"I thought everything was fairly civil" said Cross afterwards. "I don't think anyone was trying to shoot anyone down or anything". After an opening statement in which he  promised a town board "that gives all views equal time and equal respect as we move through the first decade of this wonderful century," Cross also promised an improved town website and greater emphasis on the town's bicentennial and on issues related to the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center.  Additionally, Cross announced changes in the way town meetings would be run, ending Shandaken's tradition of public participation during the decision-making portions of the meeting. Audience participation will now be restricted to a public comment period following the conclusion of official business.
            Amongst the resolutions passed over Van Blarcum and Hoyt‚s objections was one designating the Ulster County Townsman the town's official newspaper for 2004. Van Blarcum had asked the matter be tabled for a month to allow him to present evidence to the board in conjuction with a possible lawsuit he was considering against that newspaper. Van Blarcum similarly tried to table resolutions appointing Alan Berryann to the Planning Board; Hope Luhman, Chuck Perez, Harry Jameson, Robert Stanley, Jr., and Charles Frasier to the Comprehensive Plan Committee, Steve Stettine to the Zoning Board of Appeals; and Keith Johnson as Chair of the Zoning Board. "Everyone here campaigned on the issue of open government," Van Blarcum pointed out, saying he had no objection to the qualifications of Berryann, Stettine, or Johnson, but he felt that on principle, the council should open up the appointments to public input. "This is how it was done last year," Todd responded, referring to the filling of the planning board vacancy.
            Regarding the Comprehensive Plan Committee which Supervisor Cross cast the deciding vote to re-establish, Cross said there were two grants waiting to be used, many of the proposed members were already well-informed on the process, and he had tried to "balance out the committee" with two Democrats, two Republicans, and an Independent. His comment drew significant laughter from the audience, as four of the five members named are generally seen as supportive of the Crossroads project. Luhman has not discussed her views publicly, but generally voted with the previous committee‚s GOP faction.
            Cross also, in not reappointing Jay Braman Sr., made a point of offering his public thanks to him."Jay Braman as served this community for more than 30 years" said Cross.  "He brought forth and pioneered zoning in this town. We will have a celebration, a party for him. Some awards will be presented. We‚ll do this up right." Braman stood to acknowledge applause from the crowd, but made no direct comment. 
            Following the resolutions, Cross opened up the meeting for public input. Topping the list of contentious issues was discussion following Dennis Ladner's reading of a Jan 2 letter to counsel member Todd from Friends of Catskill Park‚s lead counsel, Albany attorney Marc Gerstman. Citing conflict-of-interest prohibitions in Shandaken"s town code, supporting case law, and an opinion from the state Attorney General's office, the group requested that Todd recuse herself from "participating in, voting on, and in any way attempting to influence the town board actions regarding the proposed Belleayre Resort project." Friends of Catskill Park is a Phoenicia-based project of the not-for-profit Open Space Institute. According to its chair Judy Wyman, the group represents several hundred local members.
            Gerstman‚s letter cited as the reason for the request Todd‚s 1998 purchase of property which he said puts the Todd‚s "in a position to directly profit from the development of the proposed resort". According to Gerstman, the property was purchased "just 19 days before a series of acquisitions were started for the proposed project", and that "it appears that this parcel of land lies within the proposed Crossroads Ventures project boundaries." Gerstman said given the circumstances, "the test to be applied is not whether there is a conflict but whether there might be", and that regardless of whether either town law or state law may have been violated, any possible appearance of impropriety requires her recusal under both.
            After some discussion, including a statement that she had never previously been asked to recuse herself on this matter, Todd finally asked "that the town board cease discussion of this until I contact an attorney". Later in the meeting, Wyman said that Todd had in fact been asked publicly to recuse herself and had refused to do so. Should her recusal be required, Todd‚s abstention would likely set the stage for potential conflict over what  might in fact constitute Crossroads-related issues. At the meeting, Supervisor Cross said that Gerstman"s letter would be forwarded to the town's counsel for review.  However afterwards, by phone, Cross said "What I probably will do is put it in a file, if it should be needed. I have to talk to the town's attorney first. At the present time there is nothing before us to vote on. I don‚t want to have to spend the town's money because there is no project before the town board to even look at."
            As the meeting drew to a close, Mary Hermann questioned the board‚s choice designating Jane Todd its future contact to oversee the renovation of Pine Hill's water system. "Given the animosity between Jane and the people of Pine Hill, how can you appoint her liaison to the Pine Hill Water District?" The question led to sharp words between Todd and Hermann, and a brief  uproar in the audience.

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Phat Phriday in Phoenicia

            According to Ellie Ganci, a member of the Belleayre marketing team, the Winterfest kicks off in Pine Hill. From noon until 6 pm this hamlet will host a chili cook-off, have a bonfire and hot refreshments and feature a winter playground. Sledding is welcome as long as you bring own.
            On Monday night Ganci says Belleayre will host a glamorous dining experience called "Taste of the Town," featuring area restaurants offering their finest fare. The evening comes complete with complimentary wine, a cash bar and live music. Cost is $25 per person and tickets are available now at the Ski Center. The event, which benefits the Belleayre Region Lodging and Tourism Association, promises to be a classy one, Ganci said.
            "Believe me, we"re not talking paper plastic and plastic cups," she added.
            After a "catch your breath night" on Tuesday, the Village of Margaretville will host an event featuring ice-skating in the park, a bonfire, and a snow sculpture contest. The fun begins at 3:30 and runs till 8:30.
            On Thursday it's Fleischmanns turn to roll out the red carpet for visitors. Starting at dusk this Village will host a bonfire based event in the park, featuring a unique pastime calle "Skijoring" which Superintendent Tony Lanza said is basically skiing while being pulled along by snowmobiles, similar to the way one water-skis. Lanza added that Horses might be used as well.
            The week wraps up with what is expected to be real party in Phoenicia, where organizers are putting together a Mardi Gras Parade, complete with the tank-like "Beast of Belleayre" rumbling through Main Street. Many of the hamlet's establishments will have Mardi Gras specials that evening as well.
            "Yup, we'll be putting folks in costumes and sending them through town, it's going to be great!" Kimberly said.
            Kimberly and other organizers will meet soon to plan the specifics of the parade. The event is still growing, with various groups wishing continuing to call to be involved in the march. Anyone else interested should contact Kimberly at (845) 688-5645.
            In addition, Belleayre Mountain is offering $10 lift tickets all week long as an attractive incentive to skiers.
            Lanza, who believes the Winter Festival Week has the potential to be an important boost to the region's economy, hopes the entire region gets involved in the promotion.
            "When you go Syracuse during the State fair, it‚s a big deal in that area and its treated like that," he said," We could do something like that here."

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Artist's Eye

            Growing up with such emphases on the frailty and specialness of sight, Spark says she was "allowed to draw and paint as much as I wanted." As her eyes developed cataracts, and then glaucoma, she reached a point where her college studies were diverted into an English Literature major for a while. But then cataract surgery brought her back to her first love.
            Spark holds both a Masters of Fine Art in painting and an M.A. in Art Therapy.
            "Do you know Claude Monet's Water Lilies and their blurriness?" she asks. It turns out Monet had cataracts during those influential final years of his long career. And that's how Spark saw the world for years, and still sees much of it to this day.
            "No hard edges," she explains. "All glistening in an almost psychedelic manner∑
            Now, she adds, things have been worsening again. But such things don't seem to daunt Spark, who says she's learned to work with whatever small field of vision she's given to translate through her art.
            "I'm trying to find ways to express what I see and how I see it. I feel this has given my work a purer, direct means of expression."
            Since moving upstate, she's found herself drawn to working with nature, a process that forced her through a more classical form of depiction as she found her way with such a vast, always re-creating subject matter. Which is why she's so excited about her most recent works: the fragment paintings.
            "I'm just trying to draw attention to the way reality is a juxtaposition of things that co-exist, and not necessarily in a linear way," she says of the new work.
            Spark has shown throughout the Catskills part of our readership area, with regularity at Phoenicia's Upstate Art, Hunter's Catskill Mountain Foundation Gallery and Margaretville's Erpf Gallery. But she's also been collected by years, with her works in major hospitals as well as private homes.
            To fuel herself, Spark has spent years regularly seeing as much art as she can. When we speak she's excited about an afternoon to be spent at The Whitney.
            She also brings out some important lessons she's learned over the years.
            First off, Spark taught art therapy for years, but also worked in hospitals with handicapped clients who taught her "this startling thing: that art can be a direct link between image making and what's going on inside a person."
            Secondly, the move Upstate, and the establishment of a strong connection with Mt. Tremper's noted Zen Mountain Monastery, provided Spark with "a big opening" that has allowed her to explore new ways of looking and seeing via the world of nature's that has opened up to her up hear. Which, among other things, has shifted her direction, seasons-wise, to a new respect for the winter season we are in the midst of.
            "I, like many artists I know, do a lot more work in winter," Spark says. "You see the structure of everything now that the leaves are gone. All that green in the summer is like a carpet, and somewhat stifling. But the current season brings out the uninterrupted rawness of the landscape we inhabit here."
            Finally, Spark says that her way of seeing, for all its faults, is starting to match the landscape she's moved into. She talks about being able to capture something in these mountains and valleys, these ancient hills, that is rare.
            This past summer she and her husband spent several weeks in an artist's retreat - author Heinrich Boll's cabin by the sea - and were deeply impressed by the sparseness of a landscape that had once held forest as green as ours, until "men and women made some mistakes and left things bare for the last 5,000 years."
            "We have an opportunity to see what a landscape can look like that's been revived, and avoid its second destruction," she says in her matter-of-fact way.
            Furthermore, Michelle Spark sees her art, with its new focus on her skewed but precious vision of our landscape, as important because, "It still helps us see something beyond our own constructed realities. Nature is still the one place we can still learn new things from.
            For further information on Michelle Spark's work, including whatever new exhibits she may be having, visit her website at www.michellespark.com

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