SusanCampriello: My Works

NY govt. merger bill draws criticism
Legislation passes in Senate, Assembly, but not without criticism
The Daily Mail
June 10, 2009

CATSKILL — State legislators representing Greene County agreed that consolidation of municipal governments and services could alleviate property tax increases, but hope certain changes can be made to the bill before it is sent to Gov. David A. Paterson for signature.

The New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act passed a June 1 state Senate vote of 46-16.

It passed a June 3 vote in the state Assembly of 118-26.

State Sen. James L. Seward, R-Oneonta, who voted against the measure, said he liked the idea of consolidating governments but was unhappy with two details laid out in the plans.

“With some tweaking, I could have supported it,” he said.

The Senate bill requires a vote to be held if a petition containing the names of 10 percent of the voting population is submitted.

If the measure is approved by a majority vote, a municipality can develop a consolidation plan. If that plan is rejected, another petition can be circulated. Twenty-five percent of the electorate must sign the second petition for consolidation to be considered again.

Under the new rules, debts, liabilities and obligations of the dissolved government would be assumed by the town in which the dissolved government was situated. The debts and liabilities will be charged on the taxable properties within the limits of the dissolved entity.

Seward said he would prefer a consolidation plan or a cost-benefit analysis before the initial vote.

Residents should know how services will be delivered and whether a municipal consolidation will save money, he said.

“Those questions ought to be answered before anybody votes on consolidation,” he said. “That would have a lot of bearing on whether or not it would be supported.”

He said only one vote should occur.

Seward said he is uncomfortable with the inclusion of fire districts and library districts in the bill. Fire districts can already be large, he said, and the burden on volunteer firefighters could grow if they have to travel great distances from one end of a consolidated district to another.

He noted that many communities already participate in mutual aid agreements that allow for a number of different companies to respond to a major emergency.

Assemblyman Tim Gordon, I-Bethlehem, voted in favor of the legislation although he also saw room for improvement.

He said what he has heard from constituents about the need to lower real property taxes influenced his support for the bill.

“This bill is designed to reduce the number of layers of government in order to achieve that,” he said.

But he agreed with Seward that the reorganization of fire districts should have been discarded.

He said consolidating districts could discourage individuals from volunteering with fire companies.

Mutual aid agreements have allowed fire companies to work together when necessary while remaining separate, said Gordon, who is a volunteer firefighter.

Gordon also wants the petition threshold raised to 25 percent of the electorate in municipalities of 2,000 residents or less.

He worries that the bill could become a political tool.

“Malcontents who have an ax to grind could use the provisions for no other purpose than to wreak havoc,” he said.

Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, said the decision to favor what he called “imperfect legislation” was very difficult.

Lopez supported the measure based on the possibility that consolidation could control the growth of property taxes, but he identified several points in the legislation he thinks can be improved.

Lopez said he was still discussing the petition threshold with constituents and colleagues but that a study should be conducted and considered before consolidation was put to a vote.

The Assembly bill requires that a study and recommendations for the consolidation plan within six months of a consolidation petition being filed.

Lopez said this schedule is unrealistic because of all the other demands on a part-time official’s time and energy.

“Six months is a pretty tight timeframe for a local government,” he said.

A well-researched study could take a year to conduct, he said.

The state could help subsidize the costs of conducting consolidation studies and of developing consolidation plans, he said, because the burden should not be laid at the feet of local governments.

“The state is a critical partner here, too,” he said.

Lopez also said that cost-saving measures need not be limited to local government consolidation and the state should act as a model for municipalities.

For example, he said, school districts could share equipment and space, such as garages, with municipalities if state Department of Education rules did not prohibit such agreements.

Lopez said any discussion of consolidation should focus on whether services will be maintained or improved and whether the consolidation will be cost-effective.

“Simply absorbing may not always be the most cost-effective or best solution. Bigger is not always better,” he said. “We cannot get caught in something just because it sounds trendy.”

Seward said he has heard that Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who campaigned for passage of the legislation, may sponsor some amendments to the legislation that could fix what he sees as problem areas.

“We could have made the bill better and I hope that will happen before it becomes law,” Seward said.

Bells, cannonfire to greet Hudson’s greatest ships
Catskill, Athens to celebrate River Day
The Daily Mail
June 9, 2009

CATSKILL — Bells will ring, alarms will sound and cannons will blast at 6 p.m. Thursday for River Day, when the Half Moon comes to dock at Historic Catskill Point.

The ship is a full-scale replica of the vessel in which Henry Hudson made his historic journey up the river that now bears his name to Albany in 1609. It is part of a larger flotilla that left New York City last Friday and will arrive at Albany June 13.

The parade of ships is either passing, or stopping in, numerous communities along the Hudson River throughout the week.

“Having the Half Moon is a great honor and reflects the amount of history Catskill holds in the Hudson Valley,” Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley said.

The ship will drop anchor overnight in order for students to visit Friday morning. The ship will sail for Castleton at noon.

Other vessels in the flotilla include the Governor Cleveland Tug and the John J. Harvey Fire Boat, which will also dock at Catskill.

The Onrust, a replica of the first Dutch ship built in America, will spend the evening and the following day in Athens.

The Sloop Clearwater will moor in Hudson Thursday.

Crew members with flotilla will announce their arrival in Catskill by firing a water cannon, according to Village officials.

The Village will respond by activating the emergency alarm, which was recently turned off and will only be used during major emergencies.

Catskill Community Development Coordinator Nancy Richards said that churches in the Village will ring their bells to welcome the flotilla.

She said the Catskill High School band and band alumni will also meet the ship at the park, as will performers from the musical adaptation of “River of Dreams,” based on the children’s book by Hudson Talbott.

“It should really be a great night,” she said.

Vintage planes from Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome are scheduled to fly over the flotilla, weather permitting. Festivities will be moved inside the yellow barn at the Point in case of rain Thursday.

Food will be available for sale, Richards said, and parking for the event will be at Dutchmen’s Landing.

In Athens, the Onrust will also be welcomed by the sounding of a fire alarm and the ringing of church bells, according to Village Mayor Andrea Smallwood.

Smallwood is expecting many residents and visitors to greet the vessel and its crew at the waterfront park and the Stewart House gazebo, which will be festively lit.

Onrust crew members will come ashore to speak about how the ship was researched and constructed, she said. Friday morning they will meet with more than 250 elementary school students to discuss the ship’s history, she said.

Smallwood said she anticipates seeing heavy river traffic Thursday and Friday. Boats belonging to the Athens Fire Department will also be on the water, she said.

Daniela Marino, director of the Greene County Tourism Promotion Department, said the celebration will be memorable with many different activities taking place.

“River Day is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” she said.

Flu scare at C-A unfounded
Case diagnosed as seasonal influenza
The Daily Mail
June 9, 2009

CATSKILL — Parents of students at Coxsackie-Athens Central School District schools were alerted Friday to a possible case of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, in one school, although no cases of the illness have been confirmed since one on May 21, according to Greene County Public Health.

“We have no suspected cases either,” Department Director Marie Ostoyich, R.N., said Monday.

Staff in the C-A Superintendent’s office said an alert went out after a student at the middle school was found to have influenza.

“The case is not documented to be H1N1,” C-A School Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory said.

Staff said the superintendent thought it best to warn parents of a possible case of the virus.

In the notification, parents were told a local physician had contacted the school district because the child had what was a suspected case, according to a parent with two children who attend Coxsackie-Athens schools.

She said the message also told parents that the schools would provide more information about the case but had not issued subsequent statements.

The state Department of Health reported Monday that there have been 1,007 confirmed swine flu cases in the state, with 623 cases reported in New York City.

Boards approve site expansion, plan
The Daily Mail
June 8, 2009, online

ATHENS - The Athens Zoning Board of Appeals, during a joint meeting with the Athens Planning Board, voted unanimously Tuesday evening to approve two variances - one, a height restriction for a 15-foot-tall water silo and the other, a 23-foot roadside setback at the Greene Commerce Center, near the Schoharie Turnpike.

The Athens Planning Board then approved the project site plan.

Before the votes, the ZBA held a public hearing on the variances.

Rene VanSchaak, of the Greene County Industrial Development Agency, answered questions from the audience, explaining that plastic injection molding company Fishbach “has signed a letter of interest” on the site.

He said the company will need a 50,000-square-foot facility and the existing building can only provide 23,000 square feet.

VanSchaak said the company could bring at least 50 jobs to Athens if it moves into the industrial park.

The building Fishbach needs will have to be rectangular, VanSchaak said, which will cause it to face the roadway on a diagonal.

Planning Board member Scott Fischer worried that the company might decide not to come to Athens after the building is completed or may not end up using all the space.

He also voiced his concerns with a proposed 30-spot parking area.

“I personally do not think you have enough parking for a potential business,” he said.

VanSchaak said he could look into adding parking on the far side of a rail spur extension that might be constructed.

Planning Board member Paul Hasbrouck questioned whether a variance was proper, since Fischbach does not appear to him as a company in need.

“I see no hardship here,” he said.

VanSchaak answered more questions, posed by Jessica Abrams, an clean energy strategist, regarding power and emissions.

He said necessary air emission permits from the state Department of Environmental Conservation would be obtained, lighting would be energy efficient and that water in the facility could be filtered and reused. He said the plans for stormwater runoff management were appropriate although he could not say whether the company would be using multiple dyes in their products.

VanSchaak said the plans include more pervious surface on the roughly five-acre lot than there has been in the past.

ZBA Chairman Joe Iraci said the height of the silo would not have a negative impact on the site and falls within the accepted uses of the property, which is zoned as industrial use.

He said the setback does not appear to cause a problem with sight lines from the road.

Keep those shovels handy
Proposed law would require clearing sidewalks of snow and ice within 24 hours
The Daily Mail
June 5, 2009

CAIRO — A public hearing for a new local law concerning snow removal from sidewalks in Cairo has been scheduled for June 17 before the regularly scheduled meeting of the Cairo Town Board.

The new law proposes that owners or occupants of buildings along County Route 23B, which is also known as Main Street, in Cairo, must clear their sidewalks of snow and ice no later than 24 hours after precipitation ceases.

People will be prohibited from dumping snow or ice onto any Cairo sidewalk, the proposed law states.

The law grants the Town the authority to charge a property owner the cost of snow or ice removal if snow or ice is not cleared within the 24-hour period and not removed after a local, county or State official or police officer or peace officer has requested a property owner or occupant to do so.

The charge will come in the form of an increase to the tax levy on the property owner.

The proposed law allows police or the code enforcement officer to issue a summons to a occupant or property owner in violation of the law to appear in town court.

The board determined at its workshop meeting Thursday that for the purpose of the law, Main Street runs from the Cumberland Farms gas station at corner of Route 32 and County Route 23B to Cedar Terrace Resort, at 665 Main St.

The board passed suggestions of the location of the terminus of Main Street, the intersection of Jones Street and County Route 23B as well as a nearby gas station, but it was Cairo Police Chief Chris Sprague who put forward the resort.

He justified his suggestion by saying that new owners of the resort may want to extend the sidewalk and elderly patrons would benefit from having clear sidewalks.

At the most recent regular meeting of the Town Board, in May, Councilwoman Janet Schwarzenegger suggested that the law cover roadsides between the two junctions of County Route 23B at Route 23, where, she said, future sidewalks might likely be installed.

At the time, the board was not unanimous in its support of the law.

Councilman Raymond Suttmeier worried that the sidewalks might not stay passable after a resident cleared snow.

“How long would the resident have to clear the snow after the County pushes it back on the sidewalk,” he asked, eliciting laughter from an audience of residents.

“That is a good point,” Town Supervisor John Coyne responded.

The proposed law does not include language about clearing snow from sidewalks multiple times.

Suttmeier said he would like the Town to clear snow from sidewalks rather than ask residents and property owners to keep the sidewalks clear.

“The Town is going to be out there clearing the snow in front of the absentee owners and I think we would be better served if we had the Town go down one side and go back up the other and be done with [it],” he said.

He said that having clear sidewalks would benefit everyone in the Town because people from the Town’s hamlets do come to Main Street for business and pleasure.

He worried that passing the law may create more problems than it would solve.

Schwarzenegger said she had heard from residents who agree with Suttmeier and residents who would support a law that forces them to clear the sidewalks in a timely manner.

She said residents and property owners would have a chance to voice their opinions at the public hearing.

Cause of Elks fire still a mystery
Future events to be held in pavilion; building condemned
The Daily Mail
June 3, 2009

CATSKILL — Three days after a fire heavily damaged Catskill Elks Lodge No. 1341, members and volunteers were busy preparing the Elks’ pavilion building for Wednesday’s Bingo Night.

Lodge members, including John Murphy, lodge secretary and Northern Hudson District deputy, Maria Impastato, Albert Poplock and Joseph Pilatich, were joined Tuesday by staff of U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, and Greene County Legislator Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, as they hung work-lights from the pavilion’s rafters.

Lodge members began to ready the pavilion for future events during a lodge meeting Monday evening, Lodge Exalted Ruler Maggie Goode said.

Benedict McCaffree, of the Purling area, senior regional representative, and Constituent Representative Amanda Boomhower of Athens both from Murphy’s recently opened Hudson office, and Cotten toured the lodge before they got to work.

Pilatich approached McCaffree at the opening of Murphy’s Hudson office Monday about visiting the lodge.

“The smell is pretty overwhelming,” Boomhower said of the lingering odor of smoke while walking through the darkened lodge toward the banquet hall, which, along with the kitchen, sustained heavy fire damage Saturday morning.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to Catskill Fire Department Chief Jack H. Ormerod Sr.

Although much of the lodge had suffered only water and smoke damage, the building had to be condemned Saturday and power and water has been shut off.

A fire wall separate the banquet hall and kitchen from the rest of the building.

Cotten and Goode discussed how the damage could have been more extensive had the wall not been there.

“The best thing is that no one was injured,” Goode said.

The lodge’s pet canary, however, which had been caught during a Memorial Day celebration last year and kept in a cage, did not survive the blaze.

Finding some humor in the situation, Goode called the bird spoiled and said it had a lot of mirrors and other things in its cage.

The lodge pavilion, which is located behind the main lodge building and is most often used during the summer months, will host lodge meetings and events in the near future.

Goode could not say how long the main lodge with be out of commission.

She said an insurance adjustment office had visited the lodge but had not yet issued a preliminary report.

She said she was concentrating on the “here and now.”

McCaffree told Goode Tuesday she should let him know of any future needs.

Goode said the lodge will still hold its annual Flag Day celebration, which features historic information about the birth and evolution of the nation’s flags and a parade of flags by local Boy Scouts.

She said community members and other Elks lodges around the State have offered services and items to help the Catskill Elks continue to offering their services to the community.

Tables inside the pavilion were donated by the Catskill Country Club. The Elks Lodge of Red Hook and Rhinebeck donated a Bingo sign.

The Catskill Elks lodge recently donated money to a lodge in Central New York that had suffered flood-related damage, Goode said.

“I think we have come together in an amazing way,” she said.

Stop and smell, but don’t pick, the flowers
The Daily Mail
June 1, 2009, online

CATSKILL - Every day for the last week-and-a-half, Jim Deskevich has replanted flowers along Main Street on his way to get his morning coffee.

The flowers, which appear to be uprooted during the night or early morning, were planted recently by the Catskill Garden Club.

Deskevich, the owner of Veriegated, at 377 Main St., took photographs of various disturbed planter urns and sent an e-mail Saturday to his fellow proprietors on Main Street and to Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley describing his frustration with the displaced flowers.

“It is a blatant disrespect for other people’s property, and it certainly does not send a welcome message to those visiting Catskill this summer, or to those of us who work hard to try and make the street a bit nicer of a place to be on a daily basis,” he wrote in the e-mail.

Deskevich was one of the members of the Catskill Garden Club who helped plant the flowers on May 21.

Camille Yandeau, of the Catskill Garden Club, said the club spent more than $1,000 on dirt and flowers this year.

Flowers were planted in 70 planters placed along Main Street, in a small adjacent park and in front of the Catskill Library, on Franklin Street.

She said she was disappointed to hear of the vandalism.

Yandeau heard of only one or two flowers being disturbed last summer.

“Last year there had been very little damage and we were pleased,” she said.

The Heart of Catskill Association/Chamber of Commerce began planting flowers along Main Street more than 10 years ago, according to association Executive Director Linda Overbaugh.

Last year, the association purchased the cast iron planters along Main Street with money through a grant to improve the streetscape.

Overbaugh said that there had been no problems with the planters for a long time, but this year, even plants outside the association’s office at 327 Main St. have not been spared from vandalism.

Overbaugh straightened out a plant one morning only to find it ripped out of the planter the next morning.

“It is definitely malicious,” she said.

Proprietors along the strip have been working together to clean up the messes left by the vandals.

Both Stephanie Walsh, co-owner of Swamp Angel Antiques, at 349 Main St., and Pat Feinman, co-owner of Functional Sculpture Cabinet and Tile Shop, at 354 and 356 Main St., said they have replanted flowers in front of neighboring businesses and have seen other business owners doing the same.

Walsh said perhaps the vandals see the flowers as an easy target.

She said that sweeping dirt from the sidewalks and re-planting flowers takes some time and can be hard work.

And, she said, she has done it three or four times already.

“It is aggravating. It makes you angry,” she said.

She said she cannot think of other vandalism in the area but recalls that a few Cat’n Around Catskill street art sculptures suffered some damage in the past.

Feinman said she has begun to water flowers around her business hoping that their roots grow stronger and are able to withstand being pulled.

Further up Main Street, David Miles said planters in front of his store, Hood and Company, at 432 Main St., had not been disturbed.

But, he said, he had heard about the problem from other business owners.

“It makes all of Catskill look bad,” he said.

Deskevich said Sunday the camaraderie displayed by Main Street proprietors showed a “silver lining” to the vandalism problem.

He said he saw a greater police presence on Main Street Saturday night after speaking with Catskill Police Chief David Darling about the planter problems, and no new plants had been damaged Sunday morning.

However, he said, some plants had already suffered so much root damage that they may die and may need to be replaced with new plants.

Darling said Sunday afternoon he had placed more officers on the street after dark. Officers have begun reviewing security camera tapes while investigating who had been ripping flowers out of their urns, leaving garbage in the urns and knocking the urns over, he said.

Darling warned that any individual caught vandalizing property on Main Street or elsewhere in the village will be prosecuted.

Gallery melds old-fashioned and contemporary techniques
The Daily Mail
June 1, 2009, online

CATSKILL - Kurt Andernach celebrated the grand opening of his gallery and workshop called somersaultwoods Saturday evening with a German-themed party.

Dressed in lederhosen, Andernach greeted guests next to a picnic table covered with plates of German snacks that he had set up on the sidewalk outside his gallery at 396 Main St., in Catskill.

Inside the gallery, guests viewed pieces from Andernach’s handcrafted furniture collection including tables, seats and a bed.

Andernach describes his furniture as being traditional but with a contemporary touch.

The pieces are constructed using old-fashioned wood-joints rather than with nails, but are made from and by using sustainable and environmentally sustainable products, he said.

“I bring my European taste to the table,” he said.

Andernach grew up in Germany and quit school to complete a three-year apprenticeship with a cabinet maker. Then, he became interested in architecture.

For years Andernach has designed residential and commercial spaces including department store display areas through his architectural firm andernachconcepts.

His designs have been recognized by clothing designer Diane von Furstenberg.

Now, he said, his design interests have swung back toward furniture.

“I am trying to take my experience as a designer and put different forms and proportions together that are not based on traditional concepts,” he said.

Although he has a line of furniture and finishes, which he is still developing and expanding, Andernach can produce made-to-order custom pieces as well.

Andernach makes all of his pieces himself.

“Well, the dogs help,” he jokes.

The dogs, Blossom, Emma and Powder, who spend their days in the shop and walking with Andernach around Catskill, are quick to jump up from their beds by one of the storefront’s windows to meet newcomers.

Andernach, who has lived in a house one mile into the woods between Leeds and Earlton for 10 years, began working in his two-floor shop in March.

He said he chose to open his business in Catskill because of its friendly atmosphere.

“Catskill has become home,” he said. “I love the community here.”