APRIL
1
is much more than a Fool’s Day in these parts. For many,
it’s a time for holy journeying down into the waters of
the Esopus and other local waterways for the sacred sport of flyfishing...
A
Comprensive Scoping
Taking Climate Change Into Account As Pro & Opposing Sides
Keep On Spinning
3/27/2008By
Paul Smart
A Scoping
Document for the new environmental review of the long-pending
Belleayre Resort and state-owned Belleayre Ski Center expansion
plans — proposed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer in
a controversial Agreement in Principal announced last September
– was finally released by the state Department of Environmental
Conservation on February 27, a month after it was first promised
for release, a couple of weeks after its informal release
to the private resort project’s developers… and
two weeks before Spitzer left office to be replaced by current
governor David Paterson..
Continue>>>
Read
the Scoping Document
Highmount
Empire Zone?
Gitter Goes For State’s Big Tax Perks Even If It
Means Hurting Rest Of County
3/27/2008
By Phoenicia Times Staff
Crossroads Ventures LLC., the company trying to gain approval
to build a $400 million resort project on the Ulster/Delaware
County next to the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, is taking
steps to have the project site declared an Empire Zone.
On Tuesday, March 25, Steven Finkle, the Empire Zone Administrator
for Ulster County, confirmed that his office was investigating
the possibility at the Developer Dean Gitter’s request,
but noted that the former Shandaken Supervisor Robert Cross
Jr, who’s wife is employed by one of Gitter's other
companies, also submitted a request prior to leaving office
at the end of 2007.
Continue>>>
Troubles
At Onteora
New Parents Group, Budget Advisory Committee
Signal Differing District Visions
3/27/2008
By Lisa Childers
It’s been a busy, and somewhat convoluted month
for the Onteora School District. And the coming weeks,
starting with a special Info Session on Middle School
plans set for this Thursday, March 27, and a second
such event scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, set for
even more activity… including administrative visits
to each of its constituency town’s monthly board
meetings to talk up those same 5-8 plans.
Continue>>>
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All
Tied Up
Keeping Ray Smith’s Local Legacy
Alive
3/27/2008By
Paul Smart
According to Marietta at Morne’s Imports in
Phoenicia, her store’s the last of a legendary
breed in the Esopus Valley. She was speaking about
places, she stressed, that catered to the flyfishers
whose beloved trout season starts next Tuesday, April
1.
She showed off the various clothes, books, and gear
she had for sale… a carryover from when the
place was Folkerts, a legendary store that, alongside
the Esopus Flyfisher and other emporiums along the
Route 28 corridor, helped make Phoenicia one of the
key centers for trout fishing in America… and
the world, for that matter.
Continue>>>
Becoming:
Visions of Childhood is the name of a new
exhibit at New York University’s Bronfman
Center Gallery where Phoenicians Anique Taylor and
Sean Keaveny, an 11-year old student, will be showing
works from this week through May 18, with an Opening
Reception this Thursday, March 27th, from 7:00 to
9:00 PM. The above is a detail from Taylor’s
“Red Girl.”
City
Playing Nicey-Nice?
One New York Lawsuit Appeal Dismissed
As Second Grows More Compassionate
3/27/2008By
Paul Smart
According
to Olive Town Supervisor and Catskill Watershed
Corporation Director Bert Leifeld, things have been
going well with the town’s ongoing, and seemingly
endless, negotiations with New York City over valuation
of the Ashokan Reservoir. And they looked good on
the horizon, as well.
That’s after even better tidings appeared
in recent weeks in the form of a state Supreme Court
justice’s recent dismissal of a City lawsuit
over Olive’s tax assessment of the Ashokan
Reservoir for the years 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004
and 2004-2005 that could have cost Onteora School
District and town taxpayers over $14 million in
back taxes, if lost.
Continue>>>
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