Summing Up
Quite a bit occurred in town this past year, but by our reckoning the coming years will be offering even more.
On the governmental side, we saw the town board throw its political weight about at the start of the year, allowing the town’s longstanding planning board to collectively quit for ethical reasons and then replace them without an apology for what was, admittedly, a brutally political action without any real ties to the act of land use planning. But we also saw the board manage to get passed, and started (at least in its planning phases) a new wastewater treatment system for the hamlet of Boiceville, which should help that community grow for all of Olive. And some considerable progress regarding the continuing battles with New York City, vis a vis the Catskill Watershed Corporation’s taking up Olive’s constant tax problems as their own issue.
But there were downsides that auger more change in the coming decade… At the same time that we were gaining with the CWC, the Coalition of Watershed Towns will be without Olive representation for the first time in years. And Pete Friedel’s winning of a town board seat seemed to show that the days of this being “Bert’s Town,” where the supervisor’s Democratic machine rules all, are now numbered.
On a business level, it was great having the American general Store provide a new center to the West Shokan community, but sad to see them unable to continue on. Somehow, a new means of doing business, more akin to the more communal ways of old perhaps, has to be arrived at for all our sakes.
Culturally, Olive has become one of the best musical destinations in the country of late, what with the Trail Mix Concert series of first class classical concerts now settling in at the Olive Free Library, and Adam Markowiz’s jazz programming at his Route 28 Adam’s Space showing real verve… and increasing draw.
Did we forget how well the town’s various sports teams have been doing, or what a special time everyone had at Olive Day in September? Or the excitement being generated by the possibility of a rail trail being built through town, or the reservoir lands opening up for greater recreation uses next autumn?
But back to transitions… we’re intrigued to see what happens when people start waking up to the fact that our school board, although dominated by Olive residents, appears to be heading us all towards the demise of our own Bennett Elementary School. Will this or the huge costs involved in the emerging bonding proposal be an issue come the elections next spring, or will everyone slip back to the old Large Parcel issue again? Is Olive Matters going to prove can take on more with its collective power than a single issue?
And what about the growing need for changes to Route 28, which claimed its share of lives again this past year and seems in need of astute rethinking?
A lot to think about… but also a good set of new challenges to liven up our town and bring into the fold all those newer residents starting to call Olive home.
Happy new year…
PS

Another interesting year in Olive is winding down and on balance I think, many positive things are happening. Of the big local issues, little has been resolved except for Boiceville’s sewer system, but that’s not to say we’re not making progress elsewhere. Verizon we hope, will get its wireless transmitters functional up on South Mountain before too long. And except for the occasional instance like that, progress isn’t truly a direction in that “forward” generally points at a different angle for each of us. But it is useful shorthand for the process by which communities grow toward the future they craft for themselves.
Sometimes that growth is more problematical than we’d like - think storage sheds here - other times it happens in steps less perceptible or intrusive. But we are progressing just the same. And if I had to define how or why that is, I’d say it’s best reflected in the way Olive continues to tend its collective interests rather well. Certainly things have been quieter, at least after last winter’s Planning Board fiasco, but that’s not to say they’re not improving. So to everyone who’s volunteered their time and been a part of what’s gotten better or stronger, thank you. It’s made a difference and as time goes by it’ll make more of a difference.
The clearest measure of this - for want of a better term - is in our political life, even though that phrase pushes buttons hardly anyone’s comfortable with. Olive’s newest town board member – and the fact that people were happy to cross old political lines to put him there – are both good news. Also good for Olive is the continuing strength in numbers that’s afforded the town control of Onteora’s School Board and its taxing authority. That gravitas comes with a double-edged sword of responsibility though, both for fair-handedness and for really listening to its neighbors. It’s odd for instance that the decision to move to a 5-8 middle school was clearly made in opposition to overwhelming public sentiment, and recommendations from the district’s own consultants and the late Justine Winters. Does this truly trouble as few people as it seems? And where is the town’s response, negative or positive, to the newly raised prospect of closing Bennett Elementary School? The silence is mystifying, and we’re hoping the new year will shed some light, even if it generates heat.
On other fronts, the town’s clearly gained a major ally in the Catskill Watershed Corporation for its tax struggle with the City. Whether that will ultimately help even the odds, I can’t say but I’m certainly hopeful as we all should be. And beyond that I continue to hope that Olive will actually awaken to the significance of up to 600 or 700 cars per hour added to the Route 28 traffic flow from the proposed Belleayre Resort project. If there was ever a time to pay attention, this is clearly it. It’d be tragic to lose Shokan again, this time to a 4-lane highway. Some lessons shouldn’t have to be learned the hard way, twice.
BP