Community center funding in jeopardy thanks to deficit
Feb. 28, 2009
Cost of window repairs and other ongoing work covered with money from other sources
ATHENS — Last fall, the Athens Community Center, on Second Street, won a $10,000 grant from the New York State Historic Preservation Office for restoration work.
But Carol Pfister, who serves as a center’s treasurer, has been informed that the money may not be coming after all.
Pfister received a letter from State Sen. James L. Seward (R-Milford) informing her that as of Feb. 9, the grant money may not be delivered.
The letter explains that the legislature approved Gov. David A. Paterson’s deficit reduction plan, which “’diverted or ‘swept’ money from the funding pool set aside to pay senate legislature initiatives to the general funs in order to help with the deficit.”
Money may be available after April 1, the letter reads. It recommends that no work which would have been paid for by the grant be done until that time.
“We are OK so far,” Pfister said, adding that the center has been able to cover window repairs, casement restoration and other ongoing work with funds from other sources.
A work contract between the Athens center and a contractor outlining a 120-day work schedule was signed in January and the center has already paid $15,000.
Pfister estimates that the project will cost more than $8,000.
The loss of grant money does, however, cast a shadow on future grants and fund sources.
“We are worried about eventually,” she said.
The center will get a $2,500 reimbursement from the Greene County Main Street Revitalization Project grant once work is completed, she said.
She said that a long-term goal for the center is the completion of a classroom on the building’s second floor.
Next month, the center will put on an art show featuring works by its members. The show will run from March 28 through April.
Pfister said that she and the other center directors have embarked on a membership drive, sending letters to everyone in Athens. A fund-drive gala has been scheduled for June 13.
Seward: Traffic law leaves fire truck drivers in ‘legal limbo’
Feb. 24, 2009
GREENE COUNTY — Firefighters in Greene County have found support from elected officials in their outrage against a traffic rule that states that to operate a fire truck during a non-emergency, such as during a parade or while returning from a fire, operators need to hold a state commercial driver’s license.
The special license is not needed to operate a truck during an emergency.
“This is crazy,” Catskill Fire Chief Jack Ormerod said. “Any driver can drive to an emergency but can’t drive back.”
Ormerod said volunteer departments are already strapped for manpower and requiring drivers to obtain the special license might deter firefighters from becoming drivers, which in turn could mean trucks could not be driven back to their station houses.
State Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Ken Brown said the license is required because a fire truck was long enough and heavy enough to be considered a commercial vehicle.
Brown said he did not know why fire departments across the state did not enforce the law starting in 2005, when it was passed.
But Ormerod said he was unaware of the rule until recently and guessed that other chiefs in other departments were in the same position.
State Sen. James L. Seward (R-Milford) confirmed Ormerod’s assumption.
Seward is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1634, which corrects the language of the 2005 law by removing the qualification that a commercial vehicle designation does not apply to an emergency vehicle only during its use in an emergency operation.
He said that the Department of Motor Vehicles did not raise the issue in 2005, and its opinion only began to emerge within the last few months.
“It would have been corrected sooner than this if it had come to light,” he said.
He said similar legislation is before the State Assembly, too.
Seward said the Department of Motor Vehicle’s opinion has left fire truck drivers in what he called “legal limbo.”
“It is laughable,” he said.
Seward said Gov. David A. Paterson’s proposed budget also includes language that will correct the rule, and whether the state budget is adopted or the stand-alone bills in the State Legislature pass, the rule will be changed within a month or two.
Richard Harty, who has been active with the Hunter Hose Company No. 1 for more than 50 years and trained firefighters for more than 30 years, said that as it stands, the license rule will have a negative effect on fire companies.
“I don’t think it will deter them from volunteering, it will deter them from driving,” he said.
He said that in the future, municipalities or departments may need to subsidize the cost of the license.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, a background check for the license costs $138.35 and a written test costs $5.
Harty said that obtaining the licenses may not be cost effective for some fire departments in the county that see only a handful of emergencies a year.
He said he is aware of only one rollover accident in Greene County involving a truck returning from an emergency.
Cairo Fire Chief Gerard Buckley said that only 20 percent of his drivers over the age of 21 had the licenses and that an emergency could be defined to include the drive back from a fire or accident.
He said the issue would be discussed at the department’s commissioners meeting Tuesday night.
Pioneers remembered during Black History Month
Feb. 23, 2009
CATSKILL - Deacon Wayne Neal asked the congregation at the Second Baptist Church on Main Street Sunday who was the first black President of the United States.
Several worshipers at the service answered, “Obama.”
They were wrong, Neal said.
Neal explained that John Hanson, who served as the President of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, was the nation’s first black president.
Hanson’s term lasted from 1781 to 1782.
As President, Hanson decided the seal, appointed the first Secretary of War and designated the fourth Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving, Neal said.
Hanson also established the first Treasury Department and the first Foreign Affairs Department as well as appointed the first Secretary of War, read Neal from a biography he prepared.
Neal told the congregation they could learn more about the first president from the Library of Congress website.
Over the past month a number of members of the congregation and youth ministry have presented biographies of noteworthy African Americans, including that of Hanson.
The list included inventors, athletes and abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Velvet Tarver departed from the biographies to give the lives historical context.
“According to the 1860 United States Census, 380,000 individuals - 1.4 percent of white Americans in the country and 4.8 percent Southern whites - owned one or more persons,” she said.
She reminded the congregation that 95 percent of the black population lived in the South. Blacks made up of about one-third of the entire population of southern states, she said.
Tarver explained that the wealth of the country before the Civil War was greatly enhanced by slave labor.
Slaves were subjected to harsh treatment by their owners, were traded for profit and known as legal property, she said.
“Being that we were slaves, we were incapable of committing any civil act because we were considered as things, not persons,” she said.
She reminded the congregation that plantations were broken apart after the Civil War and that only a few years after the war ended the first African Americans were elected to serve in Congress.
Over the month of February, children in the church’s youth ministry compiled a list of accomplishments of lesser-known African Americans. The list included Frederick Jones, who held over 60 patents for different refrigeration and air-conditioning machines and techniques, Alexander Miles, who, in 1887, improved the method of opening and closing elevator doors and NASA engineer Lonnie Johnson, who founded the Johnson Research and Development Corp. and invented the super soaker water gun.
Also remembered were boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, whose 1967 convictions for a triple murder were overturned in 1988 and tennis player Althea Gibson.
Jason Owens recounted Carter’s years in the ring as well as the controversies surrounding his trial.
Gibson was the first African American woman to win a grand slam title, in 1956, Alice Jimpson said.
Sterling Swann described how Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom, some walking over 800 miles with bloodhounds following in quick pursuit.
Tubman worked with congregations to hide slaves along their routes to freedom.
“Back then, people could keep their mouths shut,” he said, “they didn’t talk, but they did. She did and she left such a legacy.”
Allison White spoke of how Christian faith helped all those individuals remembered strive and survive through their ordeals.
“Your faith may be the only piece of black history that somebody may record and that you are recording and making black history. So look at your neighbor and say, ‘you’re making black history,’ and look at yourself and say ‘today I am making history,’” she said.
Alden Terrace takes new hit
Feb. 21, 2009
CAIRO — A Cairo citizens watchdog group is accusing town officials and developers of misleading taxpayers about the Alden Terrace residential and retail proposal.
Cairo First President Erica Gravina and former Greene County legislator Michael Camadine said developers and elected officials are using smoke and mirrors to pitch Alden Terrace to the public.
The development and the related sewer district project have proved to be divisive issues.
A lawsuit filed by Cairo First, Cairo Plaza LLC, J. Triple S., Inc, E. Slater, Inc., and the Cairo Township Taxpayers Association claims that the Cairo Town Board and the Planning Board, state Department of Environmental Conservation, state Environmental Facilities Corp., state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, developer Charles Maggio, Charles Frank & Associates, Regan Development Corp., Benjamin Buel and Richard Buoniconto failed to follow lawful procedures in relation to obtaining funding for sewer system improvements, failed to conduct proper State Environmental Quality Review Act procedures and hold required public hearings.
Great American Plaza owner Ellsworth “Unk” Slater, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, presented his views on the Alden Terrace project at a recent Cairo First meeting.
He said grocery stores like Hannaford and Price Chopper, which would be in direct competition with his own Great American store if they opened in conjunction with the project, can move to Cairo without it. The lawsuit, he said, will not stop such stores from opening in the area.
“If anybody really thinks that’s my motivation, they’re mistaken,” he said.
Slater said that if anything, the completion of Alden Terrace would help his business by increasing the town’s consumer population.
“This is not about me and Alden Terrace,” he said, “but it is about what is right for the town.”
Gravina and Camadine argued that the town should fix problems with the current sewer system before it takes steps to connect the development.
“The fact of the matter is, the sewer district has been losing money right along, but the general fund has been making it up. And what happens is, the sewer district has not been repaying the general fund,” Camadine said.
Camadine said that as a result, Cairo taxpayers outside the sewer district have been paying for it.
According to minutes filed from a special meeting to discuss the sewer rate increase on Nov. 10, 2008, Town Supervisor John Coyne explained to the Town Board that the town’s general fund has been helping the water and sewer district.
Coyne said Friday that money from the general fund is no longer used for the sewer district, because a separate sewer and water account was formed last year.
The sewer district made no reimbursement to the general fund in 2008, he said.
Camadine and Gravina said they feared that the burden on Cairo taxpayers will only increase if Alden Terrace is built.
According to the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the development will serve families and individuals with “low and very low” incomes. Gross rents, including utilities, will range from $360 to $845 per month. The units will be affordable by households with incomes at or below 60 percent of the median income in the area.
The development will fall under assessment section 581-A of the real property tax law, which states that at least 20 percent of the residential units are subject to an agreement with a municipal, State or Federal government agency that restricts occupancy of those units to tenants who qualify in accordance with an income test.
According to the department, tax credits will produce an equity contribution of $8,944,987.
“We are going out of our way to help bring low-income housing into this town,” Camadine said, asking, “Why aren’t we taking care of the people with low incomes who are already here?”
He said that if current residents of Cairo moved into Alden Terrace, their current apartments would become available for rent by new residents. New residents would bring children, which would raise enrollment in the Cairo-Durham School District.
He worried that crime rates would rise as more low-income families moved into the area, which would force the town’s police to work even harder than they already do to keep the town safe.
Slater and other community activists visited the Village of Monticello, where, they say, a low-income housing development, build by Maggio, led to an increase in crime.
Monticello Mayor Gordon Jenkins said Wednesday that the problem in his village is that there is workforce housing but no workforce.
John Barbarite, a Monticello resident who met with the Cairo delegation, said Wednesday that the village now has a glut of vacant housing and a number of under-employed residents.
Crime has risen since the development was completed.
“Monticello has been murdered,” he said.
He said that unlike with Alden Terrace, Maggio’s development in the village did not contain retail space.
Camadine and Gravina said that while the increase in low-income residents is bothersome, it is not their real problem with the Alden Terrace development.
“Nobody is against low-income housing,” Gravina said. “What we are against is being lied to, being betrayed.”
She pointed out that the original housing plan designated units for special needs residents and specifically residents who have battled substance abuse problems.
The developers have since altered the definition of special needs to refer to elderly community members, and not people who have battled substance abuse, she acknowledged, but said she said she was told by the developer that a mistake was made on the project’s application.
“They said it was a checked box error,” she said.
Larry Regan said last week that the mistake in the application had been corrected last summer.
He provided two affidavits indicating that the inclusion of residents recovering from substance abuse problems in the application was the result of a box that was checked by mistake.
The affidavits were signed Aug. 20, 2008, by Larry Regan, of Regan Development, Inc. and the grant writer responsible for the error.
The error was found and corrected with the State in July 2008, the affidavits read.
Regan said the residents with special needs will include those living with multiple sclerosis and the very elderly.
However Gravina and Camadine provided copies of an undated project summery prepared by GAR Associates, Inc., which read that because the majority of the development’s 51 units feature two- and three-bedroom units, senior citizens “are not the target occupant for the development.”
They presented copies of a housing and service agreement from February 2008 between April Hannah Healing and Counseling and the developer that sets aside eight units for residents with special needs.
They also provided a printout from the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal Web site that outline a plan for Alden Terrace serving tenants who are recovering from substance abuse.
They asked why these documents exist if the developer had never intended to serve residents recovering from substance abuse problems.
In a surprise move, Herrington’s closes
Feb. 21, 2009
CATSKILL — The economic downturn has claimed another victim. Herrington’s lumber and building materials store on Water Street in Catskill closed Friday.
“It was simply an economic decision,” said Ken Blass of Blass Communications, a spokesman for Ed Herrington Inc.
Five employees were laid off Friday and two were offered positions at the retailer’s other locations, Blass said.
The company employs more than 170 people in stores and showrooms in Connecticut and Massachusetts as well as in Hudson, Chatham, Hillsdale and Millerton.
An office in Lenox, Mass., was also closed, but its employees were moved to other locations, he said.
Mike Simmons, who worked at the store until it closed, said that the chain had laid off more than 10 employees over the last month.
“Nobody’s been buying stuff,” Simmons said.
Last July, Ed Herrington, Inc. purchased Dunn Builders Supply, which had been in Catskill for over 50 years, from owner Steven Dunn.
At the time of purchase, Ed Herrington, president and chief executive officer of the chain, said the purchase was an exciting move that would expand Herrington’s reach across the region.
“While this is not the outcome we had intended, the decision to close our Catskill location will better position our company for future opportunities and ready us to meet the changing landscape of the building industry,” Herrington said in a press release Friday.
“Our computer system allows customers to use their account at any store, so Catskill customers will experience no difficulty in transacting business at any Herrington’s store location,” General Manager Richard Herrington said in the release.
Customers can call (518) 828-9431 for service, he said.
According to the Village of Catskill Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization Plan, the 1.82-acre Water Street property, which is still owned by Dunn, is considered part of the plan’s Uncle Sam Bridge node.
The property features a number of buildings of a variety of sizes and ages, as well as some docks along the shore of Catskill Creek.
“The variety in size and location of the buildings would allow water-dependent and water-enhanced uses, along with retail shops, offices, artisan and craft space museums or other tourist destination, and countless others. Planning for future uses and design of this complex of structures should be a high priority for implementation of this revitalization strategy,” the plan reads.
Dunn said he was unaware of plans to close the store. He said he had recently been in the building to see some ongoing renovation and electric work.
“Something’s not right,” he said.
Citizen advocates question supervisor over funds
Coyne: “I didn’t mislead anyone.”
Jan. 19, 2009
CAIRO — Cairo First President Erica Gravina and Mike Camadine, a former county legislator from Cairo, have accused Cairo Town Supervisor John Coyne of committing fraud to obtain a bank loan from the Bank of Greene County for $750,000 to cover work relating to the town’s ongoing sewer project.
Camadine and Gravina presented evidence — copies of a “no-litigation” certificate signed by Coyne — at a Cairo First meeting held last Thursday night.
The document certifies that there is no pending litigation of any nature surrounding the sewer project, and was signed by both Coyne and the town’s bond attorney, John R. Mineaux, of Roemer, Wallens and Mineaux, on Dec. 24, 2008. The group also distributed a photocopy of the check from the Bank of Greene County and a deposit ticket that indicates that the $750,000 was put into an account for sewer project use.
Cairo First Inc., Cairo Plaza, LLC, J. Triple S., Inc, E. Slater, Inc., and Cairo Taxpayers Association have filed an lawsuit against numerous government bodies on the local and State level, including the Town Board and the Planning Board, under Article 78 of New York’s Civil Practice Rules and Laws, which allows citizens to appeal a decision made by a government agency if they feel wronged by that decision.
Also named in the lawsuit are the state Department of Environmental Conservation, state Environmental Facilities Corp., state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, developer Charles Maggio, Charles Frank & Associates, Regan Development Corp., Benjamin Buel and Richard Buoniconto.
The lawsuit states that the Town Board’s vote to approve the project was swayed by one board member’s financial interest in the development. The town and other agencies failed to follow lawful procedures in relation to obtaining funding for the sewer system improvements related to the development project and failed to conduct a proper State Environmental Quality Review Act review and to hold required public hearings, it claims.
Camadine questioned how Coyne could not have known about the pending Article 78 suit.
Coyne, who did not attend the Cairo First meeting, said Saturday that the signing of the “no-litigation” certificate was the result of an oversight at the bond closing.
He said he had not tried to mislead anyone, and that the attorney and the Bank of Greene County were aware of the litigation when the bond was granted.
“It is really unfortunate that the Cairo First organization has to go around and tell things that are not true,” he said.
Coyne said that the bond agreement’s file included a document that states that either party has the right to change the bond agreement. He said he signed a form that will act as a substitute to the “no-litigation” certificate, acknowledging the suit, which can be added to the file, but at the present time has not.
Mineaux said Tuesday morning he drafted the substitute form shortly after Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea notified him that the certificate was incorrect, toward the end of January. Rappleyea approved the substitute form, he said.
He said the bank knew about the litigation, and the certificate probably had no bearing on the loan being issued and that inclusion of the “no-litigation” certificate in the loan closing was a clerical error.
At last week’s Cairo First meeting, which was mostly attended by non-Cairo First members, Gravina said she received invoices and paperwork from the Town. Gravina added that she invited all the town officials to attend the Cairo First meeting.
“I just have totals but the money is spent, the money has been allocated,” she said.
However, according to Town vouchers produced by the Town Clerk’s office, three vouchers for work compensation were approved last month.
On Jan. 12, 2009, board members Richard Lorenz, Janet Schwarzenegger and Alice Tunison, as well as Coyne, approved one voucher to pay the firm Delaware Engineering $64,839.68.
Lorenz, Schwarzenegger, Councilman Ray Suttmeier and Coyne signed a $187.50 voucher for Rappleyea on Jan. 20.
Also on Jan. 20, all five board members approved a voucher for $3,636.50 for the law firm of Young, Sommer, Ward, Ritzenberg, Baker and Moore, LLC.
According to the documents obtained from the clerk’s office, more than $681,000 of the funds remain.
Charles H. Schaefer, of Deily and Schaefer, who represents the Bank of Greene County, said Wednesday that because the bank issued the loan, Cairo First has served the bank with a motion to name the bank as an interested party to their Article 78 action. The motion must be returned by Mar. 3, he said.
Schaefer said that bank is not taking a position for or against development in the town, but as part of the greater community, it wanted to help the town manage a sanitary system.
“From the Bank’s standpoint, we are trying to do the responsible thing and enhance the quality of life in Cairo,” he said.
Volunteers launching radio station seek ways to serve community
Jan. 19, 2009
The Register-Star
FREEHOLD — Free103point9 Program Director Tom Roe and representatives from the organization met with residents of Greene and Columbia counties Saturday to explain how the new station will work and represent the needs of the community.
“We are trying to reach out to people like you to find out what you want,” Roe said.
The station will broadcast on 90.7 FM from a tower in Freehold and reach an estimated 78,00 people across roughly 650 square miles from West Durham to North Chatham to Kiskatom, Roe said. The organization will run studios in Catskill, Cairo and Hudson.
The organization has applied for an $85,000 grant, which will help fund equipment purchases and other expenses. Roe said he hoped an additional $40,000 to $50,000 could be raised at benefits and other fundraisers.
Free103point9 will run the station, but Roe and Executive Director Galen Joseph-Hunter will play a somewhat passive role in directing what content is aired. Programming decisions will be made by a station council, made up of community members from across the region and who represent different interests.
Dharma Dailey, a volunteer on the station work team, said the governing council was reflective of a plurality of people in the region.
“We really see ourselves as facilitators of the community process,” Dailey said.
Roe explained that he envisioned some structured news blocks that would coincide with the schedules of farmers, who rise early and would tune in for agricultural news in the morning, and students and their parents who would be interested in hearing news about education at about the time school lets out.
Saturdays, he said, would be left to radio arts, which would air experimental radio shows or live broadcasts from summer events such as the Irish and the bluegrass festivals.
No plan exists for Sundays, he said.
The group suggested programming that would feature profiles of Greene and Columbia County residents who have interesting or unique hobbies, discussions about science and religion and music blocks playing world music as well as pieces by regional musicians.
“You want to hear local artists,” said Pamela Badila of the Diata Diata International Folklore Theater in Hudson.
JoAnn Piazzi and Peter Lerner suggested a show titled “Inside Greene County,” which would feature issues facing government leaders in Greene County.
Roe said ultimately the content and program schedule would depend on when staff and volunteers were available to work. He said programs would be diverse, and his goal for the station is to get every person in the listening area on the air within two to three years of the station’s launch.
“We don’t want one voice to dominate,” he said.
Although Roe projects that the station will go live on the Internet in May and will commence broadcasting from the tower in the spring of 2010, there is still a lot of work to be done. Recording equipment needs to be purchased, studios need to be constructed and some legal and organizational issues need to be settled.
Roe said the council is still discussing the specifics of an underwriting policy. The council has reached out to area schools to see if students and teachers are interested in working with the arts organization to produce radio content. The council has also not yet chosen the station’s call letters.
Once the call letters are designated, Roe said, the organization will intensify its awareness and volunteer recruitment campaign.
Two recording equipment workshops will be held in Cairo later this spring. Roe empathized that volunteers do not need any radio or performance experience.
“We need people that can hold good conversations and are interesting,” he said.
Officials hope new phones will keep lines open
System figures to be unimpaired by poor weather
Jan. 18, 2009
Athens — Heavy rain and winds will no longer disrupt phone service in the Town of Athens office.
The town board decided to upgrade their current copper-wire phone service to one that will run over the Internet, offered by CornerStone, an upstate phone company.
Fourteen phones in the office would be connected to the system.
Jackie Berry and Paul Caputo presented the system and its various features to the board members at their meeting Tuesday night.
Staff will have the ability to forward calls coming in on their official lines to a home line or a cell phone.
The system will offer an automated answering menu to callers if all the lines are busy and individual messages could be directed to e-mail, as well, Caputo said.
Each of the 14 phones that would be connected to the system would have the capability of handling four different phone lines.
Board members were impressed by the phones and the phone system.
“It gets us out of the 1950s and put us around the year 2000,” Councilman Eugene Hatton said.
Town Supervisor Albert Salvino said he liked that with the new system, because everyone could always be reached by town residents.
The company has managed technology for the Coxsackie-Athens School District and phone systems for a handful of businesses in the area, but Athens would be the first municipality to sign up for the service.
Town Clerk/Collector Linda Stacey said that inclement weather sometimes causes problems with the copper-wire system.
At least two phones and the town’s fax machine would be grounded with the old, copper-wire system so that phones would still be operable should Internet service be interrupted.
The service will cost just over $530 a month, which would be an increase over the current system by $150.
Hatton asked the board whether the services were worth paying the extra money.
“The answer to that is yes,” Councilman John Lubera answered without missing a beat.
Schumer: Tax relief is coming
Feb. 17, 2009
CATSKILL — Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer visited Catskill Monday to discuss the ways in which $5.3 million in direct budget relief will help struggling Greene County residents and business owners. The money is part of the economic recovery package, which will be signed by President Barack Obama, Schumer told an audience of County Legislators and county residents at the Greene County Office Building.
Schumer said he has heard New York state will lose an estimated 200,000 jobs within the next two years but that lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are prepared to help New Yorkers, and all Americans, keep money in their pockets.
Key components of the package, he said, will put money into taxpayers’ pockets by increasing Medicaid relief for the county, offering tax credits for those paying for college and helping major infrastructure projects get off the ground. And once New Yokers have more money to spend, they will feel more comfortable spending it.
“Right now, we need money in the economy, not sitting there, doing nothing,” he said.
Although the relief measures will be temporary, they will be stretched across two years in order to allay a downward economic spiral, he said.
According to Schumer’s office, Greene County will pay $9 million for Medicaid services this year. Wayne Speenburgh, chairman of the County Legislature, said that more than 20 percent of the county’s tax levy is used to cover Medicaid costs.
“It’s a huge burden,” Schumer said.
Schumer said he wrote a provision in the bill that ensures that Federal reimbursements for Medicaid spending would go directly to the state’s 62 counties.
“It will not go through the state. The state does not take a cut. The state can not delay it. It will be money directly for you,” he said.
Overall, $12.6 billion will return to the state over two years for Medicaid relief, he said, and county and municipal governments will begin to receive this money in April.
Schumer said the relief is designed to prevent the need for major tax increases and major layoffs.
Starting in March, he said, every family with an income less than $150,000 will receive a tax break of $800. The break will be reflected by the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks in a pay period.
He also championed a $2,500 tax credit in the package for families earning less than $160,000 and are paying a college tuition.
“It is expensive to go to college, but it would be a real shame if kids dropped out of college or did not go to college because their parents couldn’t afford it,” he said.
The package will also give money to schools, which, Schumer said, will help prevent layoffs. He said that there would be no state educational cuts and that the formula for funding last year will be the same as the formula used this year.
Schumer discussed how provisions in the package will help the county and municipalities develop and maintain the infrastructure. Projects he mentioned included the water and sewer system in the town of Cairo and the sidewalks in the town of Durham.
Half of the money would go to “shovel-ready” projects, which are projects that would be ready within 180 days. The rest of the money would be saved for projects that will be ready by the beginning of 2010.
Local governments will begin to receive money for “shovel-ready” projects in May or June of this year, Schumer said.
Speenburgh said after the conference he was glad that funding for infrastructure projects would be staggered, as this would allow municipalities more time to prepare project plans.
Schumer responded to a question posed by Jim Mulligan, of Greenville, about whether funding would be available for Internet and broadband service.
“It will create real jobs,” Mulligan said of the service expansion.
Schumer answered that the bill makes $7 billion available, by application, for such expansions, but that specific details still need to be settled.
Interim County Administrator Dan Frank asked Schumer whether the package will help first-time home buyers or stimulate automobile sales.
Schumer replied that first-time home buyers will receive a $7,500 tax credit.
A proposal in the bill allows automobile buyers to deduct the interest on a purchase, he said.
Schumer also said that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will soon propose that the Federal government temporarily provide some guarantees for automobile and home loans.
Schumer said that although the package had very little support from Republicans — only three Republicans in the Senate and no Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for the bill — the two biggest amendments in the bill were proposed by Republicans.
He explained that House of Representatives is more partisan than the Senate, and whoever wins the special election for the 20th Congressional District seat on March 31 will have to work with both Republicans and Democrats.
Schumer endorsed Scott Murphy, the Democratic candidate for that seat, Monday morning in Clifton Park.
He said that Americans come together during difficult times.
“It’s time to get serious. It’s time to roll up your sleeves and do something, and that’s what I hope will happen,” he said.
New ladder truck to roll into village
Feb. 16, 2009
ATHENS - Village of Athens Mayor Andrea Smallwood and Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley struck a deal Sunday that will allow the Athens Fire Department to purchase a fire truck from the Catskill Fire Department.
The Athens department will buy Catskill’s 1986 model truck 3-15 for $35,000, Smallwood said in an e-mail Sunday afternoon.
Catskill will pay for the truck’s aerial arm to be certified, a cost of about $2,000. Current certification lapses this May.
The agreement comes after numerous discussions and negotiations between Athens Fire Department Chief John Greco and Athens Village Board of Trustees about different options for financing the purchase of a truck to replace truck 2-3, which is 23 years old. Greco discussed the purchase with Catskill Fire Chief Jack Ormerod as well.
“I sound like a broken record,” Greco told the trustees at their most recent meeting Wednesday night, “I don’t see why we are even pondering this.”
Greco said at a board meeting earlier this month that he was disappointed that the department was unable to purchase a new truck, which would have cost up to $600,000.
“Public safety should never have a price on it,” he said earlier this month.
He said that he and members of the department sat down as taxpayers, rather than firefighters, to discuss the best way to proceed and decided to request that the village purchase Catskill’s truck.
Greco estimated that some immediate body work needed for the truck as well as a repainting would cost an additional $15,000.
The truck would not see the same heavy use in Athens as it did in Catskill, he said, but it should be either replaced or completely refurbished by 2019.
He said that the department could keep the truck, which has already received many repairs, well-maintained, as to prolong its life.
After Greco’s final presentation, trustees applauded the chief’s efforts to take into consideration the financial demands of the Village along with its safety needs.
After the deal with Catskill was reached Sunday, Smallwood thanked Seeley for working with her to bring the truck to Athens. She called the purchase a “win-win situation,” because the Village would not have to borrow money to afford the truck.
“The firemen now have a ladder truck which will help upgrade their fleet and have the capacity of dealing with multi-story structures.” she said in an e-mail.
Fishing and fun over ice
Feb. 15, 2009
ATHENS — A lone seagull-shaped kite took to the sky above Green Lake in Athens Saturday. Meanwhile, on the frozen surface, children from Greene and Columbia counties waited for fish to bite baited lines that had been fed through holes cut in the 11-inch-thick ice.
Around them, other children skated on razor-thin blades, pulled each other in plastic sleds and flew the seagull kite. When they got cold, the children could come ashore for hot dogs, chili and hot cocoa.
The children, their parents, siblings, and in a few cases, dogs, turned out for the Youth Ice Fishing Derby, which returned to the lake for the second year.
Greene County Legislator Ray Brooks, R-Athens, organized the event along with Walter Bennett and the Greene County Federation of Sportsmen. Brooks started the derby last year as a way to give children and their parents something to do together, he said.
Prizes and food for the derby competitors were paid for from the Greene County Youth Fund. Brooks said that each of the 14 county legislators donated money to purchase a white tent for use at this and similar events.
Just before noon, the end of the competition, Tyler Bulich, 13, hurried onto land with his last catch.
Bulich’s 18-inch pickerel was not long enough to take first prize.
The two largest pickerel fish, both measuring 22 3/4 inches in length, were caught earlier in the morning by Ben Casscles, 14, of Athens, and Lance Hoovler, 4, of West Athens.
The youngest entrants this year were two-year-olds Charlotte DuBois of Catskill and Luke Farrell of Athens.
Seth Spanhake, 5, of Jewett caught the smallest fish, an 8-incher. Ken Boehlke Jr., 11, of Coxsackie caught three fish, the most of any participant. He also caught the only perch.
Each of the 38 entrants received a prize at the end of the derby, choosing between fishing gear and toys.
Bennett and Brooks broke the tie between Casscles and Hoolver by taking into consideration which boy had caught more fish. Casscles was named the winner. He won a sled used to pull gear out onto the ice, something which his father, Steven, said he needed.
Casscles said he started ice fishing with his father at seven years old. He said his favorite fish to catch included bass and striper.
He said the best place to catch fish is by the sides of a lake, in the weeds.
That tactic was used by Diamonique Woods, 13, who has also ice fished since she was very young.
She said her father brought her fishing a lot, and that she has grown to really enjoy the sport.
“I like really big fish,” she said.
Although her 14-inch catch was not the largest of the day, it was her personal record, she said.
Grammy adds to jazz label’s legacy
Jan. 14, 2009
ATHENS — Last Sunday, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra won a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for their live recording of “Monday Night at the Village Vanguard.”
The album was produced by Athens resident Tom Bellino and his Catskill-based record label, Planet Arts.
Local artist Gary Bielskie created the design and packaging for the double CD.
Bellino did not attend the ceremony, which took place nearly a week before the televised award show. Bass trombonist Douglas Purviance accepted the award in California while the rest of the orchestra performed once again at the Village Vanguard in New York.
Although every award nomination is exciting, Bellino said, and Slide Hampton received a Grammy in 2005 for an arrangement of “Past Present and Future,” which the band played, this year’s win was particularly special.
“It is for the band and for the legacy of the Village Vanguard,” he said.
He hopes the recognition that comes with winning the award will help the company advance current projects and expand over the next year.
Federal and state funding for arts programs and companies will be dramatically lower this year than in years past, he said.
He does not expect to receive any money from the State Council on the Arts.
Nevertheless, Planet Arts will continue to showcase new and established artists who create music across a wide musical spectrum.
In the past, Bellino has brought artists to perform at the Athens Cultural Center, and he hopes to bring more groups to Greene County this year.
The region — and Athens — he said, is very attractive to musicians from New York City.
“They love doing gigs close to home,” he said.
While they are in town, performers get the added perk of tasting pasta made by Bellino’s wife at their home in the Limestreet area of Athens.
Bellino has a studio on the property, where he is able to do a lot of work. He said technological advances over the last few years have made conducting business overseas easy.
“I can e-mail my manufacturer and have them send something to Spain,” he said.
Bellino and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra have a greater presence around the globe that reaches farther than simply selling music. Planet Arts works on projects that should be backed but may be too esoteric to interest more mainstream producers, he said.
Bellino scored a digital story project designed to educate people about health and safety issues surrounding the spread of HIV in Africa. This project was actually launched by a group of friends who commute together from the region to New York City on an Amtrak train.
The group visited villages collecting stories from children. Each section of the project ended on a positive note, he said.
“It was an important thing to do,” he said.
The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra has participated in many cultural diplomacy excursions with the United States Department of State.
They recently held workshop with students at the Cairo Conservatory, in Egypt, where at first, students resisted joining the group.
“All the kids sat there,” Bellino said, mimicking a look of fear, “one brave soul got up to play the drums.”
Then, he said, other students joined the ensemble.
The orchestra is planning a trip to Tunisa to work with musicians there.
Closer to home, Bellino has a history of working with schools in New York City to develop music programs. Planet Arts works with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, which connects people with a shared American cultural heritage.
Planet Arts has developed a composition and songwriting workshop that integrates music and a number of other subjects taught in schools.
Bellino also worked with Sony/BMG to create a scholarship.
Bellino knows that musical education does not end when a student leaves school.
The Planet Arts Open MIC, which stands for Music Industry Connection, project helps artists understand how to navigate the changing industry.
With Internet clients that allow customers to buy one song at a time, as opposed to an entire CD, music production cannot just be about creating records. He said the biggest business in the music industry is actually in television and film. Artists who are featured in hit shows and movies automatically reach a huge potential market.
Artists must tap into multiple revenue streams, he said.
He advises artists to promote themselves and their music on networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
“You have to be there,” he said.
He said he has also seen a trend of smaller musical groups are springing up and filling any gap left by larger musical groups.
Planet Arts, too, is looking to venture into new avenues.
Although it is known for working with jazz artists, the company has begun working with a new rock band located in Albany.
“The nature of the beast now is you have to diversify, you have to be creative, you have you look a few years down the road,” he said.
Athens taxpayer advocate to challenge mayor
Feb. 11, 2009
ATHENS — Ronald A. Coons Sr. will challenge incumbent Village of Athens Mayor Andrea Smallwood for her office this spring.
Coons submitted an independent nominating petition, which he said had over 100 signatures, to the Greene County Board of Elections Tuesday, and will be running on the Concerned Citizens of Athens party ticket.
Coons is running because he would like to see an open government operating in the village.
“People should be aware of what happens in their village,” he said.
Coons serves on the Board of Directors for the Athens Cultural Center, is a member of the Village Planning Board and has organized numerous meetings of the watchdog group Concerned Citizens of Athens.
Coons said he decided to run after no Republican challenger to Smallwood emerged at the Republican caucus last month.
“I just felt that it was not right,” he said. “This is America; there should always be choice.”
He said he immediately obtained the necessary petition and supporters started collecting signatures.
He plans on holding an open meeting in Athens where citizens can speak with him about their concerns.
Smallwood said Tuesday that she had heard that Coons’ supporters had collected signatures and she was not surprised a petition had been filed.
She said she was planning on campaigning regardless of whether she faced an opponent.
County Board of Elections Deputy Commissioner Carol Engelman said that in the Village of Athens, such a petition must be signed by 57 citizens who did not vote at either the Democratic or Republican caucuses, both of which were held Jan. 27.
The deadline to submit an independent nominating petition was yesterday, she said.
Why Thomas Cole was forgotten
Feb. 9, 2009
CATSKILL - Thomas Cole, who is now a celebrated painter, has not always been so loved. For over a century after his death, Cole’s works were largely stowed away and forgotten.
Historian John Stilgoe, who has written several books and essays discussing the changing rural, suburban and urban landscapes in the United States, gave a lecture Sunday explaining why Cole’s works fell out of favor. The lecture was given at Temple Israel, which is built on a plot of land that between 1833 and 1839 was the site of the earliest documented rental of Cole’s Cedar Grove studio and seasonal residence, and hosted by Cedar Grove: The Thomas Cole National Historic Site.
The short answer Stilgoe gave to the question was that Cole died prematurely at 47, on Feb. 11, 1848. Cole also had no publisher to continue promoting his artwork.
Stilgoe supplied a longer answer that touched on visual interpretation of color and discriptors, localism and the discomfort Americans felt remembering the Ante-bellum Era after the Civil War.
“When we look at a Cole painting, it is not only a period painting, it exists now in our time. So when we think about why Cole was forgotten, it is remotely possible that there were things in those paintings that in subsequent decades after his death, began to disturb people,” he said.
Stilgoe accompanied his lecture with slides not of Cole’s body of work, but rather of images of the Federal Express logo, a Newport Red cigarette advertisement and pages from works by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Stilgoe borrowed the comments and attitudes of his students at Harvard University, where he teaches visual and environmental studies, to present counter-arguements to his own.
Stilgoe began his lecture by explaining how people are trained to see shapes and colors but not what images can be found in their absence. He asked his audience to look for the white arrow present between the “E” and “X” in the logo for Federal Express. He said that as children grow up and are encouraged to study the sciences and mathematics, they lose their ability to notice a more abstract picture. People must recognize what artists call “negative spaces,” he said, to get an understanding of a whole picture.
To understand literature written in the early and mid-19th century, he said, a reader must understand that authors during that time would not have used Webster’s dictionary - a reference book found commonly in classrooms and homes today - but a dictionary compiled by Joseph Emerson Worcester. Words and their meanings fell in and out of use, Stilgoe explained, disappearing from literature in the late 19th century and reappearing in comic books in the 20th century.
Stilgoe showed an advertisement for Newport Red cigarettes in which a woman had around her neck a horse collar, complete with two hames, which allow the collar to be loosened or tightened depending on the size of the horse, and to be attached to different types of harnesses.
“But if you wanted to write a critique of this ad,” Stilgoe said, “you would have to have some of the words. You would have to know to start with what that is.”
He equated the problem of describing the advertisement without knowing the word hame with looking at a Cole painting without knowing the colors or context in which it was painted.
“You have to understand the colors of the countryside,” Stilgoe said.
Today, students are taught that there are seven colors. During Cole’s life, Americans more widely subscribed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s portrayal of the six colors, with yellow being the one true color. He thought of colors as an interaction of light and dark, which when combined, appear as varying shades of grey. Goethe depicted his colors in a symmetric color wheel or in a triangle, with red, yellow and blue as the points.
In the painting commonly known as “The Oxbow,” which was completed in 1836, the shape of Connecticut River might resemble an oxbow, Stilgoe said. But it could also be seen as a noose. Cole saw the a noose-like danger forming around the nation’s capitol during the speculation that lead to the financial panic of 1837.
Cole died before the Civil War, which Stilgoe described as a “great cultural crisis,” began. The world that Cole painted was destroyed almost immediately after his death, Stilgoe said.
“What happened was people looked at all of Cole’s paintings, not just the landscapes, but the allegories, too, raised issues that had to be put away for a long time,” he said.
He described the pain felt by Americans after the war like the way someone might feel looking at family photographs after a divorce or the death of a child.
Southern plantations were broken apart or sold to Northern abolitionists. Stilgoe said wealthy businessmen along the Mississippi River, who were responsible for a great deal of international finance, resented the war. Those connected to prominent abolitionists were slaughtered by troops, he said.
After the war, veterans became a marginalized class of people well into the 20th century and had trouble finding steady work, Stilgoe explained. Many were hired as farm hands or were unable to work. Many got into fights and became alcoholics, he said.
Cole’s work focused on specific scenes, whereas later artists painted a general genre, Stilgoe said. As time passed, and people began to see themselves in a more globally connected world. Traveling began to mean to visit London, for example, but not exploring the parts of America that lies between the two coasts, he said.
He asked the audience how many of them knew that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. had worked to cure puerperal fever, a deadly disease of women giving birth. Few did.
Stilgoe said that Holmes’ work helped one subset of the population, women, just as Cole’s paintings spoke to people who lived around the the chosen hills and rivers in the paintings.
Stilgoe first became interested in Cole’s work after reading that the artist liked to walk around and experience the outdoors.
He discovered Catskill during graduate school when he was looking for interesting things between Santa Fe, N.M. and Boston, Mass., and came across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
Stilgoe was one of the earliest people in recent time to recognize the importance of Cole’s work, according to David Barnes, whom invited Stilgoe to present his findings and is member of the Cedar Grove board of governors. He added that Cole scholarship has grown during the last ten years.
Stilgoe ended his lecture by talking about how the popularity of cameras and photography changed how people saw the countryside. At first, wealthy photographers and publishers did not print photographs showing poverty, he said. Soon pictures were framed to exclude telephone poles and wires. Such evidence of technology were either ignored because they were unnatural or because they perverted the view.
The evolution of the postcard, he said, came about because people did not have the words to describe the landscapes, cities or sights that they could see.
“Images are still more important than words,” he said.
Local studio takes home Grammy
Feb. 9, 2009
CATSKILL - A jazz album produced by Catskill’s Planet Arts, a not-for-profit recording, education and presenting company, won big at the Grammy Awards, the company announced in a press release Sunday night.
The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra took home the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for their album “Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard.”
According to the release, the rest of the orchestra was performing once again at the Village Vanguard in New York City while bass trombonist Douglas Purviance received the award Monday night.
The album was recorded last February, at the Village Vanguard, and is dedicated to long-time bassist Dennis Irwin, who died of cancer this past year.
The orchestra was also nominated this year for Best Instrumental Arrangement for Bob Brookmeyer’s interpretation of “St. Louis Blues.”
The orchestra has won two previous Grammy Awards and has been nominated for a total of nine awards.
Planet Arts showcases new and established artists, balances innovation, wit and tradition across a culturally diverse palette and expands the creative borders of arts processes. Planet Arts Director and Executive Producer Tom Bellino lives in Athens.
Athens branch of credit union to close Feb. 20
Feb. 6, 2009
In a letter to its members, the Columbia-Greene Federal Credit Union announced that it will close its Athens branch office later this month.
The branch at 3 N. Warren St., which was opened in 2007, will close Feb. 20.
The letter explained that the “prohibitive cost” of keeping the underutilized branch open led to the decision.
“We are currently exploring other branch location options to include the installation of a full-service ATM facility in Greene County,” the letter said.
Members will be able to make deposits and withdrawals as well as transfers and payments at the site, according to the letter.
“We are working on some new and exciting services coming your way this year at out Hudson branch, along with the launching of out new CGFCU website,” the letter said.
Kip Summerlin, the credit union’s director of marketing, said Thursday that more information on future plans will be made available.
Making it look E-Z, one year later
Feb. 5, 2009
On the first anniversary of E-Z Cafe/Restaurant, owner and chef Daniel Mejia is thinking about his next project.
For 13 years, Bostonians could sample his work at a number of resturants, but when Mejia’s sister-in-law suggested he open his own restaurant, he took it.
“This is a big chance,” he said of the offer.
The cafe, which serves Latin food, opened A year ago at 451 Main St., in Cairo.
Mejia said wanted to bring Latin food the the community not only because of his heritage, but also because he wanted to bring something new to the area. Mejia says he and his wife arrive at their cafe at 6 a.m. seven days a week to prepare for the day’s rush. They serve breakfast and lunch daily and dinner Thursdays through Saturdays.
The cafe’s name, which does not bring to mind Latin cuisine, was inspired by Mejia’s three-year-old nephew who kept repeating the word “easy” last year.
Mejia has no line chefs or sus chefs, no waitresses or bus staff. He and his wife, Luz, run the cafe together, he said, and for a new business, a small staff has its advantages.
“It is easy to regulate food,” he said.
He says that customers enjoy seeing the same faces every time they come in to eat and that hiring a larger staff would take away the feel of seeing family that he enjoys providing, he said.
“It is bad when customers see strangers,” he said.
Mejia said that although he serves fewer people than he did in Boston, he prefers to work in Cairo.
“I am so happy with the people here,” he said.
Mejia said that although business is going well he does not mind whether his profit is $100 or $400 a week; he only wants customers to enjoy themselves.
The most popular dishes, Mejia says, are Colombian empanadas, burritos and a breakfast quesadilla. Diners can order American favorites like burgers and cheese steak sandwiches.
Ingredients for the restaurant, including beef, potatoes and tomatoes, are imported from Mejia’s native Colombia. His sauce recipes are from home, too.
Mejia says he has seen that business slows during the winter, when he may serve 100 people a week, but last summer he was kept busy by the influx of people.
“In the summer, I tell you, it is crazy,” he said.
Mejia is optimistic that he can draw in a large crowd this summer. Despite a raise of his rent, Mejia plans to open a larger dining area this summer.
CBS’ Steve Hartman tells his story of elephants, dogs, ugly babies and Andy Rooney
Feb. 4, 2009
CATSKILL — For years, Steve Hartman has engaged Americans from all corners of the country and from all walks of life, getting them to tell their stories on television. Hartman recently told his own story to members of Rotary clubs across Columbia and Greene counties at a luncheon in Catskill.
He talked about traveling the country and how his stories fit into a regular evening news broadcast. The Rotarians were also treated to a dose of Hartman’s humor.
Hartman’s “Assignment America” segments can be seen every Friday during “The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric.” He was an essayist on “60 Minutes II” and wrote, reported and produced the long-time series “Everybody Has a Story,” for which he won several awards.
Not everybody had kind words for the series.
Hartman said that his subjects did not always believe he was from CBS when he came knocking on their doors.
Co-workers and viewers did not always believe that he chose his locations by throwing a dart over his shoulder toward a map.
And, although he always found interesting people to feature, Hartman said he would not recommend planning a trip by the same method.
“Darts do not make good travel agents,” he said.
Hartman was open about the disagreements he and long-time CBS anchor Dan Rather had over the segments. Hartman said Rather thought the segments were “gimmicky.” Rather, Hartman said, did not feel the biographical series had a place in the evening newscast, and even threatened to quit over one idea for running a string of “best of” segments during his show.
Hartman argued that the segments, as well as his recent stories for the “Assignment America” project, add some positive news to a show otherwise filled with stories about violence or crime.
“News, in general, is not presenting a real picture of what we are about, as Americans,” he said.
He said he likes to produce a story every week that challenges conception propagated by television news that Americans just lie, cheat and steal.
He argued that mainstream media outlets produce the most balanced newscast, saying that Americans can also get a good idea of the truth by watching nightly programs on both Fox News and MSNBC, stations known for their political biases.
“They’re both equally crazy,” he said.
However, he said, television news stories are dictated by a financial agenda, rather that a political one.
Although his “Assignment America” segments have enjoyed a second airing on the Internet and are sent by people to their friends, Hartman said they have not really done much to boost the show’s overall ratings.
“People say they want to see good news, but what gets ratings are the negative stories, he said.
Hartman said the series made him realize that every person has something to contribute and is more than just their job.
He said his pieces sometimes tell a story with a lesson that goes beyond the subject at hand.
For example, a recent story about the unlikely friendship between an elephant and a dog in an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, could encourage people to put aside their differences and live in harmony.
“It makes you wonder why Catskill and Hudson can’t get along,” he said.
Hartman lives on a farm in Catskill, which he purchased with his former wife about five years ago. He said they drove up to the farm from New York City with two sheep in the back seat of their car.
“They were full-sized sheep. It took years to clean up,” he said.
He said that technological advances over the last few years have allowed him to edit and produce his stories from a studio in his Catskill house. Usually on Monday, Hartman will fly to wherever his subject lives, where he will stay while filming. Then, Hartman will return to Catskill to start working on the footage. On Fridays, Hartman travels down to the studio to finish work and make his air time at the end of the broadcast.
“I sit down next to Katie Couric, she touches my knee, my wife gets mad,” he said, referring to Couric’s habit of touching Hartman on camera, an action that has not gone unnoticed by several Rotarians.
In reality, the two barely have time to interact during the broadcast, he said.
Hartman had kind words for Couric. He said he is happy that ratings for her show are on the rise, and that Couric does not share Rather’s view on Hartman’s work.
“Dan certainly never touched my knee,” he said.
Hartman and his second wife made the news last year when they chose to give birth to their son, whom they named George, at Columbia Memorial Hospital.
He said watching the birthing process was much different from the picture he imagined.
“There’s no white curtain,” he said, adding, “They put you there right at the 50-yard line. You can see the whole thing.”
Even George, who, at 10 months old, has already been the subject of an “Assignment America” segment, was not spared his father’s playful teasing.
“His head was like a traffic cone. I didn’t feel love as much as this irresistible urge to drive around him,” he said, over the laughter of his audience.
But joking aside, Hartman said he has fallen in love with the family’s farm and hopes to stay for a long time.
He said he has considered producing more pieces like the “Everybody Has a Story” series. He has his eye on becoming the essayist on “60 Minutes,” when current essayist Andy Rooney retires. Unfortunately, he said, two things stand in his way.
“First of all, you ask Andy when he’s going to retire, he says ‘never,’ and secondly, when you try to push him down the stairs, he puts up a hell of a fight,” Hartman said.
But in the meantime, Hartman said, he plans to continue working on his news segments, living on his farm and raising his son.
“[I am] going to try to enjoy life here in Catskill, and raise our son and have the childhood that I always fantasized about having as a kid,” he said.
Potich Park nearly ready for Travco site
Feb. 4, 2009
ATHENS — Representatives from the Greene County Industrial Development Agency reported to the Athens Town Board some of the steps that have taken place to clean and transform the former Travco Industrial Park site near the Schoharie Turnpike.
The Travco site used to be home of Grumman Aircraft and truck cargo parts manufacturer Olsen Bodies. Peckham Materials Corp. is in the process of relocating some of its operations along the Hudson River inland to the park. Travco Industries once manufactured mobile and modular homes.
Rene VanSchaack, the IDA’s director of community and environmental programs, said that work has continued through the winter and the IDA hopes that ground can be broken on the new building in early spring.
An existing building on the property will receive a facelift, Tim Albright, a contractor with the IDA, said during the presentation. The building would maintain its art-deco look but would receive new windows and entrance.
“We are just going to clean it up and keep it in the style,” Albright said.
Albright announced that the site will be named “Potich Park” because the site is located on what was once the heart of a Mohican Indian settlement called Potich Village.
New signage at the park would include artwork from a local artist, he said.
The IDA has been working to get a tenant moved into the building by the summer. One possible tenant is an injection molder manufacturing company, but little movement has been made over the last month, VanSchaack said.
Regardless of whether the company comes, more fencing will be removed from the site and the ground will be mulched and seeded this summer, VanSchaack said.
He said that asphalt on the site could be laid as early as mid-March, but due to the overall financial situation, construction of a garage may not begin until next year.
“Everybody is watching their bottom line,” he said.
The IDA has promised the Athens Town Planning Board that a tower on the property will be removed by the fall.
The site plan has been designed to keep traffic moving in one direction with vehicles entering the park from the road closest the the railroad tracks. Vehicles will exit the park via roughly the other access road currently on the site.
IDA Executive Director Sandy Mathes said Tuesday that Peckham has begun to depend on the rail line more heavily as the shipping channel on the Hudson River has filled in and gasoline prices have risen.
The railway may see some changes, too, VanSchaack told the board.
Northeast Treaters, a plant across the road that produces fire-retardant lumber, is working on a plan to construct another spur to their property in order to streamline their own material and product loading and unloading.
VanSchaack said the IDA is working with the company to help them replace buildings on their property and to bring the spur to fruition.
“We bring some benefits to them and can use those benefits to try to drive some returns back to community,” he said.
The IDA has applied for $600,000 through a State Community Renewal Block Grant, or Small Cities Grant, or Small Cities Grant, Mathes said.
A decision on the grant will be made later this month.
Television, Internet coming to Athens
Feb. 3, 2009
Cable television and Internet service lines could be extended to homes around Potic Mountain and Green Lake in the town of Athens as early as this spring.
The Town Council passed a resolution Monday night to renew the franchise agreement with Mid-Hudson Cablevision for an additional 15 years. The resolution also acknowledges that the cable company has agreed to extend the reach of its service along Potic Mountain Road, Buttermilk Falls Road and Flats Road.
Each new customer along the lines will have to pay a $99 installation fee. The town will offset an additional $2,000 of the cost. The company will pay the $2,000 if 20 or more customers sign up for the service along the new lines.
The company will conduct a service area review every five years, complete with a public hearing along with work shop sessions, Town Attorney Carl Whitbeck explained to the council. Last December, members of the council requested that the review be included in any final agreement.
“I am happy with that,” Councilman John Lubera said about the provision.
The resolution needs to be approved by the State Public Service Commission, whereupon a contract will be drafted for both the company and the town to sign, Whitbeck said. He said that the lines could be completed within three to four months once work began.
The town held public meetings on the issue last fall, and the company and the town have been negotiating an agreement for several months.
Democrats pick Murphy
Feb. 2, 2001
CATSKILL - Nearly one week after Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand took her oath of office, the State Democratic Committee chose a venture capitalist — known for his ability to build businesses and create jobs — as their candidate to fill her vacated congressional seat Sunday afternoon.
Democrat Scott Murphy, managing director for Advantage Capital Partners, will face State Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) in a special election for the 20th Congressional District seat.
“I am excited and honored to be selected to follow in the footsteps of the extraordinary Sen. Gillibrand as the Democrat nominee, and I look forward to discussing my ideas and getting out to meet voters as soon as possible,” Murphy said in a statement.
Murphy was elected unanimously by party leaders in each of the ten counties within the district. The district stretches from Essex County, south to Dutchess County and west to Otsego County.
Murphy, who serves as the President of Upstate Venture Association of New York, said his work building companies and creating jobs has given him the right skills and experience to be a good congressman. He was the chief executive officer of Small World Software, which provided fantasy sports games, and worked for Roger Wilson, former governor of Missouri.
Murphy visited party leaders in Columbia and Greene counties last week and he plans on returning to the area once his campaign begins, he said.
He said the manner in which candidates were interviewed — and ultimately voted upon — showed that the party was unified and has the determination to hold onto the seat.
Sue Montgomery Corey, Essex County Democratic Committee chairwoman, said that Murphy’s experience working with businesses to create jobs will appeal to voters.
“We have a great candidate we are all 100 percent behind,” she said.
She said that over the last week she and the other county party leaders had the chance to meet 30 individuals from around the district who were interested in the seat. She said the party leadership did not make their choice until everyone who wanted to run made their intentions clear.
“We wanted to be as inclusive as we could,” she said.
Last week, the list of interested Democrats was narrowed down to six contenders for the nod. State Assemblyman Tim Gordon (I, D -Delmar), Ron Kim, commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Saratoga Springs, Carol Schrager, former editor of the Women’s Law Journal and attorney from Hunter, and Murphy all met with party leaders Sunday. Two possible candidates, Suzy Ballentine, director of Governmental Affairs for the New York State AFL-CIO, and Tracy Egan, veteran television news reporter and anchor, withdrew their names from consideration Saturday.
Larry Bulman, chairman of the Saratoga Democratic Committee, said he felt Murphy would be able to raise the money needed for a successful campaign.
Greene County Democratic Committee Chairman Thomas Poelker said that a number of the candidates interested in the seat would do well in office, and that the parties future looked promising.
He said that although Republicans have represented the area in the past, Gillibrand’s election in 2006 and re-election last fall proved that a Democratic candidate could win the seat.
“Democrats are alive and well in Greene County,” he said.
No limits: Adaptive skiers and snowboarders take to the slopes
Feb. 1, 2009
Up a winding, snow-packed road sits the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center, home of the Adaptive Sports Foundation at Windham Mountain. The exterior walls of the lodge are wood and glass, windows that provide views of a chair lift and more mountains farther off in the distance. Inside, it has a large stone fireplace, its own cafeteria space and an equipment room full of bi-skis, a seat with two skis on its base, mono-skis, a seat with one ski, and a variety of shot poles with skis at their ends, called outriggers, among tethers, helmets and other protective gear.
The room opens right onto the mountain so skiers and snowboarders can glide out onto a trail that leads directly to the mountain’s base. From there, they can board chair lifts and access all of the mountain’s 46 trails. A short chair lift brings skiers and snowboarders from the base directly to the facility, too.
Before the facility was opened, in the 2005-06 season, getting students on the mountain had its own difficulties. Students and parents had to pick up equipment and lift tickets from the main lodge. Often, maneuvering through the crowed lodge was stressful for the athletes and parents who might be escorting children with autism or compulsive behaviors.
The new space is solely used for adaptive skiers, and although it can be crowded, too, it is designed to be a calming space.
The Adaptive Sports Federation and program at Windham teaches athletes of all ages with cognitive and physical disabilities how to ski or snowboard.
Charisse Young, the foundation’s executive director, said the program’s directors and board intend it to be open to athletes with any sort of special need or financial situation.
The majority of students during the 2007-08 season were those with Down syndrome or autism, followed by those with Cerebral Palsy, according to the program’s annual report. But other students include those who survived an accident, those who are fighting or have survived cancer, those who have limited vision and those with a range of other issues that make alpine skiing or snowboarding difficult.
— — —
On a frigid Friday in mid-January, a handful of students, each with two instructors, set out for their morning lesson.
Instructors Mary Weafer and Cathleen Discoll stayed in the lodge and chatted about their shared student for their afternoon lesson and the news out of New York City, near where both women live.
Weafer, who has a house in Cairo, has been a volunteer instructor at Windham for several years.
Her son, Nicholas, who is 13, has been skiing with program instructors since he was five years old. Nicholas is severely autistic and is not verbal, she explained.
She said that the first time she came to the mountain she was struck by the friendliness of program staff.
“I said, ‘Those are the nicest two people,’ and then second time I came, I said, ‘Those are the nicest two people,’” she recalled of her first impression of the program.
Weafer said that she worried at first how Nicholas would adapt to skiing, but he seemed to enjoy his first few lessons. She said that she could see her son smiling as he passed her as she stood watching from the lodge.
“Tears came down my face seeing Nicholas ski down with two instructors,” she said.
She explained that sometimes family activities can be hard with an autistic child, but the Windham program has changed all that.
“We became part of an adaptive family,” she said.
Instructors need to be experienced skiers and are taught how to teach upon entry into the program. Staff and volunteers also have been trained in how to understand the needs of their students. They keep logs detailing the difficulties and progress students have during each lesson. Notes in these files help the next instructor be aware of each student’s unique challenges or compulsions and to know what skills were practiced during the last lesson. Weafer and Drisoll say that during lessons, safety comes first.
Some students are tethered to their instructors to help balance and so they cannot fall or get injured.
“The order is safety, fun and learning,” Drisoll said of a typical lesson.
Weafer said that positive reinforcement is the key to making a lesson successful.
“You praise the kids constantly,” she said.
Every lesson log entry ends with a positive comment or reflection on how well a student learned a new movement or followed instruction.
— — —
The new adaptive sports center was opened during the 2005-06 season, but the program has been around for more than 25 years.
In 1983, Glen Allard, a Professional Ski Instructors of America-certified instructor, approached Dan Frank, Windham’s president at the time, about researching and developing a teaching program for skiers with physical or cognitive difficulties, Young said. Frank liked Allard’s proposal, and the program was born.
Young said Frank continued to support the program as the mountain’s president until he stepped down in 2007. He allowed the new facility to be built on property that belonged to Windham. The land had to be graded so that cars, buses and vans could park outside. The project was made possible by a $4.5 million capital and endowment campaign.
The entire program cost almost $1.3 million over the 2006-07 season, according to that year’s audit.
Students are charged $60 for a full day of instruction, $50 for a half-day and $30 if they come with a group. This fee covers a lift ticket, equipment rentals and instruction. Young said the operational costs of the program run about $350 per day.
She said that about 95 percent of the money needed to run the program is raised during campaigns and at events like the annual gala and silent auction, which this year will be held Feb. 7.
Donations keep student fees low, she said, which distinguishes Windham from larger resorts that charge adaptive skiers the same rates as able-bodied skiers.
— — —
Scot Hollonbeck, of the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, says that one of the largest problems with adaptive sports programs is that many of them are inaccessible to the very people for which they are designed.
Historically, Hollonbeck said, sports were something that only wealthy people could afford to do, or take the time to do, and skiing was no exception. He said athletic participation widened through the early and mid-20th century, and now adaptive programs are beginning to be more inclusive, as well. But, he said, there is a lot more work to do.
Hollonbeck said he worries that most skiers who would enroll in adaptive ski programs are those who survived an injury later in life, rather than athletes who were born with Spina Bifita, cerebral palsy or with limited vision. Hospitals or physical therapists are sometimes reluctant to refer patients to programs that are not affiliated with their establishments, so often discovering various adaptive athletic programs falls on word-of-mouth or individual research. Also, individual athletes or groups have to provide their own transportation to ski areas, which could become costly, he said.
However, he is hopeful that some of these barriers will disappear as more public schools and community centers develop their own adaptive athletic programs.
“It will be truly accessible when someone can participate in the local community,” he said.
Julie Minihan, skiing development and education coordinator for the Paralympics, has been discussing how to start and develop adaptive programs with ski resorts across the Northeast since December.
Minihan said she relies on local programs to make the Paralympics aware of their most skilled athletes.
“We need to have these grassroots and developmental programs out there,” she said.
Just like able-bodied skiers, adaptive skiers usually train for several years before they reach the top echelon of athletes. Skiers need to race at several competitions in order to be ranked, and they need years of top rankings to move up.
“It’s a somewhat cutthroat process,” she said.
Last year, Windham skier and volunteer Caitlin Sarubbi was named to the United States Disabled Ski Team.
Minihan agreed with Hollonbeck that money is a huge issue for athletes.
Cherisse Young said that many skiers and snowboarders come to Windham solely to use the foundation’s equipment because equipment is so expensive to buy.
Windham Mountain also hosts events sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project, and although some adaptive sport advocates argue that publicity surrounding these events can overshadow programs designed for more average athletes, Young said the real push for adaptive programs began when a generation of soldiers returned from serving in Vietnam.
Disabled Sports of the United States of America was founded by veterans who experimented creating equipment by putting skis on chairs. Now that there are a variety of different options for skiers with different spinal injuries and muscular needs, Young said, adapting equipment for snowboarders is the new frontier.
— — —
Young said that the program’s greatest challenge is finding enough volunteer instructors to meet the growing number of students. Interest in the program has increased, in part, she said, because schools are putting more students with physical or cognitive challenges into mainstream classes. As more schools adapt classrooms and programs to include all students, she said, more parents seek to include their children in more mainstream activities.
Last season, the program had 1,500 student visits, according to its annual report. The program also recruited 50 new instructors, bringing the total number to around 200, Young said.
Even so, she said, there is a waiting list for lessons, and athletes must make reservations in advance of their desired day and time.
— — —
During their lunch break at Windham that day, one instructor exchanged information with another who was taking over the lesson in the afternoon, telling her that the student will mimic the instructor’s actions immediately. So, if the instructor wanted to show the student where and when to turn, for example, the instructor should overshoot the turn, so the student would be at the right place at the right time.
Across the room, Anthony Tambini, of East Jewett, spoke with his teaching partner about exchanging a piece of equipment for his afternoon student.
Tambini started volunteering at Windham five years ago. Most of his students are children.
“If I’m here skiing, I’m going to work and bring some happiness to some of these kids,” he said.
That day, Tambini and another instructor were assigned to teach Dutchess Community College student Tyler Ryan.
Ryan survived a motor-cross accident a few years ago, but is unable to use his legs. He was a skier before the accident and took it up again last year.
Ryan said that learning to ski while seated and using outriggers is fun.
“It’s just as much fun, if not more,” he said.
Ryan said he was just getting back into the swing of skiing and the goal of the day was to work on turning.
After eating lunch with his girlfriend and another friend, Ryan wheeled himself to the equipment room where Tambini and the other instructor helped him get into his ski seat. Tambini straddled Ryan’s legs to keep the seat balanced and made sure Ryan could lean forward and back. Once Ryan’s ski mask, helmet and goggles were in place, Tambini and the other instructor pushed him out the door and onto the snow. Ryan propelled himself forward with his outriggers and was off for the afternoon.
