SusanCampriello: My Works

An apple a day
Seward reads to children about orchards, calls for preservation of Empire Zones
The Daily Mail

ATHENS — State Senator James L. Seward, R-Oneonta, took a break from budget meetings in the state Capital Thursday to observe Agriculture Literacy Day at Edward J. Arthur Elementary School in Athens.

He read a new book to a second grade class written by New York State Agriculture in the Classroom staff in conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension staff that taught children where apples come from and how they are made into applesauce.

“I think it’s a good way to combine the importance of reading and to help the students to appreciate agriculture more and to know where their food comes from,” Seward said of the awareness effort after completing “Empire State Investigates: The Applesauce Bandit.”

The story follows two second-grade students as they solve a mystery that leads them to an apple orchard and processing plant.

Volunteers began reading books about crops and food production to school children for Agriculture Literacy Week four years ago, said Crystal Lee Skoda of Cornell Cooperative.

After the story ended, she taught the children about the parts of the state fruit with help from apples donated by Boehm Farms in Climax.

Seward told the class, their teacher and principal Paul Snyder that he had to return to the State Capitol to continue fighting for education aid.

Before he left, Seward said that money available through the federal economic recovery package would hold state aid for education at its 2009 budget level.

Seward said he wants to see more funding go to health care and specifically Medicaid. The burden on taxpayers will rise, he said, if funding to local hospitals is cut. He worries about Greene County’s economic recovery should Gov. David A. Paterson decimate Empire Zones, as his budget proposal threatens to do.

Empire Zones, Seward asserted, have been instrumental in bringing new businesses to the county.

Seward said that the Legislature is working hard to complete the budget by April 1, which will help municipalities and schools adjust their budgets.

But the State Senator questioned whether the Governor and legislative leaders’ closed-door approach will yield an agreeable proposal.

“I am disappointed in the process this year,” he said, “it has not been open.”

Alden Terrace lawsuit tossed
Pulver rules that plaintiffs failed to prove their case
The Daily Mail
Mar. 27, 2009

CAIRO — Greene County Judge George J. Pulver Jr. dismissed the lawsuit against the Cairo Town Board and Planning Board, various state agencies and developers of the proposed Alden Terrace development Thursday, ruling that the suit was untimely and failed to state a cause of action.

The suit was filed on Sept. 22, 2008 by Cairo First, Cairo Plaza LLC, J. Triple S., Inc, E. Slater, Inc., and the Cairo Township Taxpayers Association.

They alleged 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.

Pulver heard oral arguments March 6 from the plaintiffs’ attorney Andrew Gilchrist of Tuczinski, Cavalier, Gilchrist and Collura, P.C.; Tal Rappleyea, attorney for the Town respondents; and Lawrence Rappaport of the Office of the Attorney General, who represented the state’s interests.

At the time, Rappleyea moved for dismissal because the action was filed after the four-month statute of limitations had lapsed. Gilchrist argued that the suit was filed only weeks after the Town Board issued a negative declaration on the sewer upgrade.

The Town Board passed a resolution approving construction of improvements to the sewer treatment system and authorizing bond funding on Feb. 7, 2008. The resolution stated the improvements were subject to review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The Board issued the negative declaration on the sewer upgrade on Aug. 20.

Pulver ruled, however, that Gilchrist’s argument that the Town did not comply with section 12-A of Town Law was irrelevant because that law is limited to a determination to create or extend an improvement district, which the February resolution did not do.

Because the resolution falls under section 12 of the Town Law, the four-month statute of limitations applies.

“The resolution of the Feb. 7, 2008 is subject to a four-month statute of limitations which commenced upon the date of the resolution was adopted. The instant action/proceeding was not commenced within four months of the date the resolution was adopted,” the ruling reads.

Gilchrist argued that the Town Board improperly segmented its environmental review and failed to fully consider the effects of the proposed retail and housing development on the public before approving the plan.

Pulver, however, noted that Gilchrist presented the court with an unsigned and blank environmental assessment form. He also offered an environmental scoping document that states neither the nature and magnitude nor the likelihood of any negative environmental impacts from the project. Therefore, Pulver wrote, there is no proof that any additional harm to the general public will arise or that such harm requires a SEQRA review.

“There is no indication that the sewer treatment system upgrades will have any adverse environmental impact which could give rise to a cumulative increase in the impact,” he wrote.

Gilchrist argued that the system upgrades exceed those necessary to fix system deficiencies, and therefore the system is not strictly an “enforcement proceeding,” as the Town has claimed.

Pulver wrote that years of attempts to fix the system prove otherwise. He noted that the DEC has enacted several consent orders requiring Cairo to make specific upgrades to the sewer system in accordance with a set schedule.

The plaintiffs alleged that the DEC’s approval of the system was arbitrary  and capricious. Gilchrist argued that sewage from the proposed retail and housing development would bring the system to capacity again, leaving the system with the same problems it has now.

Pulver wrote that the DEC required that the proposed development be removed from all consideration with regards to the upgrades because the department placed a moratorium on introducing new system hookups. The moratorium will be lifted when the system is brought into compliance with its State Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit and can handle new connections.

Pulver rejected the plaintiffs’ allegation that the Housing Trust Fund Corporation, which said the development qualified for public aid, and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal were the same entity. The plaintiffs had argued that the DHCR had approved funding for the development, which it had not.

Pulver disallowed the inclusion of the Environmental Facilities Corporation in the lawsuit, which the plaintiffs sought because the plaintiffs made no allegations against the corporation.

Pulver ruled that there was no factual basis to prove that Town Councilman Raymond Suttmeier had financial interest in the development. Pulver noted that Gilchrist did not provide information that shows where exactly Suttmeier’s property was actually located in relation to the proposed development.

He wrote that if Suttmeier had anything to gain financially, then everyone living within the sewer district did, too.

Pulver denied the plaintiffs’ motion to add the Bank of Greene County to the suit for issuing a loan in December 2008 to Town Supervisor John Coyne. Coyne included a falsely executed no-litigation certificate in his bond package.

“The record establishes that execution of the certificate was a good faith error subject to correction,” the ruling reads.

Pulver acknowledged that defendants Charles Maggio, Charles Frank and Regan Development Corp. had also moved to dismiss the complaint. Their motion has been withdrawn and was not addressed in the ruling.

Plaintiffs Ellsworth “Unk” Slater and Erica Gravina of Cairo First said Thursday afternoon that they had not had a chance to read the ruling and had not decided whether the decision would be appealed.

School chiefs offer wish lists
Spending plans for buildings reflect decreases
The Daily Mail
Mar. 26, 2009

CAIRO — The Cairo-Durham School Board heard good news from three building principals and one program director.

Their budgets indicated that the Cairo Elementary School, Cairo-Durham Middle School, Cairo-Durham High School and the Pupil Services and Special Education program will operate on less money in the 2009-2010 school year than this year.

Cairo Elementary School principal Scott Richards said that he had reduced his budget for equipment, textbooks and materials by a total of about $10,000.

Richards explained how he was able to decrease his budget by $5,000 from last year. His proposed budget totals $25,068.

He said the proposed budget shows that his school needs no funds for equipment.

“We have used money from this year to take care of any needs next year,” he said.

The budget line for contracts increased by $37 more than last year’s costs, mainly due do the need for new computer software, he said.

The school saw a decrease in enrollment and Richards moved one teaching assistant to the middle school, he said, which cut the cost of having assistants in half.

The budget for salaries increased by 1.84 percent, or by roughly $59,000.

Middle School principal Kerry Overbaugh said that her preliminary budget had decreased from last year’s by more than $18,000, or 19 percent. Although music, art, foreign language and physical education instructional supplies decreased, she said, the cost of necessary materials for technology classes more than doubled.

She said the school was able to save nearly $19,000 by ordering $10 mathematics and language workbooks rather than buying $80 textbooks. She said that not only do workbooks cost less than textbooks, but students can write in and highlight passages in workbooks.

Overbaugh said her school will begin using teachers and administrators to help analyze data and staff development rather than use outside consultants.

She said her school began bringing the district’s 7th- and 8th-grade students with special needs who had been taught elsewhere back into the school. She said teaching the children on campus saved the school $70,000.

Overbaugh said her preliminary budget showed a 4.81 percent increase in staff salaries.

Overbaugh said that because her student enrollment has declined and the high school’s has grown, some of her aides have started working in the high school. She said that the schools could share appropriate staff if needed to further save the district money.

High school principal Anthony Taibi presented a proposed budget of $143,958 this year, or roughly $25,000 lower than last year’s budget.

Taibi said that although his staff salary budget had increased by about $160,000, or showed a 4.9 percent increase over last year, he was able to cut the textbook, equipment and material budget lines.

The budget allows for almost $47,000 for materials, he said, because science laboratory and art courses require a lot of supplies.

He said that the school’s new messenger phone network has saved the school a lot of money otherwise used on postage.

“We are always looking at ways in which we can get information out without mailing,” he said.

Finally, Pupil Services and Special Education Director Linda Wistar, presented her projected costs for the 2009-2010 school year. She, too, presented a smaller budget than this year’s.

She said that her department oversees the district’s programs for all special needs students from kindergarten through their senior year of high school.

Wistar said her department is responsible for helping nursery school aged children find special education programs with the County and English-as-Second-Language classes. She also works with the district’s schools to help students stay in mainstream classes when possible.

She said she has seen the special needs population decreasing in the district due to special reading programs and other intervention measures that help students get through their regular class work.

Wistar said sending students out of the district to receive special services not available in the Cairo-Durham schools can be very expensive and she tries to do this only when necessary.

The district received enough money in a special education grant last year to pay one teacher who would otherwise be paid from the general fund, she said.

She said the program has saved $26,000 by cutting an aide position. The program will also receive some funding from the Federal Recovery Act through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grant. The grant, she said, will pay for four of the program’s 18 full-time teachers, four of its 10 teaching assistants and a clinical social worker at the high school.

Wistar said that travel expenses will also be paid for by the grant.

“This is a temporary measure, but it is a good year to do it,” she said.

She said her budgets for supplies, equipment and

Wistar said she will also spend $1,000 on textbooks next year, or $2,500 less than what is budgeted for this year. She said her students can use textbooks the district already owns, but may need special supplemental materials, which could be, for example, geared towards middle school students but written at a second-grade reading level.

She said she expects to receive more money through the IDEA grant but does not know how the money will be used.

“We know how much it is but we don’t know when we will get it, so that may change for us for the better,” she said.

Reading program

The board also heard from Cairo Elementary School teachers Amy Benjamin and Megan West about the At Home Reading Challenge Program, which is designed to help children learn to read with their parents’ help.

The 46 participating 3rd through 5th grade students receive a book that matches their comprehension level every Monday. Benjamin explained that parents do not always know what books match their children’s reading level, and that the program takes away some of that guess work.

Students must read their books three times, West explained. First, she said, children have to read aloud to a parent who can help make sure words are being pronounced correctly.

The children then read silently and have to explain the story to a parent. Finally, the children have to read the story again and listen to the rise and fall of their voices.

“They need to get the idea that they’re telling the story,” West said.

Parents need to sign off on the completed packages, Benjamin said.

The two explained that students who complete their target of 13 or 20 book packages will receive prizes at the end of the year.

They said their students have started a friendly competition with each other to see who could complete the most book packages.

“It’s effective and efficient at the same time,” she said.

Proposed fill law draws fire at meeting
The Daily Mail
Mar. 24, 2009

ATHENS — The Athens Town Board heard negative comments last week on a proposed revision to an ordinance requiring property owners to obtain a permit for earth removal and deposition work on their property.

Under the existing law, up to 1,000 cubic yards, or 750 tons of gravel and other fill material, can be placed on a property before a permit is required by the town. The proposed new law lowers the requirement to 500 cubic yards.

The proposed law gives the permitting decision to the town code enforcement officer. Property owners must provide the officer with topographic plans of their work sites.

April Paluch, who serves on the town’s Planning Board, urged the board to hold off on a final decision on the law.

“You are rushing this a little bit too fast,” she said.

Paluch said that the decrease in yardage was a critical flaw in the proposed law because so many small projects, including work to raise septic tanks, may just barely require more than 500 cubic yards of fill.

Virginia Smith, who works with Town Attorney Carl Whitbeck, responded that the code enforcement officer already issues permits for such projects.

Paluch argued that contractors would have to drive their fill loads to New Baltimore for a weigh-in to know how much material was going to be placed. She said that the trip to a weigh station would cost money.

She also worried that property owners might have trouble obtaining a bond.

Councilman Jack Lubera said the town’s code enforcement officer could view work plans to establish the volume of the fill area. He wondered how the code enforcement officer would establish the bond amount.

Richard Albright agreed with some of Paluch’s criticisms, saying that a simple leach-field required 500 cubic yards of material.

He argued that the code enforcement officer would be overburdened if he was required to meet property owners to discuss such small-scale projects.

“You’re putting too many restrictions on too many people,” he said.

Albright, who has held a permit under the current law since 2001, asked the town last December to take action against excavators who did not hold a permit.

Code Enforcement Officer George Holsopple said that plans regarding work on septic systems show the length, height and width of a proposed work area.

Scott Fischer, who is part of the Comprehensive Plan Committee, pointed out that the issue will be addressed by the Comprehensive Plan.

He urged the board to look at the proposal that Nan Stolzenburg of Community Planning and Environmental Associates has been paid to draft.

“I think it will address many of your concerns and it’s what other towns are doing,” he said.

Town Supervisor Albert Salvino said that the board would hold a second public hearing where more residents could voice their opinions.

“I would like to see it benefit everyone,” he said.

Company working toward new rail spur
The Daily Mail
Mar. 24, 2009

ATHENS — A community renewal block grant application asking for $750,000 has been submitted to the state Office of Community Renewal for a rail spur off the tracks along Schoharie Turnpike to the Northeast Treaters of New York facility, project consultant F. Steven Kirk, of DBS Planning Consultants Inc., said last Thursday.

Northeast Treaters of New York will put forth $200,000 in equity toward the project, he said, as well as start a subsequent $2 million renovation project that will help it become more competitive.

“It really stabilizes the company and insures their long-term viability,” Kirk said.

Kirk is working with the wood-treating company and the Greene County Industrial Development Agency to oversee the project, which will help cut costs at its Athens facility.

Currently, the company must transfer raw materials from train cars onto trucks roughly a mile away from the facility for deliveries, Kirk said last week at a public meeting in Athens. Finished product, he said, is transported via truck back to the rail line for distribution.

Kirk explained that the spur may loop around the Peckham facility to the east side of the Northeast Treaters of New York property, although the path hadn’t been finalized.

Trains would cross Schoharie Turnpike en route to the facility only once a day, he said, adding that they would only be a few cars long and would not significantly hold up traffic on the roadway.

Northeast Treaters of New York produces pressure-treated wood that is used for porches and decks as well as fire-treated wood. The company markets its products in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,and lower New England, according to David Reed, the company’s president.

Reed said Tuesday that the rail extension will eliminate some costs, saving the company three or four profit margins.

“Guaranteed rail access is critical to survival,” he said.

Reed said he had contemplated building the rail in the past but that the project seemed more possible after speaking with Sandy Mathes, executive director of the IDA, last year.

Mathes said the rail will not only allow the facility to remain open but will also allow the company to grow over the next few years.

“We need to get rail over there,” he said.

Although Reed would not give a cost estimate for the project, he did say he has offered to supply as much steel and railroad ties for the track as possible in order to keep the price to a minimum.

Reed said the spur and the $2 million capital investment project to rebuild the facility would give the company a competitive edge.

“We can become the low-cost producer of the market,” he said.

The company will create 16 new jobs over the next three years, including positions in sales, management and equipment operators. Reed said his company hires local workers when possible.

Reed said he decided to open the facility in 1996 after an associate in the fire-retardant product industry wanted to settle in the area. Reed had hoped his business would be very profitable, but has fallen short of his expectations.

Kirk said that if the grant is approved, work on the spur could begin as early as this summer and would be ready for service this fall. Facility improvements would begin next winter and be completed by the spring of 2010, he said.

Fire claims barn, 2 acres of brush
The Daily Mail
Mar. 24, 2009

GREENVILLE — A portion of Route 32 in Greenville was closed Monday afternoon while five companies as well as a team from the State Department of Environmental Conservation controlled and monitored a fire that claimed a barn and two acres of brush.

No injuries were reported.

The road between county Route 35 and Hill Street was closed at 1:45 p.m. and reopened at 5 p.m.

Companies from Freehold, Greenville, Medway-Grapeville, West Greenville and Westerlo responded to the fire at 10930 Route 32, which took an hour to control, Greenville’s Assistant Chief Cliff Powell said.

The blaze started at around 12:30 p.m. when wind spread a controlled debris fire on the property to a nearby barn, according to authorities, and then to the surrounding brush.

Greenville Fire Company Assistant Chief Jim Stryker said the barn had recently been converted into a wood-working shop.

DEC Region 4 spokesman Rick Georgeson said it took the agency team two hours to extinguish the brush fire.

Georgeson said that strong winds can often quickly turn a small fire into a much more serious problem.

“We strongly suggest that people do not burn on a windy day,” he said.

“Cake Eaters” director: film is about love in the face of loss
The Daily Mail
Mar. 22, 2009

CATSKILL — Mary Stuart Masterson emerged from an opening curtain on the movie stage in Catskill’s Community Theater after the 7 p.m. showing of “The Cake Eaters” and took a dramatic curtsy in front of an applauding audience of about 300 who attended the screening and a question and answer session Saturday.

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring cake,” she joked.

Masterson explained that the tile of the movie, which was written by Jayce Bartok, who also appears as Guy in the film, referred to a regional term that distinguishes “the haves” from “the have-nots.” She said the characters in the film all wanted something they thought was out reach, but for one moment are able to have it, or, rather, get to eat their cake.

Saturday’s session was moderated by Lisa Thomas and Margo Pelletier of Thin Edge Films.

Masterson said Bartok’s script was quasi-autobiographical. His mother, she said, suffered from neuropathy and passed away shortly before he wrote the script. She said Bartok wanted to present a character going through the similar problem of losing their motor function but not a loss of their mental or emotional capacity.

The character of Georgia, played by Kristen Stewart (”Twilight”), suffers from Friedreich’s ataxia, a genetic disorder that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. Georgia, Masterson said, is at the age where children gain more freedom from their parents and just wants to lose her virginity and take control of her life before she becomes more dependent on her mother.

“To me, it has always been about love in spite of life, love in the face of loss,” she said.

Masterson said that although the movie’s themes of illness, death and return are familiar, conflicts in the story were allowed resonate rather than be pushed into violent or graphic scenes.

“That heightened violence or that gratuitous sex would have taken away from the apparent kind of stillness inside of this story,” she said.

She said that the most important task of a director is to view the film every time as if it was the first time. She likened the process to that of a staged play where every moment in every performance needed to be fresh.

She explained that the script evolved throughout the filming process, noting, for example, that scenes occurring in the Kimbrough family’s kitchen were written much later than the original draft.

Masterson said she and the producers are relying on word-of-mouth buzz and reviews to draw audiences to their low-budget film, which is scheduled to be released on DVD on Tuesday. The Community Theater will screen the film today at 2 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. and weekday evenings at 7:15 through Thursday.

Masterson and her cast and crew filmed in Catskill, Athens and Hudson three years ago.

She said the classic architecture and near gentrification she found while driving through Columbia and Greene counties scouting filming locations fit the feel of the film.

“It is in the past and in the present, both,” she said.

Tedisco urges new investment in Main Street
The Daily Mail online
Mar. 22, 2009

TANNERSVILLE — Assembly Minority Leader and Congressional candidate James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) visited The Village Bistro in Tannersville Saturday to listen to his supporters’ concerns and to discuss with them his plan to create and retain jobs 10 days before the special election to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand earlier this year.

Tedisco said the state and the country needed a stimulus bill but that Congress’ was wrong to pass the bill with a loophole allowing for the executives who cheated the system and investors and who destroyed to receive bonuses.

“We have to take care of the public’s money, we have to invest it properly and we have to make sure that we are turning this economy around by investing in Main Street and the middle class,” he said.

One way in which this could be done, he said, was by promoting tourism to Greene County, saying that its ski areas must be maintained and remain competitive to draw people to the area.

“If you can attract them for skiing, then of course you can attract them to the smaller businesses that can be developed along the street-scape like this,” he said, gesturing to colorful Main Street in Tannersville, just four miles down Route 32A from Hunter Mountain.

Tedisco outlined his jobs plan, which includes incentives for businesses to hire unemployed individuals rather than those changing jobs.

Businesses that held onto an employee for one year would receive a Federal grant of $1,000, he said, and a grant for $2,000 if an employee stayed for two years.

The grants would encourage businesses to hire candidates outside of the current workforce, he said.
The plan would give what he called a meaningful tax credit to businesses with 100 or more employees, suggesting a 35 percent tax credit for those businesses to keep that workforce intact for three years.
He said such long-term job security would encourage workers to purchase expensive items such as homes, cars and refrigerators, and in turn, generate a confident market.

Tedisco also suggested that small businesses could work together to cover some high-cost benefits, such as health care, to their employees.

He proposed that cost-pooling zones could comprise of a Main Street, a county or even two counties together, arguing that the cost to each business would decrease as more businesses combined their resources.

And, he projected that 60 to 80 percent of new job opportunities would come from small businesses.
Although the candidate did not limit the small businesses he would like to see open, he suggested that nano-technology businesses might thrive in the 20th Congressional District, which encompasses communities from Essex County to Ostego County and to Dutchess County.

He touted the $4.5 billion investment in Global Foundries, which he helped come to fruition. Even though the chip-producing company is located in Saratoga, he said it would need tools and high-tech components that could be produced in the greater Capitol Region.

“That would spin off into Columbia and Greene counties with other small businesses that might relate,” he said.

He suggested that at least part of the Hudson Correctional facility, which has recently been faced with closure, could be used for one of these nano-technology businesses, should it be shuttered. He said facility employees could be retrained for other occupations rather than simply let go.

Tedisco attacked his Democratic opponent, investment capitalist Scott Murphy for publicly supporting the Federal Recovery Act only 24 hours after it was approved by the House of Representatives.

Tedisco asked why, if Murphy had read the bill, had he supported it, loophole included.

“If he did not read the bill, I think that says something about the responsibility of a public servant to understand what they’re supporting,” he said.

Murphy, who was not in attendance, has criticized Tedisco for waiting weeks before stating his position. Murphy also held a fundraiser in Hunter Saturday.

An aid to the Assemblyman said that the Minority Leader, his aids and legal team read the 1,100-page document before coming out against it.

“We need a stimulus bill to invest in middle class tax cuts,” Tedisco said, “It had $300 billion in earmarks in it.”

Tedisco supporters, who paid a $50 event fee, agreed that Tedisco’s experience and years in Albany have prepared him well to serve in Washington, D.C.

State Assemblyman Peter Lopez (R-Schoharie), whose 128th Assembly District shares four counties, including Greene and Columbia, with the Congressional District, said Tedisco has the skills and the passion necessary to help the region needed to regain its footing.

“He can build coalitions and hit the ground running,” Lopez said.

Lopez said Tedisco also had the courage to stand in the minority on an issue, using the Minority Leader’s opposition to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed plan to permit undocumented immigrants to carry drivers licenses.

Greene County Legislator Keith Valentine (R-Catskill) agreed, saying that the true test of a politician was whether he was willing to stand up and risk political damage for an issue.

Greene County Republican Party Chairman Brent Bogdarus said that voters would be very happy with Tedisco as their Congressman because of his middle class background and work ethic.

He said Tedisco’s time in Albany and family trials, including the loss of a brother with Down syndrome to leukemia.

“He understand the realities of life,” Bogdarus said.

Windham Highway Superintendent Tom Hoyt said he and hundreds of town supervisors and highway managers traveled to Albany last week to speak with legislative leaders to put money for the State’s highways back into Gov. David A. Paterson’s budget. He did not meet with Tedisco on that visit but did put to topic to the candidate in Tannersville.

“He knew all about it,” Hoyt said.

Tedisco said that as a Congressman, he will work hard deliver what constituents need.

“My job is to be a good listener,” he said.

“Cake Eaters” resonates with hometown crowd
The Daily Mail
Mar. 20, 2009

CATSKILL — The first audience to view “The Cake Eaters” in Greene County murmured excitedly when familiar places including Catskill’s Green Lake Homestead resort, The Iron Horse Bar, in Hudson, and DiStefano’s Meat Market, in Cairo, appeared before them on the big screen in the Community Theater, in Catskill.

The theater’s marquee and any given train’s whistle as it passes the town are also featured in the movie, which was filmed here in 2006.

Several moviegoers said the filming locations contributed to the picture’s realism.

“It didn’t have that slick Hollywood feel,” Ron Tunison said after the premier.

His wife, Alice, who is a councilwoman in the Town of Cairo, agreed.

She said the story, which explores new and old relationships in two families after the return of one family’s son, was something that could take place in any of the towns in the area.

“It was very real, it was very believable,” she said.

The film stars Kristen Stewart (“Twilight”) as Georgia Kaminski, a terminally ill teenage girl who wants to enjoy life and love before she dies. She befriends Beagle, played by Aaron Stanford of the “X-Men” film series, who is coming to terms with the recent death of his mother and return of his brother, Guy, played by the film’s writer, Jayce Bartok. Elizabeth Ashley, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on “Evening Shade,” stars as Georgia’s grandmother, who shares a secret with the boys’ father, played by Bruce Dern (“Black Sunday”).

Best actress Oscar nominee Melissa Leo (“Frozen River”) and Jesse L. Martin (“Law and Order”) are also featured in the film.

“The Cake Eaters” will be shown at Community Theater today at 2 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. and weekday evenings at 7:15 through Thursday.

The film’s director, Mary Stuart Masterson, will hold a question and answer session after today’s 7 p.m. showing.

Although the plot’s slow pace was not a hit with all its teenage viewers, students at Catskill High School enjoyed seeing their school on film.

“It was pretty cool,” William Meyer said.

His classmate Alex Irzarry said Georgia’s longing for love resonated with today’s teens.

“People talk about losing their virginity a lot,” Irzarry said.

He and his friends agreed that the serious film had some humorous moments.

Greene County Judge Daniel K. Lalor and his wife Susan, whose riverside Athens summer home was prominently featured as the Kaminskis’ house, were also in the audience.

Susan Lalor said that seeing her home brought a mixture of weird and wonderful feelings.

She said the house was chosen for its somewhat rundown appearance.

“Now I look at it and say, ‘God, that needs to be painted,’” she said.

She said that watching the shooting, which took only a few days, go from start to finish was exhilarating.

Filming took place at several other Catskill locations, including the cemetery on Thompson Street and at houses on Grand Street and Cauterskill Avenue, she said.

Barber Bobby Meo can be seen reading a newspaper in one scene that takes place in his barbershop on Main Street.

Catskill resident Noreen Wilson, who enjoyed the story as well as its setting, said she would buy the DVD after its release Tuesday.

“Oh, absolutely,” she said.

Chief planner leaves board
The Daily Mail
Mar. 20, 2009

CAIRO — Peter Maassmann resigned from his post as Planning Board Chairman during a meeting of the Town Board Wednesday.

He offered no reason at the time, but Maassmann said Thursday his decision to leave the board was motivated by the needs of his resort, Blackhead Mountain Lodge and Country Club.

The workload faced by the Planning Board required more time than he had to give, Maassmann said.

“I do not want to leave,” he said, “I do not want to become less involved in the town.”

Maassmann was appointed to the Planning Board six years ago and as its chairman last year, after Robert Phoenix stepped down from the position.

Maassmann said that he tried to adhere to and implement the guidelines set forth by the town’s comprehensive plan and town laws during his time on the board and that he had treated all applications before the planners fairly.

“I know that I did the job that was expected of me,” he said.

Maassmann recommended to the Town Board that his deputy chairman Daniel Benoit be appointed as his replacement.

Benoit, Maassmann said, knows the town laws very well and conducts himself professionally.

Town Supervisor John Coyne thanked Maassmann for his service to the town Wednesday night.

Coyne said Thursday that he was disappointed by the resignation, but that he respected Maassmann’s decision.

Maassmann had not given the Town Board notice of his intentions before Wednesday’s meeting, Coyne said.

“I was very surprised,” Coyne said.

A special Planning Board meeting, which was scheduled for tonight, has been postponed until next week, Coyne said.

A number of issues were to be discussed at the meeting, including the relocation of the Chamber of Commerce’s booth to the Stewart’s Shop in town.

The Town Board will decide whether to appoint Benoit as the new board chairman, Coyne said, and will try to resolve questions about whether notices for previous special Planning Board meetings were correctly advertised.

Planning Board member Raymond Pacifico said Thursday that Maassmann brought a lot of knowledge to the Planning Board.

“With Peter’s resignation, we have lost now a second valuable member of the board in the last couple years,” he said, referring to the Town Board’s decision not to reappoint Phoenix to the Planning Board early last year.

Maassmann thanked the Town Board, his fellow board members and Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea for allowing him to serve on the board and for their support over the years.

“I enjoyed working hard for the town,” Maassmann said.