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Boiceville
Sewer Progress
“We’ve
looked at property at the corner of routes 28 and 28A but
that wasn’t available for purchase,” said Lamont.
“Also a site on Upper Boiceville Road and one behind
the commercial establishment on the southwest side of Rt.
28, near the Esopus, where the old saw mill was.”
The most likely site at the moment seems to be on the northeast
side of 28 across from the 28A intersection, Lamont surmises,
situated to take in the main hamlet area in Boiceville as
well as the school.
“It’s a fairly substantial building but I better
not get locked into a size because this is a preliminary
report- not a facility plan with a bunch of design drawings...yet,”
added Lamont, who noted the plant was not scheduled to be
built until 2007. “It’ll be about the size of
Prattsville’s (plant, now under construction), perhaps
a little smaller. It won’t be anywhere near the size
of Pine Hill(‘s plant).”
A copy of the entire 3-volume report is available for public
review at the town offices in West Shokan, Lamont pointed
out, describing it as “pretty formal,” covering
how the different service areas were selected and reviewed
and what could be done in each as well as containing a lot
of useful maps.
“The service area includes the Onteora School and
the areas around it and across the street, the residential
areas- what’s called Upper Boiceville Road to near
Deerfield Road- the entire hamlet,” he noted. “We
looked at widening the service area but didn’t find
the need and the City doesn’t have the money to do
it, anyway. This main area includes the southeast side of
Piney Point Road- the side towards the school- and everything
between there and Rt.28A on the Esopus side...”
The project is encompassed in the Community Wastewater Management
Program (CWMP) managed by the Catskill Watershed Corporation
(CWC) through New York City Department of Environmental
Protection (NYCDEP or DEP, for short) funding. It replaces
the New Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure Program (NSTIP
or NIP, for short) which was also funded by the DEP but
administered by the New York State Environmental Facilities
Corporation (EFC), an organization which also runs the Upgrade
program that was put in charge of the overhaul of the Onteora
School’s wastewater system. You may want to jot those
initials down for future reference. There’s more to
come.
Onteora hasn’t made a determination, as yet, to join
the Boiceville community system but a recommendation that
they do so is in the report.
“It’s cheaper for the school to go into the
community system than it is to do their own system but the
Upgrade program had already committed the money,”
Lamont observed, speaking about a $1.6 million pledge against
the $1.2 million additional cost to include the school in
the hamlet’s system. “The Upgrade program is
responsible for the operation and maintenance (O&M)
of (an upgraded school water system and the City has agreed
to give the subsidy to the school even if they go into this
community program. So, if the bill to the school is more
than the school was paying for its system before it was
included in either the upgrade program or the community
program, the City picks up the difference.”
Lamont’s report also recommends a subsidy for commercial
establishments in Boiceville and he refers to a precedent
in the NIP program, which was forged under the Memorandum
of Agreement (MOA) between NYC and watershed towns and included
a $10,000 a year subsidy towards commercial use. The MOA
produced a list of 22 watershed communities with no wastewater
management program or infrastructure which would be funded
to create them. By priority, the first 7 funded by the DEP
through the EFC were Hunter, Windham, Fleischmanns, Andes,
Roxbury, Phoenica and Prattsville. The next 5 of the 22
in priority order (with Boiceville at number 9, after Bloomville)
were eventually funded after the renewal of the 2002 Filtration
Avoidance Determination (FAD) that saved NYC big bucks by
allowing them to treat water supplies upstate rather than
closer to home.
“Going into the community program costs the school
nothing but it has a big impact on the O&M fees resulting
from the program,” he explained. “That’s
because the larger plant is cheaper to run per gallon than
a smaller plant and the school will take up a substantial
portion of the wastewater capacity. Including the school
and reducing the per gallon cost is of particular interest
to the commercial establishments because the program has
a subsidy for residential users but not for commercial users.”
Residential users will pay an operational fee of $100 a
year per “equivalent dwelling unit.” In other
words, a building with 2 apartments would pay $200 annually-
a fee to be updated for inflation every 3 years according
to the consumer price index- with the balance taken up by
the DEP’s O&M residential subsidy.
Commercial properties in the service area, however, will
probably be faced with an option, according to the Lamont
report’s charts, based on the design standards used
to develop the overall flow and estimates of metered water
use for each business. Price range runs from about $155
a year “up to $4,000 or $5,000 a year if they’re
metered and higher if they’re not,” Lamont said.
“The school’s flow will be quite a bit higher
than any other business or institution but that will be
subsidized by the Upgrade program, so we’re not worried
about them,” Lamont said. “But we’re concerned
about the cost to some of the other commercials and that’s
why we’ve recommended that the City consider a subsidy.
NIP communities that got wastewater treatment plants did
receive a $10,000 subsidy for total commercial so there
is a possibility of getting that. I think Boiceville particularly
needs one like it or greater because of how the formulas
are set for the large flow. That will lead, I think, to
an even higher cost per establishment than in some of the
other communities. So, to make it all equitable, a commercial
subsidy is really almost a necessity. There’s some
(businesses) that I just don’t think will make it
and it has to be feasible for everybody to really work.”
The program will operate on a basic gravity system but a
pump station is also part of the design although its location
has yet to be determined. The location of the plant itself
is “probably going to be an issue,” Lamont believes,
and he anticipates questions at the public hearing along
the lines of “Well, if the City wants it, why can’t
they built it and run it themselves like they did for Pine
Hill, Margaretville, Grand Gorge or Tannersville?”
Or “What happens if we run it as a sewer district
and NYC goes bankrupt? How long are the controls going to
run? All that stuff,” he predicts.
Lamont is confident that he has answers for most of the
questions expected. Like “What becomes of the output?”
“The plant will treat this wastewater to the extent
that’s required for either discharge into an intermediate
stream that leads to the Esopus or directly into it,”
he said. “That’s yet to be determined but it
will be ‘highly polished’ and treated wastewater
because, in the watershed, you’re required not only
to do primary and secondary treatment but also phosphorous
removal or, in this case, nitrogen or at least ammonia removal,
sand filtration and microfiltration through a bank of membranes.
It will be crystal clear and much more clean and polished
than it would normally be outside the watershed.”
Grievance
Day Arrives
A third write-in candidate, George Haug of Shokan,
was announced by Olive Superintendent and Olive Matters
founder Berndt Leifeld at an April 23 Olive Democratic
Party meeting, to run on the same anti-Large Parcel
issue that brought in three Olive candidates last year.
At the current board’s April 18 meeting at Onteora
Middle/High School, a budget lower than what was previously
recommended was voted in, despite concern from several
board members that the further cuts were made without
presentations or proper public input.
School board trustee Lev Flournoy, who will not be seeking
reelection this year, said he would vote on the budget
but felt “uncomfortable with the process.”
School board president Dave Patterson assured everyone
that the line item cuts were a directive at the last
school board meeting and the cuts did not effect education.
Business administrator Victoria McAllen said the additional
cuts she came up with totalled $255,000. Reductions
were made to unemployment insurance, and health insurance
cost estimates was slightly lowered.
The vote was six-to-one, with trustee Herb Rosenfeld,
the only no vote, stating the cuts ran too deep.
The most controversial part of the budget consists of
dramatic cuts made to special education at a reduction
of $355,258. This includes the dropping of five special
education teachers, speech/language therapist, teacher
of the deaf, four teaching assistants and a part time
social worker. The high school cafeteria was filled
with concerned parents, special education professionals
and Onteora teachers trying to make one last effort
to convince the school board that they should reconsider…
to no avail. A vote to reinstate a popular Teacher of
the Deaf position failed by a four to three vote, with
Bernholtz, O’Connor, Patterson and Vanacore voting
against.
Trustee Mary Jane Bernholtz explained that if the capital
reserve fund receives voter approval, it would eventually
take care of repairs and other district needs.
As the budget was approved, members of the audience
booed with many then leaving quietly, many wiping away
tears.
In other business, the board approved Jeff Hanna as
acting superintendent of the district in the absence
of Superintendent Justine Winters, effective immediately
for approximately thirty days.
Patterson said, “Justine’s health is her
primary concern at this point, she spent a few days
in the hospital last week and she is home and she is
alert and talking to us, she misses us and we all miss
her, so lets continue to keep her in our thoughts.”
Winters recently announced that she would be resigning
as superintendent in June, due to illness. Hanna was
acting assistant superintendent two years ago and also
helped fill in for Barbara Boyce in 2005 during her
leave of absence. In related news, the board approved
$18,000 to hire Dr. Richard Lerer as an educational
consultant to help search for a new superintendent (see
news brief inside).
Director of the Transportation Department Maureen Stancage
resigned effective May 12, stating personal reasons
for her departure. Hired last August, she is the third
transportation director in three years.
The future of the district committee disbanded and when
trustee Vanacore asked why she was told it was in large
part due to the board asking its consulting architects
for possible restructuring to look at other options
already turned down by the committee.
An Olive Matters rally about their new write-in candidate,
who did not answer calls from the press before press
time, has been set for May 10 at the Olive Library.
It's
Onteora Ballot Time!
Proposition
#1
Voters will be asked to approve the 2006-2007 Onteora
school budget of $44,644,222 or a 3.8 percent increase
from the 2005-2006 budget. Special education was cut
by $335,258 with seven full time employees in the
department laid off. The budget being presented is
below figures for a contingent budget. Contingent
budget implications are, if you work through the calculations
from the State, that the maximum increase we could
have on a contingent budget would be 3.84 percent
so we are already below the maximum. If voters defeat
the budget twice, it would automatically be reduced
to a 3.2 percent hike over this year’s spending
figures and all equipment purchases by law would be
removed from the budget.
Real property tax was estimated at a 3.08 percent
increase or $33,890,894. State Aid will have an increase
of 8.79 percent or $8,848,329. Federal aid remains
the same from 2005-2006 budget of $135,000. Themes
of the proposed Budget were outlined in an information
sheet given to the public: enhance safety and accountability
in transportation, reduce special education spending,
and focus on intervention and instructional programs.
Proposition #2
Voters will be asked to approve money for the purchase
of two in-house busses. Requested is a 30-passenger
wheelchair school bus not to exceed a cost of $75,000
and a 66-passenger school bus, not to exceed $81,000.
This is to replace two aging, high mileage and high
maintenance busses.
Proposition #3
Voters will be asked to approve an additional two
years on a three year transportation contract at an
estimated cost of $1,916,928 for 2007-2008 and $2,012,815.80
for the 2008-2009 school year, extending its approval
of a new 2006-2007 contract at $2,053,520 in recent
weeks. By law, voters must approve the additional
years. This is a six percent increase or a $106,779.35
difference if the existing transportation budget were
rolled over. The cost and contract differences result
from a shift from four locally-contracted bus companies
to one or two contract companies. Safety, control
and flexibility were given as the reasons for the
change.
OCS Business Administrator Victoria McLaren explained
the proposition: “If the people vote in favor
of the contract transportation proposition that means
we will be awarding the contract for a three year
term to (J.C.) Hoyt, which is the low bidder on the
contract that we had put out in the beginning of the
year.” If the voters defeat the proposition,
Hoyt will still be the contractor for the 2006-2007
school year, but McLaren said, “at the end of
that year we will either re-bid the whole contract
and see if there is anyone else who wants to come
in or extend the contract on an annual basis at CPI
(consumer price index) which is generated by the State
and we cannot negotiate their prices.”
In-house busses will remain the same. As part of the
contract agreement with Hoyt, priority will be given
to re-hire local drivers. Transportation will be defined
on the basis of hours, instead of routes, so the district
can have more flexibility as the student population
changes. If safety standards are not met, the district
can fine the contractor on a daily basis.
Proposition #4
This asks voters to approve a capital reserve fund,
similar to a savings account, not to exceed three
million dollars over the course of five years. This
will not be a tax increase, but an accumulation of
leftover monies from the district at the end of every
year. McLaren said, “it is to accommodate renovations
for repairs that would not be accommodated in our
day to day budget, much like in your home you have
a monthly budget, you could not likely be able to
replace say your furnace on a monthly budget, you
may likely have to take out a home equity loan.”
If voters establish the capital reserve fund, any
money used from the account would still need to be
approved by the taxpayers in the district. This proposition
only sets up the account.
Candidates
Incumbent trustee Herb Rosenfeld lives in Hurley with
his wife and is a retired educator of 40 years. He
worked 18 years as a math educator at Bronx Science
High School and 20 years as a private consultant on
school reform in New York City. His number one priority
is quality education for all kids. He believes that
education should address the individual style that
students learn. “We need to understand how we
spend our money... our aim should be at developing
inspiring work for every group of kids in the district,
even for kids in the middle.” He defines “middle”
as the average student who can sometimes slip through
the cracks of education. “I know we can do better,
but I am only one person on the school board,”
he says, adding that he wants the new superintendent
to continue on the path of staff development using
new programs that have proven to work and will be
able to reach out to more students. “I don’t
always want to see what we do good, but to look outside
ourselves and ask how we can do better.” Rosenfeld
was against the recent special education cuts, including
the teacher of the deaf position, and voted against
the superintendent budget recommendation of a 3.8
percent increase stating that the cuts were too much
of a burden on special education. He felt that enough
of the community and professionals came to board meetings
convincing him that the teacher of the deaf position
should not be cut. But he nevertheless urges all voters
to support the budget in the ballot booth. He also
will not support closing any school. He supports the
new transportation policies, limiting contracted companies
from four to one, and supports a policy giving military
recruiters the same access as other institutions of
higher learning during career days only. Lastly, Rosenfeld
does not see the Large Parcel legislation as an issue
this year. Responding to a write in candidate from
Olive and an Olive Matters rally on May 10, he said,
“I don’t know, maybe there is lingering
anger, but I believe with Olive doing it’s reval
this is a moot point.” He explained that he
has worked and will continue to work toward a different
way of school funding.
Maxanne Resnick is a Chichester resident of ten years
with two children attending Phoenicia elementary school
and currently works as a business manager alongside
her husband Brian Powers, the publisher of this paper.
She has a master’s degree in real estate development
from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree
in History from Brown University. She has been active
in the PTA and is a member of the future of the district
committee, where she acted as parent liaison to Phoenicia
school. Resnick believes that each community has it’s
own individual identity… “With all the
important issues we are facing, I want us to try to
work together and all communities should be heard.”
She believes that the different options of the KSQ
capital improvement project need full discussion and
would like to see a community forum with experts weighing
the pros and cons of each plan so the right decision
can be made. Resnick voiced concerns on the special
education budget, noting the amount of people who
protested the cuts as well as her belief that there
was not enough dialogue from the school board perspective
to validate the cuts. “I feel we are not given
enough information unless the board packet had something
we are not aware of.” She does not fully agree
with the new transportation contract, noting that
although the school board justified the change because
of safety, those issues were never spelled out and
a number of local drivers who had invested time with
the district have as a result lost their jobs. She
does not feel comfortable with committing to an additional
two years on the contract, noting, “I am not
sure going to one contractor is a good idea.”
She supports a policy on equal access to all institutions
of higher learning, including military recruiters,
targeted to only career days. Finally, commenting
on the large parcel bill, Resnick said, “We
should be looking at more important issues like a
new superintendent and the KSQ studies.”
Write-in candidate George Haug prides himself on being
an Olive native, from and living in Shokan and graduating
from Onteora in 1970. He received a Bachelor degree
of science at Tufts University and works for the New
York City Department of Environmental Protection as
a supervisor of microbiology at the Ben Nesin laboratory
in Shokan. He is married with a daughter attending
Onteora High and says he decided to run as a “civics
lesson” to educate voters on how to write in
candidates on a ballot. Haug is not a member of Olive
Matters, but said they suggested he attend their meetings
so they could help his candidacy. As far as current,
non-Large Parcel issues go, he says he would like
to “wait and see” what happens with special
education and believes there will be room to add specialists
if needed. Commenting on the KSQ facilities studies,
he said there is much interest in the Plan A option,
but “the central campus could have real merit
too.” He is not sure of the expanded five-through-eight
Middle School factor and questions class size vs.
financial savings. He questioned the amount of information
that was given on the new transportation contracts
and is officially “leery” of two additional
years on the new contracts. He feels that a policy
on military access equal to other institutions of
higher learning should be adopted.
Interim
Super Named
The main
concerns focused on the diverse lifestyles and cultures
of each community and a wish to find a super who can
unite the district, while respecting its “local
cultures.” Recent special education cuts were
of concern, with attendant parents stating that they
felt their views had not been heard or considered
by the school board or administration in its recent
decision to cut seven positions.According to the superintendent
search pamphlet, “The board of education will
offer a three year contract starting at a salary no
less than $155,000 depending on qualifications and
experience, plus a competitive fringe benefit package”.
Lerer said, “The salary is elevated, not the
highest, but not the lowest.”
In the meantime, The Onteora Board of Education has
hired Peter J. Ferrara, a former superintendent of
the Ellenville Central School District, as the district’s
interim superintendent of schools.
Ferrara resigned as Ellenville superintendent in August
2004, with two years remaining on a five-year contract,
for the purpose of retirement. The Board of Education
accepted the resignation with regret and praised his
tenure. In addition to his stint as Ellenville superintendent,
Ferrara has been an assistant superintendent, assistant
principal and teacher of English and Spanish in the
Hudson school district; and a high school principal,
middle school principal and director of school technology
in Houston, Texas.
Packing Up Memories...
I must admit
that I am a weekly visitor to the transfer station and the
Fireman’s collection bin in Shokan. What ever was
I thinking when I saved that size seven wool skirt I wore
in high school? People who know me know that high school
was two score and half a decade ago and many sizes below
my current fighting weight. Does anyone want a new bowling
ball (twelve pounds) and case that Bruce used when he used
to bowl with Pete Tosi and John Bachor?
The hardest things to pack are the memories. Frank and Terry
Carle and Steve Thayer used the barn fields for their Fourth
of July celebration of fireworks. Hundreds of people converged
with lawn chairs for the show that rivaled any event in
Kingston.
Does anyone remember the load of chicken manure that was
enroute from Billy Davis’s egg farm and dumped out,
by mistake, on Route 28A in West Shokan? John Bachor had
to use a snowplow to clear the road. For weeks people would
wrinkle their nose and ask, “What is that smell?”
We cautiously changed the subject and pretended that that
ill-fated load of fertilizer was destined for our hay fields.
Pigs, chickens, bunnies, ducks and a mean Welsh pony were
part of our adventure into farming. We got our chickens
from Skip Weidner, and since I am a Long Island girl, I
didn’t know that young leghorns could fly. We emptied
them from the chicken crates into the chicken pen, and they
all flew out the top. I spent days gathering wayward chickens
from trees and fields.
We got our pigs from Ernie Beesmer, and we would have our
sons feed and muck them and take them to Veteran to become
bacon and pork chops. One pig, the runt, we named Freddie,
and he became a pet. He followed our beagle around and had
no idea that he was a pig. He would greet the kids at the
school bus and once boarded the bus. After two years, Freddie
got to be a hundred and fifty pound “beagle”
and would chase walkers down Mountain Road. We had to find
him a home. Sue and Tom Kizis also made a pet of a lamb
named “Seven-up,” so we traded. “Don’t
ask; don’t tell!” was our credo.
Our ducks also caused havoc with school buses. One of them
had his foot injured as the bus tried to discharge kids
in front of the house. He not only waddled but also limped.
We named him Franklin, after a lame duck president.
Our free pony (always question why something is free!) used
to belly crawl out of the corral and trot down to Chris
Jones’s house to nibble on garden plants. We couldn’t
ride him because he rejected a saddle, which was not free.
My husband decided to ride him bareback. The physician at
the ER room got a kick out of that one. Thrown off by a
pony, eh?
The bunnies were an Easter present. One white and one brown
named Vanilla and Chocolate. We were convinced they were
the same gender until we discovered eighteen bunnies in
the coup. Farmers we were not. Bruce estimated that my eggs
would cost $52.00 a dozen, but we gave them away instead.
Now we are down to one overweight chocolate lab and a yellow
cat that looks around with dismay at the diminishing furniture
and has to keep searching for a comfortable place to nap.
I will be my own neighbor since I am only moving next door
and up the hill. It will be strange to pass the house we
loved. How long will it take to call our new house a home?
A
Jar Of Olives...
Olive citizens are known for their community volunteering.
Pam Walkowiak and May Ann Shepard join Robin Sears and the
District PTA in presenting a Free Family Health and Fitness
Expo on Saturday, April 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Onteora High School. Screenings, booths and exhibits will
benefit both the older and younger members of the school
community to develop a healthier lifestyle. Local police
will host a bike rodeo and assist parents in setting up
official identification records for children in case of
an emergency.
Olive citizens are so respected that other towns honor them.
Mrs. James “Ernie” Levins has been asked to
be the Grand Marshall of West Hurley’s Memorial Day
Parade. Ernie, who has served Olive for many years on the
Planning Board, was the principal of the West Hurley Elementary
School. Her grandchildren, Augie and Chloe, will join her
in the lead parade car.
The Onteora Budget vote is looming on the horizon. You can
vote at any of the elementary schools from 2 to 9 p.m. on
May 16. The proposed budget is at the financial level of
a Contingency Budget, the lowest level the State says the
District would operate on in the event a higher budget failed.
It is deliberately low in response to taxpayer complaints.
There are two Board of Education seats up for election.
Herb Rosenfeld and Maxine Resnick are running for the seats
previously held by Herb Rosenfeld and Lev Flournoy. A budget
already at its lowest level and two unopposed candidates
encourages an apathetic vote. Why vote when the results
are pre-determined? Well, here’s a lesson in Civics.
There is a third candidate who has entered the budget process
in response to the lackluster budget and unopposed candidates.
George Haug, who has attended every Board of Education meeting
since I can remember, has decided to run as a write in candidate.
George said that he wants Onteora back on track as the educational
beacon that he remembers when he and his wife Peggy went
there. He wants that for his daughter Bridget and for all
the children of the District. He is a write-in candidate.
To vote for him, one must pull down (or across) the box
atop either candidate and write in his name—George
Haug. Since candidates run at large, the two candidates
with the most votes will occupy the two seats on the Board
of Education.
Today I attended a memorial service for Linda Byer’s
mother, Edie Jensen, who passed away last week. The service
was held in the Phoenicia Theater to honor Edie for her
artistic contributions to theater in set design. The Reverend
Darmstadt encouraged friends and neighbors to share stories.
Carol Davis listed the long list of productions since 1984
that Edie had worked on. As I looked around the packed theater,
I noticed many neighbors from Olive were there to pay tribute
to this talented and loving woman. It reminded me how very
much we share with our neighbors to the northwest. Town
lines and politics blur when arts, sports, and charity are
the focus. It’s the way it should be. Skiers and actors
transcend the “we and they” of political entities.
As we left the theater, I recited Shakespeare’s famous
quote, to myself, about how life was a stage and each of
us played many parts. Exit stage left, Edith Jensen; you
played your part well. Good show! Applause. Applause!
And the rain continues promising brighter days ahead. When
I was a child, we sang, “Rain, rain, go away…”
but we also ran out into the rain in free abandon and danced
in the mud with no regard for mess or decorum. We simply
danced because it felt good to dance in the rain. I hope
you have enough child left in you to slosh through the mud
and dance like no one is watching!
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