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Tuesday headlines
Jul 05, 2011 12:33 am
Village fights its tax bills, winning exemption from town
Chris Simonds in The Columbia Paper reports that the Village of Philmont has convinced the Town of Claverack that the Village should not have to pay taxes on properties it owns outside Philmont in Claverack. Village Trustee Brian Johnson spoke at the June Village Board meeting saying that not-for-profit organizations don't have to pay town taxes, with the single exception of the village, and that Philmont residents already pay Claverack town taxes on their own properties. "Last month, the Town Board denied Philmont the exemption by a vote of two ayes, one nay and two abstentions (three ayes were needed to pass the exemption). Then in a special meeting last week the town took up the question again, and this time the Town Board granted the exemption by a vote of three ayes and two abstentions," Simonds reports. The story says the Village now has hopes of getting out of similar taxes from Columbia County and the Taconic Hills school district, and has hired Albany attorney Paul Goldman to work on the project. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
Philmont allows chickens
Chris Simonds in The Columbia Paper reports in that same article that Philmont Village Attorney Robert Fitzsimmons unveiled a proposal to regulate allow, with a Special Use Permit, livestock, poultry, fowl, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, bees for “personal non-commercial use” on residential properties, provided:
•The critter weighs less than 100 pounds
•The lot where it is kept is not less than an acre (thus keeping animals out of high-density neighborhoods), and the animal area is not less than 100 feet from the property line
•Animal areas are fenced, and animals are provided with shelters to prevent escape or predatory attack
•Animal waste is stored under cover or composted.
•Up to five animals are permitted on any one property; an additional beast is allowed for each 8,000 square feet over one acre. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
A guide to the DEC's latest gas drilling plan
Julia Reischel in The Watershed Post has the most complete coverage of the proposed regulations that would start high-impact hydraulic fracturing natural gas drilling in New York. "It's officially a draft of a draft. But a 736-page document from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, released to the media on Friday, brings New York State one step closer to allowing natural-gas horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing," she writes. The full draft is now on the WGXC Newsroom for anyone to peruse.
59152281 Preliminary Revised Draft SGEIS 7-1-11
Chris Simonds in The Columbia Paper reports that the Village of Philmont has convinced the Town of Claverack that the Village should not have to pay taxes on properties it owns outside Philmont in Claverack. Village Trustee Brian Johnson spoke at the June Village Board meeting saying that not-for-profit organizations don't have to pay town taxes, with the single exception of the village, and that Philmont residents already pay Claverack town taxes on their own properties. "Last month, the Town Board denied Philmont the exemption by a vote of two ayes, one nay and two abstentions (three ayes were needed to pass the exemption). Then in a special meeting last week the town took up the question again, and this time the Town Board granted the exemption by a vote of three ayes and two abstentions," Simonds reports. The story says the Village now has hopes of getting out of similar taxes from Columbia County and the Taconic Hills school district, and has hired Albany attorney Paul Goldman to work on the project. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
Philmont allows chickens
Chris Simonds in The Columbia Paper reports in that same article that Philmont Village Attorney Robert Fitzsimmons unveiled a proposal to regulate allow, with a Special Use Permit, livestock, poultry, fowl, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, bees for “personal non-commercial use” on residential properties, provided:
•The critter weighs less than 100 pounds
•The lot where it is kept is not less than an acre (thus keeping animals out of high-density neighborhoods), and the animal area is not less than 100 feet from the property line
•Animal areas are fenced, and animals are provided with shelters to prevent escape or predatory attack
•Animal waste is stored under cover or composted.
•Up to five animals are permitted on any one property; an additional beast is allowed for each 8,000 square feet over one acre. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.
A guide to the DEC's latest gas drilling plan
Julia Reischel in The Watershed Post has the most complete coverage of the proposed regulations that would start high-impact hydraulic fracturing natural gas drilling in New York. "It's officially a draft of a draft. But a 736-page document from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, released to the media on Friday, brings New York State one step closer to allowing natural-gas horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing," she writes. The full draft is now on the WGXC Newsroom for anyone to peruse.
59152281 Preliminary Revised Draft SGEIS 7-1-11