[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="A classic Washington Post file photo from the days of the Three Mile Island nuclear power disaster, which ended the construction of new nuclear plants, including one pegged for Greene County, back in the late 1970s."][/caption]Carol Osterink of The Gossips of Rivertown wrote a great piece of contextualizing journalism yesterday tracing freshman Congressman Chris Gibson's recently stated intention to site nuclear power plants in his district back to a 1974 plan to build a nuclear power plant in the Greene County town of Catskill, in the community once known as Cementon and since renamed Smiths Landing. "The project, called the Greene County Nuclear Power Plant, was canceled in 1979, not long after the partial core meltdown at Three-Mile Island in Pennsylvania," Osterink writes. Further research unveils that, at the time 36 years ago, possible sites for a nuclear power plant, to be constructed by the New York State Power Authority, were reduced to two, both in Greene County. "The possible power plant sites are at the site of the Lehigh Cement Co. property in Cementon and a location near Athens, between the New York Central Rail Lines and Flats Road Extension." For Gossips full story click here.

Hannaford Supermarkets' push to put in a new supermarket at the corner of Routes 9 and 82 in the Town of Livingston in Columbia County got hit with a stall this week, Lindsay Suchow of the Register Star reports today, when the town's planning board noted parking problems with the company's proposal at a Planning Board meeting on Wednesday night where Hannaford reps presented their site plan for review. Planners said the site plan was ultimately not accepted because the amount of proposed parking spots was not in conformance with town code, but the board found most of the details of the project to be satisfactory and Hannaford will appear before the Zoning Board of Appeals in pursuit of a variance next month.

Civil engineer William Hoffman of South Portland, Maine-based firm Deluca-Hoffman said the proposed market will be about 25,000 square feet — about half the size of the Hannaford markets in Red Hook and Kinderhook, Planning Board Chairman Lawrence Hermance noted — with the front of the store facing north. There will be customer entrances from both Route 9 and Route 82, while tractor trailers would enter from Route 82 behind the store, Hoffman said. A drive-thru pharmacy will be situated on the side of the store, in addition to pharmacy access inside. During a peak shift, the store would employ around 23 people.

Hoffman explained that the site plan dictates the merging of two different lots, each owned by Adam and Blake Becker. Once the Becker lots are merged into one 3.23-acre lot, Hoffman said, Hannaford will subdivide a triangular .3-acre parcel to the neighboring Happy Clown ice cream stand.

Planning Board Attorney J. Theodore Hilscher was quick to point out that merging lots does not come before the planning board but requires working with the assessors office. Town Assessor Kenneth Leggett was present at the meeting and said the merging of the lots was “no complicated process.”

Hoffman said the building will be constructed in adherence to the Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Several months were spent studying the site, Hoffman said, including infiltration testing (since the roof of the building will be designed to reintroduce storm water back into the ground) and “geotechnical” testing, which involves surveying the soil and rock of the area.

Hoffman found the area to have “good, competent soil.”

An underground cistern will hold 60,000 gallons of water for fire fighting, Hoffman said, and while under 1,500 gallons of septic output is expected, the septic tank will be designed for a “peak day,” or a 2,400-gallon output.

Hoffman indicated that three 1,000-gallon propane tanks would be fenced in on four sides with two gates in an area behind the store.

Planning board member James McFarland and two residents who attended the meeting all expressed concern over the decision not to bury the propane tanks, and encouraged Hoffman to think about doing so.

Hoffman said while he has experienced problems in the past with burying propane tanks, with the earth and ground around the tanks “freezing up,” he would consider putting the tanks underground.

Hoffman said under the town’s zoning ordinance, the supermarket would need to have 165 parking spaces, which he said was “unnecessary.”

“With a grocery store, parking demand is fairly level,” said Hoffman, adding that the project would bank LEED points “if we don’t overbuild the parking.”

Since trimming the amount of parking would require a zoning variance, the board ultimately did not accept the site plan in order to enable Hoffman and Hannaford project manager J. Lord (who was also at the meeting) to appear before the ZBA; a denial letter from Planning Board Secretary Eileen Yandik would be required in order for Hannaford to appeal, she explained.

Lord and Hoffman will appear before the ZBA at its next regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 1, and then will likely return to the planning board to seek approval at the following month’s meeting (7 p.m. March 2). If all goes as planned, Hoffman said, construction will begin in the springtime and will take about 10 months to complete.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="The Central House or Phygianum of the Maetreum of Cybele in Palenville, as seen in the 1930s in a photo from the religious group's website."][/caption]A Palenville pagan sect fighting for the town’s recognition as a religious entity says it will not stop, even if it needs to go federal, Colin DeVries reports in this morning's Daily Mail, writing about how an ongoing tax battle with the Town of Catskill by the Maetreum of Cybele, Magna Mater has entered its fifth year, with the municipality continuing to deny a religious property the tax exemption it once granted for 2006. The exemption, DeVries writes, was denied in 2007 when the town claimed that the property, and not the religious group itself, did not conform to the real property tax law’s definition for an exempt not-for-profit religious organization. The women of the Maetreum, meanwhile, insist that their home, an old boarding house structure once known as the Central House hotel, has been consistently used as a house of charitable works, a temple, a pagan retreat, and a convent for pagan priestesses.

Meanwhile, The Maetreum of Cybele, Magna Mater, Inc. is recognized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) religious organization by the IRS.

The property, assessed at $135,000, includes the three-story former hotel and a two-story residence on three acres.

Cathryn Platine, the Maetreum’s spiritual leader, continues to fight for the priestess’ right to operate a religious organization who seeks to play a charitable role in the community.

“Our goal is to give us back our exemption and give us back the money that they’ve extorted from us,” she said. “We’ve been completely up front and answered everything from the beginning.”

Attorney Valeria Gheorghiu of Kingston has continued to advocate the Maetreum’s position since filing a lawsuit against the town in 2009.

The town’s attorney, Daniel Vincelette, moved to dismiss the 2009 case because there were no facts supporting religious activity on the property.

That motion was denied by Greene County Court Judge George J. Pulver in October 2010.

Gheorghiu filed another petition against the town assessor, Nancy McCoy, in July 2010, arguing the property was conforming to the religious property statute and should be granted the exemption for 2010 as well.

Gheorghiu and Platine are also fight for something greater.

“This isn’t just for us, this is for all minority religions,” Platine said. “They took on the wrong people this time and I don’t understand why they don’t just cut their losses.”

Platine said the Maetreum has spent about $10,000 in legal fees fighting to preserve their property in Palenville with a “very, very reasonably priced attorney.”

The town, Platine estimated, has spent over $50,000 on attorney fees to remove an exemption that would net the town less than $750 annually at the current town tax rate.

“I’m amazed that (the town) is continuing this,” she said. “We’re prepared to take it to federal court.”

The town budgets $40,000 annually for tax certiorari cases and, according to Catskill Town Comptroller Sandy Misevcis on Tuesday, the town spent at least $73,000 fighting property tax cases in 2010.

Most of the tax battles have a larger affect on the Catskill Central School District, Misevcis said. The district supplies the town funds for tax litigation and, Misevcis said, amendments to the town’s tax certiorari fund increased to $108,000.

“They roll over for Wal-Mart and keep spending it on us?” Platine said, referring to tax assessment concessions that are continually granted for the corporate conglomerate of Catskill Commons. “The cost-benefit to the town for denying us our legitimate exemption is phenomenal.”

Platine said she and her other priestesses have received ample support from the pagan community nationwide, and they are ready to bring this fight for religious status to the top.

“I would love a resolution to this,” she said. “Their case just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.”

Vincelette filed another motion to dismiss the case in November 2010. The motion featured the deposition of a woman the Maetreum took in as part of their emergency housing assistance program.

The woman, who Platine said lived at the residence for about two months last summer, claimed they were not a practicing religious organization. Platine said the woman was disgruntled and simply chose not to participate in any of their religious ceremonies, of which participation is voluntary to emergency housing guests.

Emergency housing assistance is part of the Maetreum’s charitable work, Platine said, and a Jewish woman has recently taken up residence there to get out of an abusive domestic situation.

The court has yet to rule on the motion.

Even as this court battle continues to be waged, Platine and her supporters press on, holding ceremonies and events at their property.

Last summer they hosted the second annual Pagan Pride Day, featuring unique crafts and workshops to help educate on various pagan religious movements.

As the case moves forward into 2011, Platine said she is prepared to file another grievance for the tax exemption, though she hopes there will be a resolution before then.

The Extra Helpings Program is accepting orders for February, which must be placed by Feb. 3. The cooperative food-buying program is offered by the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. The menus include items that are purchased at wholesale prices and passed on to individuals buying bags of food. The program is open to everyone. Individuals wishing to participate should contact the sponsoring agency in their area. Payment is expected at the time of the order and can be made in person or through the mail. Sponsoring agencies include: Community Action of Greene County in Catskill, (518) 943-9205, ext. 108; and the Greene County Department for the Aging’s Senior Service Centers in Acra, (518) 622-9898, Jewett (518), 263-4392, and at the Rivertown Senior Center in Athens, (518) 945-2700.

Tune in today
TUNE IN WGXC will air the following live shows on WGXC Online Radio Friday:
•WGXC Morning Show 6-8 a.m. live with Casson Kennedy and Mark Lacoy; repeated at 9-11 a.m. and 4-6 p.m.
Click here to listen.

Town meetings tonight
INTERNET SAFETY The Philmont Public Library hosts a talk on internet safety for individuals. Nick Selby will be the presenter. He is an analyst and computer security consultant to Fortune 1000 companies and law enforcement agencies. He is a widely-quoted and published author on the subject of computer network security. Selby is on the faculty of IANS, the Institute for Applied Network Security. The talk will cover areas such as: How can you protect yourself when you surf online, and why do you need to? 7 p.m. at 101 Main St., Philmont, 518-672-5010.

Weather
SNOW Five inches? Winter Storm Watch in effect until 6 a.m. Saturday.

Astronomical bodies
TIDES Hudson: High, 4:51 p.m./Low, 11:08 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 7:24 a.m./4:39 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 9:03 a.m./8:17 p.m.

Birthdays
JANUARY 7: Charles Addams, Ross Grimsley, and Nicholson Baker.

Casey Seiler and Jimmy Vielkind in the Albany Times-Union report:

President Barack Obama will visit Schenectady Tuesday, his second visit to the Capital Region since taking office in 2009. The White House confirmed the visit Thursday. Two sources familiar with the trip said he will visit a General Electric facility, such as the company's power systems or global research centers.... Obama visited Hudson Valley Community College in September 2009 to tout the school's high-tech training programs.

Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced $3.2 million in grants through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for farmers to save on energy costs. The program provides financial incentives to support 75 percent of the cost of electricity and gas efficiency investments. Farms that are eligible for the grants include: orchards, dairies, vineyards, maple producers, egg and poultry farms, grain, specialty crops, and others. Upgrades covered in the grants include: process improvements, lighting upgrades, and high-efficiency fan, pump, and motor systems, and other measures. Small farms could be eligible for free energy audits to assist in identifying energy efficiency projects. "The state's agricultural sector helps fuel our economy and put food on our table, and we have a plan to make New York farms even more competitive," Governor Cuomo said. "These grants will improve the energy efficiency of farming operations and lower costs for farmers. This not only protects farming jobs, it creates green jobs for the people making the improvements." Past NYSERDA programs demonstrate that a typical dairy farm can save 20 to 30 percent of its energy bill with cost-effective energy efficiency improvements at an average seven-year payback. The Agriculture Energy Efficiency Program can provide a typical dairy farm with $2,700 to $4,000 per year in savings from a farm investment of $4,800 to $7,000. For more information about the Agriculture Energy Efficiency program, visit www.nyserda.org/programs/agriculture, or call 1-800-732-1399.

Jim Gordon at HV Biz has a great piece on the web journal currently about how the control of road salt applications by highway crews can save tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars each year and reduce damage to groundwater supplies and surface water, at least according to a report by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies released Dec. 16.
The report lists 10 ways to effectively control snow and ice on roads while minimizing salt usage, including calibrating equipment, regulating applicators and retrofitting trucks with air and road temperature sensors. Among other practices, they advocate using real-time data available online to determine whether salt should be used.

Salt spread on roads increases the salinity of drinking water and quickly degrades aquatic environments. The salt has a “legacy effect” because it takes decades to flush from a watershed. The problem is growing because road salt use has spiked in recent decades.

New Hampshire in 1938 was the first state to experiment with sodium chloride as road salt. In 1942 about 5,000 tons of salt was used to de-ice the nation’s roads. Currently, between 10 million and 20 million tons of salt are used annually to de-ice U.S. roads.

The report cited East Fishkill, in Putnam County, as a success story. In 2009, the town retrofitted 16 hydraulic winter trucks with temperature, speed, conveyor and spreader sensors and computers to control the amount of salt spread. The cost was $140,000. Officials said the move saved the town $103,810 last winter, so the investment had almost paid for itself in one winter.

The savings derive from reduced salt use. The town used 10,637 tons of salt at a cost of $744,590 during the winter of 2008-2009. It used 7,154 tons of salt at a cost of $500,780 in the winter of 2009-2010. The report noted that even though less salt was used last winter, there was more snow than in the previous year.

The hi-tech spreader system has another advantage as well. “The data we collect from these trucks will give us a very good idea of the amount of salt that we’re using and will give us a better way to manage it,” said East Fishkill Supervisor John Hickman, a former highway superintendent.

The report also says salt trucks should be carefully loaded, with only the amount actually needed placed in the hopper. Studies show that drivers tend to use whatever is loaded and that such loads typically are 20 percent larger than conditions warrant.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="The site for the new Camphill Ghent facility, as seen on the Camphill website."][/caption]Bob Green of the Register Star reports this morning that construction is now underway at Camphill Ghent, an innovative continuous care facility for senior citizens to be located on Route 66 in Columbia County. The developers are associated with Camphill Village in Copake, one of many related communities worldwide where persons with disabilities are housed in small group settings along with their caregivers, some of them volunteers.

The $20 million project faced a funding gap last year when a hoped-for congressional appropriation did not come through. Meanwhile a previously-awarded $9.6 million grant, from a state health care initiative, imposed a two year deadline. That meant construction had to start in 2010 or the funds would be lost.

Enter the Columbia County Capital Resource Corporation, which is empowered to issue tax-free bonds on behalf of qualified non-profits. With CRC’s help, Camphill Ghent closed last week on a loan of more than $5 million from lender First Niagara. Due to the tax free nature of the deal, Camphill Ghent will pay a reduced interest rate on the loan. No taxpayer money is involved or at risk, while CRC collects a .75 percent fee for its role.

The other big piece of the puzzle came from within Camphill’s own organization, in the form of a “grant from (Camphill) Copake for the land” according to John Baring, head of Camphill Ghent and also a board member and long-time volunteer at Camphill Copake.

“It’s a big weight off our shoulders to have funding in place to complete construction” of the project’s first phase, he said. “It’s exciting knowing funding is in place … We are very grateful to First Niagara.”

Now both dirt and snow are flying at the site, and Baring says construction is “going nicely” with plumbing and framing underway for “co-housing” where seniors and their specially-trained service providers will live in a group setting, the model that has proved so successful elsewhere in the Camphill system. Pads will soon be poured for the “townhouses”, where seniors who wish to live independently can still enjoy the benefits and services of a community dedicated to their needs.

“It’s amazing to see them working in the cold weather,” Baring said of trades people who dealt with the effects of last week’s blizzard. But when Camphill officials visited the site to say thanks, the message in return was the same. “Thank you for the work,” they said, according to Baring.

Studies suggest significant pent-up demand for senior housing of all types in our region, and many facilities have waiting lists. Baring said that, subject to approval by the state Department of Health, information on what it will cost to live at the facility should be available “in the first quarter of 2011.”

One open issue concerns the main entrance at Route 66. The state Department of Transportation has expressed concerns about sight lines and has furnished its recommended alternative, but that plan is not favored by the Department of Environmental Conservation, which says that DOT’s plan will disturb wetlands. The Ghent Planning Board agrees with the DEC’s position.

For his part, Baring is hoping for “compromise” between agencies on the matter. “Everybody is trying to do their duty,” Baring said of state officials. For now, the matter is in a holding pattern. “Let’s wait until the new governor is in place,” Baring told the Register-Star.

Planning Board Chair Jonathan Walters echoed Baring’s comments. He thinks the developers and planners should be able to “figure out something that will satisfy DOT’s legitimate concerns about sight distance,” without the cost and environmental impact of DOT’s alternative.

Walters said an earlier letter from DOT raised the possibility of a deceleration lane, and he thinks that idea merits a closer look. “We want to work this out too,” Walters said of the Planning Board. The current site plan also completely accommodates the proposed Harlem Valley Rail Trail, and DOT’s plan might complicate that too.

Kenneth J. Flood, commissioner of Columbia County Planning/Economic Development, said the project, in addition to being approved as creditworthy on its own merits by First Niagara, also passed the county’s test for tax-free status. “We look at the jobs created,” and other economic impacts, he said. So when the CRC board asked last year, “is this something we want to help,” the answer came up in the affirmative.

More information on Camphill Ghent is available at http://www.camphillvillage.org/ghent.html.

[caption id="attachment_6806" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Found along the Hudson River in Malden January 1."][/caption]On New Year’s Day, a woman took her dogs out for a walk. Close to home, she let them off their leash and one bolted for the banks of the Hudson River, where something seemed to agitate him. The woman followed. The next morning she contacted the press about what she found.


“This is hunting?,” was the label of the e-mail. “This morning on my walk along River Rd in Malden I came upon over 35 duck, pheasant and quail, along with 2 deer carcasses dumped at the river bank. Some of the birds were still intact. Who would do such a thing? It is bad enough they shoot these beautiful creatures, but then to dump them in a heap along the bank is too much.”


The image on this page was attached to the e-mail.


By Monday we were in direct contact with the woman, who wished to remain unnamed because of her fears that what she unveiled to the public would force repercussions.


“It was appalling. I knocked on my neighbor's door whose house overlooks this empty lot and he came over to investigate this with his friend, who happens to be a hunter. Even the hunter said that something like this gives hunters a bad name,” she said on January 3. “Some of the birds were tagged. All I could think was these hunters have been shooting at these animals since the end of October and I tried to imagine how many have been murdered if just one hunter shot this many birds. And to dump them along the shore like this was disgusting. Some of them had not even been used for their meat, so what was the point? I watched these guys these past few months out on the river behind a blind with decoys around them, making their duck calls, luring their prey. They were fanatical. The hunter who spoke to me said he knew some guys who stayed out there over night and would go out for days. Who monitors what these hunters do (or don't do)?”


The woman added that she had contacted a Department of Environmental Conservation officer in Saugerties, who said he’d get back to her within the week. She said that she’d later heard from neighbors that the DEC had apparently come out on Sunday and looked around.

According to the DEC’s hunting websites, waterfowl season for ducks and the other birds seen the riverside cache was October 9 through 17, then November 6 through December 26. Moreover, there were daily kill and dead bird possession limits listed, of 6 ducks maximum for our region’s “take,” and a dozen for “possession” limits.

“The daily bag limit is the maximum number of birds of each species that any person may take or possess in the field during any one day,” reads the exact terminology. “The possession limit is twice the daily bag limit for all waterfowl species except snow geese. The possession limit is the maximum number of birds that any person may possess in total in the field, at home, in transit or in storage.

On this past Tuesday, I made my own way to the corner of First and Water Streets in Malden to see what was up. The scene was truly grisly… with an accompanying detail not mentioned before. There was a bag on hand, either for cement or feed of some sort, stuffed to ripping with bird carcasses. And the deer were ravaged, disemboweled…

To make matters particularly eerie, the Hudson was flowing North when I was there… a sign of the exceptional tides of the moment. Ice flows bounced off each other as flurries of seagulls darted at open water, cackling loudly. A lone duck flew low over the same scene I was witnessing, then circled back and flew over it again.

“There is probably no way for them to find out who did this,” the woman who originally contacted me wrote in an e-mail after I let her know what I, too, had seen in Malden. “The hunter who spoke to me said the duck hunters are a like a clan. He told me the word would get out and they would find out who did it. I can only hope so.”

Later, the woman talked about how there had seemed to be no break in the duck hunting all fall, daybreak to sunset from the blinds out on the river. She also noted how her neighbor had pointed out how some of the breasts had been cut out of ducks, but most were just dead, un-messed with. Stashed, as it were.

Wendy Rosenbach, spokesperson for DEC Region 3, called in just before press time and said that the officer who had been contacted, Mules Schillinger, was still investigating what had happened. She described the scene as having 30 to 40 dead ducks and pheasants and one dismembered deer carcass. Beyond that, there wasn’t much she could say.

“If they do find something,” Rosenbach said, “the charges will be for illegal disposal of solid waste.”

She suggested that anyone with further information call 845-256-3013.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="State Senators Jeff Klein, left, Diane Savino, David Carlucci and David Valesky announce their formation of a breakaway Independent Democratic Conference outside Klein's office at the Capitol yesterday in a photo by the Times Union's Rick Karlin."][/caption]Is infighting the new minority mantra? As Gov. Andrew Cuomo was being praised by Senate Republican Jim Seward for the "upbeat high school pep rally" tones of his first State of the State speech yesterday, Senate Democrats were watching their 32-30 minority dwindle to 32-26 as four Democratic senators broke away from their party's conference to form an independent caucus, announcing that leaders of the Democrat conference -- specifically John Sampson, D-Brooklyn -- have failed and the group couldn't support them "in good conscience." In a piece in today's Times Union, veteran reporter Jimmy Vielkind reports that Sen. Jeff Klein, one of the four who represents Westchester County and the Bronx, said. ""This isn't a power play. This isn't about the right price, it's about the right thing." Joining him in the Independent Democratic Conference were Sens. Diane Savino of Staten Island, David Valesky of Syracuse and the just-elected David Carlucci of Rockland County. All indicated disgust with Sampson's leadership, with the inability "to move forward a legislative agenda responsive to the people's needs" and, Valesky noted, the "unacceptable" revelation that it exceeded its budget by at least $7 million.


Over the past two years when Democrats had a rare majority in the Upstate-dominated Senate, they were also plagued with caucus problems at several points when their members decided to caucus separately, or with the GOP minority, turning the tables on their own majority status several times.

"We're a national laughingstock. Everybody recognizes that," Savino said. "We are going to turn Albany upside down."

The move does not immediately tip the balance of power in the chamber. Republicans took a 32-30 majority in November. The four said they would vote for neither Sampson nor Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, of Long Island, in a leadership vote that Skelos is expected to win.

Klein resigned last week as deputy majority leader. He served as the number two leader under Sampson and Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, as well as the floor leader. His ambition to be elected conference leader is an accepted fact in Albany politics, but electoral losses among some of his allies in the ad hoc "Klavino" sub-conference -- Craig Johnson of Long Island, Darrel Aubertine of the North Country and Bill Stachowski of Buffalo -- left his hand weakened.

In making this move, Klein is positioning himself apart from a group beset with trouble: in addition to the overspending, the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee -- which he chaired, but was also heavily influenced by Sampson and his loyal aides -- is at least $3 million in debt. Sampson and Smith were both named in a negative report by former Inspector General Joseph Fisch regarding their conduct during the awarding of a contract to develop video slot machines at the Aqueduct Race Track. Smith is also being looked at in criminal probes.

Klein said he contacted Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was "supportive." He also spoke with Skelos, who said he "recognized" the conference. The four promised to work with both sides to advance an agenda of capping property taxes, forming an independent panel to draw district lines and protect women's reproductive rights.

While Republicans were happy, Democrats reacted coolly.

"I think they made a bad decision and I hope they come back. I hope it's just smoothing over bad things," said Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Bethlehem. "We can't have the divisiveness that we had two years ago with the four amigos, and there's a lesson to be learned from two years ago, the fact that we're in the minority now."

He was referring to the formation of the "amigos" -- Hiram Monserrate, Pedro Espada, Ruben Diaz and Carl Kruger -- and the way they withheld support for then-leader Malcolm Smith until they were given political plums. In June 2009, Espada and Monserrate defected to the GOP, causing a month of chaos.

Breslin still supports Sampson, as did Sen. Daniel Squadron, who during a brief organizational session offered a resolution re-installing Sampson as the chamber's leader, saying he "maintained the good will of colleagues on both sides of the aisle." (The resolution, of course, failed.)

Sampson said Wednesday, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered his first State of the State speech, "should not be about politics. Our common goal should be progress - working with Governor Cuomo to move our state forward."

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Senate-Democrats-in-revolt-938613.php#ixzz1AFnH3u8k

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Catskill ski conditions, as captured in a recent image from the state's Belleayre Mountain website."][/caption]In what may very well be a harbinger of business battles to come as Americans start to fight over shrinking pies, a new ski area business promotion involving state-owned Belleayre Mountain ski area has caused a rift within the ranks of the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, which represents scores of businesses and organizations in the region. The Kingston Daily Freeman's Jay Braman Jr. reports this morning that the CCCC has received a letter of ultimatum from one of its Executive Committee members demanding it immediately drop a Belleayre Mountain Ski Center promotion or she will resign her post and leave the chamber.

The chamber this month began a promotion called the “Belleayre BOGO Campaign,” a buy-one-get-one-free offer to any customer of a chamber business that spends more than $50. One-thousand vouchers good for a day of skiing at the state-owned Belleayre facility have been distributed to chamber members, who use them as a way to get people to come into their respective businesses. And more vouchers are being produced. But Danielle Vajtay, who owns and operates Plattekill Mountain Ski Center, says the promotion is hurting the business she operates with her husband, Lazlo.

Similar complaints have come, in recent months, from Greene County's two main privately-owned ski areas at Hunter and Windham, who have notified the state of their displeasure at the heavy promotional discounts Belleayre has been offering. But there has meanwhile been no bad blood between the two ski areas as a result of Hunter Mountain's new ski deal for gasoline fill-ups via Getty/Lukoil stations throughout the tri-state region, with Windham Mountain promoting itself this year based on its 50th anniversary of skiing in the region.

A few years back, the Greene County legislature went so far as to back a move in the state legislature to set up a Blue Ribbon panel to look into unfair competition from the state in New York's ski industry, which in turn prompted similar responses from the Ulster County legislature regarding Belleayre. The state-owned ski industry has been the subject of numerous support rallies and opinion of late, as seen HERE, as it fights state budget cuts and calls for shifts in its public management.


“It is very disturbing that the chamber has seen nothing wrong with having all the local chamber businesses handing out free ski tickets to one ski facility in our chamber region when there are two ski centers in the chamber region,” Vajtay wrote in a letter to Chamber Executive Director Carol O’Beirne. “This does not exactly make for good feelings on the part of the ‘other’ ski center who happens to be a chamber member and board member too. It also does not bear well when we have local community businesses asking us how we feel about the fact that they have been given Belleayre BOGOs to pass out to their customers (including businesses that are also Plattekill lodging partners who are put in a hard position of what to offer guests). Was any thought given to the impact this promotion might negatively have on Plattekill since our skiers go to the same local area businesses as Belleayre skiers?”

The Plattekill facility is in Roxbury, is southeastern Delaware County. Belleayre is in Highmount, near the Ulster County-Delaware County line.

O’Beirne, in a Jan. 3 letter to all chamber members, said the Belleayre promotion is geared toward increasing sales for the chamber’s member businesses.

All well and good, Vajtay says, but not at Plattekill’s expense.

“We cannot compete with free,” she said.

“It is clearly obvious to us that the chamber is one-sided in their thinking when it comes to the two local ski areas in its membership district, and therefore, unless this promotion is immediately discontinued, it is clearly obvious that my services as a board member are no longer needed or valued by the chamber,” Vajtay wrote in her letter. “This promotion is just such a slap in face to Plattekill.”

Vajtay said she is awaiting a reply from O’Beirne and is prepared to resign immediately if the promotion is not dropped.

O’Beirne said she will speak with Vajtay about some type of promotion for Plattekill.

Vajtay, in her letter, asked chamber members to consider the following:

“You are a skier (coming) to the area and go shopping at Freshtown and are handed a Belleayre BOGO at the cash register. Where would you go skiing? You are a skier planning to ski Plattekill for the weekend and stop to eat at a local restaurant on arrival and are given a BOGO ticket to a place called Belleayre with your dinner tab. Where would you go skiing? You stay overnight at one of hundreds of lodging places and are given a BOGO ticket to Belleayre at checkout. Where do you go skiing?”

One of the sticking points in local politics of late has been the state's withholding of promised funds owed Greene County, held back by Gov. David Paterson’s administration due to a disagreement over the county treasurer appointment made last summer after Willis Vermilyea retired before the end of his term. But yesterday, January 5, just hours before his first State of the State Address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed the release of $2.5 million in social services funds less than 24 hours after a letter of inquiry was sent to the governor’s office Tuesday afternoon. The money being held back, reports Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail this morning, was for food stamps, Medicaid and heating assistance benefits, among other social services.

After County Treasurer Willis Vermilyea retired in July, the Greene County Legislature appointed Republican Thomas Tracey, the treasurer’s office director of administrative services, as interim treasurer. Gov. Paterson’s counsel argued the appointment had to be made by the governor and a home-rule power struggle began, then developed for months as the governor’s office considered Tracey’s signature on reimbursement documents invalid, forcing the state to withhold funds.

The conflict wasn’t even settled after November’s election determined Peter Markou, Catskill town supervisor, was chosen as county treasurer. Even though both the governor’s office and the county legislature agreed to appoint the winner of the election, the argument continued after county lawmakers preempted the governor’s formal appointment.

Greene County Legislature Chairman Wayne Speenburgh said he was “relieved” and “encouraged” by the decision.

“I’m surprised the governor’s office responded this quickly,” he said, noting it may be a sign of something better. “We may have a very good working relationship (with the new governor).”

The decision to release the funds was faxed to the county offices at 9 a.m. this morning, only four days after Gov. Cuomo’s new administration took over.

Counsel to the Governor Mylan Denerstein approved the order. She replaced Peter Kiernan, Gov. Paterson’s counsel, at the beginning of the year.

The governor’s office could not be reached for comment on why they decided to release the funds.

Speenburgh said the funds will begin coming in as soon as today.

The Register-Star is reporting this morning that the attorney representing Holcim cement company in its current tax grievance regarding a waterfront property it owns in Hudson has said the heavily-publicized letter he sent to City Attorney Jack Connor claiming that no income is generated from the parcel was sent in error, and documentation reflecting the correct income and expenses associated with the dock is currently being pursued. Holcim, according to reporter Lindsay Suchow, is grieving a $4.5 million assessment it received on its deep water port dock for 2010/2011, which the company is claiming is actually worth $1.5 million. Pursuant to a court order issued by Justice Patrick J. McGrath, Holcim provided the city with an income and expense statement on Nov. 30, 2010 as part of the grievance process, which Connor then publicly claimed was "bogus." Holcim, the company that took over the former St. Lawrence Cement several years ago, has also been in the news of late for having furloughed a majority of its Catskill plant workforce for the recent holidays and beyond. The company was also named one of the state's top air polluters by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. For the full story, click here.

Tune in today
TUNE IN WGXC will air the following live shows on WGXC Online Radio Thursday:
•WGXC Morning Show/Tell It Like It Is 9/10 a.m.
•Crossroads, Alan Skerrett's jazz show noon-2 p.m.
•Cheryl K. jazz show 7-9:30 p.m.
•The Magic Stranger "'69" 9:30-midnight
Click here to listen.

Town meetings tonight
SLOOP ELEANOR Informational meeting for possibly restoring historic boat Sloop Eleanor return to Hudson. Meet at 5 p.m. at Wunderbar in Hudson to discuss restoring 1903 sail boat. More information: 828-7884.
RAVENA HEALTH Presentation and Q&A about Ravena health concerns surrounding the Lafarge cement plant. Dr. Michael Bank, principal investigator for the Harvard School of Public Health's study of heavy metals in people within a ten-mile radius of the Ravena Lafarge Cement Plant, presents group results of his study at 8 p.m. at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School auditorium, 2025 Route 9W, Ravena. Individual results will be released at a later date. Bank's research was sparked by a request from CASE (Community Advocates for Safe Emissions) co-founders Elyse Griffins and Elyse Kunz. Harvard tested blood and hair of 185 volunteer individuals on May 15 and 16, 2010 at Pieter B. Coeymans Elementary School in Ravena. Bank_HSPH_Press_Release_FINAL-1

Weather
CLOUDY Around freezing.

Astronomical bodies
TIDES Hudson: High, 4:18 p.m./Low, 11 p.m.
SUNRISE/SUNSET 7:24 a.m./4:37 p.m.
MOONRISE/MOONSET 8:37 a.m./7:15 p.m.

Birthdays
JANUARY 6: Alan Watts, Syd Barrett, and Van McCoy.

[caption id="attachment_6749" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Gov. Andrew Cuomo gives \"State of the State\" speech Tuesday in Albany. Photo from Governor\'s office."][/caption]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave his first "State of the State" speech in Albany, and live on WGXC Online Radio. WGXC made this recording of the Governor's webstream:
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2011/01/The_State_of_the_State_speech_Jan._5_2010_in_Albany_20110105_1405.mp3

Republican New York State Senator James Seward was quick with praise for the Democrat's speech. “The governor’s state of the state message was a slam dunk," he said in a press release. "Styled more like an upbeat high school pep rally than a monotonous political speech, he hit on all the right themes and seemed to energize legislators and all New Yorkers on hand." Seward also sent this audio statement:
Click on this sentence to hear State of State Response from James Seward.

Newly elected State Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin was not as enthusiastic:
“The residents of the 108th district have been subjected to a circus in Albany for the last four years,” said McLaughlin in a prepared statement. “While I support the governor in instituting a 2 percent property tax cap on all New York property owners, his plan needs additional concrete proposals for how the legislative bodies of the state will cut state spending and reenergize the private sector."

[caption id="attachment_6739" align="alignright" width="186" caption="Eugene Keeler provided this photo."][/caption]Eugene Keeler, former District Attorney, Public Defender and county Conflict Defender, announced today he's running again for Columbia County District Attorney. Keeler ran against current DA Beth Cozzolino in 2007 and lost by 1555 votes. “The District Attorney’s office is not open, not accessible and not accountable to the taxpayers of the County," Keeler said in a press release. "The social, economic and political discrimination occurring in the Court House has to end. Sixteen years of two classes of citizens in the criminal justice system is enough." In February, the county Board of Supervisors left the county conflict defender role vacant, essentially putting Keeler out of a job. Keeler had been in the news then asking for the removal of two county judges for allegedly blocking his appointments in cases. “This is retribution for speaking out on the lack of justice in county court,” Keeler told the Register-Star at the time. “It appears the leadership of the Board of Supervisors is being misled.” Keep reading to see Keeler's ten promises if elected DA.

Keeler makes ten promises to the voters of Columbia County:

1. I will lock up hard core criminals;
2. I will care about equal treatment under the law for all citizens;
3. I will care about helping victims;
4. I will end the “Get out of Jail Free” program for the “well-connected”;
5. I will make sure that all evidence makes it to court;
6. I will make sure the D.A.’s Office is open and accessible to all;
7. I will fully cooperate with the Police and Community agencies;
8. I will work full time and save taxpayers money;
9. I will handle cases quickly;
10. I will care about justice and not statistics.

Mr. Keeler is a licensed masters level social worker and serves as Director of Advocacy and Legal Services for COARC. Mr. Keeler received his Juris Doctor from the University of Memphis and his Masters degree from the University of Tennessee. He attended undergraduate school at St. Lawrence University. He is married to Donna Morgan and has three children. They live in the Town of
Greenport.

Mr. Keeler ran against Ms. Cozzolino in 2007 and lost by 1555 votes.

For Information call Gene Keeler at 965-3563 or email him at EugeneKeeler@yahoo.com.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Knolls Atomic Power Labs in Niskayuna, along the Mohawk, as seen in a Times Union photograph by Philip Kamrass published today."][/caption]Remember the nuclear waste leaks up in Niskayuna, on the Mohawk River just north and west of Albany, that occurred in October? Brian Nearing of the Times Union has a follow up story today about how the federal government has hit the private company in charge of the cleanup of the radiation-tainted buildings at Knolls Atomic Power Labs with a $1.8 million penalty because of its poor performance that caused radiation leaks into the air and the Mohawk River. The U.S. Department of Energy took that action last month against URS, which has been running the cleanup for about two years as part of a $69 million contract to demolish two Cold War-era research buildings. And all this coming just as a new Congress takes up business today that newly-elected Rep. Chris Gibson has saidwould be looking into the building of nuclear plants nationwide, including two in the Albany area, presumably including Greene County, as recorded by local reporters iin recent weeks.

DOE spokesman Bill Taylor said Tuesday the penalty would come out of the potential $7.6 million maximum bonus that the company could earn under that contract, which is a "cost plus" contract. Cost plus means that DOE pays URS for all its expenses to run the cleanup, and then provides an additional payment as an incentive for good work.

Withholding part of such bonuses is "one tool DOE uses to hold its contractors accountable for poor performance," he said. Taylor said DOE has held back $1.5 million so far from URS, and will hold back the rest from future payments.

The DOE action was first reported in the Dec. 27 edition of Weapons Complex Monitor, a weekly trade publication that covers the agency.

Meanwhile, demolition work remains halted at the Knolls site while DOE considers a "corrective action plan" filed last month by URS, said Taylor.

"We are of course disappointed, but we continue to implement our corrective action plan, which we are confident will prevent future performance issues and allow us to safely complete work by the end of 2011," URS spokesman Jamie Tully said.

It appears URS is now telling DOE that it might not be possible to finish the project as planned by September of this year. In a Dec. 9 letter, URS Project Manager Peggy Hamilton, who has since been replaced, wrote to DOE that is might be necessary to extend the project until December to "provide the most cost effective and lower risk approach." She wrote that DOE will have to "define" how much money it has available to finish the cleanup.

Work at the site has been halted since Nov. 19 as DOE considers changes to the 2-year-old project to remove the contaminated buildings which were used in U.S. atomic weapons research. The buildings have been closed since 1953.

The partially demolished H2 building, where researchers developed a process known as PUREX to extract weapons-grade plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear reactor fuel, is now covered with tarps to prevent further contamination from escaping.

Last week, a DOE investigation found that workers for a private contractor on the cleanup felt pressed by bosses to ignore safety issues and get work done faster in order to meet a September 2011 deadline linked to federal stimulus funding.

DOE and the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which investigated a related Oct. 25 spill of radioactive water that drained from the cleanup site into the Mohawk River, have both insisted that contamination poses no threat to public health.

The DOE report into the demolition concluded Washington Group International, a subsidiary of URS performing the work, made missteps that led to an "uncontrolled spread of radioactive contamination" from H2.

The company was pushing to finish work three months earlier than first planned -- by September 2011 rather than December 2011 -- as part of an extra $32 million in federal stimulus funding awarded for the cleanup in April 2009. The federal report said workers faced an "atmosphere of fear" to remain silent over concerns work was not being done safely.

On Sept. 29, workers were using heavy equipment to pull down H2. Workers breaking for lunch activated a radiation alarm when leaving the area, and WGI staff found that four workers had unsafe levels of radiation on their boots, the report said.

Rain was expected the next day, so workers sprayed a chemical fixative meant to keep materials from washing away. The next day, Sept. 30 and into Oct. 1, more than 7 inches of rain fell on the Knolls site.

Air samples taken Sept. 29 and Oct. 3 showed elevated radiation levels, and WGI "recognized that they had an uncontrolled spread of radioactive material," the report said.

On Oct. 5 and 6, tests of the H2 building's slab found beta/gamma radiation was 1,700 times the project-imposed safety limit, and alpha radiation was 550 times such limits.

The report said the Office of Naval Reactors Laboratory's field office found contamination had spread to a 2.3-acre area, where levels were at least 20 times standard limits for beta/gamma radiation.

DOE appointed an investigation board on Oct. 22 to look into the situation. The board arrived at Knolls on Oct. 28 and finished its investigation on Nov. 11.

On Oct. 25, after additional heavy rains at Knolls, about 630 gallons of radiation-tainted water from about the cleanup site escaped a malfunctioning drainage system and spilled into the Mohawk River.

Hudson-based mediation group Common Ground got a shout-out in a story run by Mid Hudson News Network today noting how the group has mediated over 200 cases in 2010, ranging from spousal issues to housing and lemon law controversies. Executive Director Dawn Wallant added that the holidays were busier than the rest of the year, "Because we notice that a lot of families have difficult trying to establish changes in parenting time or holiday parenting time... I don’t know if the economy necessarily has anything to do with it.” Wallant added that the organization has seen a steady and increased number of parents participating in Common Ground’s parent education and awareness program. The entity was founded in the early 1980s as a program of Columbia Opportunities and went independent in 1987.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Map of Rensselaer Plateau, from Rensselaer Preserve Alliance website."][/caption]A geologically unique section of the East of Hudson part of our listening area, in eastern Rensselaer County, is now part of a federal program designed to protect forest lands from conversion to non-forest use. The Times Union reports today that the 196,000-acre Rensselaer Plateau, an upland area about 20 miles long and nine miles wide that stretches over several Rensselaer County towns, has been designated a U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Area. The area includes all or parts of the towns of Berlin, Brunswick, Grafton, Hoosick, Nassau, Petersburgh, Pittstown, Poestenkill, Sand Lake and Stephentown, and touches on Columbia County. An escarpment steeply rising from the surrounding lower elevations marks the plateau's boundary. The program, overseen by state Department of Environmental Conservation, would allow the state to seek federal funds to help pay private landowners on the plateau who are willing to sell either development rights or land as a way to preserve the forest, all on a completely voluntary basis. The region hosts the area's only permanent moose population.

''It is an unfragmented forest, and that is what we primarily want to protect,'' said Jim Bonesteel, president of the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance. ''It provides unparalleled wildlife habitats, clean drinking water and offers many recreational uses.''

The plateau is the state's fifth-largest contiguous forest and is similar in many ways to the Adirondacks because of elevations as high as 1,800 feet. The area is home to the Capital Region's closest moose population.

The plateau also includes several unique wetlands and fens. It also includes a collection of mammals not typical of the greater Capital Region, including black bear, fisher, otter, bobcat and moose, according to the DEC.

The area also contains the Tomhannock Reservoir watershed, which provides drinking water to more than 100,000 people.

Just over 100 years ago, the forest was nearly gone.

''In the mid-1800s, the area was 80 percent deforested,'' Bonesteel said.

The plateau was not good for farming, and thus attracted the timber, glass and pottery industries that relied on softwoods and hardwoods.

Much of the timber, though, was used in charcoal-making, a fuel that was made in kilns and then transported to Troy to fire the iron industries along the Hudson River.

Meanwhile, the Rensselaer Land Trust, a not-for-profit dedicated to preserving the county's natural spaces, has taken a donation of land on the plateau in Stephentown for public access.

A land owner who does not live in the area donated 30 acres along the Black Brook, a pristine native trout-spawning stream popular with area fly fishers, to the land trust.

The site is at the intersection of Horse Heaven and Garfield roads and will be named the Robert Ingalls Preserve in memory of RLT's vice president and longtime board of directors member, who died in November.

''This is appropriate because he was very active with our group,'' said Land Trust Executive Director Christine Young. "He is really missed.''