[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Kaz is selling their property and losing their tax break. Photo by Tom Roe."][/caption]Carole Osterink in The Gossips of Rivertown reports what happened at this morning's meetings of the Columbia County Capital Resource Corporation and the Columbia County IDA, both at their Route 9 office in Hudson. The CRC meeting began in executive session, and then they announced they would take no action today on the purchase of the old Walmart building and said further discussion was required. The CRC may purchase the building for the county to move in much of its services in the enormous space. After that, the Columbia County IDA approved the termination of the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) on the Kaz building on Route 9, in Greenport. "Kaz -- not the building but the business -- has been sold to a company called Helen of Troy, which makes hair dryers and other kinds of salon and spa appliances. The building in Greenport is not part of the sale. Kaz will keep it and continue to try to sell it. In the meantime, the PILOT on the building will terminate at the end of 2010, and the building will go on the tax rolls at full assessment at the beginning of the new year," Osterink reports.

From WNYT:

The federal government tells General Electric to dig deeper, take better samples and cap less of the Hudson River bottom when it starts the second phase of PCB cleanup in the waterway next year. The Environmental Protection Agency says Friday the company must cap a maximum of 11 percent of the total project area, not counting rocky or other hard-to-reach areas. That compares with 22 percent allowed in the first phase completed last year. Environmentalists worried that EPA would allow up to 24 percent to be capped, in which PCBs are left in the river and covered over. The EPA also says GE must take better samples to determine the extent of pollution. The agency found poor sampling meant dredgers didn't go deep enough the first time around.

"This is not going to be negotiated. There is no more opportunity to compromise," Judith Enck, an EPA regional administrator, said in a conference call with reporters....

"The statement about GE asking for a delay is flatly false," said Mark Behan, a GE spokesman. "As for her (Enck) combative rhetoric, it's unfortunate. We've had a constructive relationship with EPA during technical meetings this fall and we anticipate we'll continue with phase two of dredging if it reflects our understanding with EPA, if it's based on sound science and it can be achieved in the challenging conditions of the upper Hudson."

Art Baer, the Columbia County Budget Officer and Hillsdale Supervisor who was singled out by party chiefs for the county's GOP, Conservatives and Independence Party in a major public snit of late, has responded to those asking for his removal in a very public letter printed in local newspapers this week, including the Register Star. In it, he lambastes political officers for trying all they can to move the public world of government, an elected entity.

In responding to published letters criticizing my role as chairman of the county Board of Supervisors and its budget officer, I feel responsible to the citizens of Hillsdale, the Supervisors who have elected me to the position I hold, and to all county citizens whom I serve.

In these letters, I have been widely criticized for policies in my role as chairman of the board and most recently as budget officer. At first, I thought to respond by refuting each allegation point by point as being uninformed about how county government decisions are made, or as outright lies. This might have been instructive and thorough, but tedious to any but the most avid follower of county activities and governance.

One significant measure of performance for the county is the year to year change in the tax levy. Adjusting for inflation and uncontrollable costs such as pension fund contributions, the County has reduced expenditures (i.e. lowered operating costs) by almost $7.0 million over the past three years, which otherwise would have been in the tax bills. That’s real cash, not accounting entries and is a record attempted by the majority of counties in the state, but not achieved.

In fact, political party chairmen Fingar, Miller, and Torrey’s letters fail to identify the real problem they have with my leadership. It’s not about real performance, but rather about power and control of tax payer money, micromanagement of the Board of Supervisors, and more specifically, how it benefits a few who previously had, and now want to enjoy again, the benefits of “inside baseball.” I have stood, and do stand, in their way.

The list of abuses by the inside few in prior years is a long one and includes: six figure non-productive construction advisory contracts on the 325 Columbia Street County building; an attempted quick “flip” of land for a new County Commerce Park property at twice the price paid for it; undermining and bidding on property which the County wanted to build a campus including 1 City Centre; failing to detect major accounting errors at the Department of Social Services for over ten years, which severely affected our balance sheet and potential credit rating; Messrs Miller and Torrey trying to get me to agree to exorbitant wage demands by one of our unions because they had supporters in the bargaining unit; accusing me of trying to get tax concessions for Kohl’s when the spiritual leader of the Columbia County Republican Party (John Faso) was being paid as a lobbyist by the developer to secure those very concessions; and trying to coerce the current Chairman of the Board to either secure my resignation or fire me without cause, or else. The “or else” was explained as a future target placed on Brown’s back with a promise to try to stop any new legislation next year by the Board of Supervisors; and further threatening no political support for any incumbent who doesn’t vote Pat Grattan in as deputy chairman and county budget officer for 2011. I could go on, but perhaps an investigative reporter from this paper will see this as a series of reports rather than a one day bashing of Art Baer. I would personally welcome this examination.

The real issue is not whether I remain or don’t remain budget officer. It is about an attempt by a few self-serving individuals wrapped in a political blanket to control a government entity and thereby the selected distribution of taxpayer money. The old saying, subsequently disproved, is what’s good for General Motors is good for America. Applied here, it’s “what’s good for the good old boys is good for Columbia County.” This is wrong at every level and, regardless of my position next year, I will do everything in my power and encourage my supervisor colleagues and concerned county citizens to send a clear message that politics running government is bad policy, and politics mixed with greed is intolerable.

Art Baer
Columbia County Budget Officer
Hillsdale Town Supervisor

First there were the private ski centers in Greene County, backed by the states leading private ski industry association, charging that the state was being unfair in the number of free ski passes they were handing out at Department of Environmental Conservation-run Belleayre Mountain, in Ulster County. Which prompted local officials to start sparring over economic development pies, and who got what from what was once seen as a regional business. Now, the Times Union reports that businesses across the state are blaming competition from regional Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), known in Columbia and Greene counties as Questar, for forcing them to have to lay off workers, downsize and consider closure. Why? Adirondack Area Networks, a consortium that provides technology for schools, hospitals and small businesses throughout the state, and similar private IT associations are saying that the state's 37 BOCES, with new funding coming in from the federal Race to the Top program, are saving school districts TOO much money by bundling services, including information technology services, and hurting private businesses in the process. They're crying that BOCES use grants -- money that ultimately comes from taxpayers -- to artificially lower the prices they charge districts for services, creating an uneven market in which government is bidding against private businesses.

So it seems that just as some folks want greater savings from government services, in light of coming cuts such as those envisioned as part of a proposed 2 percent property tax cap for the state affecting all town, county and school budgeting, others are wanting to also cut any means for making up such shortfalls.

For the full Times Union story about business complaints regarding BOCES, click HERE.

For more on the ski industry battles, try HERE.

Unemployment rates in Mid-Hudson counties were higher in November than in October, the state Labor Department reported on Thursday.
In Columbia County, the November jobless rate was 7.2 percent, compared to 6.8 percent in October. In Greene, the rate jumped from 7.7 percent in October to 8.4 percent in November.
November unemployment rates in other local counties were as follows.
• Albany: 6.9 percent, up from 6.6
• Delaware: 8.2. percent, up from 7.7.
• Dutchess 7.5 percent, up from 7.3
• Orange: 7.9, up from 7.6.
• Rensselaer: 7.3, up from 6.9
• Saratoga: 6.5, up from 6.1
• Schenectady: 7.5, up from 7.1
• Schoharie: 8.3, up from 7.6
• Sullivan: 9.4, up from 8.5.
• Ulster: 7.9, up from 7.4

It was revealed in news reports today that the Athens/Leeds man who took his own life with a single bullet after setting fire to his home early yesterday morning was about to be evicted by his mother, and had just lost a sister the week before. According to Ann Gibbons of the Daily Freeman, Greene County Sheriff Greg Seeley said Steve Svidro, 49, who ran a maintenance and painting business, lived with his mother in a ranch-style house in the town of Athens. Seeley declined to identify the mother but said she was in her late 80s and lost a daughter just a week ago. The Sheriff added that firefighters were called to 330 Valley Road about 5 a.m. Thursday and that the house there “was fully involved” by the time members of the Leeds Fire Company arrived a few minutes later. There also was a small fire burning in a garage-style barn on the property, but a sheriff’s deputy was able to extinguish it. The mother explained what happened and sheriff's deputies, with the aid of a police dog, tracked Svido through the woods and to a nearby lake that the family owned for hunting and fishing purposes, where his body was found seated in a chair, dead of a single self-inflicted .357-magnum revolver bullet wound, at around 10:30 a.m.



Seeley said the house fire took several hours to put out and that the building appeared to be a total loss.

Seeley said Svidro’s mother was inside the house as her son deposited unidentified accelerants throughout the structure.

“She saw him walk by a window, then the house went up in flames,” the sheriff said. “She ran out and called for help.”

Svidro, having fled, was declared a “person of interest” in the arson investigation and police agencies in both Greene and Columbia counties were alerted to bee on the lookout for him, Seeley said.

The sheriff said Svidro’s mother told deputies her son had guns and was a “sharpshooter.”

Seeley said police began looking for Svidro’s vehicle around the perimeter of the property but then learned he had gotten rid of it the day before, so they worked on the assumption that he was on foot and nearby.

“We knew the family owned a large lake about a mile away and that he was a hunter and fisherman,” the sheriff said. “Blaze, our canine, tracked him through the woods and to the lake, where we found him (dead) around 10:30 a.m.”

Seeley said deputies found Svidro “sitting in a chair, already deceased, from a single gunshot wound to the head.” A .357-magnum revolver was near the body, the sheriff said.

Seeley said he spoke to the mother personally after Svidro was found dead.

“I went in person to give her my condolences,” he said. “It’s sad that something like this happens right around the holidays, but it’s particularly hard for her because she lost her daughter just last week.”

Seeley declined to speculate on the motive for the arson and suicide, but he did say Svidro had been living in the house for quite a while and that his mother had filed papers for him to be evicted.

The sheriff said he did not know if there was a history of domestic problems between Svidro and his mother.

The sheriff said his office has been joined in the investigation by the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Greene County Cause and Origin Team and county District Attorney Terry Wilhelm.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="A typical Hannaford supermarket"][/caption]Tired of having to drive into the crowded mall strip of Hudson for shopping? Tired, too, of all that untrammeled rural scenery out where Routes 9 and 82 meet in the town of Livingston? The Register Star reports this morning that Hannaford Supermarkets announced Thursday that it plans to build a new supermarket and pharmacy near just that intersection of Route 9 and Route 82 in Livingston (the story does not specify the location exactly). Hannaford spokesperson Matt Paul said the company has submitted plans and applications to the town and is in the process of working with state and local officials for approval. The Maine-based supermarket chain, which currently operates 46 stores in New York and 177 stores throughout the Northeast, also recently announced plans to construct a market in New Lebanon, and another supermarket is planned for Cairo (Price Chopper and Hannaford officials say they are not expanding to Cairo). The Bell's Pond store is planned to be as green as possible, and of course is being touted as a boon to local employment, with approximately 65 retail jobs expected at the new supermarket.



“The site is a good location for us in terms of proximity to other Hannaford stores so we’re better able to serve the population,” Paul told the Register-Star. “We’re not trying to overcrowd, but give people the convenience of being able to shop at Hannaford in that area.”

While Paul said the company does have a size in mind for the proposed Livingston supermarket, he said the company is not prepared to discuss exact dimensions and details until they have been approved by officials.

Livingston Town Supervisor Kevin McDonald said he was happy about the announcement “from a lot of different standpoints,” including the ability to expand the town’s tax base; the company’s commitment to locally grown and produced food through its “Close to Home” program; and the jobs Hannaford will bring to the area.

“They indicated that they like to do a lot of their hiring locally, which is good,” said McDonald.

Paul said approximately 65 associates will staff the store and that Hannaford would certainly look to the local community for qualified employees.

“That would be ideal,” said Paul. “Qualified, of course, is important, too. If there are local people who can do the job, I’m sure we’ll be hiring the people from the Livingston area.”

McDonald said nothing else like Hannaford currently exists in Livingston, and he thinks residents will be pleased to have a grocery store in town.

“I think it would be nice to have a grocery store right here based in the town instead of people having to drive to Hudson or Red Hook to do their grocery shopping,” said McDonald. “I don’t think there’s anything like that in the immediate area ... and I would think some of the surrounding towns would also be using it.”

Paul said in a prepared statement that the new supermarket will feature a full service drive-through pharmacy, a butcher shop, produce and seafood departments, a bakery and a deli.

The company plans to build the supermarket according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, as it boasts a history of “environmental stewardship and forward-thinking design.” In July 2009, Paul said in a release, Hannaford opened “the world’s most environmentally advanced supermarket” in Maine’s capital city of Augusta, which received a Platinum LEED rating, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest ranking for ecofriendly buildings. The company opened a store with a Gold LEED rating in Duanesburg, New York, in June of this year.

Paul said he’s unsure what rating the company will strive for with its Livingston location.

“We don’t shoot for (a rating) this early in the process other than saying we would like to achieve some level of LEED certification,” Paul said.

The building will incorporate several green features like energy-efficient lighting, better water efficiency (such as reduced watering in the produce section) and “more efficient and effective refrigeration systems,” including iceless seafood cases which Paul said will save thousands of gallons of fresh water every year.

“We’ll also emphasize recycling cardboard, plastic and other materials in our daily operations — as we do in every Hannaford location — to increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact,” Paul said in a prepared statement.

[caption id="attachment_5593" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="By Gus Murphy"][/caption]

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is calling for writers to share inspirational stories of experiences in New York's great outdoors by entering the "Great Stories from the Great Outdoors" contest. Stories can range from the simplest walk through the woods to meeting a challenge through an outdoor activity. The contest is open to all and runs through February 2011. Each month, DEC will select stories and post them on the DEC website. A prize will be awarded for the top story each month. Complete contest rules are available online. Through the Great Outdoor Stories contest, students, sportsmen and women, outdoor enthusiasts, campers and hikers can reflect and share the importance of the natural environment in their lives. Entries can range from a few sentences to a maximum 650 words. All story entries must be received by February 28, 2011. Submit stories online or by mail to:
Carole Fraser
NYS DEC Universal Access Program
625 Broadway, 5th floor
Albany, NY 12233-4255

Wondering what to do New Year's Day? Thinking it might be fun to head up to Albany for the big inauguration, memories of James Taylor playing Spitzer's big bash, or the giant Concourse party from Pataki's hooplah dancing in one's head?

Fergedaboudit... Here's what's happening...



On Friday, December 31, 2010: Governor-elect Cuomo and Lt. Governor-elect Duffy take oath of office in private event at the Executive Mansion.

On Saturday, January 1, 2011, things kick off at 8:30 a.m., at the Capitol, when Governor Cuomo and Lt. Governor Duffy go to work and hold an executive staff meeting. At noon, in the Governor’s Reception Room ( known as the War Room), Capitol, it's the actual Inauguration; Governor Cuomo, Lt. Governor Duffy, Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman will be sworn into office. The place holds a few hundred, at most. From 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., in the Executive Mansion, Governor Cuomo and Lt. Governor Duffy will receive the public at the Executive Mansion. Tickets will be required for this event.
Finally, on Sunday, January 2, 2011, Governor Cuomo and Lt. Governor Duffy will attend Mass; and then head to work in the State Capitol.

Tickets to the open house will be made available to interested New Yorkers who register by going to www.nyinaugural.com . In the event that the number of requests exceeds the number of available openings, attendees will be randomly selected by lottery. Registration ends December 23 at 11:59 p.m.

The Executive Mansion Open House will be held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on January 1, 2011. Registrants will be notified of their selection via email or phone by December 30 and receive a ticket at that time.

All adults over the age of 16 wishing to attend must have a ticket. Each individual receiving a ticket will be allowed to bring any children from their household. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Guests are reminded that bags, backpacks, luggage, parcels, briefcases, and like articles will be strictly prohibited from the event sites. Further, weapons of any kind will not be permitted on the premises. Guests with prohibited articles will be turned away at the entrances and no storage or “check-in area” will be provided for such items.

A major operation to crack down on illegal deer poaching from Montauk to Buffalo has led to charges against 137 individuals for more than 250 offenses, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced this week. The initiative, dubbed, "Operation Dark Night," focused on the illegal taking of deer by use of artificial light -- a practice commonly known as "deer jacking." This involves nighttime wildlife crimes where poachers shine a spotlight on a deer feeding in fields to "freeze" the animal long enough to shoot it -- killing deer when they are most vulnerable. This fall, DEC undertook the largest coordinated anti-deer jacking initiative in the state's history. During a seven-week period, ECOs were assigned to saturation patrols in targeted rural locations in every part of the state except New York City, with stakeouts taking place at all hours of the night. During the seven-week operation, DEC officers charged 137 individuals with more than 250 misdemeanors and violations. This included 10 instances of killing a deer at night with the use of a spotlight or other artificial light and 79 instances where a hunter was caught using a light but had not yet killed a deer. By region, 124 misdemeanors and violations were filed in the Adirondack Park and surrounding North Country, 48 were filed in the Capital Region and Catskills, 47 in Central New York, 24 in Western New York and 9 on Long Island.

For the full story click HERE.

The State University of New York system needs to be able to raise revenue apart from its governmentally-approved budget to survive and thrive. “Unshackle SUNY,” is how State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher put it this week in a breakfast talk to the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce in Kingston, according to Mid Hudson News Network today. She noted how she is looking to give the system, which includes the state's community colleges as well as a host of four year and graduate colleges around the state, more freedom to pursue various means of raising revenue in order to close gaps in the budget that have been creating problems for SUNY institutions statewide.

“We have asked last year for revenue generation capacity so that we can fill some of those gaps by our ability to be more efficient,” she said. “We’ve talked about public and private partnerships that are revenue generating. We’ve talked about a rational tuition policy. We’ve talked about relief in the procurement process, because it is very expensive and delays our ability to be efficient.”

Zimpher spoke at a time when the federal and state government have been talking about the need for college educations on the one hand, and speaking about budget cuts to those same institutions on the other.



Planning for the cost of college is something that SUNY wants its students to be able to do and rational tuition policy is the way to give them the ability to do that, she said.

“Rational means more planning, more predictable, and also indexed to average tuition around the Country.”

Zimpher said that SUNY is working closely with their stakeholders and the Governor’s staff to find solutions for getting SUNY the necessary relief it needs to generate enough revenue to hopefully close their current gap.

The chancellor also said the SUNY system is committed to being a major economic engine for the state as well as its key to revitalization.

According to Zimpher, one of the assets the SUNY system has is that they are quite literally in most New Yorkers’ backyards, being no more than approximately 30 miles away from any community in the state, and this will prove instrumental in collaborating with regional chambers of commerce and economic development councils to provide communities with the skilled graduates they need.

With a network throughout the state already established, Zimpher said the SUNY system is in an ideal place to assist and guide economic development on a local level.

"We want to tell the story that first of all we are a big employer, in most of our communities we are the largest employer. Secondly, we spend money. We buy goods and services and this cranks money into the economy. Third, we produce graduates. Fourth, because of our science and innovation, we create jobs.”

In working with individual counties, such as Ulster, Zimpher said that “strategic benchmarks” would have to be set so that progress can be monitored and impacts can be measured in milestones.

Zimpher emphasized the importance of taking action and told those at Wednesday’s breakfast that if the SUNY system couldn’t be New York’s economic engine, then she didn’t know who could.

Mid-Hudson News reports a Leeds man committed suicide early Thursday after a fire deemed suspicious broke out in the house where he lived at 330 Valley Road, near Athens' Green Lake, according to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office found both the ranch-style home and a nearby barn on the property ablaze. Sheriff's officials said Steve Svidro, 49, who ran a maintenance and painting business, lived in a basement apartment, and his mother lived upstairs. Police said Svidro ran from the scene and that his mother told police he had guns and was a “sharpshooter,” according to the report. Greene County sheriff’s deputies found Svidro near Black Lake Road in Leeds with what they described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head around 10:30 a.m. UPDATE: The Daily Mail says, "It is believed the incident stemmed from family problems." SECOND UPDATE:The Daily Freeman has a gripping account of how things went down, including details such as the mother's witnessing her son dousing her house in accelerants, while she was in it, and the police dog search for the missing son.

Paul Crossman in The Chatham Courier reports voters in New Lebanon have for a second time rejected a proposal to renovate and expand the Town Hall, 191 no votes to 128 yes votes. At the first vote in late June, a similar measure was defeated 182 to 88, out of the 1,400 registered voters in New Lebanon, Crossman reports. “I was disappointed in the outcome because I thought we had the best deal for our residents to preserve a historic structure and to have a building we could be proud of,” said Supervisor Margaret Robertson. “In the next two years, New Lebanon is going to be booming and we wanted a Town Hall that could serve our needs.” The $724,100 project included no new taxes for residents.

The House Republican Steering Committee assigned Congressman-Elect Chris Gibson (NY-20) to serve on the House Agriculture and Armed Services Committees in the 112th Congress, according to Gibson's press representative. “It is an honor to be selected by the Republican Leadership to serve on two committees that are of critical importance to our district, the Agriculture and Armed Services Committees,” Gibson, who hails from Kinderhook, said in a prepared statement. “New York farms have been struggling, particularly in recent years, to remain profitable in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The rural nature of our district relies heavily of the profitability of our family farms. On the Agriculture Committee, I will be an ardent and strong champion for our farmers to ensure that they are treated fairly, particularly in regards to how their products are priced." Democrat Rep. Scott Murphy, who Gibson is replacing, also served in the same committees.

After a week's trial, Salvatore Cascino and his Bronx-based waste hauling company were found not guilty yesterday, December 15, of endangering public health, safety, or the environment after being indicted for hauling waste to a Route 9G property in Clermont. This decision, according to Andrew Amelinckx of The Register Star, came on the heels of another charge against the defendants being thrown out by Judge Jonathan Nichols on Tuesday after the judge determined the prosecution had not proved that Cascino or his company were operators of the facility, as was charged.

Cascino, 70, of Larchmont, Westchester County, and Bronx County Recycling were indicted by the state Attorney General’s Office in April on charges of operating an unpermitted landfill and fourth-degree endangering public health, safety, or the environment. The AG’s Office accused both parties of illegally dumping more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste and releasing petroleum into the environment at an unpermitted facility off Route 9G, just south of Firehouse Road, in Clermont between Dec. 31, 2007 and July, 2009.

Dennis Schlenker, representing Cascino, told the jury there was “one essential question” they needed to answer— “whether Salvatore Cascino recklessly released petroleum (at the Clermont site).” Earlier, he raised questions surrounding the site inquestion's long-term informal use as a local dumping ground.

Cascino is still facing two other sets of charges — a 209 civil case in Dutchess County that alleges he Cascino and a locally-based company caused destruction of a protected wetland and dumped construction debris without obtaining the required state license, and a criminal case in Albany County filed this past summer for allegedly filing false documents with the state to hide illegal disposal of solid waste.

Cascino, 70, has also been in conflict with local and state authorities for years for dumping on his Copake Valley Farm property in eastern Columbia County.



The attorney said that his client, who “absolutely denies the charges,” was “cloaked in the presumption of innocence.”

“The prosecution carries the burden of proof,” he told the jury, “and there are many, many reasonable doubts in this case.”

According to Schlenker, the problems with the case included the way in which the Department of Environmental Conservation collected evidence at the Clermont site as well as the amount of petroleum they found there.

The DEC executed a search warrant at the Clermont site, owned by William Cole, Sept. 29, 2009. “They dug 10 holes to determine what was going on at this property,” he told the jury, adding that the selection of the holes was arbitrary.

At several of the holes they took samples, one of which later tested at .0065 parts per million of petroleum.

“That’s all they could come up with,” said the attorney.

This minuscule amount, said Schlenker, played directly to the idea of recklessness, a necessary element of the crime that had to be proved in the case, intimating that the small amount of petroleum released didn’t add up to reckless behavior.

“Did Salvatore Cascino know or act recklessly in dumping oil on that property?” he asked. “There’s no evidence of that.”

Another issue in the case, according to Schlenker, was the history of the Clermont site. Before Cole bought the property in 2005 it had belonged to Carl LaMunyan who operated a landfill on the southern portion of the property. Before that, said the attorney, the land was owned by the Pulver Gas and Oil Corporation.

He brought up several witnesses’ testimony describing the landfill in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The attorney said that 21 years ago there were old vehicles, some buses and a vehicle junk yard that appeared to be growing on top of the landfill, as well as a number of other materials there, basing his statement on a letter written in 1989 by Ward Stone, a DEC wildlife pathologist, to another DEC employee.

“The site had been a junkyard since the 1940s” said Schlenker.

According to Schlenker, the northern parcel, where his client had dumped fill, had problems as well.

“They want you to believe it was pristine … an 18-hole golf course where they played the US Open on it,” said the attorney. “It was not.”

He discussed how leachate — earlier described by Richard Forgea, the region 4 solid waste engineer for the state DEC, as any liquid that is contaminated by waste and flows either under or above ground — could have contaminated the north parcel due to migration, or the movement of toxic chemicals.

The LaMunyan site, said Schlenker, had never been remediated, the property was not enclosed and Cole had brought in fill from at least two other sources before Cascino began transporting material there.

“It was an open site. We don’t know who was dumping there,” he said. “It was never remediated and now they want to make Mr. Cascino the scapegoat.”

The attorney also found fault with the testimony of one of Cascino’s drivers, Charles Spadaccini, who was a prosecution witness and testified, along with trucker Arthur Wilcox, that he had transported “dirty dirt” that smelled like petroleum from the Bronx to Clermont at Cascino’s behest.

Schlenker referred to Spadaccini as “the gentleman who didn’t know the difference between Monday and Tuesday,” because the witness couldn’t remember what day he had last spoken to the prosecution.

“Would you make any important decision in your life based on the testimony of Charles Spadaccini?” he asked the jury.

Bronx County Recycling attorney closes

Donald Kinsella, the attorney representing Bronx County Recycling, also had problems with the way the DEC collected evidence in the case.

Kinsella took exception with the prosecution’s first witness, Richard Dana, a DEC employee in the agency’s crime scene investigation unit, saying that he took a number of small samples from the site and commingled them.

“At least on CSI on TV they would have tested each sample,” he said. “It’s elementary.”

The attorney went on to say that the DEC never tested loads of dirt going out of Bronx County Recycling; that the prosecution didn’t shown how the petroleum got to the Clermont site; and provided no proof that Bronx County Recycling put it there.

Prosecution defends its evidence

Assistant Attorney General James Woods, who prosecuted the case along with co-counsel Catherine Leahy-Scott, said that there was more than enough evidence to convict in the case.

He said besides the soil taken from one of the holes that tested positive for petroleum, there was testimony that two drivers, Wilcox and Spadaccini, brought up at least “22 loads of dirty dirt” on Cascino’s orders. Later saying that “the drivers made it clear that the dirt was contaminated.”

“We wouldn’t be here if it was a small spill or minute amount,” he told the jury, also reminding them that there was “no threshold” on the release of hazardous waste.

Woods said that hole number seven dug by the DEC smelled like petroleum and tested positive for the substance.

“This is not CSI. This is not TV and this technique is an accepted procedure,” he said.

Cascino’s actions were reckless, Woods said, since he knew that dumping the waste could lead to petroleum being released into the environment at Cole’s property.

As for the idea that leachate from the old landfill could have found its way onto the northern parcel, the prosecutor said that it “was without merit.”

Forgea testified that any migration of leachate would have gone from east to west and not south to north.

The theory that someone else put the petroleum there, he said, was likewise without merit.

“There wasn’t one shred of evidence,” he told the jury.

Woods ended his argument as he began his opening summations on Dec. 8, by saying the case was about “greed and convenience”

He said that Cascino had told Cole that he would provide fill for Cole’s property, which the owner was trying to level, because “he had an overcapacity problem” at Bronx County Recycling. Cascino, said Woods, dumped at Cole’s site instead of having to take it to a permitted landfill.

Jury deliberates

The jury was out for a little more than eight hours before delivering its not guilty verdict.

One of the jurors, Charles NeJaime, of Valatie, told the Register-Star after the trial ended that he and the other jurors didn’t believe the prosecution presented enough evidence to convict Cascino.

He said among the problems was the site’s history, saying that had it been a “pristine, virgin piece of land” instead of an old landfill, it might have made a difference.

NeJaime said that he and the other jurors wouldn’t have let someone get off for littering, but that in the end there just “wasn’t enough evidence.”

Schlenker, after hugging his client, said that he was “very, very happy for Cascino.

“It’s been a long, tough road,” he said. “He’s a gentleman and he has always been a gentleman.”

Schlenker went on to say that he had the utmost respect for the two prosecutors, who he has known for a long time.

Woods and Leahy-Scott refrained from commenting, referring all inquiries to the AG’s press office.

Even with Cascino’s victory Wednesday, he is still facing two other cases — a civil case in Dutchess County and a criminal case in Albany County.

A lawsuit was filed against Cascino by the AGs office in July 2009 alleging that Cascino and his town of Dover-based company, Ten Mile River LLC, caused destruction of a protected wetland and that the company dumped construction debris from Bronx County Recycling on its 18-acre property in 2003 without obtaining the required state license.

In June Cascino and Bronx County Recycling LLC were indicted on felony charges for allegedly filing false documents with the state to hide illegal disposal of solid waste.

The indictment filed by the AG’s Office includes three counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. According to the indictment, Cascino failed to list that unauthorized waste was received at Bronx County Recycling on three annual filings with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

First-degree offering a false instrument for filing is a class E felony and is punishable by up to four years in prison.

That case is being handled in Albany County Supreme Court before Judge Thomas Breslin.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Gov. David Paterson"][/caption]Gov. David Paterson has suddenly suggested that a few of the hundreds of state workers slated to be laid off on Jan. 1 might get their jobs back -- but his explanation of how that might occur raised plenty of unanswered questions, according to today's Times Union... reporting from the lame duck governor's statewide travels, where he seems to be giving wholly different speeches and comments in each setting.

Paterson brought up the possibility of giving folks jobs back during a 90-minute forum hosted and webcast live by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. After describing some of the factors that led to his decision to lay off almost 900 workers, the governor said he would spend time over the holidays looking at "some of the more egregious situations."

"We may have more savings that we thought," Paterson continued. "And perhaps people who were going to be put in very difficult situations, a few of them, we might want to give them their jobs back."

Could we be witnessing a Dickensian personality crisis?



"When you say a few, are you talking dozens, hundreds?," asked one of the forum participants.

"No, you know, I'm just saying special cases where people have diseases, or numbers of children that will go without health insurance, that kind of thing," Paterson said. "They would be impacted more severely than -- I mean, it's going to be a severe impact for anyone to lose their job, and I feel terrible about it."

Paterson's spokeswoman Jessica Bassett said no additional details were available. "I will let the governor's comments speak for themselves," she said.

It's unclear how Paterson or the agencies under his control would go about weighing the relative health and domestic economic hardships of state workers headed for layoffs -- or if such a scheme would comport with current civil service law and labor contracts, where seniority tends to rule the day.

"I don't even know how to respond to that, to tell you the truth," said Steve Madarasz, spokesman for CSEA, after hearing the governor's statement. He noted that public employee unions have argued for months that layoffs are unnecessary and would exacerbate the effects of the state's fiscal downturn.

Layoff notices went out last week to workers around the state. The original target number was 898 jobs, although officials said the final amount will be slightly lower.

The Greene County Legislature adopted a $99.3 million spending plan for 2011, representing a 2.7 percent tax levy increase, at its end-of-year meeting in Catskill on Wednesday, December 15, according to a story in The Daily Mail today. Expenditures were reduced to $99.3 million from the tentative budget’s $99.7 million due to a bookkeeping change, reporter Colin DeVries reports Interim Greene County Administrator Daniel Frank saying. A $325,000 health care reimbursement revenue item was eliminated and appropriations for employee health insurance were reduced in each department, although it was pointed out that these changes will not result in any drops in employees’ health care coverage. The budget carries a $19,959,977 tax levy, a $539,646, of 2.7 percent, increase from 2011.

Legislators Christian Pfister, D-Athens, and Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, were the sole votes against adopting the budget, with Pfister noting that there should have been more meetings about the process, and numbers, involving all legislators and the public. Joseph Izzo (R-Catskill) voted for the overall budget but earlier voted against reductions in the county contracts for libraries, the Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Greene County Council on the Arts. He also said the issue of community college chargebacks was handled badly.



Recent additions to the budget — $125,000 for community college chargebacks and $25,000 for tourism promotion — increased the tentative budget’s 2.1 percent tax levy.

County lawmakers have agreed to shoulder the chargeback expenses, which are currently levied on individual towns, over a five-year period. In 2011, the counties will be cover 20 percent of the chargebacks for students attending community colleges outside of the Columbia-Greene Community College boundaries.

Legislator Joseph Izzo, R-Catskill, voted against the measure Wednesday, stating more thought needed to be put into the college chargebacks.

“I find it’s financially irresponsible on our part to not notify and keep the town informed of this particular issue,” he said. “I’ve received positive comments from the town on this particular resolution but again, it’s the process I do not care for and is the lack of communication between us and the towns.”

Izzo was the sole vote against the legislation, which will result in the county covering 100 percent of the towns’ college chargebacks by 2015.

The 2011 budget does not include salary increases for employees and features $900,000 more in state-mandated retirement contributions, and a $1.5 million reduction in Medicaid assistance.

The budget includes $25.7 million in outstanding debt, including $3.3 million remaining from the 2003 county office building bond, $5.4 million left in road and bridge improvements from 2003, and $12.2 million for the recent state-mandated county courthouse renovation.

Legislators Christian Pfister, D-Athens, and Forest Cotten, D-Catskill, were the only to vote against adopting the budget.

Pfister commented that the budget process should have been more interactive among legislators.

“I assumed we would have multiple meetings over the course of the process,” he said, adding he was disappointed with the lack of workshops and minimal discussion on specific department impacts.

“I’m not speaking so much for the present but again I’m speaking to the future,” he said. “I hope that the legislature has more discussion on some of these significant issues.”

Though Izzo voted for the overall budget, earlier he had voted against reductions in the contracts for libraries, the Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Greene County Council on the Arts.

He believed there should be a plan to deal with their economic losses before simply slashing funding.

The complete budget is available for public inspection at the Greene County Office Building, 411 Main St., Catskill.

Town meetings tonight
TOWN OF CHATHAM Regular town board meeting third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Town Hall, 488 State Route 295, Chatham. Agenda for meeting here.
TOWN OF GHENT Regular Town Board meetings are held the third Thursday of each month, at the Ghent Town Hall. There will be a public hearing at 7 p.m. before the meeting to consider the enactment of a Local Law amending Chapter 71 of the Town of Ghent Code to provide for licensing of dogs in accordance with the new provisions of Article 7 of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law and to amend the provisions regarding dog impoundment fees.

Friday morning meetings
VACANT WALMART Columbia County Capital Resource Corporation special meeting to discuss the possible acquisition of the former Walmart building. 8 a.m., at CRC offices, 4303 Route 9, Greenport.
KAZ Columbia County Industrial Development Agency special meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the IDA offices, 4303 Route 9, Hudson, to consider a resolution approving the termination of the Installment Sale Agreement and Payment in Lieu of Tax Agreement between the IDA and Rual Mfg. Company, Inc. (the "Company"), now known as Kaz, Inc., relating to property at Route 9 in the Town of Greenport.

Applying for liquor licenses
THE SALOON OF EAST DURHAM, at 2212 Route 145, East Durham.
GABRIEL'S PIZZA & GRILL, 94 Main St., Philmont, in Town of Claverack.

Weather
WARMER Upper twenties during daylight. Flurries?

Birthdays
DECEMBER 16: Margaret Mead, Philip K. Dick, and Bill Hicks.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="Shannon Hayes, Radical Homemaker."][/caption]Shannon Hayes led a "Radical Homemaker" lecture at St. Mary’s Church, in Hudson Nov. 5, and WGXC made an audio recording. The lecture, sponsored by the Living Learning Collaborative at Four Winds Farm, was part of a tour Hayes was on talking about ecological living, self-reliance, sustainable farming, and sustainable cooking. Click here to listen to the mp3 recording, or copy and paste the following url into your computer's media player:
http://www.wgxc.org/media/uploaded_files/2010/12/RadicalHomemakerslecture_StMarys_WGXC_110510.mp3