver Creek Lodge in Chichester in the 1940s and Brendt attended the two-room grade school house there before returning to Patterson for high school. Reading the writing on the wall, he left his post-service job with a cigarette company after 23 years and spent 2 years with Ulster County Corrections before finishing up another 20 years with a state corrections facility. Prior to his 20 years as Olive Supervisor, Leifeld served on the town board for 11 years. At 72, he says, it’ll be time to find out if the motor home outside his house starts up..."before it doesn’t," he adds.


Private Vs Public
The clinic will take place at the office of co-organizer and acupuncturist Julia Rose, at the Phoenicia Healing Arts Center on Main Street. Appointments must be made in advance for sessions in massage therapy, reflexology, acupuncture, homeopathy, flower essence treatment, or craniosacral therapy, by calling (845) 688-2323. Those who can’t afford to pay will receive free treatment, and donations are requested from all other clients.
Weeks is the founder of Health Care is a Human Right, an umbrella organization that operates the “suitcase clinics”, in which practitioners arrive at a site, set up their equipment, treat clients, and then pack up and leave. “It’s guerilla medicine,” she said. “We’re part of a grass-roots effort to change the health care system. Many working people don’t have health insurance, and we want to give them access to care. But we also want to change people’s perceptions of what wellness is and how to stay healthy.”
A large part of alternative medicine is preventive treatment, which ends up saving money, said Rose, but many people cannot afford alternative modalities because they are not covered by health insurance. “Alternative medicine is actually cheaper than conventional medicine,” she added. “You can’t expect to go to a regular doctor and be seen for an hour for $60.”
Practitioners will donate their time to the clinic and arrange for follow-up treatments on a sliding scale. The tentative list of practitioners includes Susan Brown (craniosacral therapy, which balances body functioning through light touch at selected points), Vickie O’Dougherty (homeopathy, which treats the whole system with energetic substances derived from plant, animal, and mineral sources), Julie Evans (massage), Maha Golden (flower essences for healing emotional imbalances), Thurman Greco (reflexology, stimulation of points on the feet to affect specific parts of the body), Julia Rose (acupuncture, balancing of energy through the body with the use of fine sterile needles), and Susan Weeks (homeopathy).
Weeks trained as a physician’s assistant and paramedic in New York City, She worked in Harlem Hospital and later in the emergency room at Kingston Hospital, until she felt that “my very strong ethic to ‘do no harm’ became impossible to reconcile with Western medicine, which is all about drugs. The health care system is run by the drug companies. When I was training as a physician’s assistant, the only education we received about menopause was a film on hormone replacement therapy [HRT], make by the manufacturers of HRT drugs! I raised my hand and said, ‘I’m going through menopause myself, and I’m taking herbs.’ And everyone groaned, ‘Oh, there goes Susan again.’”
In a course on anatomy at New York University, she was among the students dissecting cadavers, a distancing word she prefers not to use, substituting the term “donor”. “These were people who donated their bodies and gave us an incredible gift. A student from Ghana was out in the hall, crying. He said he couldn’t be a doctor because he couldn’t cut into the genitals. A lot of people can’t cut into hands, faces. I said to him, ‘You will be a great doctor because you really care about people. You and I will organize a memorial service for the bodies. We’ll thank them.’ It was an amazing, magical experience for everyone. Someone wrote a song, students brought flowers, thank-you notes, poems, which were all cremated with the bodies. These were students of all different religions and races.”
Weeks and anthropology professor Eugene Harris wrote an article about the ceremony for the journal Clinical Anatomy (“Human Gross Anatomy: A Crucial Time to Encourage Respect and Compassion in Students” by Susan E. Weeks, Eugene E. Harris, and Warren G. Kinsey, 8:69-79 1995). Today such ceremonies are held in a number of medical schools around the country, and the article is required reading in anatomy classes.
She went on to study with master homeopath Joel Kreisberg. Along with other graduates of the training, she came to realize that only the wealthy could support a homeopathic practice. As a group, they considered how to bring their services to a wider range of clients. One woman wanted to organize a health fair, but Weeks felt that a single event would not be effective. “I wanted an ongoing clinic. I think that’s the only way to help people.”
They created Health Care is a Human Right and approached Family of Woodstock, where they began to run free clinics, which are available to all staff and clients of the social service organization. “We’ve seen a huge difference in some people’s health,” she reported. “People come back. We do clinics every three months, and we’d do them more often if we had more practitioners.”
The expansion to Phoenicia is an effort to reach people living in the mountains who may not have access to health care. Rose, who lives in Woodland Valley, is a graduate of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and has practiced acupuncture in New York City as well as in Phoenicia.
“My original vision is to have a community wellness center,” she said. “A place where people would come to hang out, get preventive treatment in both Western and alternative medicine, have movement and meditation classes, cook and garden. Payment for treatments would be on a sliding scale, supplemented by grants and barter—working in the garden, washing dishes in the café. Because of the sheer magnitude and cost, I realized we have to start with a short-term goal, which is to build demand. First we have to go to communities and treat people, educate people, introduce them to the different modalities, and build a community of practitioners.”
Weeks and Rose hope to make the Phoenicia clinic a regular event. “It all depends on the demand and on funding,” said Weeks. They are in the process of writing grants for future support.
Phoenicia’s first alternative medicine clinic will be held at the Phoenicia Healing Arts Center on Main Street, Wednesday, June 20, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Call (845) 688-2323 to make an appointment for a session in massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, flower essence treatment, homeopathy, or craniosacral therapy. Those who can’t afford to pay will receive free treatment. Donations are requested from all other clients.


Life After High School

My generation, the generation of graduating high school seniors, has been tagged with the immense task of correcting societies ills. It seems like one moment we are enjoying a day of skiing at Belleayre Mountain with friends, and the next we are handed global warming, the war in Iraq, and social security and asked to fix them.
Ultimately, it is the work that we put forth to correct these problems that will determine the immediate course of our nation and essentially, the entire world.
So how do we do it? How can we accomplish our personal goals while making a concerted effort to correct societies ills? The answer that I have come to is rather simple, it is “our belief in our limitless capacity to achieve anything.” Call me an outrageous optimist, but I truly believe that we all have the capability to accomplish anything and everything after the end of our High School years. Whether we are headed to college, abroad, the armed forces, or straight into the workforce, we have been given the tools from our friends, family, and teachers to achieve virtually anything we wish.
In truth, no matter what capacity we choose to live our lives, we have the ability to learn and accomplish virtually anything we set our minds to.
During my address to Onteora’s graduating class I spoke about, “living without limits” because I have found that the greatest limitations that we run into are those that we impose upon ourselves. By
narrowing our thinking, we set ourselves up for failure and do not allow the potential of personal growth and learning to take place. In short, we can only realize potential if we allow ourselves to seize it.
No one knows exactly what challenges the future holds; but with the personal liberty of a free mind without and limitations, there is no challenge that cannot be conquered.
Once again, good luck to the class of 2007. Live your lives without limits.
Martin, who moved to Shandaken when he was 2 and attended Onteora schools from kindergarten on, was Senior Class President at Onteora HS, Class of 2007.
At present, he is working as a camp counselor at the YMCA Day Camp, Seewackamano and is planning on entering Hobart & William Smith Colleges as a freshman in August, 2007. Martin’s Major will be Political Science, with intentions of going on to Law School.
Martin participated in Student Council in his earlier education, was a Cubscout and Webelo Scout. He began playing the saxophone while a student at Phoenicia, and progressed with the instrument right through Middle School and High School. He was elected to the Honor Society at Onteora several years ago.
The above piece was written based on the student’s speech given at the recent Onteora 2007 graduation ceremony on June 22.


  A Jar Of Olives

Thinking Of Assorted Stuff

One contains about three-dozen framed pictures of family members. I have not the walls nor mantle space for them. The dilemma is this: What do I do with all the portraits I chose to display? The solution is simple. I could un-frame them and put them into photo albums. However, box number two that hasn’t been unpacked is filled with such treasured, yet unpacked, albums. Box number three contains a wedding gift, from “I-don’t remember-whom”, of Bavarian cut crystal stemware that was originally twelve of everything so fragile that only odd numbers of each size remain. I am sure that I have washed those glasses and packed them more often than I ever used them.
Madonna became famous with a song called “Material Girl.” In a way, “stuff” is that stuff beyond what we need. Perhaps we need less material stuff than we accumulate. Every time a 15% coupon shows up in the paper, I feel the need to buy more “stuff.” I know I should get rid of an item if I get a new item. However, my closet is “stuffed.” Seriously, I have clothing I wore to Freeport High School in single digit sizes just in case I get asked out to a pep-rally bonfire!
Henry David Thoreau admonished us in On Walden Pond that we should “keep our accounts on a thumbnail.” Just the pile of unattended mail, junk and urgent, covers my desk, let alone a thumbnail. Is all that paper important “stuff” to catalogue or process?
Kermit the Frog tells us that it is not easy being GREEN. Well, “green” is very much in vogue as we reuse, recycle and reclaim resources. The underlying concept is that we humans, as all good Muppet frogs know, have and consume too much “stuff.”
The media, now jumping on the Green Bandwagon, tells us that we all can do one thing to preserve the environment. I believe that many people doing little bits can make a big impact on the world. There is an urban legend about a bank teller who came up with a scheme to get rich. Every time there was a third place to a decimal, remembering that our monetary system only deals with tens and hundreds places, he would transfer that meager amount to his own account. With thousands of customers over many years with compounding interest, the teller became rich. And arrested, I might add, according to legend. So if we each did a little, like using the washer, dishwasher and dryer at night instead of peak hours, we might save a fraction of a kilowatt times millions of people.
Besides, there are others who might need our “stuff.” A small group of teenagers, with Carol Merante’s guidance, sold “stuff” at a yard sale and raised $460.00 for a project called “Nothing But Nets.” With ten-dollar donations they supplied sleeping netting that will protect families in third-world countries from disease. They, and groups like them, gave a little amount that was matched and doubled to an amount of $64,000.00. If you do the math, that’s 6, 400 people saved by a few people from our community.
Right now I am in the process of selling my mom’s house on the lake in New Paltz. It is filled with “stuff.” As I begin the task of sorting out. I am trying to keep “stuff” in its “thumbnail.” I am realizing that my mom’s “stuff” did not define her. She was the complete package. Her “stuff” was excess to her wholeness of being. What we miss is the person, not her things.
In Middle School we studied Anne Frank and the Holocaust. In one exercise, I had students pack a bag, as Anne did, leaving every thing else behind for the Nazis. At first, students wanted to pack pets, toys, clothes into their bags. When they really thought about the “stuff” that was important, they pared down to necessities, heirlooms and those items that let them go on to live and create like pencils, paper, books, etc.
So, to the Material Girl and Boy in each of us, heed some advice from Kermit and Thoreau. Surround yourself only with “stuff” you can use. That which is superfluous might better be recycled. A little can do a lot when we decide what is important to keep or give away.