Stand Up, Be Brave, & Gamble Accordingly...
A recent decision reached by a state supreme court judge in neighboring Delaware County is something we should all be keeping a close eye to. Although dealing with a New York City Department of Environmental Protection order involving a private sewer system serving a local business, the judge’s finding — that the city pay for all costs associated with its filtration avoidance measures – now has the potential to set an important precedent, both locally and nationally.
For one, it pushes into a corner the arguments that have been used against the building of city-financed sewer systems in our local communities, eventually overlooked in Boiceville but turned into the debacle of a hamlet turning down nearly $15 million in infrastructure funds in Phoenicia .
With legal opinions shifting in their favor, why should Phoenicians keep holding out against a sewer system that would allow the now-vacant hotel property in its center to be properly rebuilt, set the stage for the creation of a new creek-accessible park, and a last burst of growth? To assuage the fears of several successful businesses whose costs would go up a bit, based on their assertions that there’s a slim chance costs could go up for others as well?
We think the new decision, while as yet unchallenged in higher courts, opens a new door for rethinking the Phoenicia sewer system, which we’ve long felt would be a boon to the community’s progress. Furthermore, we think that discussion should be reopened, on an ad hoc basis if not through the avenues allowed by town government, on getting this offer back in gear.
Gamble on the future, we say. Especially with the odds shifting in our favor.

Speaking of gambles, we’ve also been watching the gradual locking in of plans for the Onteora School District to shift to a 5 through 8 middle school with two elementary schools… an expensive proposition we worry will not pass in the current voting climate. This time, the precedents that have been spurring on our thought process have not been legal but related to other budget matters in view, from the Woodstock community’s rejection of a library expansion to other school bonding issues going down elsewhere in the county. Furthermore, we wonder just how far the Olive community will go towards indebting itself just years after changing the course of the distrct because of other tax matters.
Our sense here is that the OCS board should move forward towards their new goal very carefully, making sure it has an internal sense of consensus before it begins the hard work of building district-wide consensus for what’s being planned. Furthermore, we echo our esteemed colleague’s opinion at the Woodstock Times that some second opinions be looked into before proceeding. There’s something inherently wrong about consultants designing plans that could end up serving for their own benefit as contractors.

Lastly, on the subject of budgets and taxes… we have again noticed a reluctance on the part of our local town boards in Olive and Shandaken, and downright aversion in the latter, towards the opening up of the annual budget process, which requires that some sort of proposed spending plan for the coming year be set by October 21. This process, we feel, is the most important element in our town boards’ jobs, and we much prefer the greatest amount of openness in it, friction and troubled debate be damned, than any attempts to leave out public input. After all, it’s the people’s money that’s being planned for spending.
So… catch what reports we have on matters this issue, and be sure and attend every session having to do with the budget to ensure it proceeds appropriately. We’ll, meanwhile, keep you informed about how things proceed in the coming weeks before the election, when the majority of these matters must be decided for decisions to be finalized just after voting halts the first week in November.

In other words, folks… the trick on all these counts is to stay informed and stand up to be counted. The glory of local government, after all, is that it’s yours to effect.
PS