Gauging Cutbacks?

According to DEP spokesman Michael Saucier, the city agency currently provides funding to the United States Geological Survey for an extensive network of approximately 100 stream gauges within and outside of DEP's watershed area. Of those, he said, DEP will no longer support 24. The cost to operate each gauge is about $17,000 a year.
“As a result of the need to reduce expenditures during this difficult economic time, DEP is reviewing all aspects of its budget, including the support it provides for the gaging network,” Saucier said in a prepared statement. “The results of this analysis indicate that many of the gages no longer serve the purpose for which they were originally intended.”
Only one gauge in Shandaken is slated for shut down. It is at the Panther Mountain Tributary to the Esopus Creek in Oliverea. Three others in Ulster County - at the Beaver Kill Tributary in Lake Hill, on the Roundout Creek at Peekamoose and on the Wallkill River in Gardiner, are set to be shut down as well.
In nearby Greene County the gauges on the Sugarloaf Brook in Tannersville, the Schoharie Creek near Lexington, and the Batavia Kill near Maplecrest and also in Hensonville will have gauges shut off.
State Senator John Bonacic, who called the DEP’s plan “inappropriate,” met with New York City Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush earlier this week to demand that stream gages in the watershed area be kept open.
The Senator later said he asked the DEP to give him an answer on the gauges later this week. But Bonacic added that if he did not receive a satisfactory response he would introduce legislation to require New York City, as part of their ongoing water supply responsibilities to monitor the tributaries.
Hard hit, he and others noted, would bewill be Delaware County, where over 11 gauges are scheduled to be shut down over the next two years
Middletown Supervisor Len Utter talked about the importance of the gauges during flood events, saying that watershed dwellers can go onto a website and see precise and up to the minute flows and elevations of the many creeks monitored by the gages, which feed the data to satellite. Utter said such data is an invaluable resource for a host of emergency service agencies during flood events.
Rafael Rodriguez, Director of the USGS New York Water Science Center, said that although the City plans to pull out on funding, it remains unclear whether that would mean the gauges actually get turned off.
“Data collection at the streamgages may be discontinued due to funding reductions from partner agencies,” he said. “Although historic data will remain accessible, no new data will be collected unless one or more new funding partners are found.”
Meanwhile, Hudson Valley Congressmen Maurice Hinchey and John Hall recently announced final congressional approval of $331,000 for a pending flood mitigation study in the Upper Delaware River Watershed and for the enhancement of the existing flood alert system for the region. The two Democratic lawmakers also worked to secure $96,000 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide additional support for the pending comprehensive study to mitigate future flooding in a number of areas within the Upper Delaware River Watershed. Hinchey also obtained approval of $235,000 for the development and implementation of a Delaware River Enhanced Flood Warning System, which will be done along with the Delaware River Basin Commission.
Hinchey and Hall obtained $700,000 for the study last year, to which this funding will be added.
Unknown is how such funding could help out with the city and USGS program’s funding.

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Zoning For Farmstands
Al Higley and his son Alfie run Hanover Farms, a roadside stand on Route 28 in Mount Tremper from which they sell acquired produce, some of it local during season, and sundry other goods. After years of battling the Town of Shandaken for being in violation of the town’s existing zoning laws, Higley says he now faces another threat to his livelihood - a new law that regulates the size of farm stands, what can be sold at one, and what time of day the goods can be sold.
As zoning now stands, however, such stands are not allowed at Hanover Farm’s existing size. Neighboring Roger & Alyce’s Farm Stand was grandfathered into existence over 20 years ago.
Prior to the town board’s March 16 hearing on the proposed law, Higley launched a public relations campaign, distributing leaflets to every mailbox in town claiming persecution for political reasons and urging town residents to attend the session and stop the town board. All that shop at Hanover Farms were recruited as well, with the Higleys opening discussions with the catch phrase question, “Are you a friend of the stand?”
The result was that when the hearing began at town hall on March 16, it was standing room only, with dozens more milling about out in the hall and parking lot. Most were supporters of Higley, and one at a time they spoke of Higley’s virtues as a businessman and local resident.
A butcher by trade and former restauranteur and Olive town justice, Higley built the Boiceville Supermarket, then known as Al’s, in the mid 1970’s, later selling the property after a FEMA flood settlement. While serving as a GOP county legislator in the mid 1980’s he ran a wholesale meat business which supplied the county jail. Prohibited by his elected role from bidding on county contracts, he was subsequently convicted on two counts of conflict-of-interest in connection with a “dummy” corporation he set up, headed by his sister and brother-in-law, to continue the business arrangement. Higley was forced to resign his legislative post. The convictions were overturned in 1987 by the state Court of Appeals, who found that the District Attorney had failed to have Higley swear an oath to his having put into writing a waiver of immunity from prosecution in return for grand jury testimony.
As for the public hearing earlier this month, Higley himself set the tone for the evening when, allowed to speak first, he sauntered up to the microphone and offered a pep talk directly to his supporters instead of speaking to the board about the proposed law.
“The law is on our side, the politician’s aren’t,” Higley said, back to the board, instructing the crowd he’d pulled out to let the board know they were displeased.
Commentary ranged from charges of the law being nothing but a political attack against Higley to outcries that any efforts to control farm stand growth were “absurd,” and that business should be allowed to do whatever it takes to keep going during these tough times.
Against a backdrop of catcalls and threatening remarks from the pro Higley contingent, others spoke in favor of the law, noting that the proposed law actually increases the size of Higley’s operation (under current law Higley is allowed only 100 square feet; the new law allows 2000), and suggesting that Higley was exaggerating when claiming such a law would put him out of business.
Supervisor Peter DiSclafani explained that the proposed law is an attempt to update current laws that are no longer in step with things in the new millennium, including new regional efforts to emphasize the Catskills’ farming heritage. He pointed out that the laws on the books now only allow farmers to place a couple of picnic tables out by the road to sell the produce they grow. The new law, he said, recognizes the popularity and need for larger produce stands that sell more than just tomatoes and corn but all vegetables, fruits, herbs, fresh pressed ciders, home-made pies, homemade jams, homemade jellies, homemade preserves, homemade sauces, homemade pickles, homemade vinegars, milk, cream, butter, cheese, dried fruits, honey, nuts, maple syrup.
Under the aegis of the Watershed Agricultural Council, with support from the Catskill Watershed Corporation and other regional entities, a new “Pure Catskills: Buy Fresh, Buy Local” campaign has gathered steam in recent years via a popular website, regional guide books, and a product branding effort.
Pure Catskills, which defines itself as a branding and buy local campaign and is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Catskill Mountain Foundation, and New York City Department of Environmental Protection, among other entities, has been seen as a key towards greater regional identity, and a return to small-scale agriculture, throughout the Catskills… and includes such local members as the Emerson Farm Store and Wittenberg Store (but not Hanover Farms).
Also key to regional development of late has been a newfound emphasis on sustainable small growth, emphasizing local products, as well as such efforts as the Central Catskills Collaborative, which was set up to spend an initial $500,000 in state funds dedicated to communal projects among the Route 28 corridor’s key municipalities, and has since raised further funding, and funding potential, tied to its new effort to apply for Route 28 to be given Scenic Byway status, which town and regional authorities now see as a key to future funding help for coordinated development in the central Catskills.
Nevertheless. among the chief complaints about the proposed farmstand law in Shandaken March 16 were those who objected that it limits what can be sold at any stand to only homemade and local produce, that it limits operation to daylight hours only, and that it requires that all lights be turned off after sunset.
Higley’s stand, although located in what is zoned a residential neighborhood, is currently open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Maureen Millar, a Mt.Tremper resident and member of the town Planning Board, surprised all by saying that she did not support the law. But while most in the room opposed it because they view it as too restrictive, Millar opposed it because it isn’t restrictive enough.
“Everyone hates zoning laws,” she said. “Until their neighbor does something crazy.”
Former planner Al Frisenda, speaking in favor of Higley’s stand, meanwhile said the solution for Higley would be for the town board to re-zone the area to a Highway Business Zone.
It was noted that such an action, or any effort to remove the proposed controls in the draft law, would possibly jeopardizee Scenic Byway status for the rest of the Route 28 corridor.
Past battles involving town zoning have also included other business proposals for Route 28, from those that resulted from okays for the Phoenicia Diner and nearby mall properties, deemed examples of “spot zoning” at the time, to Frisenda’s inevitably successful legal battle to build what is now Railroad Pizza near Pine Hill and Zoning Board of Appeals member Gary Guglielmetti’s attempt to set up an auto service shop in the Mt. Tremper vicinity.
The town board is expected to make adjustments to the proposed law and reconsider the matter April 6.

Comfort Zone

Onteora’s Budget...

After board discussion and adoption (or mitigation), the spending plan will go before Onteora voters on Tuesday, May 19, when an election will also be held for three school board seats, including three-year posts currently held by Board President Maxanne Resnick and Vice President Laurie Osmond, as well as the vacant seat once held by former Board President Ralph Legnini, who resigned this winter and was recently replaced by Mt. Tremper resident Dan Spencer.
Ford presented her budget, $88,000 over the district’s contingency figures, at a March 17 board of education meeting at the Middle/High School after an earlier trial run on March 3 where she explained how most of the cuts involved personnel and reflected needs from use of various means to keep the tax levy rise low last year.
“What I would suggest is running with this budget,” said Ford, “It is so close to contingent because if the vote goes down and we go to contingent budget we would be looking at removing the equipment amount and if we move that, we are below contingent.”
“Our (tax) levy increase is 9 percent,” Ford said, explaining how the Consumer Price Index combination of last year’s 3.08 percent and this years 3.97 percent has forced shifts in how budgets are valued, as well as the fact that the district will most likely see a two percent loss in state aid and a one percent loss in interest income.
The budget-to-budget increase is projected to be 4.15 percent, from $48,215.077 in 2008/2009 budget to $50,129,886.
Osmond said she would like to see more from individual district departments on potential cuts.
“What we are getting here is very few menu items and we have the entire budget to go through,” she said. “I think to look at the significant categories would be very helpful.”
She also asked building administrators to look at an additional five percent reduction, on top of an existing ten percent reduction figure, and suggested that the district’s BOCES contract be reduced by keeping kids in the district.
Resnick noted how, during a series of recent visits to town board meetings throughout the district this month, people had mentioned the closing an additional elementary school.
“Some say we should close a school to achieve some reduction, but I want to stress that closing a school will not solve the problem, it will help in reducing some of the operating budgets,” she said..
Osmond agreed, noting how expenses continued rising at Onteora despite the 2005 closing of West Hurley.
Later, Resnick noted how, “We as a community need to better understand the choices ahead regarding our school district. The question is what the community’s priorities are against the associated tax levy which occurs.”
“As we go forward, the district needs to articulate, and the community needs to better understand the array of choices that they might support,” she noted. “Examples of the considerations are the retention of a community school; our Middle School grade configuration; the sizes of our classes, some of which are well below are district class size caps; the variation we are able to offer in high school electives, as well as after school programs; and the allocation of monies to improve our current buildings, once a plan has been established.”
At the recent meeting and in a flurry of letters sent to local newspapers and the Board since, the chief element drawing fire with Ford’s proposed budget has been the proposed changing of how the INDIE program operates, cutting its budget line from $120,000 to $50,000.
“We are looking at an after school program of some nature, we don’t really have it defined yet, but we moved some money back into that so that’s a change,” noted Ford, after making some shifts from an earlier March 3 budget presentation.
She was followed, March 17, by the presentation of a student-made documentary and INDIE Director Russell Richardson’s attempt to make a case that his program ultimately saves the district money since it reduces the dropout rate and keeps at risk kids from being sent to programs out of the district, which inevitably drops aid funding. Specifically, he noted how if dropped, INDIES 70 students would have to be absorbed back into the curriculum or sent to BOCES.
“Sending a kid to BOCES for alternative programming is expensive, the cost per year is $12,000 per child,” he said, noting that INDIE’s cost currently averaged out at around $1,700, and could be dropped to $1,200 with increased enrollment.
Later, High School Principal Lance Edelman warned of cutting BOCES while retaining INDIE.
“I hear alternative education be synonymous with INDIE and I keep hearing filmmaking,” said Edelman. “Not all of our alternative education students are interested in filmmaking; you have to remember BOCES provides a wide range of programming.”
As an example he listed, cosmetology, auto repair and culinary arts.
In other budget talk on the 17th, the school board approved a ballot measure that will ask voters to purchase two buses for the coming school year. The request was approved 4-1, with Osmond voting no based on her request that all departments make sacrifices, including transportation.
Trustees Michelle Friedel and Donna Flayhan were absent.
Director of Transportation Dave Moraca said that with the exception of last year, voters have consistently refused the purchase of new buses and they have a backlog of old, high mileage buses in need of expensive repair.
On the ballot voters will be asked to vote on a 65-passenger bus at a cost of $100,000 and the purchase of a 28-passenger bus at a cost of $50,000. Moraca said the 65-passenger bus would replace a 1999 bus with over 200,000 miles on it, while the smaller vehicle replaces a van with 216,000 miles, at present.
On March 3, the board approved the extension of Mulligan bus contracts for the 2009/2010 school year, with Trustee Donna Flayhan the only no vote, feverishly still supporting the re-bidding of contracts.
In other recent matters, OCS Trustee Anne McGillicuddy asked if the board could explore the possibility of having coffee chats with the public as a means of better reaching out to the community, based on a protocol set up in Kingston in recent years.
Trustee Rick Wolff said he was uncomfortable with the idea because of the way misinformation moves around the district during annual election cycles.
McGillicuddy said she perceived the chats more as a means for the board to listen to community input and listening than getting info out.
Superintendent Ford, for her own part, suggested having talking points in order for the board to stay consistent.
Spencer, who was elected to fill the board seat left vacated by Legnini on March 9 by a 5-1 vote, with only Trustee Rick Wolff not supporting his candidacy, made suggestions on how the district website can be better for public use at his first official meeting on March 16. He said information does not get out to people, leaving the general public attitude towards the district negative, and noted that the creation of an automated email response system, along with an email distribution list and direct links, would help solve the problem.
“I think we have a lot of good ideas, but we are not getting it out quick enough,” he said.
The district now has a public comment phone line. The communications committee organized this as an extension of the public-be-heard format. Anyone can leave a district related message at 657-2677. Once you hear, “Onteora faculty mailbox,” press extension 490.
Spencer was one of four candidates who made statements and answered questions from board members in a recent interview process for the vacancy, where he primarily addressed budget and enrollment conflicts within the district with a calm, politically neutral sense of style. Voting was done alphabetically, with he the definitive winner over former board candidate Tom Hickey, who gained only four votes, and two others, Rita Vanacore and student William Melvin, who received one and zero votes, respectively.
Spencer is a Senior Applications Engineer and Project Manager at Ametek Rotron. He lives in Mt. Tremper and is guardian to a child who attends school in the district. He is a member of the Woodstock Rescue Squad, has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical engineering, with a minor in computer science and an Associates degree in Civil Technology.
He has said that he pondered running for school board in the past, but was unsure how much time was involved in the volunteer job. He will hold the seat through May and said this will give him opportunity to decide if he can handle the time committed to run for a seat.
In other news since our last issue, the board rejected all contract bids on the high school auditorium renovation project at a special meeting on February 27, where they also re-authorized a re-bid due to cost overruns. It turns out that with money approved for the project by voters in 2007 totaling $1.862,711, partly from an EXCEL State Grant stalled for two years, final bids ened up coming in $160,000 over what was budgeted.
McLaren said there was a shining ray of hope, besides the possibility of a new low bid. The Onteora auditorium job, she said, is currently on a State-approved list of shovel-ready projects and could qualify for stimulus money to make up for the shortfall.
Finally, Corey Cavallaro of the Onteora Teachers Association has continued to address the school board and administration in public forum on contract negotiations. He noted that the district has stalled in bargaining negotiations for over 250 days and offered to meet in executive session and answer questions the board may have.
So far, though, Cavallaro says he has met with no response except a memo seeking a fact-finding request through a third party.
“The board of education and the superintendent have firmly established the un-written policy of abdicating any responsibility for negotiations and would rather hire consultants at taxpayer expense than do the work they were hired and elected to do,” he stated.
The board’s next meeting is at Bennett School on March 31, the same day the long-awaited state budget is officially supposed to be voted on.