January 8, 2009, Vos Iz Neias: Kiamesha Lake, NY - KJ Developer Scales Back for Third Time Plan to Build Sullivan Homes
Kiamesha Lake, NY - KJ Developer Scales Back for Third Time Plan to Build Sullivan Homes
Link to complete article is here:
https://www3.vosizneias.com/25381/2009/01/08/kiamesha-lake-ny-kj-developer-scales-back-for-third-time-plan-to-build-sullivan-homes/
News Source: Recordonline
in 2006 KJ Developer Simon Gelb addresses Town of Cochecton planning board.
Simon Gelb, an area investor with an office in Monroe, initially proposed more than 1,300 homes in Mamakating and Thompson on 2,000 acres, and later scaled it back to 999 homes.
He said he has revised the project a third time at the request of the Department of Environmental Conservation and town officials.
The two-family homes will sit on half-acre lots on a total of 87.5 acres on Wild Turnpike Road on the Thompson side, where he owns 727 acres.
He plans to leave more than 600 acres as open space, officials say. The project has been renamed from Kingwood to Parkwood.
Gelb says he is transferring about 200 acres of his Mamakating property to Camp Lakota, pending a lot line approval from Mamakating.
He said he also wants to transfer some Mamakating land to the state.
"We are negotiating with the DEC right now," Gelb said. "The reason is for protecting natural resources."
Gelb did not make it clear if he will build on any of his Mamakating land.
With the scaling back of the project, the DEC dropped its role as the lead agency in the environmental review, and the Thompson Planning Board has taken the lead.
Supervisor Tony Cellini said that while he opposed the size of the former project, town officials have since had good talks with the developer.
"Simon Gelb is a decent person to deal with," Cellini said.
"It makes much more sense than it did before."
The public scoping session is Jan. 28.
March 10, 2009, The Buffalo News: Senecas, legislators huddle over casino for Catskills
Senecas, legislators huddle over casino for Catskills
ALBANY -- Seneca Nation negotiators met with state legislators today in their bid to develop a $1.3 billion casino in the Catskills resort area just 90 minutes from Manhattan.
"Our formula is proven," said Seneca Councilor Michael John, referring to the nation's three casinos currently operating in Western New York.
The Senecas see the Catskills -- approved for Indian-owned casinos in 2001 -- as a major financial prize. But federal Interior Department officials have put the stops on such off-reservation casino deals in recent years, and it is unclear what the Obama administration's approach might take.
Robert Porter, senior policy adviser to the Senecas, said the strategy is to build support for the project among state officials, including Gov. David A. Paterson, then get a law through Congress permitting the off-reservation development deal.
For the state, Porter said, the casino could mean $160 million annually in revenue-sharing payments -- more than the Seneca Nation gives Albany in shares for its three casinos now.
With a Michigan-based partner, the Senecas are proposing the casino at a 63-acre site off Interstate 86 in Sullivan County. By the project's second phase, the plan envisions 5,000 full-time jobs. When the project is complete, it calls for 9,000 slot machines, 11 restaurants, retail and convention space and a 5,000-seat showroom.
The delegation of Seneca representatives met Tuesday in the Capitol with lawmakers from the Catskills, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and staff from the Paterson administration.
"We're not making this up. People know our results," Porter said of the tribe's gambling business experience.
The Catskills have seen a number of Indian casino plans come and go, halted by tribal infighting, legal problems or dead ends with the federal government.
Asked about the Paterson administration's reaction to the Seneca plan, Porter said, "They're listening very carefully."
As for the state linking the casino issue to ending the dispute over uncollected cigarette taxes, the Seneca representatives said that idea appears to be waning.
John, who heads the Seneca's Catskills casino committee, said there was such talk when the tribe first raised the casino plan. But he said they have been "weaning" officials from the idea.
March 10, 2009: Mid-Hudson News: Sullivan County makes offer to state to run Beaverkill
Sullivan County makes offer to state to run Beaverkill
link to complete article is here:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/March09/10/Beaverkill_SC-10Mar09.htm
The county proposed to operate the facility in much the same way as the current arrangement with the Palisades Parks Commission to operate and manage Lake Superior Park.
County Legislator Elwin Wood, in whose district the campground lies, said he is pleased that “through creative thinking and some initiative from the county legislature, the DEC is willing to consider a lease with the county to keep the facility open.
The county would not seek to take title to Beaverkill Campground and the long-term ownership and improvement options would remain with the DEC. The county’s proposal does not seek any state funding to run the facility and the county expects to break even or generate modest income through its management. Sullivan would hope to open the campground on May 1 as been the tradition.
Supporters of the campground, including Catskill Mountainkeeper and local chamber of commerce in Roscoe and Livingston Manor, have said the region benefits from the tourism dollars brought in by people who stay at the campground.
March 10, 2009: Albany Times Union Blog: Peace returns to the Catskills
Peace returns to the Catskills?
link to complete blog post is here:http://blogs.timesunion.com/outdoors/?p=494
The lions may not be lying down with the lambs just yet, but it appears private ski resorts in the Catskills may be declaring a cease-fire after several years of complaints that Belleayre Ski Resort was undercutting their ticket prices.
As you may recall, Windham, Hunter and Plattekill ski areas have complained that the state-owned Belleayre was not operating the mountain profitably — that taxpayers, in essence, were paying for super-cheap tickets at Belleayre and helping the mountain snatch skiers from the other resorts.
Anyway, today we got word that a press conference is being held in Kingston tomorrow afternoon announcing “a historic agreement between the five Catskill Mountain Ski Areas to promote spring skiing.”
We’re not sure what the five areas are. Assuming the above resorts are all included, other options include one of the two diminutive ski resorts, Holiday Mountain and Sawkill Mountain. Trust us: neither of those resorts are going to be stealing business from Windham or Hunter anytime soon. There’s also Catamount, but that’s not technically in the Catskills.
It’s even possible that Belleayre isn’t included in this agreement, although “the five Catskill Mountain Ski Areas” in the press release would seem to indicate that it is. We weren’t able to reach anybody on Tuesday at the mountains to discuss the issue, but we’ll have more info tomorrow. In the meantime, now that they’ve apparently made peace with each other, perhaps they can make peace with the weather gods and get us some more snow!
March 5, 2009, Mid-Hudson News: Sorensen questions closing of Beaverkill Campground
link to complete article is here:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/March09/05/BvklCmp_Sorensen-05Mar09.html
Sorensen questions closing of Beaverkill Campground
MONTICELLO – Sullivan County Legislator Alan Sorensen Wednesday urged his fellow county legislators to fight the closing of the Beaverkill DEC campground.
Sorensen called the DEC campground an “important segment of Sullivan County’s ecotourism business” and feared its closing could have a large economic effect on all of county residents.
The DEC announced the closing of the campground last week claiming that it was underutilized.
The Roscoe Chamber of Commerce argued in turn that the usually busy campground was not utilized by tourists last year because of severe flooding in the area.
Sorensen said he wants not only to stop the closing of the campground by the DEC, but to apply to the state for stimulus dollars to fund other dormant eco-tourism projects like the O&W rails-to-trails initiative, enhancements to the D&H canal linear park and the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway.
“Our County Government needs to build upon the attractiveness of our area by applying for stimulus funding to build our ecotourism infrastructure - making our community a more inviting place to visit,” he said. “We must propose projects that build our ecotourism base, said Sorensen.”
Sorensen said that the county should continue to work in partnership with the DEC to exploit Sullivan County’s natural beauty for eco-tourism. The DEC controls much of the best hiking and camping sites and we need to recognize them as not only a regulatory agency, but as our economic partner as well.
“The fight to close the Beaverkill campground should also be used as a start to actually expand our efforts to build our ecotourism industry in conjunction with the Bed and Breakfast industry, Bethel Woods, and even our farming industry.”
February 4, 2009, Mid Hudson News: Community groups unite to save the Beaverkill Campground
link to complete article is here:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2009/March09/04/BvkillCmgnd_CM-04Mar09.html
Community groups unite to save the Beaverkill Campground
 Covered bridge at the Beaverkill Campground |
ROSCOE – The Catskill Mountainkeeper organization, the Roscoe Chamber of Commerce and the Friends of the Beaverkill are teaming up to lobby for the state to keep the Beaverkill Campground open this summer.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation last week announced the Beaverkill and a handful of other campgrounds would be closed because of low attendance and the need to save money given the state of New York’s fiscal condition.
Catskill Mountainkeeper Executive Director Ramsay Adams said the campground is a key component to the Sullivan County tourism economy.
The savings by closing the campground would be $10,000 to $15,000, said Adams. “The amount of money that the state will save in their cost they pay to keep the campsite open is greatly outweighed by the amount of money Sullivan County is going to lose in tourism dollars, and that’s just in one year.”
The state maintains attendance has been low in recent years, but Adams said that is because during the 2006, 2007 and 2008 camping seasons, the site was hit with three “100 year floods,” the main road to the site was closed or only allowed local traffic and for much of that period, the Beaverkill Covered Bridge was closed for repair, limiting access to the campsites.
March 2, 2009, Times Herald Record: Fresh-water museum slated for Arkville Timely topic blends history, environment
Timely topic blends history, environment
var isoPubDate = 'March 02, 2009'ARKVILLE — The controversies that wracked communities in the Catskills watershed during the late '90s have yielded a bonus-in-the-making: a $25 million museum devoted exclusively to the history of fresh water.
If that sounds a bit . . . watery as the focus of a museum, you're taking a lot for granted. The story of water is the story of life itself, rife with drama and explosive political import. Water threatens to be to the future what petroleum is to the present — a natural resource for which wars will be fought.
"And it's the one natural resource that can't be replaced," said Joseph Hurwitz, architect of the museum that's slated for the hamlet of Arkville. He, like others associated with the Water Discovery Center, has become a fountain of facts on the subject.
By the year 2025, for example, experts are estimating two-thirds of the world's population will suffer water shortages. As the center's promotional material ominously reminds people, "All the water that will ever be is, right now."
Hurwitz, whose office is in West Hurley, had initially designed a more modest building about seven years ago. That was when the center's board of directors envisioned a regional museum that focused on the history and importance of the reservoir and aqueduct system that delivers a billion gallons of water to New York City every day.
"But we spoke to various consultants who told us we had a tiger by the tail," said Gary Gailes, president of the center's board of trustees. The story of fresh water, they were told, was about as big and critical a subject as could be imagined. And, while there were other museums and maritime museums that dealt with the fate and history of oceans, there was none devoted solely to fresh water.
What has evolved since its early days is a design that will incorporate the bad news about water with a variety of interactive displays, films and presentations created by world-renowned designer Leonard Levitan that offer conservation alternatives.
Hurwitz delights in explaining how the structure's signature architectural "mountains" — several chamfered roofs — will channel rainwater into "valleys" that will then guide it to underground cisterns. The design effectively mimics the natural process that created the watershed, while helping it reach its target of a zero-carbon footprint.
Unlike its neighboring development project, the Belleayre Resort at Catskill park, the planned Water Discovery Center has attracted no appreciable controversy.
"We've been welcomed with open arms," Hurwitz said. The only request he said he's aware of is the request that the center memorialize the often arrogant ways in which watershed communities were emptied to make way for the reservoir system by a water-desperate city that brooked no opposition.
That story, Levitan said, will indeed be told.
As for the $25 million price tag, Gailes said the center has a three-year fundraising plan that will focus on attracting foundation grants and wealthy donors. He said he also hopes to attract celebrity supporters such as Al Gore, Robert Kennedy Jr. and Leonardo DiCaprio, who recently made a documentary about the water crisis.
Gailes is confident the museum will attract 100,000 visitors annually, despite its off-the-beaten-path location.
"The Wild Center in the Adirondacks, which is closer to Canada than metropolitan New York City, draws 150,000 people a year. It seems to us 100,000 is a safe figure."
BIG PLANS
* The Water Discovery Center will be located on a 44-acre site in Arkville, a hamlet in Delaware County on the east branch of the Delaware River.
* The 65,000-square-foot structure is designed to have a zero-carbon footprint, thanks to systems that include rooftop gardens, geothermal heating and cooling and photovoltaic arrays.
* The museum will include 25,000 square feet of interactive exhibits as well as a 145-seat theater and conference center.
February 26, 2009, Press Release:Hinchey & Hall Secure Approval of $331,000 For Upper Delaware River Watershed Flood Mitigation
February 26, 2009
Hinchey & Hall Secure Final Congressional Approval of $331,000
For Upper Delaware River Watershed Flood Mitigation Studies &
Enhanced Flood Warning System
Washington, DC -- Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Congressman John Hall (D-NY), today announced that they secured final congressional approval of $331,000 for a pending flood mitigation study in the Upper Delaware River Watershed and for the enhancement of the existing flood alert system for the region. Hinchey and Hall worked to secure $96,000 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide additional support for the pending comprehensive study to mitigate future flooding in a number of areas within the Upper Delaware River Watershed. Hinchey also obtained approval of $235,000 for the development and implementation of a Delaware River Enhanced Flood Warning System, which will be done along with the Delaware River Basin Commission. The funds are included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2009, which passed the House yesterday afternoon.
"Investing these modest amounts of federal money in flood prevention in the Upper Delaware River Watershed now will help to protect our communities down the road from continued loss of property, infrastructure and even lives," Hinchey said. "These funds will enable the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use its expertise to identify ways to lessen and mitigate the impacts from repetitive flooding along the river. Additionally, the funds approved today will enable the creation of a much-needed advanced flood warning system so that residents who live in the Delaware River Valley can be notified quickly for possible evacuations."
Hall said, "Repeated and devastating flooding over the last several years shows how important serious flood control is in the Upper Delaware watershed. This money will help the U.S. Army Corps determine the best ways to protect local communities from destructive floods."
The Army Corps studies will investigate and identify opportunities for flood damage reduction and environmental restoration in a number of areas in the Upper Delaware River Watershed. The studies will seek to minimize the impacts of future flooding and prevent further losses of life and property. The studies will include specific high-priority areas along the Little Beaverkill Creek, such as the hamlet of Livingston Manor in the Town of Rockland, and along the Callicoon Creek. These areas have experienced chronic and repetitive flood devastation from major flood events over the past several years, which were the worst since the record flood of 1955 and resulted in the loss of life and the substantial loss of property. Hinchey and Hall worked to secure $700,000 for the study last year, to which this funding will be added.
The studies expand upon the Army Corps Reconnaissance Study that was completed for the Upper Delaware River, which addressed flood damage reduction, ecosystem restoration, water quality control, and comprehensive watershed management The Army Corps is currently negotiating a feasibility cost share agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the commencement of the first phase of the study along the Little Beaverkill, a tributary to the Delaware River. The study is in response to major floods that have occurred in the past few years and caused severe and repeated damage. The Army Corps is also partnering with Sullivan County to analyze mitigation opportunities along the Callicoon Creek and has recently begun initial data collection for the study.
Funds allocated for the Delaware River Enhanced Flood Warning system project will assist the Delaware River Basin Commission in its efforts with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Army Corps to enhance the basin's flood warning system, which is currently in place. These funds will help evaluate and improve existing precipitation and stream gage networks and develop additional NOAA flood forecast points in both non-tidal and tidal stream reaches. The enhancement will also include the merger of GIS and Doppler radar technology to improve flash flood warning capabilities for smaller watersheds.
February 25, 2009, Mid Hudson News: Supreme Court ruling on land in trust issue may impact the future of Sullivan gaming
Sullivan gaming
link to full article is here:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/
MONTICELLO – The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Native American
tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction in 1934 cannot follow
the land into trust process of the Indian Reorganization Act.
That may present ramifications for tribes trying to gain permission to
develop gaming in Sullivan County.
Right now the Seneca Nation of Indians wants to build a casino in the
Town of Thompson, but it will need land placed in trust by the US
Department of the Interior.
Pattern for Progress President Jonathan Drapkin, a resident of
Sullivan County, said casinos are but one potential form of economic
development, if they ever do become reality.
“For the benefit of the people who live in Sullivan County, it remains
one alternative but not the only alternative,” he said. “With each new
twist and turn, the story seems to continue for another year, another
decade, and while it is one good strategy that can help with revival
of the economy in Sullivan County, it must not be the only one.”
A spokesman for the Senecas Tuesday said they were researching to
determine if the ruling appeals to them.
Meanwhile, Senator Charles Schumer said he would lobby the new
Interior secretary to take a fresh look at the casino proposed by the
Stockbridge Munsee Tribe of Mohicans, in Bridgeville.
February 25, 2009, Times Herald Record: Schumer says he'll lobby for new Sullivan casino bid
Urges another review of Bridgeville project
var isoPubDate = 'February 25, 2009'BRIDGEVILLE — Sen. Chuck Schumer is going to bat for a Wisconsin-based tribe's bid to open a casino in Sullivan County.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said he's lobbying the new interior secretary to take a second look at the Stockbridge Munsee tribe of Mohicans' project in Bridgeville.
A year ago, former Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne rejected the Stockbridge Munsee project, along with a St. Regis Mohawk casino next to Monticello Gaming & Raceway, while also squashing off-reservation projects around the country.
"I was disappointed in Secretary Kempthorne's unfortunate decision last year," Schumer said in a news release Tuesday.
"I hope that with a new administration we have a new way of thinking about applications that are finite, focused, appropriate for the region, and have strong community support."
Schumer says he is hopeful, after calling the new interior secretary, Ken Salazar, Schumer's former colleague in the Senate. "In my conversation with Secretary Salazar, he was receptive to my request and said he would look into the matter going forward."
The tribe, which claims ancestral ties to Sullivan, has been a long-time player in the county's casino hunt.
The Stockbridge Munsees are offering an estimated $150 million to $200 million annually to the state — what amounts to 25 percent of the net proceeds from the slots over 20 years — for state support. The tribe has also agreed to pay sales and hotel taxes to the state and county, involving sales with non-Indians.
Locally, this is considered the best chance for an Indian-run casino. "Here we have a stimulus package that doesn't require any funds from the government," said Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini. He's been trying to reboot support for the project.
But if Salazar reverses policies on off-reservation gambling, analysts say, it won't happen quickly, because several leadership positions in key federal departments haven't been filled.
