SusanCampriello: My Works

Medical center, bank storage get green light
Catskill village planners approve 2 major projects
The Daily Mail
July 21, 2009

Two construction projects in the Village of Catskill were approved Monday by the Catskill Planning Board. Work on both project will begin this summer.

The board approved site plans for the 3,000 square-foot Urgent Care facility proposed for Grandview Avenue and for a Bank of Greene County storage facility on Windsor Street after hearing brief presentations on each proposal.

The board also welcomed Zeb Haggerty as its newest member.

Architect Josh Pulver, who is part of the team assembled by Dr. Robert Schneider to establish the Urgent Care facility, provided the board with lighting scheme details for the building and parking area.

Planning Board member Mitchell Smith expressed concern with whether lights on the site would disturb residents in the neighborhood and asked how late the facility would be open each night.

Dr. Robert Schneider said hours of operation would depend on the schedules of pharmacies, as patients could need prescriptions filled upon their release. He said the facility would probably close at 10 p.m. at first.

“If the community finds that it needs to be later because it is a better service, then [hours] would be adjusted,” he said.

Six board members voted to approve the Site Plan. The seventh board member, Michelle Pulver, abstained from voting because the presenting architect was a relative.

Kevin Berry of Berry Builders presented the plan for the bank’s facility, which will be built on land currently used as a parking lot.

Bank files and equipment will be stored in the 2,000-square-foot facility, which will also feature an area where files and items can be delivered and picked up.

The building will be built in a “tool house” or alley garage style from the 1930s or 1940s with aluminum siding painted a dark, flat gray, he said. The roof will be covered with asphalt shingles.

He said only the corner of the building will be visible from Main Street.

Berry said he wanted the building to have an historical look to it to match the feel of the surrounding bank building and adjacent church.

He said grass and shrubs could be planted along two sides of the building to help drain the property. A retaining wall to hold back a reservoir has already been constructed.

Planning Board Chairman William Zwoboda commended Berry on his attention to the neighborhood around the bank’s property.

“The construction plan is very sensitive to the historic image of Catskill and we are somewhat trying to keep that,” he said.

The board unanimously approved the Site Plan.

The board also approved new signage for Dimensions North on West Bridge Street and the First Niagara Bank branches on West Bridge Street and Main Street.

Snow removal measure panned
Cost, liability, responsibility among concerns
The Daily Mail
July 21, 2009

CAIRO — A proposed local law regarding sidewalk snow removal on Main Street was panned at a public hearing.

Liability, responsibility and cost were among the concerns voiced by Cairo residents and Town Board members about the law, which was introduced to the Board in June.

As written, the law would require homeowners, business owners and lot owners along County Route 23B, called Main Street, to clear snow and ice from their sidewalk within 24 hours after the end of a winter storm.

Other Greene County municipalities have enacted their own rules for sidewalk snow removal.

Laws in the villages of Catskill, Coxsackie and the Town of Windham state that home, business or lot owners must have their sidewalks cleared within 24 hours after a storm ends at penalty of fine.

In Coxsackie, offenders can be imprisoned. Windham residents are allowed to place salt, sand or sawdust on icy sidewalks they are unable to clear.

Cairo resident Patrick Brennan asked if the Town would accept liability for injuries sustained by those who fall on the sidewalks.

“If I shovel my walkway, I open myself to liability if anyone should anyone fall. I do not feel like being sued,” he said.

He said the law presented a Catch-22, face a fine for not shoveling or a lawsuit for shoveling.

Town Supervisor John Coyne answered a question posed by Bob Storey saying that the owner of buildings vacant during certain days of the week, such as the Methodist Church and the Masonic Temple, would have to clear snow just like any other Main Street occupant would.

James Freeman, who lives across the street from the Methodist Church, said he doubted that the Town could enforce the law when snow from Main Street is pushed back onto the sidewalks every time a plow is driven down the street.

He said those who work during the day cannot always return to their Main Street homes to shovel throughout the day.

Councilman Ray Suttmeier had the same worry at the June workshop meeting, when the definition of “Main Street” had been determined as running from the Cumberland Farms gas station at corner of Route 32 and County Route 23B to Cedar Terrace Resort, at 665 Main St.

Town Planning Board member Ed Forrester pointed out that the turnpike line along properties runs 33 feet on either side of the street’s center line.

He said historically some on Main Street did not shovel their sidewalks, arguing that once they do shovel, they take responsibility of the sidewalk from the County.

“Even though I am for cleaning the sidewalks, I do not see how you can tell a landowner he has to shovel land that technically he does not own,” he said.

According to Greene County Deputy Highway Superintendent Robert Van Valkenburg, the County and the Town have an agreement that the County will clear the road of snow but the Town is responsible for clearing sidewalks.

He said the Town can pass the responsibility to property owners by drafting and enacting a local law.

Brennan asked whether the Town had consider hiring a maintenance crew to run a snow blower along the sidewalks to shoot snow into a dump truck accompanying the snow blower.

Suttmeier asked the Board why a maintenance person could not clear the snow.

Councilwoman Janet Schwarzenegger said a maintenance person’s salary would either be paid for by taxes levied on the entire town or through taxes paid by those within a sidewalk district, which would have to be created.

Suttmeier said clear sidewalks on Main Street would benefit all Cairo residents since people from Acra, Purling, Round Top and South Cairo come Main Street.

John Morgese, who does not live on Main Street, said he did not want his taxes to pay for snow removal in what he called the hamlet of Cairo.

He said he has to re-clear his driveway after the Town plows the road by his house.

“It costs me $1,000 a year to move the snow off of my sidewalks, my steps and my driveway and the Town is not reimbursing me,” he said.

Councilman Richard Lorenz said upon re-reading the proposed law was that the Town had enacted an alternate side of the road parking rule so the County could plow the road. Snow from the road goes onto the sidewalk. Snow from the sidewalks, he said, could get shoveled back into the road.

He said neither scenario was fair.

“I think there should be something worked out between the County, the Town and the property owner,” he said.

Police search for missing Catskill man
Man’s truck found parked near his home on Main Street
The Daily Mail
July 21, 2009

CATSKILL — Catskill village police led a multiagency team Monday night in a search for a mentally distraught man but were unable to find him, according to authorities.

A search party consisting of law enforcement and volunteer firefighters looked for the man all over the village until about 10:15 p.m. According to Police Chief David Darling, the search will resume early Tuesday morning should the man not return home before then.

Darling said the man was reported missing at 2 p.m. Monday from a residence on Main Street.

The man’s truck was found parked near the residence, Darling said, and authorities believe that the man, whose name and age have not been released, is on foot.

Darling said a State Police search dog from the K-9 unit had followed the man’s scent to the train trestle that runs through the village.

The Greene County’s Sheriff’s Department and the Catskill Fire Department, along with State Police, aided Catskill police in the search Monday. It was unclear Monday if more officers and firefighters would be called to search.

Catskill Firefighters christen “Tower of Power” truck
New ladder truck is largest in Greene
The Daily Mail
July 20, 2009

CATSKILL—Firefighters from area departments formally welcomed the Catskill Fire Department’s “Tower of Power” tower 3-15 truck Sunday afternoon with a champagne christening and a traditional wet-down at the department station on Central Avenue.

The 2008 Sutphen SP95 Aerial Platform ladder truck is equipped to respond to any emergencies at Catskill’s three nursing homes, two school campuses, shopping centers and Greene County Office Building on Main Street and will be able to service any future businesses or facilities, Catskill Fire Chief Jack Ormerod said during his remarks to a crowd gathered for the celebration at the station.

“This truck is going to be top-notch for this community,” he said.

The truck, named the “Tower of Power” by a third-grade class at Catskill Elementary School, is the first truck of its kind, and the largest truck, to be purchased by a fire department in Greene County, Ormerod said.

Ormerod thanked a number of individuals including his officers, Catskill Village Trustee Patrick McCullouch, who served on the truck committee, and John Rideout, an engineer with Sutphen who has been helping the department with truck maintenance.

He also thanked the City of Hudson Fire Department for covering Catskill calls during the roughly three months while Catskill firefighters readied the tower truck for service and completed truck a training course.

Tower 3-15 was purchased last winter to replace a 1986 ladder truck. That truck was sold to the Athens Fire Department, and joined trucks from West Athens-Limestreet, the City of Hudson and Greenport departments for the wet-down.

After Ormerod spoke, some of Catskill elected officials thanked Catskill’s 58 active duty volunteer firefighters for their work and dedication.

McCulloch recounted the process of finding the truck among eight others and securing more than $600,000 to purchase the truck late last year.

“As the Village continues to grow, so must the Fire Department.” he said. “We need to give them the tools to serve the community.”

County Legislator Karen Deyo (R-Catskill) said that all Catskill residents should appreciate the time the firefighters give to protect the community. She wished the department luck with the new truck.

“Your volunteer work does not go unrecognized,” she said.

Fire Company President Paul Overbaugh said he was proud of how the department has come together since Catskill’s three former companies were consolidated in 2003.

After the speeches concluded, Second Assistant Chief Paul Ormerod Jr. christened the truck, breaking a bottle of champagne on its front bumper.

He said the new truck has already responded to recent fires in Catskill including one at the Catskill Elks Lodge, in May, and a more recent blaze in an apartment building on Thompson Street.

Firefighters on those calls were able to get above the flames by using the bucket on the truck’s 95-foot arm, he said.

Refreshments, including two cakes topped with pictures of the new tower truck “printed” in icing, were served after the wet-down.

Cairo cops new software helps fight crime
Squad cars installed with new equipment for faster processing
The Daily Mail
July 20, 2009

CAIRO—The Cairo Police Department has received two Traffic and Criminal Software units that will help officers quickly and efficiently issue tickets and report accidents and other incidents.

Cairo Police Chief Chris Sprague said his department was the first municipal department in the county to receive the TraCS units, although departments in Athens, Catskill, Coxsackie and Windham as well as the Greene County Sheriff’s Office hope to purchase their own equipment soon.

“It is a big accomplishment for a small department like ours,” he said.

The units, which are laptop computers connected to small printers and fit in housings next to the dashboard, will allow officers to enter data on incidents while in their vehicles. Information can be uploaded to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services database.

According to a New York State Police TraCS information page, license and vehicle data can be immediately searched through the database. The system allows officers to create diagrams of accidents with X-Y-Z coordinates. And, disposition data can be sent electronically from a court to the Department of Motor Vehicles and to officers and police agencies, according to the information page.

Sprague said the department was able to receive the new equipment through a $300,000 traffic safety grant. The process began a year and a half ago, he said.

The chief said all four department vehicles had been equipped with hardware to house the units, which can be moved from vehicle to vehicle as needed.

Sprague said his officers would receive software training in a few weeks so that all could use the new equipment.

“They will save time for the officers because they can do things in the field rather than have to bring people to the station,” he said.

Sammies is catering to Catskill
The Daily Mail
July 14, 2009

Jim Shanagher had never run a restaurant before he opened Souper Sammies in Catskill, just more than a month ago. However he was not a stranger to food.

Shanagher’s father ran an Irish pub and his mother fed him and his 11 siblings.
“My mother was cooking for an army,” he said.

Shanagher and his wife Ronna discussed using the space on Route 9w after seeing that the Whole Donut, which had occupied the corner spot, had closed in March.

They decided a similar, yet different, business would do well on the corner.

“We wanted to continue the success of the Whole Donut,” Jim Shanagher said.

Shanagher hired chefs with restaurant experience and a store manager.

He and his team renovated the space, keeping only a stove hood in its kitchen, and opened for business about eight weeks later.

It now features a coffee bar in front of the kitchen’s counter and a flat-screen television and a large photograph of the original Yankee Stadium in the seating area.

Shanagher, a Long Island native, said the photo will show Giants Stadium in the winter.

Patrons can access free wi-fi service while they drink their coffee and eat their breakfast or lunch.

Shanagher said he wanted customers to experience a good meal with fast service and the latest technology.
A website, www.soupersammies.com, will soon be unveiled, he said.

He modeled his pattern on a restaurant serving soups, salads and sandwiches he liked in Latham, N.Y., near where he ran a DHL branch.

The Shanaghers’ menu includes breakfast sandwiches with egg, cheese and bacon or sausage, seafood salads with shellfish, cod and pollack, among other combination, and soups.

Two soup specials offered last week were mushroom brie with medera wine and roasted red pepper and smoked goulda bisque.

Ingredients, such as bagels, are brought fresh from local vendors, and breads come from a regional location of a Brooklyn bakery.

“The community supports us and we want to support the community,” Manager Kyle Carozza said.

The Shanaghers, Carozza and Director of Marketing Chris Wolpert, a college student on retainer for the summer, launched a program in which patrons can earn points. The points can then be used like cash in the restaurant.

Police, firefighters and other emergency service personnel earn double points, Wolpert said.

He estimated that more than 100 patrons have taken advantage of the program so far.

Senior citizens can take advantage of a 10-percent discount, Jim Shanagher added.

He said he the location of his business is inviting to diners who drive trucks or construction equipment.
Souper Sammies is adjacent to a large and easily accessible parking lot along the road.

And, Carozza said, the shop is open from the morning until 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, which allows customers to come in after work. Monday through Wednesday the shop closes at 3 p.m.

Carozza said that although ideas have been borrowed ideas from restaurants in metropolitan areas, he hopes the restaurant will fit in with Catskill’s needs.

“This is not Farmingdale, Long Island, this is not Albany, N.Y. Catskill has a different population and we want to cater to them,” he said.

Bull blames board for auditors’ finds
The Daily Mail
July 13, 2009

Former Coxsackie Village Mayor John Bull blames the Village Board for obstructing his plans to fix financial and procedural problems cited by a recent audit of the village.

The audit report released by the Office of the State Comptroller last week stated that the Village Board “did not provide sufficient oversight” of village finances.

The State Comptroller’s Office suggested that the Village Board and the treasurer exercise stronger controls over spending.

Current Coxsackie Village Mayor Mark Evans said in a statement Tuesday he was not surprised by the auditors’ report and that previous administrations had not done a good job monitoring and controlling village finances.

Evans said Sunday that he had no one specifically in mind.

But Bull defended his record as mayor saying the board and department heads refused to comply with procedures and blocked his attempts to fix certain financial issues.

Bull said he asked department heads to spend money on items or services pre-approved by the board. He said department heads were supposed to present the board with packing slips and other delivery documentation for review.

“None of that was happening. We were approving what was almost already a paid bill,” he said.

He cited $10,000 promised by a department head for work on a skateboard park as one example of the backwards practices.

Bull said department heads stated that expenditures were carried out in the same way they had been for years.

The treasurer resisted the change, too, he said, adding, “It was very inconvenient for everybody.”

Bull said the Village Board did not support the changes he wanted to make until late into his term when a policy regarding unauthorized expenditures was adopted.

Bull also said he attempted in May 2007 to hire a “uniquely qualified” person with a knowledge of the auditing process among other qualifications he believed necessary to the position of clerk/treasurer.

The village trustees, he said, would not let him bring that nomination, and others, to a vote.

He said Clerk Valerie Murphy and Treasurer Deborah Daost were appointed after he was presented with petitions.

“They made me out to be the mean mayor,” he said.

The audit report stated that money from the water fund had been transferred to the general fund.

Bull said that during the time period at which auditors looked, this transfer had occurred but that for the five or so years previous, money from the general fund had been used to cover expenses incurred to the water fund.

What auditors saw, he said, were repayments.

Bull said water rates had not been raised in several years although the costs of providing water services had increased. The failure to pay a total of roughly $100,000 to the water department by Coxsackie residents compounded the situation, he said.

Bull said he made progress toward balancing the water fund and general fund. Roughly $150,000 had been raised to replenish the general fund which, he said, at one time had a nearly $300,000 shortfall.

‘Monkey’ business
Sock monkeys emerge as a classic American toy
The Daily Mail
July 10, 2009

CATSKILL — Ron Warren was given a sock monkey in 1985 by a friend. The friend had no idea that sock monkeys are a classic, hand-made American toy crafted from a particular type of sock and that every one looked different, Warren said.

So, to prove the point that the monkey had a place in American folk culture, Warren started looking for other examples of the unique creations. Now, he has a collection of thousands of monkeys, hundreds of which have been photographed by Arne Svenson and publicized in two sock monkey books.

The two men will be at Hood and Co., in Catskill, for a book signing from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Warren said that although each monkey is make from the same type of red heel sock and by following the same pattern, each monkey’s creator may have put a bit of their own personalities in their creations. And, he said, some monkeys end up looking unfinished, scary or nothing like a monkey.

“They are not all created equal,” he said. “There are some that are much more expressive and interesting than others.”

Warren, who runs a gallery in New York City, said that although finding monkeys in the city is rare, he did come across a monkey in a pile of discarded items on 19th Street.

“I saw this very distinctive little arm sticking out of this pile of junk,” he said, “and I pulled on the arm and it was this amazing sock monkey. An old beautiful sock monkey that has a lot of personality.”

The monkey, which, Warren said, wears a sort-of bellhop cap is included in the new book.

Svenson and Warren released their first book of sock monkey portraits in 2002. Photographs in that book are black and white and the book includes short stories inspired by the monkeys written by authors, commentators and entertainers including Jonathan Safran Foer, Isaac Mizrahi and Penn and Teller.

Their new book, “Sock Monkey,” has color photographs of the monkeys but no text.

“The book is about what someone can imagine about them by looking at the photographs,” Warren said.

About 600 monkeys were photographed for the books, 20 or 30 at a time. But not every monkey was included.

Some monkeys did not photograph look good on film, Svenson said. Others did not express their inner life.

Warren said Svenson’s different way of looking at the monkeys made the collaboration fun.

“We would mock-bicker about the merits of some,” he said.

For Warren, the more sad and bedraggled monkeys strike a chord.

“My favorites are the ones where I wonder, ‘what was the maker thinking,’” Svenson said.

He said collectors and creators of the monkeys he has met appreciate the sock monkey books because they give or recognize the toys’ cultural and individual importance.

But, Svenson said, he does not photograph the monkeys as toys.

“I wanted to treat them as personalities and photograph them as personalities,” he said.

Svenson said the techniques he uses for taking pictures of the monkeys are the same for his portraits.

Not only is the lighting the same, he said, but he looks for a defining characteristic of each monkey as he would with a human subject. He focuses his lens on the monkeys’ eyes and allows some of their bodies to become blurry in the image. The resulting photographs are classic portraits, he said.

The monkeys, he said, are treated as if they are living, breathing, reanimated things.

“I am looking at something that a grandmother or mother would have made for a child out of love, and can I put that back into it,” he said.

Farmer celebrates 25 years at Cairo Market Days
The Daily Mail
July 9, 2009

CAIRO — Market Days are here again.

For the 18th year, Carol Spohler has brought vendors to Cairo’s Main Street between 9 a.m. and about 3 p.m., weather permitting, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Cairo Market Days.

Among the vendors who set up booths on the lawn of the Cairo Elementary School to sell new handbags, stuffed animals, t-shirts and wind chimes and used videos, tapes, records and other items is Eric Scherer.

Scherer, of Brothers 2 farm, on Blue Hill Road in Columbia County, sells fruits, vegetables and flowers at the market, and has for 25 of the 28 years the market has been open.

On a recent sunny Tuesday morning, Sherer stood behind a booth of tables covered with a rainbow of peaches, plums, nectarines, tomatoes, zucchinis, watermelons, squashes, garlic, onions, eggplants, blueberries and flowers for sale.

“[They are] beautiful, fresh and priced decently,” he said.

His fruits and vegetables are priced at less than $5.

Scherer and his brother Steven have run their farm 26-acre farm for more than 40 years. It has been in the family for longer than 50.

Scherer said his favorite crops on the farm are flowers, including snapdragons. Colorful flowers, he said, add a pretty contrast to the vegetables’ green leaves.

“More color in the field is better,” he said.

Scherer sells produce and flowers in Cairo and at markets in Arkville, New York City and Connecticut during the week. His brother travels to markets in Woodstock on the weekends.

He said the trip to Cairo is much easier and less costly than are trips downstate.

“This is very close, it is 15 minutes from home,” he said.

Sherer said he notices that consumers in New York City generally buy more goods than those who come to that Cairo market and other local markets.

This trend, he said, could mean that farmers may not be able to compete with large grocery stores.

“Local people need to learn to support more local people,” he said. “The little guy isn’t supported like he used to be.”

Scherer is one vendor who always claims the same corner space, next to the school parking lot, market coordinator Spohler said from her “office” at a folding table under a tree. He is her “vegetable guy” and the only one she has come to sell produce.

Other merchants, she said, take spots on the lawn on a first-come-first-served basis. At one time, vendors would arrive at the market when it was held in front of the municipal building as early as 4 a.m. to secure their favorite area.

In the past, children involved with area 4-H clubs helped Spohler map out the different booth areas, but now venders can generally gauge how much space they will need and where aisles for pedestrians should be left open.

Soon, a vendor selling hot dogs, hamburgers and other hot food will take a spot at the market, Spohler said.

Spohler said shoppers can find something new and different at the market each day. Different merchants may show up depending on the weather or their own schedules bringing with them their own unique offerings she said.

And, she said, one person’s castoffs can be another person’s treasures. She said a local artist once found the perfect pair of boots after which he patterned part of a sculpture.

Spohler said vacation patterns and weather can dictate the number of shoppers who come to the market. She said historically the market has been busiest when Cairo’s many resorts are full of vacationers. Rainy days can keep venders and shoppers home, she said.

So far, rain has fallen during each market day. But, Spohler said she plans on shoppers stopping at the market on their way down Main Street or on their way home from work.

“I am just hoping we have a good summer,” she said.

Cairo Market Days, or “The Biggest Little Flea Market” in Cairo are sponsored by the Cairo Area Chamber of Commerce and run through Sept. 2.

State audit faults village
Mayor blames previous administrations for lax accounting
The Daily Mail
July 8, 2009

COXSACKIE — The Coxsackie Village Board lacked sufficient oversight between 2004 and 2008, leading to a number of “Unplanned operating deficits” in its general, water and sewer funds, according to an audit conducted by the Office of the State Comptroller released Tuesday.

The audit showed that the balance of unreserved funds in the water, sewer and general funds declined 83 percent from a balance of $678,000, reported on May 31, 2004, to $118,600, reported on May 31, 2008, the report read.

“The lack of cash flow projections leaves the Village vulnerable to unanticipated, last-minute transfers of cash that may or may not be available from other funds,” the report stated.

The decline can be accounted for by overestimating revenues and/or overspending appropriations, according to the report.

For example, water fund revenues were overestimated by more than $183,000 in the 2007-08 fiscal year. Funds were overspent during the previous year by more than $116,000, the audit report read. Sewer fund revenues were overestimated by $238,000 in the 2006-07 fiscal year and by $241,000 the following year. Auditors attribute the decline in the general fund to operating deficits during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 fiscal years.

The State Comptroller’s Office recommended that the Village Board exercise stronger internal controls over finances, segregate the duties of cash collection, disbursement and record keeping and adopt computer access and security practices.

During the audit process, examiners found that five transactions, totaling $11,640, made during the audit period were voided due to payment duplication and other errors.

Three duplicate checks were made to the Village attorney and one one to the Village accountant, according to the audit report. The final check was voided because “the payment was not a proper village charge,” the report read.

Auditors reviewed 35 claim voucher packets, totaling $198,760, for evidence of proper documentation and found that eight voucher packets lacked department head approval signatures.

The examination showed that signed documentation acknowledging receipt of service or goods were missing from 21 packets and 29 packets were without required purchase orders.

Required trustee approval forms were missing from 27 packets, the report read.

The audit was conducted through interviews with Village officials and a review of Village documents, manuals and records including cash receipts and disbursements, purchases and receipts.

The full audit report can be downloaded from the State Comptroller’s website at: osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/villages/2009/coxsackie.pdf - 2009-07-06 . Copies are also available at the Village office.

Coxsackie Village Mayor Mark Evans said in an e-mailed statement that he was not surprised by the audit results.

“It has been evident that the financial health of the village has been in poor shape for some time and the State Comptroller’s Office audit simply confirms this,” he said.

Evans, who served as a councilman for the Town of Coxsackie for four years before he defeated incumbent John Bull 453-211 in March, blamed previous administrations for the costly oversights.

He said he hired a budget officer to assist with the budget process this April and held public budget work sessions.

On April 29, Evans and his board adopted a budget with a 9.5-percent tax increase. At the time, he said the tax hike was necessary because critical issues and projects had not been addressed during the last few years.

Evans said an accounting firm regularly reviews financial records. The Village is changing cash management procedures, he said.

Evans said he was confident that with a lot of work the Village will be able to correct the problems identified by the auditors.