Defining What's Local
Regional Labor Unions Rally For Gitter; Crossroads Construction
Plans Emerge
By Paul Smart
Approximately 120 members of 15 separate trade unions, including
the Teamsters, showed up in force to express support for Dean
Gitter's proposed Belleayre Resort at the last of a series
of state Department of Environmental Conservation-sponsored
public hearings on the projects 3,500 plus page Draft Environmental
Impact Statement last Thursday, February 19.
They came early, taking up much of the center of the room
in cross-armed solidarity, proudly wearing their locals' t-
and sweat shirts. Whenever one of their union reps, or Ulster-Sullivan-Delaware-Greene
Counties Building & Construction Trades Council President
Henry Bunce spoke, they clapped and cheered loudly. And whenever
one of a long line of local people speaking in opposition
to the project took the podium, they'd stay purposefully silent,
lending a palpable pall to the mood of the room.
Continue>>>
Onteora's Super
Pick
School District Goes With Experience As Budget Figures Stay
Gloomy
By Violet Snow
The Onteora school board voted unanimously to hire Justine
Winters as superintendent of schools at a salary of $135,000
per year, beginning July 1.
Winters, now superintendent of the Webatuck school district
in northern Dutchess County, has negotiated with Onteora
for a three-year contract at a rate of pay similar to that
of current superintendent Hal Rowe. The rate will stay the
same through all three years. Any work done before her July
1 start date will be paid per diem.
Board president Marino D'Orazio stated, "We're extremely
happy with Justine. Through the interview process, meetings
with stakeholders, and several conversations I've had with
her, I continue to be impressed with her as a person and
with her credentials as an administrator. She says she is
thrilled to be coming here."
Continue>>>
|
APPRECIATED CUPIDS... The
residents of Saxon Hill House on Acorn Hill were treated to
a Valentine's Day party by Junior Girl Scout Troop
178 and Cadette Girl Scout Troop 173.
How're We Doing?
Despite An Apparently Endless Winter, The Highway Department's
Doing Fine
By Tree McElhinney
Although two winter storms swept through our area within two weeks
of one another just this month dumping over 7 inches of snow,
sleet and ice, Highway Supervisor Jimmy Fugel says he thinks the
department will use only 40 percent of the amount of sand and
salt mixture that was used to keep town roads clear last year.
"Last year, I bought 510 tons. So far I've bought 300 tons
for this season and that should get us through the winter,"
said Fugel last week speaking by telephone from the town highway
garage.
According to Fugel, the Highway department is responsible for
plowing 68 miles of town roads, including the five firehouse parking
lots. There are seven dump trucks with 10-foot plows - three of
which are also equipped with a 6-foot wing plow- and four pickup
trucks with six-foot plows to handle the job. Two of the dump
trucks, a 1966 Oshkosh and a 1970 Oshkosh, will be replaced in
time for next winter with brand new models from International
Truck and Engine Corporation that are currently on order.
Continue>>>
Our New Super...
Justine Winters Talks It Out
By Violet Snow
The Onteora school board has offered the job of superintendent
of schools to Justine Winters, currently superintendent of the
Webatuck school district in northern Dutchess County.
So who is the new superintendent?
At the February 16 school board meeting that she attended, Winters
listened closely, asked questions, and related her own experiences
of school reorganization, staff and budget cutting, and bringing
together conflicting groups within her district. She described
Webatuck as having much in common with Onteora, such as its
rural character, diverse constituency, and wide geographic range
with concomitant transportation problems. Differences, she pointed
out, include Webatuck's extreme isolation from urban centers
and consequent high turnover of staff, as well as its annual
budget of about $15 million, as compared to Onteora's current
budget of over $40 million.
Continue>>>
|
