The executive order issued last week by Gov. David Paterson to create a comprehensive state energy plan is long overdue and needs input from all localities so that the resulting policy doesn’t pit one part of the state against another.
Instead, the resulting plan should carefully assess the state’s future energy needs and determine the best way to meet those needs with the least negative impact on the people.
Paterson ordered the establishment of a state energy planning board to work on such a plan, which has been lacking since the old policy expired Jan. 1, 2003. The policy was restructured in 1998, when utilities were required to sell off their generation facilities and a wholesale competitive market for electricity was created. Prior to that, investor-owned utilities had owned electricity generation plants and transmission lines and distributed energy to customers.
The state has been without an official energy policy since one expired Jan. 1, 2003. The lack of policy is one reason why some upstate communities now face a threat from the power line being proposed by New York Regional Interconnect. The proposed 1,200-megawatt line would run from Marcy to Orange County and would cut through the very heart of this region.
Paul DeCotis, state Deputy Secretary for Energy and the chairman of the new planning board, said any future policy would not have a direct effect on NYRI’s proposal, which already has been filed with the state Public Service Commission. Mike Steiger of the NYRI opposition group Upstate New York Citizens Alliance believes the PSC will deny the application, which he says is flawed. Steiger says an energy policy will provide a plan so that another NYRI doesn’t come along after this.
But there is no denying that state power needs are changing. New York can’t afford a piece-meal policy, and upstate residents can’t afford to fight one power line at a time.
Having a firm policy can focus on future energy needs and make sure steps taken to address those needs are fair to all the people of the state.
New Concord developers want to build new road to resort
New Concord developers want to build new road to resort
LINK TO ARTICLE IS HERE:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/April08/30/Concord_acc-30Apr08.html
 The 'back door' access from Exit 106 would ease congestion on Route 42 (above), just off Exit 105. |
MID HUDSON NEWS APRIL 30, 2008
TOWN OF THOMPSON – Developers of the new Concord hotel resort being planned in the Town of Thompson want to build a new road leading from Route 17 to the $60-plus million facility in the Catskills.
The Cappelli organization and Empire Resorts are teaming up to build a hotel, conference, resort, harness racetrack and racino at the site of the former Catskills’ landmark hotel.
The developers want to build a new road off Route 17 in the Monticello area, said Cappelli spokesman Geoffrey Thompson.
“We feel by creating a new entrance road off exit 106 it’s going to provide the visitors and guest to the property with a really attractive idea, direct entrance way,” he said. “It keeps the traffic from getting within the town of Thompson’s main commercial street at exit 105.”
The plan for the road, which will be integrated with an expanded exit 106 network, will go before the town board shortly.
Town Supervisor Anthony Cellini said the state will fund the actual interchange work and the Concord developers will pay for their entrance road.
New York state sees boom in legal bluestone mining
AP
New York state sees boom in legal bluestone mining
Monday April 28, 11:30 am ET
By Michael Hill, Associated Press Writer
LINK TO ARTICLE IS HERE:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080428/ny_bluestone_boom.html
With demand up and regulations streamlined, New York state seeing more bluestone mining
Bluestone sells well, but it can be hard work getting it out. On a recent day, Mitchell Bush's mining crew sledgehammered big slabs and hand-loaded them on to pallets in an open pit under the midday sun. Bush has worked more than a 100 mines in his career, but he never knows how deep a deposit extends into a hillside. He never knows when he'll hit the mother lode.
"I'm hoping this will be a fairly large vein here," Bush said, standing by an exposed ledge of bluestone. "Even with 40 years experience, I'm conservative in my estimates."
Despite the uncertainty, dozens of miners like Bush have recently been scraping away at the these rural hills around Binghamton. Amid higher demand and streamlined regulations, state figures show a modest bluestone boom over the past decade in New York.
Bluestone is a $100 million a year industry statewide. Almost all of it taken in New York comes from mines across from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. The area is speckled with overgrown cavities in the sides of hills, signs of old open-air mines dating as far back as the 19th century.
Despite the name, bluestone can be dusty gray or greenish or ruddy. Across the state line it's called Pennsylvania Bluestone, but it's the same stuff: sandstone laid down more than 360 million years ago. Buried layers of bluestone can be taller than a full-grown man, but horizontal fractures running through the rocks make it possible to break off thinner slabs that work well for backyard patios, walkways and fences. Some people use it for kitchen countertops. Bluestone prices vary, but it can offer a natural, middle-range product between concrete and higher-end granite.
"The demand is there," said Bud Passino of Sammarco Stone & Supply in Westchester County. "We're moving trailerloads per day."
Passino said bluestone demand has increased "tremendously" over the past decade -- a time when many Americans upgraded their homes. A big question is whether demand will drop off this summer with the weak economy. Passino said it's too early in the season to tell, though Bush said there are signs that demand is leveling off.
Bush comes from a line of miners dating back to a German ancestor who noticed the rich geology of upstate New York while serving as a mercenary soldier for the British during Revolutionary War. When Bush started his own career in 1969 with his pickup and hand tools, the job wasn't all that much different from the grunt work performed by his immigrant ancestor. While miners today use forklifts and diamond-tipped saws, Bush's four-person crew still does a lot of lifting.
"It works muscles you didn't know you had," Marilyn Kerwin said on a break from loading. Small and strong with short-cropped hair, Kerwin boasts of being the only female bluestone miner around, as far as she knows.
Bush's Simply Stone LLC operation is typical in the sense that he dispatches small crews to isolated pits which can be as small as an acre or two. This has made it hard, historically, for the state Department of Environmental Conservation to regulate bluestone mines. They often work under the radar.
"Basically, they wanted to be left alone and go up in the hills and scrape out a living," said Brad Field, director of the agency's mineral resources division.
Field said that when Pennsylvania began tightening up its bluestone oversight in 1996, some miners there migrated over the state line to New York. That's when New York regulators noticed instances of environmental damage.
Field said that many of the violations involved "overburden," the layer of dirt and rock that is cleared off before the bluestone beneath can be mined. Miners are supposed to put unused earth back in the cavity when they're done. Some rogue operators were dumping it over the sides of hills.
Looking to bring more bluestone miners into the fold, New York in 2002 created an exploration permit good for a year that gives small miners time to assess sites while taking out up to 500 tons of bluestone a year. Miners can apply for a year extension. The state gets to regulate, miners get to mine. A new report out provides evidence that it's working: permitted mines rose from two in 1999 to 64 now.
Field believes there are still rogue miners out there in hard-to-find spots.
Pennsylvania -- a far bigger bluestone state with 977 permitted sites -- has a similar program. Regulators there allow the removal of 250 tons of bluestone under a permit that requires a $1,000 bond.
The mine Bush's crew is working has been under the exploratory permit for two years and will move over to a full permit this summer. As president of the New York State Bluestone Association, he said the law makes it easier for miners like himself to make a living.
The law that allows exploratory mining will expire at the end of July. The state Legislature is considering a bill supported by the DEC and by the association that would make the exploratory permit permanent.
Even after decades of mining, Bush believes there are tons of bluestone to be found in the hills. Though after a two-century-plus run, there won't be a Bush removing it that much longer. At 56, Bush is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, and his two daughters are not interested in mining.
"Unfortunately, it's going to end," Bush said. "I'm heartsick about it."
Old airport hopes to make comeback as Catskills tourist attraction
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Old airport hopes to make comeback as Catskills tourist attraction |
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WURTSBORO – New management at Wurtsboro Airport in Sullivan County hopes to breathe new life into the more than 80-year-old airfield that gained renown for years as a glider airport. Airport Manager Daniel Depew has led the effort to give the facility a complete makeover from fresh paint on hangars, new concrete floors, new fencing, soon-to-be repaved runways and taxiways and refurbished airplanes and gliders. “Wurtsboro has a history of being the oldest soaring airport in the nation and the gliders normally draw people for rides all the way up from New York City,” he said. “Back in the day, they used to do almost 200 tows a day here with gliders, so we’re trying to bring that back and make that a real destination, a real jewel of the Catskills for people to enjoy, and also bring business back to Mamakating and back to Sullivan County.” The airport currently owns 10 aircraft with another 50 privately owned planes and gliders based there. Several vintage planes and gliders belonging to the airport have been restored to their original conditions, which is part of Depew’s vision of tying aviation history to modern day flying. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work to already accomplished, Depew said they want to add a 1950s vintage diner as well as other amenities. And, he said they want the airport to become more than an airfield, but a place for families to enjoy the outdoors, picnic and watch the planes and gliders. “We don’t want this to be a pilots’ yacht club,” he said. Wurtsboro Airport will welcome the community back on Mother’s Day, May 11 when they hold an official grand reopening. |
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LINK TO FULL STORY IS HERE:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/April08/29/WurtsArpt-29Apr08.html
The Sierra Club’s Quest to Save the Mountain
http://oracle.newpaltz.edu/article.cfm?id=3728
By Christina Musso, Contributing Writer
Five years ago, a real estate developer came to Belleayre Mountain wanting to build a private resort in the Catskill Park in the New York City watershed and the constitutionally-protected borders.
The developer is “looking to develop the private resort less then 10 miles away from the Ashokan reservoir,” said Carolyn Zolas, the head of the New York City Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The private resort would be located right next to the public skiing and hiking area. The plans for the resort include adding more ski slopes for their guests, along with a golf course. The resort would be the size of 500 football fields.
Many local people were not as excited about it, and they began to protest. A campaign called Save the Mountain was created to help fight against the development.
“This plan, if it goes ahead, will turn public preserved land into private ruin,” said Donna Flayhan, an expert on public health.
The development plan has still not been resolved, five years later. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer created a Principle of Agreement contract that was supposed to please all parties, but not all parties in the Save the Mountain campaign signed onto it.
It wasn’t until the Sierra Club found out about the development, that the Save the Mountain campaign was rejuvenated,” Flayhan said. Now the Sierra Club is going full-throttle into the campaign to make sure that this resort is not built.
The biggest concern with this development project, according to the Save the Mountain campaign, is that it could cause pollution to the naturally filtered water. “A filtration plan will cost $30 billion,” Zolas said.
“New York City water is some of the purest public drinking water left in the world, because it comes from the Catskills, created by glaciers and nature, Flayhan said. “If the land is developed, the water will be polluted, not by terrorists, but by a developer.”
If that filtration system is put into place it could be the tax payers who are going to be paying for it. In addition, since this private resort would be so big, the layout for it would cause many trees and wildlife to be killed.
“We have to be able to protect this land from overdevelopment,” Rich Schaedle, chair of the Catskill Heritage Alliance, a local conservation group. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone. You’re not going to get it back,” he continued. “We need to protect it for our children and grandchildren for the future.”
Because this is such a huge issue, the Sierra Club has decided to show a movie at SUNY New Paltz to gain awareness. On Tuesday, April 29 they will show “The Unforeseen,” a film by Laura Dunn, produced by Terrance Malick and Robert Redford.
“The Unforeseen” is a film about a similar situation that happened in Texas where a real estate developer clashes with activists who want to preserve a local spring and the land surrounding it. The film will be followed by a panel discussion.
Those who attend the showing will find out about the devastation in Texas and how they can help.
Editorial: Energy plan must consider whole state
Villa Roma rebounds; increases expected in tourism and jobs
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CALLICOON — In these tough economic times, there's one bright spot for western Sullivan County: The Villa Roma will soon be back at full strength.
The resort surrounded by gentle green hills plans to open its $27.3 million new main hotel area by mid- to late June and hire 200 workers, bringing employment back to 500.
For two summers, the Villa and the shops in several hamlets have suffered while the resort rebuilt the main portion of the hotel, which burned down in April 2006.
Three months later a flash flood washed across the property, drenching time-shares.
Last summer the Villa was able to accommodate about 50 to 100 people in the hotel, about a quarter of the norm.
"We're moving along fairly nicely," Vice President Paul Carlucci said Tuesday, while workers buzzed around in hard hats and sparks flew from welding machines.
On Saturday, the Villa will hold a job fair, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the main hotel. The resort is looking for waiters, bar staff, cooks, groundskeepers, all the way up the ladder to corporate management. These jobs will pay everything from $10 an hour to $50,000 annually.
Workers still have much to do in the new three-story building, which includes a 650-seat dining room, lounge, ballroom, kitchen, 150-seat cafe, corporate offices and a lobby.
The new main hotel area won't have guest rooms, unlike in the old 1940s-era building, which was added onto several times over the decades.
In much of the 65,000-square-foot building, the dry wall hasn't yet been hammered up. Soon, though, the concrete floors and metal stair cases will be covered with plush carpeting and tiles, and the hotel will take on a look of shimmering greens, reds, beiges and blues.
The Villa is also finishing off the pool area, adding a fifth outdoor pool with a water playground, a 30-person Jacuzzi and 265,000 brick pavers — believed to be second only to the number used in the vast walkways at Bethel Woods.
This is all good news for shop owners, who rely on Villa employees and guests.
"Since the hotel burned to the ground, it has cut down on business tremendously," said Susan Bodenstein, standing behind her counter at The Secret Garden in Jeffersonville.
Villa guests often wander into her gift shop, buying speciality candles shaped like pastries.
"You need local business to survive, but the Villa Roma is the icing on the cake."
Wild trout: a different kettle of fish
Think you can tell a wild trout from a stockie? And is there a reason to differentiate between the two?
Most of us fly-fishers have at least considered the differences between trout born and bred in the stream and those brought to the stream in a truck for our catching pleasure.
For some people, the difference is important. They consider wild trout more challenging and satisfying to catch, believing that wild trout have more acute survival instincts than trout reared by
humans in hatcheries. And they find the pristine places where trout can reproduce to be the most beautiful and authentic settings for trout fishing.
I share their enthusiasm for wild fish, and I believe that restoring and protecting self-sustaining trout populations should be job
No. 1 for local, state and federal conservation authorities.
Some streams are managed as wild-trout water, such as the Vermont side of the Battenkill River or the West Branch of the Delaware in New York. Others are just so far off the beaten path that no one has ever bothered stocking them, and they harbor only native brookies.
Generally, if you catch a trout in one of those places, you can be confident it was born there.
But my favorite rivers tend to be the ones where wild trout and holdover hatchery fish live side-by-side, such as the New York side of the Battenkill or the Beaverkill in the Catskills. Anglers fishing such streams often venture guesses about whether the trout they’ve caught are wild or stockies,
usually based on appearance.
They believe that if their trout’s adipose and pectoral fins are intact and its colors are nice and vivid, their trout is wild. But the man who runs the Department of Environmental Conservation’s 12 hatcheries says that’s not necessarily true.
“In my view, there is no 100 percent, reliably certain way to distinguish between wild and hatchery- reared trout based on appearance,” said Phil Hulbert, superintendent of fish culture for the DEC. “Clipped fins removed for studies or population estimates would be quite reliable, but, of course, not all hatchery-reared fish are marked in this manner. Color is far from consistently reliable. We add a pigment-enhancing ingredient to several of our pelleted diets, so it is not unusual to see colorful spring yearling stocked fish that look very much like wild fish.”
Yes, it’s common for hatchery fish’s fins to be worn down, but “the degree of fin erosion [and fin regeneration] is certainly variable,” Hulbert said. “So, again, you do not have a foolproof technique, but one that will allow some level of discrimination.
“I know that back in my field work days, I handled enough hatchery fish at our hatcheries to know there are always some that would fool you into thinking they were wild fish based on appearance.”
Maybe the bigger question is, as long as you enjoyed catching your trout, does its origin make a difference?
It’s true that wild trout can put an angler to the ultimate test — ask anyone who has been skunked by feeding-but-fussy fish on the West Branch’s glassy pools. But given a little time to acclimate to their surroundings, hatchery trout can mount a respectable defense, too.
And remember, every “wild” brown and rainbow trout you will ever catch in New York state is a descendant of a stockie. The only trout that occur naturally in New York are brookies, and while we all love them for their beauty, their feistiness and their resilience, let’s face it, they can be pretty easy to catch.
I don’t know if we would want to turn back the clock 500 years to a time when you could walk on six-inch brookies from Montauk to Massena.
For me, the ideal would be an improved version of what we have now: a generous selection of rivers that are never stocked, and fishing and ecological regulations on the rest of the rivers that would make it possible for today’s stocked rainbows and browns to become the parents of tomorrow’s “wild” trout.
Greene County considers selling properties
CATSKILL - Greene County lawmakers are considering selling several county-owned properties, including one that some legislators say should not be sold.
Legislator Karen Deyo, R-Catskill, told her colleagues during a meeting this week of the Legislature's Buildings and Grounds Committee that a task force had reviewed the ownership, value and liability associated with all the county-owned properties. She said the task force reviewed 55 county-owned sites and concluded 42 of them were being used to their "highest and best use."
The task force is recommending eight of the remaining properties be sold at public auction in June or July, Deyo said.
Deyo, who chaired the task force, said the group looked at the county's needs and spoke to department heads before making its recommendations.
"We didn't take anything lightly," Deyo said.
The task force is recommending the county sell: a portion of property in the town of Athens commonly referred to as Green Lake Park on Valley Road; three vacant lots at 100, 102 and 104 Bridge St. in the village of Catskill as one parcel; three vacant lots on Main Street in the village of Catskill, commonly referred to as Waterfalls Laundry, as one parcel; and vacant land at 150 Railroad Ave. in Tannersville.
The task force said the Waterfalls Laundry property has approximately 160 feet of frontage on the Catskill Creek and was appraised recently for $280,000.
Legislators Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, and Dorothy Prest, R-Catskill, said the county should not sell the Waterfalls Laundry property. Prest said the property is used for the local farmers' market, which is growing, and there is a need for additional parking in the area.
Legislator Charles Martinez, R-Coxsackie, said many people are encroaching on the property and the county is liable. He also said the county has been unable to control the property for years.
Legislature Chairman Wayne Speenburgh, R-Coxsackie, said lawmakers would vote next month on the proposed sales of the properties.
Greene County considers selling properties
CATSKILL - Greene County lawmakers are considering selling several county-owned properties, including one that some legislators say should not be sold.
Legislator Karen Deyo, R-Catskill, told her colleagues during a meeting this week of the Legislature's Buildings and Grounds Committee that a task force had reviewed the ownership, value and liability associated with all the county-owned properties. She said the task force reviewed 55 county-owned sites and concluded 42 of them were being used to their "highest and best use."
The task force is recommending eight of the remaining properties be sold at public auction in June or July, Deyo said.
Deyo, who chaired the task force, said the group looked at the county's needs and spoke to department heads before making its recommendations.
"We didn't take anything lightly," Deyo said.
The task force is recommending the county sell: a portion of property in the town of Athens commonly referred to as Green Lake Park on Valley Road; three vacant lots at 100, 102 and 104 Bridge St. in the village of Catskill as one parcel; three vacant lots on Main Street in the village of Catskill, commonly referred to as Waterfalls Laundry, as one parcel; and vacant land at 150 Railroad Ave. in Tannersville.
The task force said the Waterfalls Laundry property has approximately 160 feet of frontage on the Catskill Creek and was appraised recently for $280,000.
Legislators Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, and Dorothy Prest, R-Catskill, said the county should not sell the Waterfalls Laundry property. Prest said the property is used for the local farmers' market, which is growing, and there is a need for additional parking in the area.
Legislator Charles Martinez, R-Coxsackie, said many people are encroaching on the property and the county is liable. He also said the county has been unable to control the property for years.
Legislature Chairman Wayne Speenburgh, R-Coxsackie, said lawmakers would vote next month on the proposed sales of the properties.
Thomas Cole Exhibition Includes Famous Katterskill Falls Sketch
| Exhibition for Cole House PRIVATE THOMAS COLE COLLECTIONS ASSEMBLED FOR CEDAR GROVE HOMECOMING |
| April 23, 2008 | |
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It was announced today by Elizabeth Jacks, director of The Thomas Cole National Historic Site at Cedar Grove, the launch of the 2008 season with an exhibition of rarely seen oil sketches of famous Cole paintings, including Cole's oil study for Kaaterskill Falls. The 2008 special exhibition, "Thomas Cole's Sketch Paintings: An Exploration of the Creative Process" opens to the public on Sunday May 4. There will be a free viewing of the exhibition on opening day (10am to 2pm). Many of the objects are coming from several private collections and therefore have rarely been seen by the public. In addition, renowned Smithsonian American Art Museum Chief Curator, Eleanor Jones Harvey, will be guest speaker at 2pm. The talk is $7 for non-members and $5 for members.
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