News Briefs 5/8/2008

Town Board?
A very light agenda at the May 5th Town of Olive Board meeting led Supervisor Berndt Liefeld to quip "this might be the shortest Town Board meeting ever!" as the meeting drew to a close after about 30 minutes time spent on largely routine perfunctory matters.
Under old business Robert Selkowitz was appointed by the board to the Central Catskill Collaborative, a land use planning group formed by David Manning of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. He will serve with Councilwoman Helen Chase who was appointed previously. Selkowitz was chosen by the Town Board from several candidates who applied for consideration for the post. The first order of business is to apply for a portion of the $500,000 in grants available from the NYS DEC to be shared with the designated towns and villages that line Rt. 28 between Hurley and Andes, including Olive. Councilwoman Chase encouraged the unsuccessful candidates to participate in the process in any case to help formulate a plan to apply for the grant(s).
The sale of goods left behind by the former owner of the Trail Nursery, site of the proposed Boiceville sewage treatment plant, netted $3277.50 for the Town of Olive Dog Fund, run by Beverly Stein. Beverly was the prime mover behind the recent construction of the Town of Olive Dog Kennel, which takes in and cares for wayward dogs at the new kennel building located at the Town of Olive Highway Dept. storage yard in West Shokan.
The meeting was adjourned in memory of Don Avery, Patricia DeYoung, Eileen Monahan, Robert Powell and Albert Rother.

Planning Board!
The big news at the latest Town of Olive Planning Board meeting was the application made by Don Kenly for a site plan review to establish a hardware store at the long shuttered Tongore Café building on Rt. 213 in the hamlet of Olivebridge. Mr. Kenly, longtime owner of the property, observed that “We have had various tenants in there over a period of time and they have not been successful. I’m trying to turn that property into something that becomes independent and can afford to pay taxes and help out the community as well.” The proposed store would have hardware, a small line of building materials for local convenience, garden supplies and similar goods. No changes are planned for the structure itself but Mr. Kenly added that, “We would like to fence in part of the parking lot and around the back of the building for security purposes.”
When asked whether the house that sits behind the store would be used as part of the business Mr. Kenly replied, “No, the house was recently renovated and is now available for rent.” Mr. Kenly was referred to the UC Planning Board due to the proximity of Rt. 213 and all landowners within 500 feet will be notified of the upcoming public hearing on the matter to occur in the near future. All present seemed uniformly in support of the proposed new venture.
Patricia Campbell of Classy Creatures grooming boutique applied for site plan review seeking permission to sell plants and related goods at her store in Shokan. Ms. Campbell recently purchased the former Pet Fare business formerly located on Rt. 28 in Shokan and has moved it and blended it in with her existing business at 3182 St. Rt. 28 in Shokan, across from Winchells Pizza. Ms. Campbell wants to sell a complete line of annuals, herbs, perennials and vegetable bedding plants. For the post harvest season, Ms. Campbell is considering carrying a line of canning supplies as well as having a harvest celebration day when mums are in full bloom. Those who purchased bedding plants in the spring would display their produce at the celebration for a judging by local Cornell Cooperative Extension personnel. Ms. Campbell said that “…small towns need to keep their money at home, in town like our grandparents did.”
In that vein she said she would like to see more of a concerted effort to promote Olive business’ and would like to see the Rt. 28 corridor infrastructure grants now available from the NYS DEC applied to a picnic park on Rt. 28 with a kiosk sporting Olive business brochures. She added that sidewalks may be worth considering in Shokan to make it more pedestrian friendly. Ms. Campbell is planning on a Motherss Day grand opening.
Michael Lang of Woodstock, the promoter of both the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival in Bethel and the Woodstock 94 festival in Saugerties, came before the board for the signing of his completed subdivision maps. His subdivision is located primarily in Woodstock with a small portion located in Olive. The Woodstock Planning Board handled the matter with authorization from the Olive Planning board and the map signing was merely a formality completing the process.
Anthony Ferrara of West Shokan came before the board for a public hearing on the subdivision of his property on Watson Hollow Road in West Shokan into 2 parcels. The bulk of the property which is a thin long strip which runs up the mountain from Watson Hollow Road will be sold to NYC DEP for the purpose of conservation and protection within the Ashokan Reservoir watershed. The small remaining parcel near the road contains Mr. Ferrara’s house which will remain intact. No objections were voiced and Mr. Ferrara received unanimous approval from the board.
Sarah Sprague of Watson Hollow Road appeared before the board seeking approval for a division of her parcel on Watson Hollow Road into 3 separate parcels. All was in order after a lengthy process and the application received unanimous approval.

Ed Honored!
The Ulster County Volunteer Fire Police Association held its Annual Awards & Installation dinner hosted by the American Legion Post in Saugerties on April 27th. Carl “Ed” Swenson, a fifty year member of the Olive Fire Department, was awarded Fire Police Officer of the Year. President Alvah Corretty, assisted by Director Steve Sulko, cited Mr. Swenson for his devotion and many positions in the County that he served during the course of fifty years, not the least of which, as Captain of the Olive FD Fire Police.
Wat to go Ed!

Tax Reform?
Ulster County has established a Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding and Tax Reform and is part of a new effort to break the current stalemate in the state’s education funding.
“We’re trying to understand through the impact on the county level of school taxing in general,” said Susan Zimet, D- New Paltz, who chairs the commission. “If school taxes aren’t paid, the county pays back the school taxes, which most people don’t even know about. We’re trying to explore our role in taxing and also give support to all those reformers and bring the power of government behind them.”
Among alternatives being discussed is a “circuit breaker,” or refundable tax credit for the portion of one’s property taxes that exceeds a portion of one’s income, as well as new ways of triggering better state aid so some school districts don’t end up with better education than others at lower prices.
On a state level, a special property tax commission set up by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and supported by his successor, Gov. David A. Paterson, recently wrapped up its sixth and final hearing. The commission is due to issue a report by May 22 that will include imposing a ceiling on annual property tax increases by school districts as its signature proposal, though the form of any limit remains to be determined.
But the New York State United Teachers is warning that a similar effort in California ending up breaking that state’s education system.
More-controversial ideas that the commission may turn into proposals include a scaled-back pension plan for new teachers and making changes in the Taylor Law, which bars public-sector unions from going on strike but also guarantees pay increases. Specifically, the commission has discussed repealing the Taylor Law’s so-called Triborough Amendment, which locks in incremental pay increases after a public contract expires and before a new one is agreed upon.
Stay tuned… something’s about to change!

Heavy Handed?
Towards the end of the May 5 League of Women Voters-run Onteora School Board Meet The Candidates event at the high school, a quick series of events occurred when a Town of Olive police officer pulled out handcuffs and threatened to arrest a local mother for having treated him “without the respect due a police officer.” The matter ended peaceably when several parents and the press intervened and asked both parties to step back from the situation.
The policeman, Olive Officer Vaco, said that the woman had grown disturbed when looking over campaign literature left outside the room where the candidates event was taking place, noting that one stack of flyers comparing candidates was unattributed to any campaign group. Two other stacks were from two slates of candidates while a third was from the ad hoc organization, Save Our Onteora Schools. Officer Vaco said that the woman balled up a flyer “and threw it in my direction,” and did seemed to indicate she would disturb the other papers. He said he felt she held the potential for creating disturbance and “broke the law when she showed disrespect to me.” That’s when he pulled out his cuffs and the woman ran back into the meeting.
The woman, Hurley Town Councilwoman Kate Hyman, said that she had asked Vaco to remove the same flyers earlier when she saw that they had been placed on windshields of cars parked in the Onteora parking lot, and then questioned how they’d re-appeared outside the entrance to the meeting. (The League of Women Voters does not allow campaign literature in its events.) She also questioned the legality of such literature presented without attribution.
“He threatened me,” she said, in tears, of Vaco’s attempt to arrest her, first as he stood across the cafeteria where the candidates event was taking place, glaring at her, and then as he defended his almost-arrest out in the hall when others came out to question his actions.
Vaco said that he had been asked by the school, three of whose board members are running for re-election, to be on hand “in case anything like this happened.” When it was pointed out that such a policing role, unseen at Onteora events in the past, might have been best handled by a sheriff’s deputy to avoid the look of partisanship in what’s taken on the appearance of a town vs town fight, he added that he was only doing his job.
Later, while waiting outside to get information on Hyman, the woman he had almost arrested, “for report purposes,” it was noted to Officer Vaco that he was giving the impression he was “lurking.” Acknowledging as much, he said he would drive around until Hyman left to get the information he needed.
Hyman said she is meeting with an attorney about the incident in the days to come.

County Exec…
The stage is further set in the race for the first ever Ulster County executive, as county Democrats lost a candidate recently while Republicans gained one.
After officially joining the race less than two weeks ago, Ulster County Legislator Susan Zimet, of New Paltz, announced Sunday at the annual Democratic brunch at Wiltwyck Golf Club that she was dropping her bid for the nomination. The move leaves her opponent, Ulster County Administrator Michael Hein, as the only remaining announced Democratic candidate for the post.
Hein said if he wins, his priorities are to “protect property taxpayers, bring jobs to Ulster County, and fight to protect the environment.”
Meanwhile, Leonard Bernardo, proprietor of Skate Time 209 skating rink on U.S. Route 209 in Accord, has announced his candidacy for Ulster County executive on the Republican side. An enrolled member of the Independence Party, Bernardo has addressed a number of town Republican committees and was endorsed for the office by state Sen. John Bonacic. Legislature Minority Leader Glenn Noonan, R-Gardiner, who has also been making the rounds to Republican committees, said he is not ready to formally announce his candidacy for county executive but will soon.
Party nominating conventions, though unofficial, are usually held in early June.
Independent Allan Wikman of Kingston announced his intention to run for county executive earlier.
The county executive position was created by a new charter adopted by voters in 2006. The first elected executive will serve a three-year term beginning in January and thereafter serve four-year terms. The executive will replace the county administrator form of government, in place since 1981. A special legislative committee has recommended a salary of $115,000 a year.

County Health…
Ulster County Treasurer, Lewis C. Kirschner, announced last week that the 2007 Annual Financial Report for the County of Ulster has been completed and filed with the State Comptroller, noting that the county’s Unreserved/Unappropriated General Fund Balance had grown in a year from $17.8 million to $19.6 million. The factors that have influenced this increase, he added, have included cost containment initiatives, cost cutting measures and the maximizing of all revenue streams. As a result, the County continued to work towards stabilizing and improving its financial position.
It is recommended by the State Comptroller’s Office that municipalities should maintain an unreserved/unappropriated fund balance of between 5% and 10% of their total general fund budget. The $19.6 million represents approximately 7.5% of the County’s general fund budget.

Septic Classes?
The Catskill Watershed Corporation will conduct three free classes during May on septic system operation and maintenance. “Your Septic System: What Every Homeowner Should Know” will be offered Friday, May 9 at 2 p.m. at Pine Hill Community Center; Saturday, May 17at 10 a.m. at Catskill Mountain Foundation (the red barn), Main Street, Hunter; and Wednesday, May 21 at 2 p.m. at the Delaware County E-Center, 5 1⁄2 Main St., Delhi. Pre-registration is not required. A free water saving kit will be provided for each household attending the class. For more information, call the CWC at 845-586-1400.
Elements of the class include: A septic system primer – types of systems and how they work; Basic biology and soil filtration concepts of wastewater treatment; Health and environment effects that can result from failed septic systems; Roles and responsibilities of homeowners, regulators, engineers and contractors; Basic maintenance requirements of septic system components; How to protect against inflow and infiltration, and problems with septic system additives; and troubleshooting when problems develop
CWC programs and projects are explained on the corporation’s web site: www.cwconline.org.

Home Prices!
As the number of existing single-family homes sold in the Hudson Valley and Catskills continued to drop in March, so did their prices. In Columbia County where the number of homes fell year over year in March by 40 percent, the median price fell by $90,000, from $280,000 in March 2007 to $190,000 this March, according to the New York State Association of Realtors. Home sales fell by over 59 percent in Sullivan County with the median price falling over $34,000. Home sales fell by 42 percent in Rockland County with prices falling by $1,500, by almost 40 percent in Ulster County and by over 38 percent each in Westchester and Putnam County. Median prices fell in Ulster County by over $42,000, by $33,000 in Westchester, and by over $8,000 in Putnam. In Dutchess County, sales fell off by almost 33 percent while prices fell by $9,500. In Orange County, sales fell by 28 percent while prices dropped by over $6,000. In Greene County, sales fell by 12 percent while prices rose by $108,000. Delaware County was the only one in the Catskills to increase sales with a 57 percent rise while prices dropped $2,500.
Statewide in March, existing single-family home sales dropped by 29 percent while prices dropped by 36 percent.

4-H Seeking…
This year, the Ulster County 4-H Program is asking the public to help recognize the achievements of the county’s 4-H members by making a donation to their 4-H Trophy and Fair Fund. Contributions will be used for medals, trophies and recognition of a 4-H exhibitor’s achievement. Individuals or businesses contributing to the fund will have their name placed on signs posted during the Fair at each of the three show rings reading: “We proudly support the Ulster County 4-H Program”. Those who contribute by May 15, 2008 will have their name or business name in the Ulster County Fair 4-H Premium Book, and banners located in each of the three show tents on the fair grounds throughout fair week. The deadline for contributions to be only on a banner at the fair grounds is July 1, 2008. Businesses and individuals are welcome to participate. For details on sponsorship levels and benefits, please contact Patti Zellmer, 4-H Program Issue Leader, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, 845-340-3990, or email psz2@cornell.edu to request a sponsorship form. Sponsorship forms can also be downloaded on our website at http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/ulster.


Abuse Grant…
The Ulster County Department of Social Services has announced that the Ulster County Family Violence Unit has been awarded the 2007 Child and Family Safety-Services Multi-Disciplinary Teams/Advocacy Center Grant in the amount of $143,110. The Grant will commence on August 1 and will cover an 18 month period. Through the awarded grant allocation, the Ulster County Family Violence Unit will be able to move towards its future goal of becoming a fully accredited Child Advocacy Center. These funds will also ensure that all child victims of sexual abuse receive specialized medical evaluation and treatment, and Hispanic/Latino clients will receive culturally sensitive and competent services
The Ulster County Family Violence Investigative Unit was developed in 1995 in response to an alarming increase in domestic violence cases resulting in murder/suicides in this County and in recognition of the fact that the system in place at the time was not adequate to meet the complex need for high quality investigations. During the period from November 1, 2006 through October 31, 2007, Ulster County received 2,019 reports from the State Central Registry for Child Abuse and Maltreatment. Of the reports received, the Family Violence Unit investigated 139 reports with allegations of sexual abuse, 6 reports with allegations of serious physical abuse, 3 fatalities and 455 reports of domestic violence.

Infrastructure!
The New York State Department of Transportation is asking for an investment of over $175 billion in “vital infrastructure improvements” in the next 20 years, which include several major projects in the Hudson Valley region. DOT Deputy Commissioner Stanley Gee has said that the Thruway system in the state is over 50 years old, many bridges, small and large, need structural aid, and that the state shouldn’t wait any longer to implement plans to address these issues.
The state DOT released a 20-year Needs Assessment recently, noting specific bridges and highways across the state in need of “serious attention.” Of those listed in the Hudson Valley, the most intensive projects include the I-287/ Tappan Zee Bridge Corridor, one which had plans in the works since 2002; the I-87/ I-84 interchange, already a year behind its original completion date; Route 17, and a complete reconstruction of State Route 9W from Rockland County all the way through Ulster County.
Cynthia Ruiz, Ulster County’s Transit director, has urged DOT officials to think about increasing public transit, specifically bus lines, in their master plan for the next five years.
In similar news, the New York Thruway announced recently that it will be raising its tolls about ten percent for cash customers in two installments, over two years, beginning next January.

Eating Disorders
Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of young American women report disordered eating behaviors, and 10 percent report symptoms of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, a new survey finds. The findings - from an online poll of more than 4,000 women between the ages of 25 and 45 - found that 75 percent eat, think and behave abnormally around food. The survey was conducted by SELFmagazine in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
More than 31 percent of women in the survey reported that in an attempt to lose weight, they had induced vomiting or had taken laxatives, diuretics or diet pills at some point in their lives. Among these women, more than 50 percent engaged in purging activities at least a few times a week, and many did so every day.
Eating habits that some women think are normal - such as skipping meals, avoiding carbohydrates and, in some cases, extreme dieting - may actually be signs of disordered eating, which is often linked with emotional and physical distress.
While there’s a widespread belief that eating disorders affect mostly young women, the survey found that women in the 30s and 40s had about the same rates of disordered eating as younger women.
Among the other findings: 67 percent of the women (excluding those with actual eating disorders) are trying to lose weight; 53 percent of dieters are already at a healthy weight and are still trying to lose weight; 39 percent of the women said concerns about what they eat or weigh interfere with their happiness; 37 percent of respondents said they regularly skip meals to try to lose weight; 27 percent said they’d be “extremely upset” if they gained just five pounds; 26 percent have eliminated entire food groups from their diet; 16 percent have dieted on 1,000 or fewer calories a day; 13 percent smoke to lose weight; and 12 percent often eat when they’re not hungry, and 49 percent sometimes do.

Energy Crimes
International organized crime groups control “significant positions” in global energy and strategic materials and are expanding holdings in the U.S. materials sector, the U.S. Justice Department said recently. A strategy on fighting organized crime released by the department also says such groups manipulate securities exchanges and conduct financial fraud to steal billions of dollars. It says they systematically corrupt public officials, use computer networks to target victims, and provide logistical support to terrorists and foreign intelligence services.
“The activities of transnational and national organized criminal enterprises are increasing in scope and magnitude as these groups continue to strengthen their networking with each other to expand their operations,” said FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole.

Family Leave
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act, which made it possible for many workers to take unpaid job-protected time off to care for their newborn children or sick relatives. But instead of celebrating, workers’ rights advocates and the Bush administration are battling over what would be the most sweeping revisions ever to the law.
Under proposals being considered by the Labor Department, workers would have to tell their bosses in advance when they take nonemergency leave, instead of being able to wait until two days after they left. They would have to undergo “fitness-for-duty” evaluations if they took intermittent leave for medical reasons and wanted to return to physically demanding jobs. To prove that they had a “serious health condition,” they would have to visit a health-care provider at least twice within a month of falling ill. What’s more, employers would have the right to contact health-care providers who authorized leave.
These and other proposed changes have set off a fierce debate. More than 4,000 comments were submitted to the Labor Department as of Friday, April 11, the deadline for the public to weigh in. They came from labor unions, religious organizations, women’s rights groups, small and large business owners and employees across the country.
At the crux of it all, said advocates of the FMLA and of its revisions, is the uncertainty fostered by the wobbly economy. Workers want assurances that their jobs will be safe even when they have family or medical emergencies. Businesses want to make sure they are operating efficiently, getting the most for their money. And all agree that any changes would have widespread impact. In 2005, the last year for which the Labor Department has data, nearly 7 million people used the FMLA, which allows for as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Workers rely on the FMLA, which applies to companies with at least 50 employees, because many companies do not offer paid sick leave or disability coverage.

Climate Shift…
Every gardener is familiar with the multicolor U.S. map of climate zones on the back of seed packets. It’s the Department of Agriculture’s indicator of whether a flower, bush or tree will survive the winters in a given region. It’s also 18 years old and a growing number of meteorologists and horticulturists say that because of the warming climate, the 1990 map doesn’t reflect a trend that home gardeners have noticed for more than a decade: a gradual shift northward of growing zones for many plants.
The map doesn’t show, for example, that the Southern magnolia, once limited largely to growing zones ranging from Florida to Virginia, now can thrive as far north as Pennsylvania. Or that kiwis, long hardy only as far north as Oklahoma, now might give fruit in St. Louis. Such shifts have put the USDA’s map at the center of a new chapter in the debate over how government should respond to climate changes that were described in a report last year by a United Nations-backed panel of scientists. The panel said there was “unequivocal” evidence of global warming fueled by carbon dioxide emissions, which have created an excess of the greenhouse gases that warm the Earth.
Growers are worried that their potential losses won’t be sufficiently covered by the Federal Crop Insurance Corp.’s Nursery Crop Insurance Program, which covers them for losses caused by weather-related events such as flooding. If growing zones move north because of warming there is still a possibility of cold snaps, and it’s unclear exactly how insurance programs would deal with that risk.
Economic factors shouldn’t be placed above the science of climate change, says meteorologist Mark Kramer, who worked on the 1990 USDA map that remains in effect, as well as a proposed update in 2003 that showed a warming trend. The USDA rejected the 2003 map.
“If nature changes, industry should change with it,” Kramer says. “If the weather changes, we shouldn’t operate with zones and systems that aren’t appropriate.”
USDA officials reject suggestions that the agency’s resistance to changing the 1990 map reflects a reluctance to acknowledge the potential impact of climate change. They say the agency wants its next map to reflect a 30-year period that gives a fuller picture of the world’s climate than the 16-year examination Kramer conducted for his rejected map.
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion,” Arbor Day Foundation’s Woodrow Nelson says of the USDA map. But he says his group, which provides low-cost trees, was seeing trends that it wanted reflected in its own map for growers.

Plant A Row
The long awaited vegetable planting season has arrived, and the Master Gardener program is looking for gardeners to help feed the hungry in Ulster County by joining their Plant A Row for the Hungry (PAR) campaign. They are asking vegetable gardeners to grow a little extra this season, or bring their excess produce to Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, 10 Westbrook Lane, in Kingston, NY. Their nutrition program educators will use and distribute the produce collected when they go out to teach their hands-on programs that work with low-income families, children, and seniors residing in Ulster County. Donated produce will also be given to food pantries in Kingston and New Paltz. Home gardeners participating in this years program will receive one free soil test, an informative packet with suggestions of what to grow, and how to plant them, and free “Plant A Row” veggie markers for their garden.
If you’re ready to help the hungry call our Master Gardener Program today at Cornell Cooperative Extension Ulster County to receive your free soil test, information packet, free “Plant A Row” veggie markers for your garden and registration form, call 845- 340-3478 (DIRT). Or visit http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/ulster.

Martha At SWN
Martha Frankel, acclaimed writer, author and radio and television celebrity, will speak to members and guests at the Shandaken Women’s Network annual meeting Wednesday May 21st, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Shandaken. Frankel’s work has appeared in magazines as diverse as the original Details, The New Yorker, Fashions of the New York Times, Japanese and German Men’s Vogue, The Goodguys Gazette, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Movieline’s Hollywood Life. She has been an on-air contributor to VH1’s Sexiest Movie Moments, Entertainment Tonight, and Inside Edition. For the past fifteen years she has been the co-host of the Woodstock Roundtable, a Sunday morning radio talk-show on WDST in Woodstock, NY. Since the inception of the Woodstock Film Festival in 2000, she has been the moderator of the Actor’s Dialogue. She was a 1997 Philip Morris Fellow at The MacDowell Colony, and the 2003 Artist-in-Residence at SUNY Ulster, where she taught a class in memoir writing. Her most recent book is Hats & Eyeglasses, a memoir about her love affair with gambling.
The Annual Meeting of the Shandaken Women’s Network is a potluck gathering and anyone wishing to attend must R.S.V.P. SWN President, Melody Newcombe at 845-688-5472 or via email at melodyn@ulster.net at which time they will be told where the meeting is being held in a private home and asked to bring a covered dish to share.



Record Signing
Woodstock MusicWorks recently announced signing the band, Stoney Clove Lane, based in Chichester.The label will release their latest work, Stay with Me, on Monday, June 16.. It is currentlys available for preview and download at woodstockmusicworks.com. A week of release parties will follow the release, ending with a blowout at 9pm, Saturday, June 21 at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock. This is the third release from Woodstock MusicWorks, following A Million Yesterdays by Mechanical Bull and Light & Blood by Bret Mosley.