The
Tower Not Built
”They
had an option back then to go to the (Olive) Planning Board
but they didn’t go. They went to court instead,”
Leifeld recollected. “We had a pretrial hearing in
front of a mediator judge up in Albany. At that point it
was (town attorney) Peter Graham, (Olive councilman Bruce)
LaMonda, myself, the owner of Masterpage and their two attorneys.
We got to talking. The judge’s job was to see if he
could mediate this whole thing and we told them, in front
of the judge, that if they go to the planning board and
get some of these subdivision problems taken care of, it
(the application) would
go through. They didn’t want to go. The judge packed
up his boat and the next thing you know we’re in court.”
Leifeld speculates that the extreme steepness of a dirt
road leading up to a hunting cabin at the top of South Mountain
in West Shokan, located on the parcel designated by the
application for the tower, was one reason the
company declined to apply to the planning board. The steep
approach makes emergency access to the site forbiddingly
difficult even in ideal weather, according to the town.
The cabin also had an attached 40 ft. transmission tower
powered by a trailer filled with car batteries already in
apparent operation at the site (although its purpose and
current status remain
unknown) and a relatively level spot just below the cabin
on which they
sought to put up a 180 ft. tower. The owner of land over
which the right-of-way to the cabin was laid out disputed
its use for a commercial property at the time and there
has been no indication that this opposition has been dropped.
”I remember making statements to the effect that ‘If
you don’t have access, how can you ask us to give
you a variance for a commercial lot where you’re going
to have business activities on top of a mountain that you
can’t get to?’ Leifeld said. “Then, when
somebody wants to come in, say on Route 28A, and open up
a store or a business and he’s got to have all kinds
of parking spaces and jump through 59 hoops before he gets
his approval, that just isn’t fair. Their lawyer claimed
we were trying to hinder the tower- which was not the case...If
they could meet all the requirements the tower probably
would have been approved. But they can’t and probably
never will.”
According to attorney James Kerr, who is handing the case
for Olive, the
company’s quest for a special use permit to supersede
the town’s zoning laws
now rides on a motion for “Summary Judgment”
before New York Northern
District Court Judge Norman A. Mordue.
”That’s where you don’t have to go to
trial,” said Kerr, explaining the motion. “You’re
saying you concede everything they say and it still doesn’t
add up to a case... If granted, that would be the end of
the lawsuit, subject to appeal, of course. The court would
say (they) were right and the town did delay and should
have granted the special permit. If the town wins, the case
would go to trial... The town has an engineer’s opinion
that the
(tower) height they were looking for wasn’t necessary
and that they were
saying they were entitled to more than they needed.”
In recent correspondence to the Olive Press, Masterpage
owner Kevin
Kellerhouse spoke of the site’s “unique ability
to cover almost the entire
township.” But Leifeld said when he showed the site
to a tower expert he
strongly disagreed, saying “I wouldn’t put a
tower up there if you gave me the mountain. First of all,
these towers are only good for 3 to 4 miles at best. Why
would you want to eat up a couple of miles just to get to
the road?”
”To him it wasn’t even a poor site, let alone
an ideal site,” Leifeld said. ”Therein lies
some of the mystery of this whole thing- that it was never
going to be a cell tower to start off with but they would
never admit that. They had something else up their sleeve.
That could be the problem with the judge (taking so long
to decide the case). He probably thinks this is all b.s.
but, geez, he’s got to make some kind of judgment
without taking
forever.”
Leifeld is not alone in his suspicions that the cell tower
was a trojan horse of limited use to introduce other types
of transmitters to the mountain and the mention of “commercial
radio, television and other electronic transmission structures”
in Kellerhouse’s letter further fuels
such speculation.
Calls to Masterpage to acquire their perspective on the
issue were answered with the comment “We’re
not obligated to say anything,” so their position
on such questions cannot be clarified at this time but their
impatience with the length of time it’s taking for
the court to rule is rivaled by Leifeld’s own.
”What’s happening with the court?” Leifeld
wonders. “We’ve asked the Nextel lawyer to call
up there and see what’s going on because I’m
still concerned over the fact that Masterpage was here first.
I’ve asked (town attorney Peter Graham) how, until
that’s settled, we can let another company build a
tower but he says it’s perfectly legal and all. But
there should be some kind of limitations on how long these
cases can go on.”
The
Damage Potential
Town supervisor
Brendt Leifeld was joined by Bruce LaMonda, Linda Burkhardt
and Henry Rank of the town board; Olive highway department
supervisor Jim Fugel, Shandaken highway department supervisor
Richard Merwin and Ulster County highway department section
supervisor, Joseph Nalepa; executive director of the Ulster
County Soil and Water Conservation District, Gary Capella;
Ulster County district 3 legislator, Rob Parete; New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation habitat manager,
Jack Isaacs; Dan Ahouse of Congressman Hinchey's office;
Jason Shea of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a representative
of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection
as the group set out to assess conditions along the Bushkill
and Moonhaw Creeks and Maltby Hallow Brook in the wake of
this spring's flooding in West Shokan and surrounding regions.
The trek was the eventual response to a petition initiated
by residents of Moonhaw Road in West Shokan requesting federal
attention to overflow problems in the waterways of the area
preceding and resulting from the early April floods in the
region.
"I got hold of the Army Corps of Engineers, Hinchey's
office, the county and
everybody else," Leifeld explained. "They're going
to give us a report on cleaning out the brooks here. The
state was here, too, Jack Isaacs- who gives out permits
if you want to do work on the streams- and we've got some
firm commitments. We want to take out all those big trees
from one bridge to the other (on the Bushkill) and there's
other stuff up in the valley there
that's all private property but Isaacs said that if they
fill out the permit (applications), he'd be inclined to
grant them- which is quite a commitment because it's usually
a big deal."
Some areas of the waterway would be cleared out and others
fortified, according to the early calculations, in hopes
of reducing the impact of serial flooding events along the
streams and creeks.
"They're not going to dredge this thing out like they
did 15, 20 years ago. They don't believe in that anymore,"
Leifeld added before alluding to the recent flooding problems
in the Gulf states by noting that the Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) was, of course, "busy elsewhere."
"Anyway, I asked this guy from the USACE (Shea) what
they were going to do now and he said he was going back
to write up a report," Leifeld said. "'I'll give
you a list of programs that I think would fit into this
and then you go from there' he said. This is long range
stuff. The county kind of surprised me but it's their road
(along Moonhaw), so they want to protect it."
Dan Ahouse of Congressman Maurice Hinchey's office had another
dimension to add to the clean-up picture, noting that, when
Leifeld contacted him, his office had already been working
with the USACE "subsequent to the flooding in April-
on issues pertaining to the Esopus Creek corridor in other
parts of the county."
Ahouse observed that Hinchey's office "brought together
numerous stakeholders who are in a position to affect the
situation...on the Bushkill" for the meeting based
on Olive's correspondence with the USACE because "(t)he
issues that the town was interested in with regard to the
damage and the mitigation work were consistent with things
that the Army Corps was looking at in other parts of the
town and other parts of the county. So, it made sense for
them to come out..."
In the background of these actions, Ahouse indicated "a
comprehensive watershed management plan which has been authorized
by language that Congressman Hinchey added to a piece of
federal legislation." This fresh authorization "came
in response to the April flooding but it should not be misconstrued
as a 'quick fix'," he pointed out. In this legislation,
the USACE has been given authority to engage in what they
call a Watershed Management Study of the Esopus Creek Watershed,
including the Bushkill and Maltby Hallow systems, as part
of a "comprehensive analysis of the creek and its tributaries."
"There's several areas that they would be looking at-
including issues like water quality, stream bank protection,
recreation, the flow and engineering of the creek,"
Ahouse said. "The Corps has some ideas about how you
could better effect the flow of the creeks so that you mitigate
against future erosion of stream banks... It encompasses
much more than flood control. It's a very comprehensive
approach...There are programs, for instance, within the
USACE Natural Resources Conservation Service and other,
state programs that address the more immediate needs in
our creeks- some of which have already been put into play
while others, pending funding, are to be initiated. The
context of the Corps' visit was to see, first of all, if
there was justification for immediate action on their part."
There's more that needs to happen before USACE involvement-
cost-sharing issues, agency assignments and other such concerns-
as Ahouse observed. But he emphasized that he was encouraged
by the degree of cooperation amongst stakeholders at the
federal, state, county and local levels as well as New York
City authorities. He spoke of "very productive conversations
about who can do what and when- which he said was "very
refreshing" and "perhaps even unprecedented."
"We've seen projects already completed. We've seen
projects moving forward in engineering and design. We've
seen agencies willing to step up," he beamed.
There appears to be a prevailing optimism that the water
system in the New York City watershed will emerge in the
foreseeable future as a stabilized and unified entity.
The
Tragedy Of Coincidence
Everyone agreed some tribute needed to be made, to capture
the sense of loss.
Why is it these memorials seem to capture our community
so?
While his grieving family and friends try to verbalize their
fond memories of Jeremy, they communally realize the impact
he had on every single person he met. His humility, great
desire for completion, and his unique, limitless optimism
was infectious.
This optimism was visually manifested in his unselfish creation
this past Christmas, of a lighted display which held over
4000 artistically arranged individual lights. This gift
welcomed visitors as they entered the town of Woodstock,
hanging blatantly above the windows of Print Express. It
was a perpetual work in progress (as he was a self-proclaimed
“perfectionist”), for the delight of anyone
driving or walking by. Jeremy himself was a “bright-light”
which always illuminated any space he occupied.
Jeremy was consistently working long hours at Tri-State
Lithography with his brother, Randy, whom he greatly admired
and respected. Beginning as Randy’s apprentice, Jeremy
eagerly learned every aspect of the printing business, including
maintaining and repairing all the machinery, setting type,
and overall production. His enthusiasm for his job was recently
revealed when his family discovered, in his now vacant apartment,
every single one of his shirts stained with ink.
Jeremy’s work ethics and loyalties were exceptional
for a man of his young years. He was willing to work from
dawn to dusk for the most minimal compensation which often
paled in comparison to his outstanding performance. He insatiably
needed to know how everything worked, how to repair it,
and how to make sure it worked at maximum efficiency. Where
others would tire, his inspiration would only give him more
energy as he leapt from one task to another.
Even though he worked long hours he continued to graciously
give his energy to anyone, especially his niece Ivy, his
nephew and God-Son, Izayah, and loving grandmother, Rose,
all of whom he loved, adored, and felt intensely accountable
towards. Witnessing his youngest brother David’s high
school graduation was a monumental, prideful moment for
Jeremy, as was the news of the recent birth of his niece
Adrianna, which amazed him and added a new perspective to
his outlook.
In his limited precious free time, he could be found in
Saugerties with Allison Platsky, patiently teaching her
to fish on Michael Rothe’s self-made pond, (which
he generously shares with the Platsky family) joined by
Joseph Phelan, and Dan Romano. The four, (along with Allison’s
dog Cassady) regardless of the weather, loved camping and
hiking up on beautiful Peekamoose Mtn, which deeply moved
him and held special spiritual importance for him. Jeremy
was the clan provider for recreation, cooking over the fires
he built, tending and being responsible for those fires
which along with his spirit, kept his friends warm.
These four, inseparable companions were also consistently
found in the Romano Family garage and machine shop, obsessively
concocting, and experimenting with new methods of engine
repair or modifying their trucks, often joined by his brothers
Michael and Peter. Most recently Jeremy was there daily,
making roadworthy his newly purchased, and now cursed, motorcycle.
For many years, Jeremy considered the Romano’s his
“extended family,“ and he referred to Debra
Romano as “Mom,” her daughter Melanie “his
little sister,” and her sons, Tom, Dan, Jesse, and
the late Paul, as “his brothers.”
Notably up to the very end of his life, and not knowing
what lay in store for him the next day, Jeremy’s charitable
nature was once again displayed at a Platsky family party,
on Saturday, when 20 invited friends multiplied mysteriously
into 70, as only in Woodstock it can. As Michael and Kathy
Platsky began to feel overwhelmed, Jeremy stepped up to
the grill and happily claimed the responsibility of feeding
the masses, never shedding his smile. Always undaunted,
he maintained the “More people? Get more food, get
more wood, let’s feed them!” attitude. He grilled
for 8 straight hours never faltering, never complaining,
never accepting the thanks he so deserved, believing that
this harmony defines “family.”
The fruitful labors of his loving, genuine qualities are
pervasive, and eternal, making it unbearably painful for
his loved ones to mournfully sit in their cars, longing
to deny a now empty passenger seat. These cars have explored
every scenic highway, back road, and accessible trail in
pursuit of Jeremy’s profound love and awe of the natural
beauty we are surrounded with.
Though tragic, it seems fitting that we have all lost Jeremy
on one of his favorite byways, the dynamic Dike Rd. in West
Hurley moments after he expressed his inner fulfillment
at the sight of the full moon reflecting majestically over
the reservoir, before heading home to Allison, who waits
along side us all for the sound of his return. Although
his body is gone, that “bright light” will always
burn within each of us carrying the torch he lit.
Born to Wilbur and Geraldine Delanoy, on September 24th,
1982, Jeremy leaves behind his siblings Randy, Wilbur, Michael,
Peter, Nicole, and David, and a baby son, Julian. He leaves
a void in the heart of Allison Platsky, and all who were
blessed by his love.
A
Jar Of Olives... Cup Of Joe
Starting with
the Dairy Deli and traveling toward Boiceville, we have
a choice of Olive’s Country Store, Get the Scoop,
Beyond the Gate, Pineview Bakery, Bread Alone, and the Boiceville
Market. On the other side of the Rez you can get a cup of
Joe at Tetta’s and the Tongore Market. We actually
have twice as many breakfast places as lunch and dinner
restaurants.
When you walk into one of these places, you get more than
a cup of coffee. You get greeted by first name, Cheers style,
and can order without the menu. Regulars can just call out,
“The usual!” Besides personal service, you get
news, gossip, conversation, friendship and a warm start
to the work or play day.
When we were fighting the Large Parcel issue, Olive often
played the rural town card in comparison to the commercial
value of Woodstock. We don’t have golf courses, clothing
and shoe stores, theaters, and such. True. What we have
in Olive is unique to Olive.
What town can boast five men who hay? Billy Lohrer, Frenchie
Bergeron, John Ingram, Bert Leifeld, and Jimmy Quick spend
much of the summer “making hay when the sun shines.”
Everett Cook would have made six, but he retired from the
grueling, itchy, and hot work of cutting, raking, baling,
lifting and loading.
We actually do have factories in Olive, but they, too, are
unique. Stucki’s Embroidery and Ronson Piano Hammer
manufacture products that aren’t made elsewhere. Stars
and wooden piano hammers put Boiceville on the map. Ray
Negron carries on the family business shipping wooden piano
hammers, a specialized part, across the country. Art Stucki
and Murray Fenwick will take time to show visitors around
and tell how they brought embroidery and lace making machines
from Switzerland to the United States.
Ironically, Olive could even boast Woodstock Chimes that
were made in the old Rotron building. Now it is just a distribution
center, but it opens twice a year for a gigantic sale.
In the thirty-five years I’ve been here, I have seen
Olive add two more gas stations, a super market, a florist
shop, two nurseries, log and modular home sales, another
bank, a doctor’s office, an animal hospital, two Chinese
restaurants, another liquor store, two beauty salons, and
new or “under new management” restaurants. You
can get pizza at three different locations. Sheldon Hill
Forestry and Ashokan Turf and Timber cater to homeowners,
farmers and woodsman. The Cracker Mill sells woodstoves.
Even our businesses reflect who we are in Olive. We needed
all those services and businesses. It helps us to remain
self-sufficient. I noticed that many of those places have
bulletin boards and a place to post business cards. That
says something too about commerce in Olive. We like to buy
local and support each other. We are tied to the earth and
to each other.
My friend Pat Tosi often jokes as she drives the long way
home from Boiceville that she’s going to look over
“downtown Shokan.” “ Wouldn’t Pete
(her husband who died thirteen years ago) be amazed?”
she remarks. “Gas and Chinese food to go!”
There’s a crispness to morning and a chill in the
night air although the days have been more like summer.
The leaves seem too green for the end of September. The
chestnuts haven’t fallen, and the summer annuals are
still boasting their bright colors taunting the leaves that
haven’t begun to change. The next sign of fall will
be the political posters littering the lawns and highways.
I always find it funny that the posters sport the candidates’
last names. This year they will say Johansen, Leifeld, Chase,
La Monda, Gunther, Rozzelle, Scofield, Fugel, Friedel and
Cox. However, in our small town they could just as well
say Cindy, Bert, Helen, Bruce, Sue, Sylvia, Jimmy, Peter
and Tim. It’s nice to live in a place where people
know your name whether you’re on the ballot or out
and about having breakfast with friends and neighbors.
