4/10/2008
The
Lobbying Effort For Better Skiing…
On Thursday, March 27, more than 120 residents from Ulster
and Delaware Counties organized by the recently renamed
Coalition To Save Belleayre drove up to Albany to “march”
on the State Capitol to protest recent proposed budget
cuts that remove some new amenities such as added ski
trails, a new lodge, and a permanent home for the music
festival... saying that despite the state’s needs
for budget cuts, the actions “would severely impact
the future of the Belleayre Ski Center, which is the primary
economic catalyst of the region.” Organizers met
with several key State officials in an effort to have
the proposed cuts put back into the budget including longtime
Belleayre supporters Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos;
Senator John Bonacic; and Assembly members Clifford Crouch;
along with Assemblyman Kevin Cahill and Deputy Secretary
for the Environment Judith Enck, in whose office the above
image was taken. Complaints were voiced about similar
lobbying efforts from various private ski area owners
in the region now including former Belleayre ally Plattekill,
HUnter and Windham Mountains in Greene County, and the
entire Ski Association of New York, who have asked for
a moratorium on further Belleayre development until a
full study of the industry and effects of private/public
competition can be made. In addition to the Coalition,
other groups with members marching were the Belleayre
Regional Lodging and Tourism Association, the members
of which rely on overnight skiers guests, the Greater
Margaretville Chamber of Commerce, the Ulster County Chamber
of Commerce, the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce,
and Partners for Progress, a grassroots organization formed
to support Belleayre and the proposed Belleayre Resort.
And yet as budget talks continued this past week towards
a resolution expected next week, all talk of the lobbying
effort started falling to silence as more budget trimming
took place elsewhere around the state. In the meanwhile,
those who called the state run facility ‘s toll
free phone or regular phone numbers were informed that
it had been disconnected. Turns out there was a glitch
in the system... that necessitated it all be shut down
for the time being. Word was, though, that things should
be back to normal for the ski area’s final weekend
over the coming days...
On Again Suit…
New York’s Court of Appeals has overturned two lower
court decisions and agreed to hear the original 2005 Article
78 lawsuit filed by 27 Shandaken property owning families
challenging the town’s assessment practices. The
suit, Windy Ridge Farm et al v. Shandaken, was initially
dismissed on technical grounds connected with its filing
date. In agreeing to review the case, it now joins two
other active lawsuits filed by members of the Shandaken
Landowners Association claiming unlawfully “selective
reassessment” practices by former town officials.
One of those actions seeks $3 million in damages for alleged
violations of the plaintiff’s civil rights under
the “Equal Protection” clause of the US Constitution.
According to SLA President Peter Vinci, the group has
been actively seeking a negotiated resolution with the
town for some time. At February’s town board meeting,
he and other members presented parts of their case publicly,
in hopes of stimulating an out of court settlement with
the new town board. So far, says Vinci, whether the board
is open to such discussion or will seek to proceed to
trial is as yet undecided. A conference between Judge
O’Connor, newly assigned to the matter, and the
respective attorneys has been scheduled for April 14 to
discuss the status of that.
Meanwhile the Court of Appeals’ recent decision
appears to have effectively ratcheted up the legal costs
involved for both parties. Thus far the town has spent
about $50,000 defending its actions, and the landowners
about $27,000. Lacking a negotiated resolution and with
the reinstatement of the Article 78 action and trial costs
for the related suits, additional legal costs in the near
term are expected to significantly escalate.
In a March 20 press release responding the Court of Appeals
decision, Counsel for the plaintiffs, Brian Matula of
the Albany law firm Cooper, Erving and Savage, said: “I
think it is unfortunate that these taxpayers have been
fighting so hard and with so much of their own money for
something as simple as fair taxation – something
that is guaranteed by the Constitution. I also think it
is unfortunate that the town has spent so many tax dollars
on presenting procedural roadblocks and on appeals rather
than on a town wide reassessment.”
Inching To Reval
Towards the end of the boisterous and long town meeting
Monday night, April 7, a simple resolution came up to
hire two veterans of the town assessor’s office,
Brian Grant and Eric Griesser, at $10 an hour for a maximum
of 15 hours a week each.
The usual push to Grievance Day, everyone asked? No, said
new lead assessor Heidi Clark. She wanted the two men
to start doing a new inventory of every property in town
over the coming year... to a maximum of approximately
$15,000 a year.
Asked what the inventory was for, Clark mentioned that
things needed updating. Supervisor Peter DiSclafani then
noted that recent discussions with the state Office for
Real Property Services yielded their telling the town
that any such inventorying could be used, within a reasonable
time frame, towards a long-awaited revaluation of all
properties in town.
“If we did the reval in the next couple of years,
this would help cut its costs,” DiSclafani said.
“We would simply have to verify it.”
Asked about assertions made during the previous Cross
administration that former assessor candidate John Horn
had been working on an unofficial updating of the town’s
assessment roles that could also be used towards such
an awaited reval, DiSclafani said all such information
had been done solely via computer, and not ewith needed
field visits. Furthermore, he said all such files were
private, done for Horn’s own curiosity.
As for what would be looked for in the new inventory,
Clark noted the amount of new construction in recent years,
from garages to decks.
“If there’s an Adirondack chair in your yard,”
quipped DiSclafani, “Your assessment could go up.”
Park Planning
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) released a new proposed Catskill Park State Land
Master Plan during the first week in April that incorporates
significant changes to balance recreational opportunities
with enhanced environmental protection, and is designed
to serve as a guide for future management of the State’s
292,000-acre holdings within the Catskill Forest Preserve.
It is being made available for public review and comment
until May 19, 2008. Key revisions focus on trails open
to mountain biking, boundaries of the Colgate Wild Forest
and the control of invasive species.
“The DEC has worked hard to evaluate and incorporate
the public feedback received on the initial draft and
has made significant changes in response to that public
input, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said in a press release.
“This revised draft Master Plan will assist DEC
in continuing to manage the Catskill Forest Preserve in
ways that are sensitive to public needs and protect the
region’s natural resources for the future.”
The Catskill Forest Preserve is part of the Catskill Park,
which consists of 705,500 acres of public and private
lands. Since its creation in 1885, the Catskill Forest
Preserve has grown from 34,000 acres to nearly 300,000
acres of public land within Delaware, Greene, Sullivan,
and Ulster counties. Forest Preserve lands are protected
under Article 14 of the State Constitution as “forever
wild” and cannot be logged, leased or sold, and
must be managed to protect wilderness values. The state
pays local property taxes on all Forest Preserve lands.
The original Catskill Park State Land Master Plan was
developed in 1985 and classifies forest preserve lands
within the Park based on their physical character and
capacity to accommodate human use based on four land classifications:
wilderness, wild forest, intensive use and administrative.
The Plan also designates management units and directs
DEC to develop individual Unit Management Plans that guide
management activities and public use of those units.
In August 2003, a proposed draft revision of the Catskill
Master Plan was released for public review and comment,
including numerous requests for increased mountain biking
opportunities. The plan now includes a new “Primitive
Bicycle Corridor” with links to local communities
along the former Mink Hollow Road, Overlook Turnpike,
Diamond Notch Road, and up from Colgate Lake in Greene
County.
The draft plan is on the DEC website http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5265.html.
DEC is accepting comments on the revised draft Catskill
Park State Land Master Plan until May 19, 2008. Comments
should be addressed to: Peter J. Frank, Bureau Chief,
Forest Preserve Management, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany,
NY 12233-4254, or by email to lfcat@gw.dec.state.ny.us.
Jail Finale
Ulster County district attorney Holley Carnright held
a press conference on March 27 to announce that an Ulster
County grand jury has handed up a one-count indictment
for a misdemeanor charge of official misfeasance against
former county buildings and grounds superintendent Harvey
Sleight for his conduct during the construction of the
Ulster County Law Enforcement Center.
The special committee of the county legislature that investigated
the construction debacle had recommended that the grand
jury look into potential misdeeds by former county legislature
chairman Ward Todd, current county legislator and former
chairman Richard Gerentine, and former county attorney
Francis Murray. None were found, according to Carnright.
Sleight was charged with violating a 2000 county legislature
resolution and General Municipal Law 104b, both of which
require a request for proposals from professional-service
providers for any and all contracts in excess of $40,000.
The contract, for approximately $98,000, was awarded to
McNeice, Hatch and Roblee without such a process, after
the firm was apparently shown a competitor’s proposal.
Sleight, if found guilty of the charge, could face one
year in jail - in another wing of the same edifice - and
be fined $1,000. Sleight appeared for arraignment with
his attorney, Michael Miranda, before judge Michael J.
Bruhn, and pled not guilty on Monday, March 31. According
to Carnright, the case was then adjourned for discovery
and motions, which could take about a month.
“It appears to me like I’m being a scapegoat,”
said Sleight at his arraigment. “There was nothing
done wrong. I’m not happy about the fact that the
only name on the front page of the paper was mine.”
The contract in question was for part of an environmental
analysis for SEQRA determination, involved an analysis
of the size and purpose of the project. The same firm,
under a different name, also got the contract to be architect
of the project.
“It would be a mistake for me to make Harvey Sleight
a scapegoat,” said Carnright at the March 27 gathering.
“Having said that, as district attorney, if the
grand jury says there’s evidence of a crime, it’s
up to me to prosecute it.”
The grand jury has filed a report with Ulster County Court
Judge Bruhn that the district attorney believes will answer
more questions. It will be up to the judge to decide whether
the report is made public, something that Carnright said
he had recommended.
Carnright later said that motives behind what went wrong
are not in the report, and added that the voluminous paperwork
from which the report was drawn will be permanently sealed
from public view.
Civil suits are now pending with and between the various
private contractors hired. Maybe more information will
arise during those trials… should they get that
far.
Sleight faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail and
a $1,000 fine if convicted of the charge, though people
found guilty of official misconduct rarely get jail time.
Speaking of former Republican Legislature Chairmen Ward
Todd and Richard Gerentine and former county attorney
Frank Murray, whose names came up repeatedly during previous
investigations into the jail’s cost overruns, Carnright
said that while the grand jury didn’t indict the
three former officials, it also did not issue “a
report exonerating those individuals.” But he added
that the grand jury of 18 also did not criticize the three
men in any way, which it could have done.
Home Sales
Sales of existing single-family homes continued their
downward spiral in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions
in February, according to figures released by the New
York State Association of Realtors. Rockland County experienced
the largest decline with a 45.5 percent drop in home sales.
In contrast, sales rose in Dutchess County by eight percent
and by 4.4 percent in Putnam County. They dropped by almost
44 percent in Orange County, by 33 percent in Sullivan
County, by 30 percent in Delaware County, by 22 percent
in Westchester County, by almost 16 percent in Columbia
County, by 10 percent in Greene County and by over four
percent in Ulster County. Statewide, sales dipped by 19
percent.
The highest priced homes continued to sell in Westchester
with a median price of $607,500; the lowest priced were
in $110,000 in Delaware County. In Rockland, the median
selling price in February was $438,000; in Putnam, it
was $425,000, in Dutchess, $328,500; in Columbia County,
$300,000; Orange, $295,000; in Ulster, $233,700; in Greene,
$179,950; and in Sullivan County, $153,250.
But all that represents a slight lessening of such declining
figures over January.
Ulster County Director of Planning Dennis Doyle spoke
about what was happening at a recent meeting at the Marlboro
Library where he detailed the priority strategies for
the Ulster County Housing Consortium. Speaking of the
new median price for a house in Ulster County being between
$180,000 and $190,000, Doyle noted how a family needed
an annual household income of about $64,000 to afford
such prices. And, he added, renters don’t fare much
better. About $740 is paid in median rent with a household
income about of $30,000.
Doyle said many people, including elected officials and
business leaders, in the local communities need to get
involved with the housing issue to help ensure all residents
are served well,
Suicidal…
Police on April 5 disarmed a 15-year-old boy who they
said was suicidal and wanted cops to kill him. The teen’s
weapon turned out to be a BB gun.
New York City Department of Environmental Protection police
said they were notified about 8:35 a.m. that the boy had
left his home in Olive and was suicidal. Police, using
a dog, found the boy a short time later on state Route
213 in Marbletown, they said. When officers approached
the boy, he pulled a black Beretta-style gun from his
shirt pocket, aimed it at one of the officers and urged
them to shoot him, police said. Police said they struggled
briefly with the boy and were able to disarm him, realizing
only then that the weapon was a BB gun.
The boy, whose name was not released because of his age,
was taken to Benedictine Hospital in Kingston for evaluation,
and criminal charges were pending, police said.
Cleanup Time
The Catskill Watershed Corporation will once again support
groups and individuals who clean litter and other debris
from streambanks in their neighborhoods. Youth and school
groups, church organizations, civic and business associations,
neighborhood groups and teams of friends are encouraged
to scour stream and riversides for trash and to dispose
of it properly. The CWC will provide trash bags, gloves
and tokens of appreciation for those who choose to serve
their communities in this way. Call Kim Ackerley at 845-586-1400
to arrange to get these items, or for suggestions on areas
that need attention.
The NYC Department of Environmental Protection is also
coordinating clean-ups at the Ashokan Reservoir May 3
and June 7; the Schoharie Reservoir May 17 and Sept. 13;
the Pepacton Reservoir August 9; the Rondout Reservoir
Sept. 20 and the Neversink Reservoir September 21. Contact
Amy Flavin (845-340-7530, or aflavin@dep.nyc.gov) for
more information on how to lend a hand with those projects.
Joan’s The One
Joan Lawrence-Bauer, executive director of the M-ARK Project
since 2004, will leave that Margaretville-based agency
in May to return as the public relations director for
the Emerson Resort and the Belleayre Resort according
to officials at both organizations.
Crossroads Ventures Managing Partner Dean Gitter announced
this week that Paul Rakov, who has served as the company’s
spokesperson since 2005, has left for a post with a New
York City PR firm that specializes in luxury travel. Lawrence-Bauer
held the position of Public Relations Director under Gitter
prior to Rakov being hired, after several others held
the position for short periods of time, leaving with pay
and other complaints.
The MARK Project is a 30-year-old Rural Preservation Company
serving Andes, Middletown, Roxbury and the villages of
Fleischmanns and Margaretville. The group will begin a
statewide search process for a new director immediately,
joining the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development
on the list regional agencies seeking new leadership.
Tom Alworth, the Catskill Center’s most recent Executive
Director, left that position last month.
The current Chairman of the M-ARK board of directors,
J.R. Lawrence, is Lawrence-Bauer’s former husband.
In recent months, Lawrence Bauer had become increasingly
involved in helping organize efforts on behalf of Gitter’s
project and tied-in development expansion plans for adjacent
state-owned Belleayre Ski Center, a level of partisanship
she can now increase instead of worrying whether her efforts
were running counter of state and federal laws governing
grants administration via not-for-profit entities such
as MARK.
Benefiting All...
Onteora High School’s Amnesty International/ Diversity
Club is organizing a Silent Auction to benefit the children
of Deborah Leshkevich, the teaching assistant who was
killed by her husband in February. The auction will be
held at New World Home Cooking, 1411 Route 212, between
Woodstock and Saugerties, on Thursday, April 10, from
5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Bidding will end at 8:30. Admission
is $15 for students and $20 for adults. Hors d’oeuvres,
dessert, and coffee will be served. Tickets can be purchased
at Onteora High School’s main office, Woodstock
Elementary School’s main office, or at the door.
Intern Ready?
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) is sponsoring a summer internship program for 10
college students and graduating high school seniors who
are presently enrolled in accredited college programs.
The interns are expected to be assigned to seven different
DEP facilities in Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan
and Ulster Counties. The internships run from early June
2008 until late August 2008, depending upon the academic
calendar of each intern.
Interns will be placed in assignments that focus on engineering
and scientific disciplines and will include tasks in water
supply and wastewater treatment operations, water quality,
watershed protection, and administration.
“This program is designed to develop future employees
to lead the water supply into the future and to improve
the partnership with watershed communities that is essential
to long-term filtration avoidance,” said Paul Rush,
DEP’s Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Water
Supply.
Students interested in this opportunity should submit
their resumes to NYCDEP, BWS, P.O. Box 358, Grahamsville,
NY 12740 by April 25.
Close Gitmo
Five former U.S. secretaries of State have urged the next
presidential administration to close the Guantanamo Bay
prison camp and open a dialogue with Iran. The former
chiefs of American diplomacy, who served in Democratic
and Republican administrations, reached a consensus on
the two issues at a conference in Athens aimed at giving
the next president some bipartisan foreign policy advice.
Each of them said closing the prison in Cuba would bolster
America’s image abroad.
“It says to the world: ‘We are now going back
to our traditional respective forms of dealing with people
who potentially committed crimes,’ “ said
Colin Powell, who served as President Bush’s first
secretary of State.
Powell was joined by Henry A. Kissinger, James A. Baker
III, Warren Christopher and Madeleine K. Albright, who
sat in a round-table discussion sponsored by the University
of Georgia at a sold-out conference center in downtown
Athens.
The former secretaries of State also urged that the U.S.
open a line of dialogue with Iran, each saying it was
important to maintain contact with adversaries and allies
alike.
“One has to talk with adversaries,” said Kissinger,
who served the Nixon and Ford administrations.
Powell compared the potential talks to difficult visits
he made to Syria while he served as America’s chief
diplomat.
“They are not always pleasant visits,” he
said. “But you’ve got to do it.”
Senior Sports...
The Ulster County Office for the Aging’s Senior
Games will begin on May 5, 2008, with competitive sporting
events held in various locations in the County. The games
include Swimming, Bowling, Shuffleboard, Horseshoes, Miniature
Golf, Golf, Trivia and Name that Tune. The Senior Games
are open to all Ulster County seniors, age 60 and over,
these events provide fun, exercise, socialization and
competition. An Awards Luncheon will follow on June 12,
2008 with a Sunset Cruise theme. For more information
and an application, please contact the Office for the
Aging at 340-3456 or 1-877-914-3456.
Headed South?
The efforts of the Save The Mountain group opposing the
Belleayre Resort as currently configured have started
to range south in the region, and are working with The
Sierra Club and local chapters of American Mensa to put
on an upcoming informational session and film screening
in conjunction with Save the Lakes, an organization trying
to save Williams Lake in Rosendale, where a large-scale
housing and resort project is planned as a gated community
and would forever remove public access from a variety
of local trails in the area.
The event, including speeches by and a showing of the
film “Resorting To Madness,” takes place at
7 PM on Wednesday, April 16 at the New Paltz Jewish Center
on North Chestnut Street. Speakers include: Dave Porter
& Paul Rubin for Williams Lake, for Belleayre; Rich
Shaedle, Chairman of the Catskill Heritage Alliance; and
Julie McQuain, founding member of ‘Save the Mountain’
and President of the Ulster County Democratic Women’s
Club.
CWC To Meet
The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) will hold its
11th Annual Meeting of member towns Tuesday, April 22
at 6 p.m. at CWC offices, 905 Main Street, Margaretville.
Results of the election of representatives from Greene
and Delaware Counties to the CWC Board of Directors will
be announced. A slide show of CWC achievements over the
past year will be shown, and the floor will then be open
for questions and comments from representatives of member
towns and villages.
Following the Annual Meeting, the regular monthly meeting
of the Board of Directors will be held.
On March 25, the Catskill Watershed Corporation Board
of Directors March 25 authorized funding for four stormwater
projects and approved four community planning grants.
The Stormwater Retrofit grants included $220,743 to Ulster
County to improve drainage and manage erosion along Glenford-Wittenberg
Road, in the Town of Hurley; and $107,519 to the Town
of Hurley to implement improvements on and near the Bristol
Hill Subdivision. In addition, the Board approved reimbursement
of $10,950 to Paul Solodar for stormwater management measures
installed in connection with construction of a four-unit
condominium project completed last year in the Village
of Hunter.
The planning grants, awarded under the CWC’s Local
Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), will go to the Town
of Halcott ($25,000 to complete a proposal to implement
zoning); the Town of Denning ($45,000 to complete a comprehensive
plan); and the Town and Village of Delhi ($50,000 to update
a joint comprehensive plan).
A $30,000 LTAP grant will go to the Town and Village of
Hunter and the Village of Tannersville for development
of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for
the Route 23A corridor that runs through these communities.
For more information, go to www.cwconline.org, or call
toll-free 877-928-7433.
Walkathoning...
A Benefit Walkathon is scheduled for April 19th at 2:
PM meeting at the Ashokan Reservoir at the Frying Pan.
Participants are welcomed to walk, run, or ride a bike.
Families and children will be in attendance and are welcomed.
All participants are encouraged to gain sponsorships for
each mile walked to donate to the P.E.T. cause.
Overlook United Methodist Church youth took on the P.E.T.
(Personal Energy Transport) project after hearing about
their efforts to raise money to build rustic wheel chairs
for the severely handicapped in 3rd world countries such
as in Africa, Mexico and Honduras and all of South America.
The main US charitable group is called PET International,
Inc, 503 E. Nifong Blvd,, Columbia, MO. Their email is
pet@petinternational.org. Their homemade chairs are built
in the US by volunteers.
For further information visit www.petnyej.org. or call
679-9353..
Universalizing
More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to
a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose
the idea, according to a new survey that suggests that
opinions have changed substantially since the last survey
in 2002 as the country debates serious changes to the
health care system. Of more than 2,000 doctors surveyed,
59 percent said they support legislation to establish
a national health insurance program, while 32 percent
said they opposed it, researchers reported in the journal
Annals of Internal Medicine. The 2002 survey found that
49 percent of physicians supported national health insurance
and 40 percent opposed it.
“Many claim to speak for physicians and represent
their views. We asked doctors directly and found that,
contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support
national health insurance,” said Dr. Aaron Carroll
of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who led
the study.
“As doctors, we find that our patients suffer because
of increasing deductibles, co-payments, and restrictions
on patient care,” said Dr. Ronald Ackermann, who
worked on the study with Carroll. “More and more,
physicians are turning to national health insurance as
a solution to this problem.”
Many other countries have national plans, including Britain,
France and Canada, and several studies have shown the
United States spends more per capita on health care, without
achieving better results for patients. An estimated 47
million people have no insurance coverage at all, meaning
they must pay out of their pockets for health care or
skip it. Contenders in the election for president in November
all have proposed various changes, but none of the major
party candidates has called for a fully national health
plan.
The Indiana survey found that 83 percent of psychiatrists,
69 percent of emergency medicine specialists, 65 percent
of pediatricians, 64 percent of internists, 60 percent
of family physicians and 55 percent of general surgeons
favor a national health insurance plan.
Karmapa Coming
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, the Tibetan Buddhist monastery
in Woodstock, will be hosting an upcoming visit by the
head of their order, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa
lama from Monday, May 19, through Thursday, May 23 for
his first visit to the West, when he will also travel
to New York City, a sister monastery in Boulder, CO and
Seattle before returning to the Gyuto Monastery near Dharamsala,
India, where the 22 year old now lives. An estimated 1,000
people are expected to be present at the Karmapa’s
private invitation Woodstock events at KTD on Tuesday,
May 20, and Wednesday, May 21.
The Karmapa will reportedly not give a public talk in
Woodstock as did the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political
leader of all the Tibetan people, during his visit in
September 2006, when he stayed at Phoenicia’s Menla
Center.
The Karmapa is regarded by Tibetan Buddhists as a “reincarnate
lama,” someone who, although enlightened, returns
to human birth, lifetime after lifetime, in order help
others achieve enlightenment. The 16th Karmapa, who passed
away in Illinois in 1981, visited KTD in 1980 and performed
a rare and ancient Tibetan Buddhist ritual known as the
“Black Hat” ceremony.
The Other Basin
Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania recently noted
that with New York City reservoirs near full capacity,
officials in the Delaware River basin states should act
to better protect downstream communities.
Seasonal triggers, or guidelines that direct when to release
water, went into effect April 1 that restrict releases
from the reservoirs at any time other than when completely
full. Those triggers are intended to ensure adequate water
supplies are available during the summer months.
However, the Governor, as chair of the Delaware River
Basin Commission, called on officials from Delaware, New
Jersey, New York and New York City to support a commonsense
plan that would modify the guidelines to help accommodate
expected rainfall and protect against potential flooding
on the main stem of the river.
Rendell asked the decree party principals—officials
from the basin states and New York City—to sign
an agreement that would modify the flexible flow management
plan that was put into effect last year. Under the flexible
flow management plan, releases in April are designed to
mitigate reservoir overflows, yet ensure reservoirs are
at full capacity by May 1. If the Governor’s request
is approved, New York City could make more frequent and
higher volume reservoir releases through April.
The flexible flow management plan was designed to provide
greater flood protection, improve fisheries management,
and allow for greater flexibility to address future water
needs without compromising the reliability of the public
water supply for
Under new plans for the proposed Belleayre Resort, most
of its runoff would no go into the Delaware RIver basin...
a phenomenon still in need of full commentary from its
own commissions and other overseers and watchdogs.
To view the management plan, visit the Delaware River
Basin’s Web site at www.state.nj.us/drbc.
Travel Guide
Ulster County Tourism is in the process of putting the
finishing touches on its 2008 Travel Guide. Any Ulster
County tourist-based business who would like to receive
a free listing in the travel guide should contact Diane
Fauci, Information Assistant, at 845-340-3569, to request
a listing form. The listings are for travel-related businesses,
annual fairs, festivals and events only. The deadline
for submission is April 18, 2008.
Bash Time…
The Belleayre Bash is a drug free/alcohol free all-night
graduation party that keeps Onteora’s graduates
safe and happy on one of the most dangerous nights of
the year - graduation night. It is free to all Onteora
graduating following graduation. Organizing the Bash is
a massive undertaking, one that involves the entire community,
but it is clearly worth it. A committee of parents, teachers,
students, and community members is hard at work organizing
this year’s Bash which will begin on Friday night
June 27 at 11:00pm. If you would like to join this year’s
effort by making a tax-deductible donation to Onteora
SADD in support of The Belleayre Bash, please send a check
to Onteroa SADD, c/o Onteora High School, Route 28, PO
Box 300, Boiceville, NY 12412.
Watch The Cells
Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking
or asbestos, a study by an award-winning cancer expert
has concluded. He says people should avoid using them
wherever possible and that governments and the mobile
phone industry must take “immediate steps”
to reduce exposure to their radiation.
The study, by Dr Vini Khurana, is the most devastating
indictment yet published of the health risks. It draws
on growing evidence using handsets for 10 years or more
can double the risk of brain cancer. Cancers take at least
a decade to develop, invalidating official safety assurances
based on earlier studies which included few, if any, people
who had used the phones for that long.
Earlier this year, the French government warned against
the use of mobile phones, especially by children. Germany
also advises its people to minimize handset use, and the
European Environment Agency has called for exposures to
be reduced.
Cell users are also warned against keeping their phones
attached to their belts anywhere near their genitals…
Ah, Belleayre
New York State’s DEC Belleayre Mountain will be
hosting a grand finale of season events with a “Slamming
Spring Weekend” including a Sunday, April 13 event
where Superintendent Tony Lanza will be challenging anyone
with a 7-iron in a special “Long Drive Contest “
from behind the Overlook Lodge at 1pm. The State will
provide golf balls and clubs and the contest is free for
challengers. For further information visit www.belleayre.com.
Arts Upstairs...
The Arts Upstairs Gallery is opening its next show, Mail
and Female, on Saturday, Apr 19, with a reception from
6 PM until 10 PM. In the solo room will be the work of
Jowe Head. Drop off for the show is this upcoming weekend
during regular gallery hours - Friday Apr 11 from 3 to
6, Saturday, Apr 12 from 10 to 6, and Sunday, Apr 13 from
10 to 4. If you need to make special arrangements, you
can call Tom at 688-7226, or Bronson at 688-7413, or Alan
at 688-7922. The gallery is located at 60 Main Street
in Phoenicia.
