Dear Editor,
The holiday season diatribe by Dean Gitter against anyone who contributed to the extended review of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) of his proposed resort at Belleayre should be directed at his own consultants. If they had fully and accurately disclosed all conditions in the DEIS, there would be no grounds under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) to challenge the application at permit hearings by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). In fact, Crossroads used the lengthy DEC hearings to try to correct many errors in the DEIS.
I am not opposed to development of Belleayre, but as a traffic engineer and resident of Margaretville, I want to know that the traffic impacts are honestly defined and mitigated.
Judging by the inadequate responses on transportation, the deficiencies are so blatant, that if unaddressed, the mega-resort would doom further development of the Belleayre Ski Center and harm all residents and businesses in the Route 28 corridor.
To begin with, I showed that the traffic levels in the DEIS, forecast for 2008, were already exceeded by my counts in 2003. Crossroads’ traffic consultant agreed and increased them, but based them on the lower skier volumes of 2004 (due to poorer snow conditions).
I showed that Crossroads had evaded accounting for the background growth in both ski and non-ski traffic by selecting 2008 as the year of completion of the resort that the rest of the DEIS says will not occur before 2014. The traffic consultant for Crossroads conceded and adjusted traffic for the additional years, but disingenuously maintained that ski trips would be limited by the parking prescribed in the existing 1998 Unit Management Plan. This ignores the high likelihood that by 2014, a new UMP would be in effect which allows a major increase of parking consistent with the expanded Ski Center that would be Crossroads’ principal attraction.
In not accounting for the planned growth of the Ski Center, the consultant for Crossroads sets up an unnecessary competition between the resort and the Ski Center for roadway capacity. This is the result of a more fundamental flaw that jeopardizes the validity of the entire DEIS: basing the traffic analysis entirely on a single hour—4 to 5 pm on a winter Saturday— without presenting any of the standard seasonal or hourly traffic data now and in the future or providing any profile of the daily travel patterns of resort guests.
If the consultants for Crossroads had consulted the NYS Department of Transportation, they would have been told that on Route 28 summer traffic is about double the normal traffic during winter. Moreover, during the summer, resort guests will travel off-site more than during the ski season, creating a proportionally greater impact all day. The need to examine summer conditions should have been evident to Crossroads’ traffic consultant, who reported in a transportation plan in 1995 for Lake Placid (in which my environmental consulting firm participated) that “summer traffic is much higher than in the winter” even in an area that bills itself as the “Winter Sports Capital of the World.”
There are many other ways that resort trips continue to be under-reported even with the adjustments made at the DEC hearings. Without providing any supporting data from comparable resorts, the Crossroads engineer defended low trip generation numbers by citing a resort in Maine without revealing that every unit there is within walking distance of all attractions. He acknowledged that although the DEIS claims 80% of post-arrival trips will be on shuttle buses, he had not shown any shuttle trips because he agreed with my analysis that long waits and travel times for buses would induce most skiers (and all non-skiers going off-site) to drive, but then ignored altogether the resulting car trips.
All this adds up to future traffic volumes approximately twice as great as reported in the DEIS and they would occur on many weekends throughout the year all along the Route 28. The consequences will be felt throughout the corridor in added travel time for all users, more accidents and other indirect effects, like air pollution. My analysis shows that the hidden cost of these effects on everyone in the corridor would be as much as $40 million a year, which is 20 times the annual property tax benefits that the resort estimates it will pay to the two host towns in 2024 when 10 years of tax exemptions expire. This is equal to the most optimistic projections in the DEIS of total direct economic benefits.
These deficiencies make it clear that the problem is not, as Mr. Gitter contends, that SEQRA permits challenges to inadequate EISs. Rather the problem is that both the public and even well-intentioned developers are ill-served by a SEQRA process that allows too many fawning consultants to get away with manipulating data to promote projects. This forces the public to muster sufficient resources to ferret out the truth, which occasionally reshapes projects, but mostly sends consultants back (profitably) to the drawing boards to build a stronger case.
Brian Ketcham, P.E.
Margaretville, NY

Dear Editor,
This letter was sent to the Trustees of the Onteora Board of Education...
The taxpayers of the Town of Olive have suffered a major financial hit with both the Onteora School District and the Ulster County Legislature choosing to enact the alternative assessment of the Large Parcel Law. School taxes for Olive residents were 60% higher in September and the current 2005 county tax is 91% higher while surrounding towns reaped minor decreases. With your school budget process beginning in January, the Olive Town Board would like assurance from you that this devastating imbalance in taxation will not occur in the 2005-2006 school tax year.
Olive was advised by the Board of Education to do a town revaluation of properties. That process is well underway. Only by recent and updated revals can the tax burden of the six towns within the Onteora School District remain “fair and equal.” Certainly what was done to Olive was neither “fair” nor “equal” as can be seen with Woodstock’s tax structure in imbalance with the Saugerties and Kingston school districts and with Shandaken silently sitting on a town-wide reassessment done over thirty years ago. Based on the “wealth of town” formula, in calculating a town’s “fair share”, Shandaken has given itself a reduction in taxes at the expense of Olive, Woodstock, and Hurley.
The Large Parcel Legislation will not help the school budget. You should be aware that as long as the Ashokan Reservoir is included, no matter who adopts the Large Parcel Legislation, the resulting loss of tax revenue by our citizens will have the same effect on your future budgets.
Are our neighbors in Shandaken and Woodstock cheering or are they sympathetic and embarrassed that their small decrease of tens of dollars caused some in Olive to raise thousands in a single moment?
We, the Town Board of Olive, would like to help the Onteora School District pass a budget that will support students and move Onteora back on the educational track as a leader in education. To do that we need your assurance that this fiasco that took Olive’s tax base and taxes away from our town will not be the future direction of the Onteora School Board. If tax assessment is tantamount to education, then the Onteora School Board can use its power as assessing agency—a power that it has always had. You can then reassess all the towns, not just one, and by doing so, you will not just benefit some towns at the expense of the Town of Olive.
We need your commitment to education now, not after the budget process. Olive has historically been the constant supporter of the school budget. We would like to return to that tradition.
Sincerely,
Berndt Leifeld, Supervisor
Linda, Burkhardt, Helen K. Chase
Bruce La Monda, Henry Rank
Olive Town Board

Dear Editor,
In response to the article about the readiness of Route 28 to handle 18,000 cars a day reported by the state Department of Transportation, I strongly suspect that whoever cooked up that idea doesn’t live around here. Each and every time we have to pull out onto Route 28, we have a significant flirtation with death.
With our increase in taxes, I don’t think it unreasonable to expect an upgrade in our civic services. I am speaking of the dire need for a traffic light at the Winchell’s Corner. (Route 28 and Reservoir Road intersection). With the increase in the traffic there has also been a noticeable decline in courtesy at that intersection. While waiting my turn to pull out onto Route 28 (pack a lunch, it’ll be a while), I have been beeped at, flipped off, yelled at, people revving their engines, etc. I can’t even count how many times I have almost been rear-ended at that intersection. If there was a light there, yes, it would slow down traffic but everyone would get a turn. People might even patronize the local businesses more without fear of getting killed trying to pull out onto Route 28. In the summer it’s even worse, people don’t and won’t grow manners on a weekend visit.
I can’t conceive any reason why there is money for giant lights at the reservoir, ruining our night sky, only to illuminate water. (Fish don’t need lights). There is money to build a watchman’s hut, complete with air conditioner and generator, with no watchman. And no money has been spent on a basic, common sense, traffic light that we all need.
Whoever interprets the “traffic benchmarks” to determine if a traffic light is needed should try to negotiate that intersection for a day. As it stands now, it is an accident waiting to happen. I hope that something will be done before someone is horribly maimed or killed.
Betz Hiller
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
I had to read the article three times, just to make sure what I thought I was reading was correct. In the article called, “Guinea Pig?” It stated that the EPA had announced plans to launch a new study where low income families would have their young children, up to three years old, exposed to toxic pesticides over the course of two years. For this amazing act of parenthood they would receive $970, a free video camera, a T -shirt and the most blatant proof of their ignorance: a framed certificate of appreciation. People are outraged because of testing on laboratory animals. How can this, in any way, be acceptable? These young children have no say in this. Just because they have parents that are willing to sell their children’s lives for a few trinkets, they will be condemned to a life of ill health and cancer. Can you imagine how these children, as adults (if they even make it to adulthood), will feel when they see this certificate of appreciation, knowing their parents thought so little of them that they could compromise their health for a pittance? If they are called toxic pesticides, then they are toxic and we know they are poisonous. There is no need to test them on innocent babies.
I feel this to be morally and ethically wrong. We cannot allow this atrocity to take place. Please write to whomever you can think of to stop this.
PS I want to thank the Phoenicia Times for these articles that few other papers would expose. I read this paper because I feel the people who produce this paper care enough to print important information about our environment and our world.
Moira Joyce
Boiceville, NY

Dear Editor,
From the desk of Richard A. Gerentine, Chairman, Ulster County Legislature:
Late Monday night, December 13, 2004, the Ulster County Legislature passed an amended version of the 2005 budget by a 19-14 vote. The Republican majority and two members of the Democratic minority supported the spending plan put together through countless hours of negotiation by Legislator Sue Cummings (R), Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. The initial plan had called for a 23.7 percent property tax increase, but through the cooperation of County Administrator Art Smith, his staff, all the department heads, and the other employees of the county, a final increase of 11.02 percent was made. The overall increase in budget expenditures from 2004 to 2005 was held to 3.32 percent. My original intention to go with a mortgage tax increase did not gain enough support to pass. The Hotel/Motel Occupancy tax proposed by the Democrats, had support to pass, but in the final tally only two Democrats voted for the budget. I had told hotel/motel owners years ago that if the tax were reintroduced I would meet with them prior to imposing it. Unfortunately, the proposal to reintroduce the tax was made the night of our budget meeting, which eliminated my ability to speak with Ulster County hotel/motel owners prior to the vote. The Hotel/Motel Occupancy tax does help reduce taxes for county residents. This tax is a less intrusive tax and also benefits hotel/motel owners in that the property taxes on their holdings will be reduced in 2005. The tax will be imposed on people utilizing hotel rooms, travelers, and visitors, not the residents and taxpayers of Ulster County.
The irony of the re-implementation of the Hotel/Motel Occupancy tax is that it was introduced by the Democrats as a replacement for the mortgage tax increase that was supposed to be implemented, yet when the budget vote was called only two Democrats voted in favor of the budget that contained the Hotel/Motel Occupancy tax as part of their proposal. To avoid having the budget held hostage, I decided to vote in favor. I feel this tax will be less burdensome than a 23.7 percent increase in your property taxes. The Democrats took the position of refusing to negotiate; their proposal was all or nothing. In an effort to be reasonable and show good judgment for ALL county taxpayers, the legislature adopted a budget that kept spending at 3.32 percent increase.
Now that the 2005 budget is in place, I would hope that we can work together in the coming year so that the 2006 budget process is handled in a timely and bipartisan manner. Some of the highlights of the 2005 budget include:
• No Layoffs
• Minimal impact on services to County residents
• An overall decrease in county taxes for five towns
• Nine towns with an increase of less than 6%
• Elimination of the Home Energy tax
• Revenues raised thorough the passage of the Hotel/Motel Occupancy tax
Let's start 2005 off on the right foot and cooperate, communicate and not agitate. My New Year's hope is that all 33 members of our County Legislature will put aside partisan bickering and work together for the residents and taxpayers of our great County. That is one New Year's resolution we can all keep if we work at it. Happy Holidays.
Richard A. Gerentine, Chairman Ulster County Legislature Dear Editor, In my view, the best horse-puckey detector on earth is the average working person. Our leaders in Albany claim that those affected by the seizure and occupation of over half the towns landmass are long gone, as if the numerous descendents still clinging to the hillsides do not exist. In the next breath, they award 290 or so million to an Oklahoma tribe that may have lived here 300 years ago, to settle land claims. The root cause of the so called Large Parcel Bill and ORPS frantic desire to reval all towns around the state is decades of deficit spending by our leaders in Albany and Kingston. Even if the Large Parcel Bill were to be rolled back, it would only delay the inevitable results of the coming reval. The Fed's flood of easy mortgage money that has helped to cause our recent historic spike in real estate values will only make the reval that much more painful. Olive was settled and built by stalwart, highly skilled, working class folks, a distinct culture that is still present and strong, characterized by such attributes such as hard work, highly developed practical skills, self sufficiency, thrift, mutual aid, and respect for others. How ironic that the very class of folks that not only built the town but also organized O.C.S.D., are the same group that is facing a downward spiral of dispersal to lower cost areas due to the actions of our leaders in Albany and Kingston.
Town Board members and a local group of citizens have visited with our leaders in Albany and it is clear that there will be no relief from that quarter. I have heard many voice the desire to see Olive have it's own school district, and after ruminating on it I heartily agree, if the majority agrees. I would like to see Olive have a system that would support and advance the unique culture that has existed here for over two hundred years. A perusal of NYSED law reveals that the only barrier is a requirement for 2000 students and 10,000 residents, hardly possible given the unique history of Olive. It's possible we will be told that we cannot do it, the law doesn't make allowance for extenuating circumstances. Perusal of the U.S. Constitution tells me that either negotiation with NYSED or litigation at the Federal level would likely result in affirmation of our right to our own system, if the majority desires. An excellent overview of the NY school system and it's harvest is John Taylor Gatto's book titled "Dumbing Us Down". Mr. Gatto taught for over 26 years in NY schools and was named NYC Teacher of the Year twice, and NYS Teacher of the Year once. He describes what is, and what could be. I believe that no one can direct our education as well as we can ourselves. A welcome side benefit would be fiscal savings for all Olivians, given the local culture of thrift. If there was ever a town that could do it, Olive is it.
Charlie Blumstein Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
Two recent letters from “The Angry Angler” are filled with errors and innuendo that need to be addressed.
The idea that New York City is somehow orchestrating the amount of turbidity in the Esopus Creek to forward an agenda that promotes one use of the stream over another is absurd. The silt and clay in the Esopus this year is largely from the erosion along Birch Creek, which occurred during a flash flood in May. Just ask anyone who lives upstream of the Shandaken Tunnel for confirmation.
This has been a very wet year and discharge from the Shandaken Tunnel was below average for most of the summer. However, the flow in the Esopus for much of the first half of the summer was lower than the 40-year average. During that period of low flow, the discharge from the Shandaken Tunnel was increased in order to meet state regulatory minimum flow requirements to maintain the cold-water fishery.
The exceptions to the average discharge during this period were the recreational releases that occur as part of a long-standing arrangement between the DEC, DEP and the whitewater recreation community. From late-July through the fall, the Tunnel discharge was raised only as flows in the Esopus dropped below the regulatory threshold. (Data on Esopus and tunnel flows are available in real-time from the US Geological Survey Web site at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis.)
It is also wrong to call DEP anti-fishing. DEP provides world-class trout fishing in its reservoirs, and last year sponsored the restoration project at the Esopus’ Woodland Valley confluence, where considerable effort was expended to stabilize the stream channel and improve trout habitat. The agency also co-sponsors the “Trout in the Classroom” program, which brings upstate and downstate students together to learn about trout, their lifecycles and what they need to thrive. (See www.troutintheclassroom.com for more information.)
DEP’s Stream Management Program has been working with Shandaken, various government agencies, local groups (including fishing and tubing interests) and landowners along the Esopus to develop a plan that will enable us all to balance the use and conservation of the Creek. We are also studying ways to decrease the amount of turbidity that enters the Shandaken Tunnel, and are committed to beginning a project to address that situation as soon as the best alternative can be determined.
“The Angry Angler” also questions whether the DEP is concerned about the effect of the proposed Crossroads project on the Esopus. The DEP has taken the lead in highlighting the potential dangers of this project and has submitted to the State the most comprehensive evaluation to date of the project’s 7000-page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). We also spent weeks at the DEC’s issues conference critiquing the EIS and urging a more thorough review. Any reader of The Phoenicia Times should know this.
“The Angry Angler” has a lot of issues, particularly with the tubing industry. But any objective look at the facts will show that the DEP has been fair and attentive in its efforts to balance the interests of all the parties that have a stake in the Esopus, including landowners, recreational users and the millions of people who depend on it for their drinking water needs.
David B. Tweedy,
Acting Commissioner
New York City DEP

Dear Editor:
Though I’ve known Kit (Christopher) Evers since we were not much more than striplings, it wasn’t until the celebration of his father’s 90th birthday—a well attended do held at the Bearsville Theater in February 1995—that I finally met Alf. He was in fine fettle that cold winter day, and was happily hawking yet another of his many books. In this case it was a collection of essays titled IN CATSKILL COUNTRY. In his introduction to that book, Heywood Hale Broun said, “Alf Evers knows the Catskills as they were, as they are, and as he hopes they’ll be.” Mr. Broun was right on the money.
Alf’s definitive work on the Catskills, a wonderfully erudite and thick volume (heavy enough to crack black walnuts with) is THE CATSKILLS FROM WILDERNESS TO WOODSTOCK. If you don’t own a copy, you should.
I go into all this because some of you who receive this note will not know much about Alf, and I want you to.
Let me cut to the chase. Alf died at midday, yesterday, on December 29th. He had eaten his lunch, served up by Tom O’Brien—his faithful caregiver and friend for the last seven years—and had settled in for a nice afternoon nap. He did not wake up.
Alf was nearly 100; he and his friends had looked forward to celebrating his 100th birthday—an accomplishment of stubborn longevity. When all things are tallied about him, it would merely have been another statistic, for a fellow who’d done so many more interesting things throughout his life.
Perhaps the most significant thing that kept Alf going these last years, in spite of his loss of hearing and losing of sight, was his intense desire to write one more important book about the Catskills. That he did. It is a history of Kingston. I understand his publishers love it, and it will be printed and on the bookshelves sometime this coming spring or summer.
Kit wants you to know that on Sunday, January 9th, 2005 between 2 and 4 PM, there will be a memorial gathering for Alf at the Bearsville Theater, Bearsville, New York, to celebrate that wonderful man. There will be something to eat, to drink, and music. Surely there will be talk too. Alf loved talk, and loved to practice its art. It’s the kind of gathering he’d enjoy.
Mike O’Neil
Woodland Valley, NY

Dear Editor,
I send this poem I wrote after losing my husband a month ago. I hope you can put it in your paper so others who may have lost loved ones will know why they are never alone.
To My Love
My love is gone to the wind,
Swept up in a flash of light,
A whispered sigh of freedom,
His soul has taken flight.

We walked together for many days,
on this earth in beauty’s song,
We laughed, we cried, our tears as one,
In rivers that flow so long.

The mate to my soul, that he was,
At first glance we knew this truth,
And it beat in our hearts, flowing life,
Never aging, eternal youth.

I weep now in consuming sadness,
That holds me close to his face,
Memories of love’s depths fill me,
My whole being in his embrace.

As many tears that flow in sorrow,
Just as many fall from love,
Of what we shared and held so close,
On earth then, so now from above.

As deep as sorrow carves into
Our soul, so does the Love -
Which remains there forever.
Judi Jarvis
Big Indian, NY

Dear Editor,
This is an Open Letter to Dean Gitter...
Dear Mr. Gitter,
Everyone in Shandaken (including you, Mr. Gitter) shares the good fortune of
living in our incredibly beautiful mountain wilderness environment. That is why the reports of the talk you delivered to the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce on December 14 left me confused. Please help the people of Shandaken to understand why we should support your exclusive mega-resort development by explaining why it is a bad thing to be a "self-appointed" guardian of our wilderness, but it is a good thing to be a self-appointed destroyer of our wilderness.
Mark Loete
Chichester, NY