Town of Rochester Tentative Tax Roll Posted Online  (4/3/11)

Rochester Residents Association Scholarships  (4/3/11)

Town Government News  (4/3/11)

Historic Farm Presentation – April 15th  (4/3/11)

Target: Rondout Valley Teachers  (4/3/11)

Rondout Valley schools chief seeks union concessions, freezes own pay  (4/3/11)

Kerhonkson Elementary School should stay open, head of Rondout Valley panel days  (4/3/11)

Legislative Redistricting  (4/3/11)

Two men accused in Stone Ridge pizzeria break-in  (4/3/11)

Police Blotter  (4/3/11)

Note to Readers - Community Service Organization (3/15/11)
Town of Rochester Rail Trail Line to the Eastern Correctional Facility (3/15/11)

Town of Rochester Earth Day Festivities (3/15/11)

Notice of 30 Day Agricultural District Addition of Land to Agricultural Districts (3/15/11)
Appointments by the Town Board at the February 3, 2011 Town Board Meeting: (3/15/11)
Nominations Sought for Annual Mary Lee Fiend of Youth Recognition Award. (3/15/11)
Little Ones Learning Center Thriving but in need of funding. (3/15/11)
Tax Rolls Readied After Revaluation (3/15/11)
RVSD In Turmoil (3/15/11)
More Rondout Valley School Budget Woes (3/15/11)
Police Blotter (3/15/11)
Opinion/Letters (3/15/11)

Fire Department Blood Drive (2/17/11)
Town Supervisor notes 2010 accomplishments (2/17/11)
Rondout Valley weighs pros, cons of district's three elementary schools (2/17/11)
Rondout Valley forms committee to mull school closure (2/17/11)
$26M debt puts Kerhonkson hotel at risk (2/17/11)

Police ID victims in fatal snowmobile crash (2/17/11)
Hundreds attend service for corrections officer who died in crash (2/17/11)
Electrical fire at Kerhonkson motel damages bathrooms (2/17/11)
Accord man accused of raping acquaintance (2/17/11)
Police Blotter (2/17/11)

Thank you

Tax Roll Available Online

Town Government News

Statewide deadline is March 1 for property tax exemption filings

Woman who escaped Rochester house fire thanks rescuer, seeks missing cats

Woman rescued from burning house in town of Rochester

Friends of Little Ones

Visions of the Valley 2011 Calendar

Ulster County man declares candidacy for President

SmartBells program offers whole-body stimulation

Rondout Valley accelerates plan to close an elementary school

Three Ulster County residents arrested in New Paltz in connection with robbery

Police Blotter

Rochester man faces child endangerment charge

Letters

If you’d like to make a year-end donation, you can make a check payable to Rochester Food Pantry and mail it to PO Box 12, Accord, NY 12404

By Terence P. Ward

 

ACCORD – How badly pressed has the Rochester Food Pantry been in recent years? The service, tucked into a tiny space behind the Accord Fire District building, was mentioned as a bellwether of the local economy at a recent school board meeting, when one resident said that increased demand was evidence that residents can't afford the higher taxes of keeping all school buildings open.

So has there been an increase in demand on the food pantry?

 

"Absolutely," says Ron Bonner, the food pantry's treasurer. "We're serving more than ever. We've seen a huge increase." This past year saw a 12.5% rise in demand for food packages, the smallest increase the pantry has seen in recent years. The worst hit came in 2008, when the number of food packages went up a whopping 70%.

According to Wilma deJager, the food pantry has made it as easy as possible to receive food for as long as it's been open, nineteen years this month. "We've always agreed not to ask too many questions," she said, although they do ask a few. Families are only eligible for one package of food each month, each good for four days of meals, so the volunteers check ID. In addition, they must get a signature each year to comply with the conditions of some of the grants they receive. Grant money accounts for about a third of the pantry's income.

 

The bulk of the food pantry's money comes from donations, and they have managed to keep up with the tremendous increase in demand. "2008 brought in more donations than ever," says Bonner. "People recognize that there's a need, and they have responded."

 

A large chunk of those donations come by way of the Rochester Residents Association, which runs a donation campaign for the pantry each year. Zali Win, President of the RRA, says that they get a good response because of "recognition that there is hunger in the community," and "the realization that, for a lot of people, things aren't getting better quickly."

 

Donations which are sent to the pantry can buy more food than an ordinary family can, because they do most of their purchasing through a regional food bank, which sells the food for as little as ten cents on the dollar. Another important cost-saver comes from Stewart's milk cards, which the convenience chain sells to the pantry at a significant discount.

 

Non-perishable food donations are always welcome, and won't sit on the shelves for long, but due to the relationship with the food bank, the food pantry can really stretch a dollar. "As the treasurer, I prefer cash donations," joked Bonner, "but we appreciate food as well."

 

The milk cards, which allow the family in need to pick up a gallon or a half-gallon of milk, also save the food pantry space. Even still, the small room can barely hold all the food that's ordered monthly from the food bank, such is the increase in demand.

 

"The shelves used to be two-thirds full after we picked up our order," deJager recalls. "Now it's hard to find room for everything." Last month volunteers had to find room for 4,000 pounds of food on the shelves.

 

The pantry operates by appointment only, so any family in need of an emergency food package should call and leave a message at 626-7501. Volunteers listen to the messages and set up appointments to come in and pick up the food, or to drop off food donations. Financial contributions can be mailed to P.O. Box 12, Accord, New York.  (Shawangunk Journal, 12/8/2011)

The Town Board adopted a resolution opposing the proposed closing of the Wawarsing State Police Barracks (the next closest barracks are in Kingston and Wurtsboro)

Highway Superintendent Wayne Kelder is preparing a road condition inventory at the request of the Town Board in anticipation of FEMA funding.

Friday, December 9, 2011

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE

Correspondent

 

ACCORD — Town Rochester  Supervisor Carl Chipman sees updating the town’s comprehensive plan as a priority for 2012 following a key court win that supported changes to town zoning codes.

 

Chipman on Tuesday said the economy has emphasized the need to have business-friendly land-use regulations.

 

“It would be nice to see some businesses start coming in and have some commercial growth,” he said.

“We had litigation on our zoning and won in appeals court and right now we’re in the waiting period to find out if they’re going to appeal the appeals court decision,” Chipman said. “Once that clears all its hurdles then we can start reviewing our comprehensive plan.”

 

Chipman said zoning amendments need to be updated to accommodate uses that have arisen while the proposed law was being challenged.

 

“Certain uses, like a film studio, which we never had in our law, have been things that have been waiting to get into our law,” he said.

 

Other successes in 2011 included finishing the town Veterans Park near Town Hall and increasing recreation opportunities.

 

“The park was an eight-year job that we finally came together on,” Chipman said. “We were also able to expand our summer program and our after-school program. We have a free after-school program at our community center, which goes a long way to helping a lot of single moms go off to work and not have to worry about their kids.”

 

Chipman said rising costs for elections and welfare expenses billed by Ulster County have been the most difficult part of 2011.

 

“When I first got into office, Safety Net costs (were) $35,000 a year,” he said. “Now our forecast for next year is going to be around $154,000. ... The same thing with the election charges that used to be between $9,000 and $11,000 depending on whether you had a primary, and what they’re forecasting for us next year is going to be $44,000.”

 

The budget has also been impacted by a reduction in property sales and state aid cuts.

 

“It’s crazy the way revenue streams are drying up and then you put a 2 percent tax cap on (the property tax levy) and that made it even more interesting,” he said.

 

“I’ve watched mortgage receipts go down to nothing,” Chipman said. “My predecessor was getting $350,000 a year. I’m lucky if we get $175,000.”

 

Chipman expects tight state and local budgets will have a significant impact when cold weather sets in.

 

“After the first of the year that’s when the emergency heat program kicks in,” he said. “HEAP has been cut in half this year and for a lot of our seniors it comes down to a choice of ‘do I heat my house or do I take my medicine?’” (Freeman 12/9/11)

 

By KYLE WIND

 

 

KYSERIKE — The four  scenarios rejected by a committee studying how to restructure the Rondout Valley school district’s grade levels after Rosendale Elementary School closes in June were ruled out largely because of the cost associated with them, members say.

 

School board Trustee Breanna Costello, the Reconfiguration Committee’s co-chair, said she could not support plans that would add instructional costs to the budget.

 

Trustee David O’Halloran, also a committee co-chair, said the process is not only about maintaining academic programs, but also about basic survival as the district faces declining enrollment and state aid, rising contractual and mandated costs, and a state-mandated property tax cap.

 

The first proposal the committee opted to remove from consideration called for three K-5 elementary schools — two at the current Kerhonkson and Marbletown elementary schools and one within the middle school building, along with a grade 6-8 middle school and the 9-12 high school.

 

District Superintendent Rosario Agostaro said such a model would require hiring two additional fifth grade teachers  among other challenges associated with the proposal, ranging from scheduling problems to art and music likely being “on a cart” at the elementary level.

 

A plan for the same three elementary schools to house grades K-6 was eliminated in part because it would also require two additional fifth grade teachers, although school officials also balked at the plan requiring fifth graders to transition from the middle school to an elementary school in 2012-13, then back to the middle school for seventh grade in 2013-14.

 

Similarly, a three K-5 elementary school model (including one in the middle school building) that called for the high school to house grades 8-12 was also rejected, with the requirement of hiring two additional teachers as among challenges cited by Agostaro. He mentioned several other problems, ranging from a lack of equity in class sizes to logistical and academic issues having to do with building use, scheduling, and dividing seventh and eighth graders.

 

A scenario that would have converted Marbletown Elementary School into a grade 7-8 building was ruled out after current middle school Principal William Zimmer, a member of the district’s Transition Task Force, described retrofitting the building for older students and adding lockers and locker rooms as “not cost effective.”

 

The school board last week ruled out another scenario submitted by community members that would keep Rosendale Elementary School open and move fifth grade to district elementary schools. O’Halloran said the board rejected the proposal because it does not close a school building, as trustees had previously agreed to do. (Freeman 12/8/11)

Mombaccus Excavating Inc.’s legal challenge to the Town of Rochester’s Zoning Code adopted in 2009 was rejected in a unanimous decision of the New York State Appellate Division.  Mombaccus asserted that the Zoning Law failed to fulfill many requirements of the NY State Environmental Quality Review Act and that it unfairly discriminated against Mombaccus’ sand and gravel mining business on Rochester Center Road.

DWI: Glen J. Paszkowski, 49, of Accord, was charged by state police in Wawarsing with aggravated drunken driving and drunken driving,  at 5:30 a.m. Saturday on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Rochester. Paszkowski also was charged with felony aggravated unlicensed operation. Further information was unavailable. (Freeman 12/10/11)

 

Order of protection: Shawn L. Williams, 44, of 429 Mill Hook Road, Accord was arrested Saturday at 8:20 p.m. by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies after he allegedly violated an Ulster County Court Order of Protection. Deputies said they responded to a report that Williams was observed by the victim standing in the back yard watching her and friends while there was a stay away order of protection in effect. They said Williams had left the residence prior to the arrival of patrols but was located later in the evening and charged. He was released on his own recognizance with a ticket to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 12/19/11)

To the Rochester Residents Association:

 

It’s amazing and heartwarming how many people and groups come out to help at this time of year.  We so appreciate all of you!  We served about 127 people at our annual Thanksgiving Dinner between those who ate here and deliveries.  We ran out of just about everything, but everyone got fed.  Last year it was about 90.   What would we do without all of you. 

 

Happy holidays, we  hope they area as wonderful as you!

 

Thank you so much,

Sincerely,

Carol & Valerie

Town of Rochester Recreation Department

In the past six weeks, people in the community have donated nearly $10,000 to the Rochester Food Pantry’s annual fund drive. 

 

The all-volunteer Rochester Food Pantry provides meals to families in need 365 days a year.  In the past two years, the needs in our Town have increased significantly, providing 30,000 meals to 664 families in the past twelve months alone.

 

Last year, residents contributed more than $12,000; we’d like to meet that number again this year.  If you have not already contributed, please consider a tax-deductible year end donation.  Checks can be made payable and mailed to:

Rochester Food Pantry

PO Box 12

Accord, NY 12404.

The Town Board adopted Rocheter’s 2012 budget, which reflects a 2.15 percent decrease in the tax levy.  Supervisor Carl Chipman presented his proposed budget at a budget workshop meeting on October 20^th.  The combined highway and general budget is $3,312,605, with anticipated revenues of $1,183,667 and expenditures of $300,000 from unspent funds balance, leaves $1,828,941 to be raised by taxes.  The largest increase was in “safety net” expenditures – up to $150,000 from $90,000 last year.  (based on Blue Stone Press 11/4/11)

 

By KYLE WIND

 

KYSERIKE — The Rondout Valley school district has formed a Transition Task Force to make the planned closure of Rosendale Elementary School go more smoothly for students and staff.

The task force, which includes teachers, school administrators, and parent-teacher group leaders, will also participate in the grade reconfiguration process.

Central office administrators on the task force include Timothy Wade, the district’s deputy superintendent, and Michelle Donlon, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

All building principals are on the task force: Patricia Robbins of Rosendale Elementary School, Laura Ayasse of Kerhonkson Elementary School principal and William Cafiero of Marbletown Elementary School; William Zimmer of Rondout Valley Middle School and Andrew Davenport of Rondout Valley High School.

Teachers on the task force  include Frank Doblekar of Kerhonkson Elementary, Lora Kishel of Rondout Valley Middle School, Robert McDonough of Rondout Valley High School, and Sheryl Delano, who teaches at the middle school and is president of the Rondout Valley Teachers Federation.

Parent-teacher group representatives include Lori Traver, president of the Rosendale Parent-Teacher Association; Teresa Carlucci, president of the Marbletown Parent-Teacher Federation; Dawn VanKleeck, president of the Kerhonkson Parent-Teacher Association; and Deb Silverman, vice president of the Rondout Valley Middle School Parent-Teacher Association. (Freeman 12/2/11)

 

By PATRICIA DOXSEY

 

KINGSTON – It appears as though Rochester Republican Terry Bernardo will be the next chairman of the Ulster County Legislature.

Minority Whip Kenneth Ronk, meanwhile is looking to move up the GOP’s leadership chain. Ronk said he’s told his caucus he “would be honored to be their majority leader if they put their faith in me.” Ronk, R-Wallkill, who will begin a third term in office in January, is looking to fill the spot now held by outgoing Legislator Paul Hansut. Hansut was elected Lloyd town supervisor.

With its top leadership leaving office in the new year, the Ulster County Legislature’s Republicans will be looking to new people to lead both the GOP caucus and the Republican-controlled county Legislature. Although the Legislature chairman is technically elected by the full legislative body, because the GOP holds the majority, Republicans can elect a chairman without Democratic support. Republicans will hold a 12-11 majority in January.

Bernardo and Legislator James Maloney emerged as early contenders for the seat, however Maloney on Friday said he is “not actively seeking” the position.

“I was approached by several individuals and I’m truly flattered by the bipartisan support, but I’m not seeking the chairmanship, said Maloney, R-Ulster.

Bernardo, who will begin serving a second term on the Legislature in January, had made a short-lived bid to become chairman this year, but bowed out to avoid a caucus fight for the post.

This year, however with no opposition, it appears she is on track to become the Legislature’s first chairwoman.

Bernardo dismissed as “ludicrous” the suggestion that deals were struck with her husband, Independence Party Chairman Len Bernardo, to give her the votes needed for election to the position, saying that she has in fact told him explicitly “to stay out of it.”

In 2008, Len Bernardo ran unsuccessfully against Michael Hein for county executive. Bernardo endorsed Hein’s 2011 bid for re-election.

Bernardo said that if elected she would work to unify what has become an increasingly fractured Legislature as well as reshape the body to better reflect its role in the new charter form of government.

“I think I’m a really good administrator and the office is in need of some new ideas,” said Bernardo.

In the Democratic caucus, Minority Leader Jeannette Provenzano, D-Kingston, said she is not seeking another term as the Democratic minority leader. “I’m not going to put my name in and fight for a position or campaign for it,” she said. “Certainly, if they wanted me to stay, I would, but I’m very open to a change.”

Legislators Hector Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, and Richard Parete, D-Accord, however are said to be interested in the leadership position. Parete could not be reached for comment Friday. Rodriguez, the party’s current minority whip, acknowledged that he is looking to move up to the majority leader’s seat.

Both caucuses are expected to choose their leaders in the coming weeks.

The full Legislature will elect its chairman in January. (Freeman 11/27/11)

(Bernardo represents Rochester in the Ulster County legislature)

ACCORD — Candidates for town of Rochester offices were unopposed in Tuesday’s election, so the outcome came as no surprise.

Supervisor Carl Chipman received 1,061 votes to secure his third two-year term. He has said his priorities are maintaining essential services while dealing with decreasing revenue streams, an overtaxed population and unfunded mandates.

Incumbent Town Board member Tavi Cilenti received 845 votes to secure his second four-year term, while Brian Drabkin received 821 votes to secure his first full term on the board. Drabkin previously served on the Town Board in 2002 and 2003. Cilenti has said the town needs to maintain a steady tax rate or reduce taxes if possible and should also join with other towns to seek relief from state mandates. Drabkin has said he wants to provide the services the town needs while not increasing the tax burden.

Incumbent Highway Superintendent Wayne Kelder received 936 votes to secure his 13th two-year term, while incumbent Judge Albert Babcock III received 899 votes to secure his fourth four-year term. (Freeman 11/8/11)

WAWARSING — A 44-year-old Kerhonkson man died Tuesday in a one-vehicle rollover crash on Berme Road.

State police said Christopher Faust was operating a 1996 Dodge pickup southbound on Berme Road about 6:50 p.m. when he apparently lost control of the vehicle and left the roadway. Police said the vehicle struck an earth embankment, overturned and came to rest on the roadway.

According to police, responding rescue personnel removed Faust from the vehicle and found that he had died. They said an autopsy is scheduled for Friday and the investigation into the cause of the accident is continuing. (Freeman 11/24/11)

KINGSTON — A 23-year-old Kerhonkson man has been convicted again by an Ulster County jury of violent felony sexual abuse of an 8-year-old.

The state Court of Appeals had overturned a previous conviction of Marcos A. Fernandez of Foordmore Road in the case.

Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright on Tuesday said Fernandez was convicted by a jury on Monday of violent felony sexual abuse and misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child.

Carnright said the crimes occurred in 2005 at the home of Fernandez when the victim was 8 years old. The Ulster County Family Violence Unit handled the investigation.

Carnright said Fernandez was previously convicted of the same crimes against the same victim in a jury trial in Ulster County Court on Jan. 13, 2009, but the verdicts were overturned by the Court of Appeals. He said the Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court had restricted testimony of the girl’s family.

“This is a tough case. It is difficult for a young victim to go through a case like this once,” Carnright said. “I appreciate the strength and courage she showed in being subjected to the process a second time,” he said.

Carnright said his staff had explained to the girl and her family the risk of going to trial and that not every case is successful. “We, of course, had to explain that to her again, but, to her credit, she and her father said they were willing to take that chance,” he said.  (Freeman 11/23/11)

DWI: Lawrence T. Brown, 40, of Olivebridge, was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving and misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content greater than .08 percent by state police in Wawarsing at 1:14 a.m. on Saturday on Samsonville Road in the town of Rochester. Brown was released on an appearance ticket. (12/3/11)

 

 

Grand larceny: Richard J. Apicerni, 49, of 406 Samsonville Road, Kerhonkson, was charged Thursday with felony grand larceny. Ulster town police said they began investigating the theft of a snow plow from a local business on Nov. 10. With the assistance of state police at Ellenville, officers were able to find Apicerni and identify him as the person responsible for the theft of the plow, police said. As part of the investigation, the plow, worth $4,000, was found and is to be returned to the owner. On Tuesday, Apicerni was arrested by state police on unrelated charges, police said. Police said Apicerni was arraigned and sent to Ulster County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. On Thursday, Apicerni was charged with felony grand larceny in relation to the plow, police said. Police said he would be arraigned and returned to the jail in lieu of the original bail. (Freeman 11/18/11)

 

 

 

 

Weapons possession: John A. Anderson, 44, of Kerhonkson was arrested Saturday at 5:12 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with felony possession of a weapon, assault rifle, and three misdemeanors; possession of a weapon, firearm; discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment. Additional information was not available. (Freeman 11/8/11)

 

Probation violation: Christopher Arotta, 23, of Kerhonkson, was arrested Monday at 4:30 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with felony violation of probation. He was held by police pending further proceedings.  (Freeman 11/2/11)

 

 Probation violation: Akhenaton H. Russell, 28, of Kerhonkson, was arrested Monday at 4:30 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with felony violation of probation. He was held by police pending further proceedings.  (Freeman 11/2/11)

 

DWI: Lauren E. Aitken, 25, of Accord, was arrested at 1:08 a.m. Friday on Mettacahonts Road by state police at Wawarsing on a charge of misdemeanor drunken driving. She was released with a ticket to appear in Rochester Town Court. (11/12/11)

Drugs: Jessica A. Barnwell, 33, of 121 Sidney St., Accord, was arrested at 7:54 p.m. Thursday by Rosendale police on misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance, use of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. Barnwell was arrested following a traffic stop on Lucas Avenue, police said. Ulster County sheriff’s deputies assisted, police said. Barnwell was arraigned in Marbletown Town Court and sent to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $7,500 bail. (11/12/11)

 

 

Drugs: Samantha M. Smith, 35, of Accord, was arrested by state police at Highland Monday at 8:30 a.m. and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, and petit larceny, both misdemeanors, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. She was issued tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 10/26/11)

Rondout-Esopus Land Conservancy is hosted a celebration to honor Walter Levy upon his retirement as the Conservancy’s president on September 10th.  Levy, who has served on the Conservancy’s Board since 2003 and as its president since 2006, oversaw a period of significant change in the organization’s local presence.  During his tenure, the Conservancy added four new conservation easements, permanently protecting more than 150 acres of open land from development.  Significantly, Levy also worked extremely hard to update the Conservancy’s operating practices to ensure the organization’s future sustainability and recruited a new team of volunteers and boardmembers. 

 

“Walter has worked tirelessly for the past eight years to strengthen RELC’s finances and to build a firm foundation for future growth,” said Robert Anderberg, general counsel of Open Space Institute and RELC boardmember.  “It’s been a pleasure working with him.”  Levy will be succeeded as president by Robert Rominger, a resident of Accord.

 

Rondout-Esopus Land Conservancy has worked with property owners to preserve approximately 3,000 acres in Ulster County and is the county’s largest land trust after Mohonk Preserve.  The group recently announced plans to seek accreditation from the Land Trust Alliance.

Bernardo beats Michailescu

Incumbent County Legislator Terry Bernardo handily defeated challenger Manuela Michailescu in the Republican Primary on September 13^th by a margin of 2.5 to 1.  They will face each other in the November election.  Bernardo carries the Republican and Independence Party lines and Michailescu carries an independent line called the “Liberty Coalition.”   There is no Democratic candidate.

 

Chipman Selected

Rochester Democrats endorsed incumbent Carl Chipman for Town Supervisor at their nominating caucus on September 10.  Chipman is also endorsed by the Conservative and Republican Parties.  There are no other candidates.  Also running unopposed in the November election are:  Tavi Cilenti and Brian Drabkin for Town Council; Albert Babcock for Town Justice, and Wayne Kelder for Highway Superintendent.

(from Blue Stone Press, Robert Ford)

 

RVCSD property owners will see a 3 to 10 percent hike in their school taxes this year, after board of education members approved a resolution to collect taxes at their August 23 meeting.

 

Rochester property owners will see a 6.1 percent increase in their school taxes and will pay $16.26 per $1,000 of valuation (vs. 3.3%; $15.61 for Marbletown and 10.4%, $17.26 for Rosendale)  (Blue Stone Press 9/2/11)

Monday, September 19, 2011

By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff

KYSERIKE — Former three-term Rondout Valley school board Trustee Michael Redmond has rejoined the Board of Education.

Redmond, 65, said Friday crafting the 2012-13 budget and the discussion about school consolidation should be the board’s top priorities leading up to May, when the seat he was appointed to will be filled by voters.

Redmond, who last served on the school board in 2009, is filling the seat of former Trustee William Oliva, who resigned last month. Redmond, a retired New York City reservoir supervisor had chaired the board’s facilities committee when it developed plans for capital projects at the high school and served on the Budget Committee, and he hopes his experience will be an asset to the process.

It is important to keep non-mandatory programs like sports, music, and the arts, said Redmond, adding that given the fiscal climate, consolidation could help school officials keep programs intact.

Still, he said, he wanted to “research the whole school system” before forming opinions about what should be done.

Redmond’s appointment was approved 5-3 by the rest of the board, with Trustee Gail Hutchins voting for Wayne Beckerman, Trustee Matthew Finck voting for former board member Pamela Longley, and Trustee Breanna Costello voting for Teresa Carlucci from seven candidates who sought the seat, according to District Clerk Debra Barbiani.

Asked whether he will seek a full term at the end of his temporary appointment, Redmond said he was not yet sure.

Voters will fill five seats on the board in May, including one to which Kerhonkson resident David O’Halloran was appointed after former board Vice President Lennart Berg resigned. O’Halloran has said he will not seek a full term.

Other board members whose terms will be up are Finck, Hutchins, and Costello. (Freeman 9/19/11)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

KERHONKSON — Three people were seriously injured in a Tuesday morning car crash in Kerhonkson involving a Boar’s Head truck and a Subaru Forester, according to the Accord Fire District.

Lt. Peter Nelson said the driver and a passenger of the Subaru had to be extricated with the Jaws of Life extrication tool.

Nelson said he believes the truck was headed west on Samsonville Road, and the Forester was headed east when they collided just before noon.

The collision left the Boar’s Head truck turned on its side, said Nelson.

The driver and passenger of the Forester and the driver of the truck were injured and were hospitalized, said Nelson, who was not aware of the condition of each. (Freeman 8/25/11)

• Criminal impersonation: Melissa A. Quick, 32, of Accord, was arrested at 12:28 a.m. Saturday and charged by state police at Wawarsing with misdemeanor criminal impersonation. She was sent to Ulster County Jail on bail. (Freeman 9/19/11)

To my very giving and generous community:

 

I want to say think you so very much for the amazing scholarship I received.  I was in the middle of figuring out how I was going to pay for tuition when I received your gift.  I am extremely grateful for what my community has done for me.  I am determined to keep on giving back to this amazing community.  This summer, have had three fundraisers for our local soup kitchen (Queen’s Gallery), and my last one is in two weeks.

 

Thank you for inspiring me to do great things.

 

Thank you.

 

Candy Vazquez

(2011 Rochester Residents Association Community Scholarship Recipient)

Manuela Mihailescu is challenging incumbent Terry Bernardo.

Supervisor: Carl Chipman

Town Board: Tavi Cilenti and Brian Drabkin

Town Justice: Al Babcock

Highway Superintendent: Wayne Kelder

August 2011

Town Board will hold a public hearing August 25 regarding Local Law 1-2011, which would restrict parking on town-owned parking lots between 9pm and 6am.

Town Board approved resolution to mow Whitfield Cemetery for up to one year as Cemetary board re-organizes.

 

July 2011

Planning Board to re-review proposed Body of Truth expansion Plans.

Town Board asks residents to contact County Commissioner of Public Works to ask for stop sign or traffic light at Lucas Ave./County Route 6 (Kyserike Rd) intersection.

Town Board discussed hydrofracking

Town Clerk reports on Town Record archiving

Town Board tables resolution supporting “Valley of the Giants” proposal

Mombaccus Sand and Gravel files response to judge’s decision to dismiss lawsuit in zoning law protest suit regarding 269-acre mine on Rochester Center Road.

Get Real Books opened recently behind Paradise Tanning on Route 209 (just south of Kyserike Road).  Open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 to 7pm.  4627 Route 209.

KYSERIKE — The Rondout Valley Board of Education has unanimously appointed Kerhonkson resident David O’Halloran to fill a vacancy on the board and now is seeking applicants for a new vacancy.

O’Halloran, 50, a manager at the Pine Grove Ranch and Family Resort, replaces former board Vice President Lennart Berg, who resigned after taking a job as vice president of sales at Atalanta Corp. in New Jersey in April.

O’Halloran, who has been an outspoken member of the public at board meetings, said he has no plans to run for a seat in May, when his appointment expires.

The new trustee said he hopes to help the district find operational efficiencies, like households and businesses have, in order to preserve staffing needed to provide a quality education.

The other vacancy was created by the resignation of Trustee William Oliva, a former board president.  District Clerk Debra Barbiani said Oliva cited personal reasons in his letter of resignation.

The board will accept letters of interest until Sept. 2 from people who want to fill the seat and will interview candidates on Sept. 13.

Maxwell Finestone passed away August 15^th , a few weeks after celebrating his 89^th birthday with family and friends. A longtime resident of Accord, NY, Max is fondly remembered for his devotion to family, his intellect, warmth, sense of humor and longtime commitment to political and social causes.

 

Max was born on July 28^th, 1922 in Boston, the son of Anna (Saunders) and Samuel Finestone, and spent much of his childhood in Ithaca, New York. He attended Northeastern University and Ithaca College before volunteering for the Merchant Marine during World War II. After the war he completed his undergraduate education with a degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

 

In 1953 he met and married his wife of 58 years, Annette Chait. They ran Chaits Hotel in Accord for more than twenty-five years. Hundreds of former guests and staff have profound memories of their time at Chaits, a resort for “delightful, talented, and creative guests”, known for its diversity and eclectic style.

 

After selling the hotel in 1978, rather than “retire”, Max continued his dedication to social and political causes on both the local and national levels.  When asked why, he answered “to make the world a better place for my children and my children’s children”. Max chaired the Democratic Committee and the Town of Rochester Environmental Conservation Commission, and also volunteered with Meals on Wheels and the Accord Town Pantry. 1980, he served as an election observer in Nicaragua. Actively participating in a number of progressive Presidential campaigns, from Henry Wallace to Ralph Nader, Max liked to joke that he was proud to have been part of a series of “losing causes”.

Max was a dedicated political activist, an actor in community theater and a world traveler. With his resonant voice and his impeccable timing, he could tell a joke like no other and will always be remembered for his unmatched sense of humor.

 

He is survived and forever loved by his wife Annette, daughters Laura and Lisa, son-in-law David Skillicorn, grandchildren Eva Chait Skillicorn and Michael Skillicorn, extended family the Stones and the Goldsmiths, and countless dear friends.

 

A celebration of Max’s life will be held at the family home at 150 Mill Hook Rd. in Accord NY, on September 24^th at 3pm. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Max’s honor to the Rosenberg Fund for Children or Planned Parenthood.

Margaret Mary Hayes-DuMond HIGH FALLS- Margaret Mary Hayes-DuMond "Peggy" of High Falls, passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 2, 2011. She was 59 years old. Peggy was born on June 6, 1952 in NYC; she was the daughter of the late Margaret and John Hayes. Mrs. DuMond summered in the area since she was a child. She graduated Queens College in 1978 and received a Bachelor's Degree in Education. She eventually moved to High Falls and had worked as the Administrator for the Kingston School System. She loved to garden, was an avid reader and an active community volunteer. On Oct. 1, 2005 she married Kelly DuMond. She is survived by her Rottweilers; Sweet Pea, Buttercup and Roisen, her brothers Ryan Hayes of Queens and John Hayes and his wife Loretta of Manhattan and 1 granddaughter Julianna. Visiting will be held on Saturday, Aug. 6 from 2 to 4 & 7 to 9 p.m. at H.B. Humiston Funeral Home, 30 42nd St., Kerhonkson, N.Y. A Celebration of her life is scheduled for that evening at 8:30 p.m. at the funeral home. Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Peggy's name to Ulster County SPCA, 20 Wiedy Road, Kingston, N.Y., 12401. To send a personal condolence to Peggy's family please visit www.hu mistonfuneral home.com

Rik Rydant, a High Falls historian is trying to get more recognition for Marc Chagall's sojourn in HF. He is organizing an exhibit that will be displayed at the Canal Museum which may end up being a prototype for a future Chagall Museum. At any rate, there is a benefit dinner to support the project.

 

How did the cows and chickens, flowers, farms and churches, little villages and denizens of the hamlet of High Falls influence the iconic imagery of one of the world’s best known and loved painters, Marc Chagall? To find out, and help others learn about Chagall’s High Falls history, please join our host, restaurateur John Novi, for a special dinner on Saturday, September 10, at 6:00 p.m. Proceeds will make possible the D & H Canal Historical Society and Museum’s unique exhibit and educational programs celebrating Chagall’s life and work in High Falls from 1946 to 1948, where he lived, loved and created some of his most celebrated works. The DePuy Canal House is on Route 213 in High Falls. It is just two miles from Chagall’s former home on Mohonk Road (opposite Stokes Way) where, describing himself as “so wildly free,” he produced over 90 paintings, illustrations and lithographs that convey the full range of human experience and emotion. Tickets begin at $125 and include a complete five course dinner and wines, a tour of the exhibit and a listing in the exhibit program. Your contribution, less $75 per attendee, is may be considered charitable for tax purposes and is tax-deductible. For reservations, call John Novi at 845-687-7700

 

 

The museum, located at 23 Mohonk Road in High Falls, will host the exhibit from Friday, September 2 (Labor Day weekend) to Sunday, October 30 It will include vintage photographs of Chagall, his companion Virginia Haggard, and their family taken by noted Belgian photographer Charles Leirens. It will also feature full-size replicas of Chagall’s most famous and critically acclaimed paintings and lithographs executed in High Falls, now in major museums around the world, including the groundbreaking Four Tales from a Thousand and One Arabian Nights.

 

 

Thanks to your generosity, the exhibit will boost our local economy by bringing a substantial number of area residents and tourists into our business district. You will also enable the Museum to engage and educate area residents of all ages through special programs focused on Chagall’s personal, creative and political lives. These will include local histories, discussions of the impact on his work of his family and the rural environs of High Falls, readings of the poetry and prose he composed during that period and opportunities for children to explore Chagall’s art.

We have a great High Falls story to tell about one of the world’s greatest artists.

 

The mid-1940’s was a challenging time in Chagall’s life. In 1944, Bella, his beloved wife, died. And information reaching the public on the extent of the Holocaust in the Europe he had barely escaped from in 1941 confirmed his worst nightmares. Moving to High Falls in 1946, Chagall dealt directly with both great losses by creating some of his most memorable images. He was inspired by Virginia and the beautiful rural environment of High Falls that reminded him of his home in Russia, and supported and encouraged by his daughter Ida and NYC gallery owner Pierre Matisse.

 

The exhibit committee includes High Falls residents Barbara Esmark, Gary Ferdman, John Novi and Rik Rydant , and from Hurley, Nadia Scoggins, owner of the Stone House B&B, and Tecia Poulas.

 

For hours and more information on the D & H Canal Historical Society and Museum, please visit their web site, http://www.canalmuseum.org/, or call 845-687-931

             (August 15, 2011, Gardiner, NY…..) The following program will be offered at Minnewaska State Park Preserve on Sunday, September 18th from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.:

            Come to Minnewaska State Park Preserve to meet new friends, help improve trail conditions and learn about basic trail maintenance from experienced trail keepers.  Join members of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, a region wide volunteer organization devoted to maintaining and improving public trails, and Park Preserve staff to help improve an existing footpath.  Volunteers will use hand tools to clip back overgrown shrubs and clear woodland debris.  More experienced trail volunteers interested in more challenging trail work are also encouraged to participate.

            This program is recommended for adults and teenagers, who must be accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 18 years.  Students in public school looking to accrue necessary community service hours for completion of their requirements may be particularly interested in volunteering for this program. 

            Participants are encouraged to bring their own work gloves and tools including loppers, bow saws and clipping shears. The parking fee will be waived for participants volunteering for this program.  Please wear appropriate clothing, sturdy hiking shoes, and bring plenty of snacks, water and lunch.  For more information and to register for programs, please call the Park Office at 845-255-0752.   Pre- registration is required.  

              For more information and to register for programs, please call the Park Preserve Office at 845-255-0752.  The Park Preserve will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at this time. The fee for parking at Minnewaska is $8 per car.  All fees are subject to change. There are no additional fees for public programs, unless noted otherwise.  Minnewaska State Park Preserve consists of approximately 21,000 acres of wild and scenic land located on Route 44/55, five miles west of the intersection with Route 299 in Gardiner, New York. 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

HIGHLAND — A Kerhonkson woman has been charged with stealing more than $31,000 from a local business while employed as a bookkeeper there, police said.

Ashley M. Arnold, 28, was arrested Monday on felony charges of grand larceny, forgery and falsifying business records. Town of Lloyd police said Arnold is accused of stealing more than $31,000 over a nine-month period while she was employed as a bookkeeper for Atlantic Concrete.

Arnold was arraigned in Lloyd Town Court and sent to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.  (Freeman 8/17/11)

WAWARSING — State police have arrested a 16-year-old and an 11-year-old  in connection with a string of burglaries and larcenies  over the past several weeks in Kerhonkson.

State Police Senior Investigator Stan O’Dell of the Wawarsing barracks said police on Wednesday arrested Justin T. Galewaler, 16, of 37 Old Mine Road, Kerhonkson and charged him with two counts of felony burglary and misdemeanor petit larceny.

The 11-year-old was not identified.

O’Dell said the two youths were involved “in a little crime spree,” all within walking distance of their homes. “We were able to recover stolen items in the homes or hidden in the woods,” he said.

O’Dell said state police put in “a tremendous amount of work” in the last couple of weeks trying to determine who was doing the break-ins, both to homes and vehicles.

“We’re still working on the case and trying to track down homeowners and vehicle owners to determine if the merchandise we have recovered belongs to them,” O’Dell said.

O’Dell said police talked to possible suspect after possible suspect, who finally led them to the accused. He said the investigation indicated that Galewaler had broken into several homes in the Kerhonkson area, along with numerous parked vehicles along U.S. Route 209 and Old Mine Road.

O’Dell said taken from two homes were a variety of items, including a firearm, fishing equipment, electronics and other weapons.

He said items taken from  vehicles included keys, change, sunglasses and other personal effects within those vehicles.

O’Dell said the 11-year-old was referred to Family Court. Continued...

Following arraignment before Rochester Town Justice Albert Babcock, Galewaler was released on his own recognizance pending further court action.

O’Dell stressed that the state police investigation is continuing. “Anyone in and around the immediate area of Old Mine Road in Kerhonkson who is missing items from their home or car, or was the victim of a burglary or theft from their vehicle or yard should contact us,” he said.

State police at Wawarsing can be contacted at (845) 626-2800.

ACCORD — Charges have been dropped against a 49-year-old Accord man who had been accused of raping a 35-year-old female acquaintance at his residence, according to his attorney.

Reynaldo Ramirez, of 1 Cedar Drive, had been arrested on charges of felony rape and the misdemeanors of unlawful imprisonment and assault, state police at Ellenville had said.

But Ramirez’s attorney, Joseph O’Connor of Kingston, said the victim in the case has retracted her claims and the charges were dismissed in Town of Rochester Court.

The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office referred questions about the case to the town of Rochester Court. Officials with the court could not be reached Monday afternoon.

Police had said they had received a complaint Jan. 25 about a sexual assault that occurred at a private residence the day before. Investigation showed that the 35-year-old woman was driven by Ramirez to his residence and while there was forcibly raped by him and kept against her will, police said. (Freeman 8/16/11)

TOWN OF ROCHESTER — An Accord man faces drunken driving and vehicular assault charges after a Sunday morning crash that seriously injured three people.

Matthew Kalaschenkow, 20, of Mettacahonts Road, Lot 7, was operating his vehicle on Granite Road when it struck a tree and overturned, according to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office.

Kalaschenkow suffered head, neck and back injuries. Passenger Amanda Graham, 21, of Lucas Avenue, Cottekill, suffered head trauma including a severe cut on the left ear. Matthew Skeen, 18, of U.S. Route 209, Kerhonkson, another passenger, injured his right shoulder.

Kalaschenkow and Graham were taken to Ellenville Hospital, then airlifted to Albany Medical Center, police said. Skeen was taken to Kingston Hospital.

Kalaschenkow was charged with the felonies of vehicular assault and reckless endangerment; driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor; speed not reasonable and prudent, failure to keep right and unlicensed operation, all violations. He was released on tickets to appear Aug. 17 at Town of Rochester Court. (Freeman 7/25/11)

Dumb Vandals Hall of Shame: Police had an easy time tracking the culprits who spraypainted graffiti on a new bridge in Kerhonkson. The vandals apparently painted their names on the bridge. (Mid-Hudson News Network photo)

The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office has charged two teenagers with spraying graffiti on the new bridge over the Rondout Creek in Kerhonkson.

Deputies said Facebook postings by concerned groups and individuals led them to the two suspects, who are ages 13 and 15 and live in Kerhonkson. The suspects were arrested Monday and Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said; their names were not released.

Each was charged with two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief and ordered to appear in Family Court on Aug. 10.

The bridge, known to locals as the 42nd Street Bridge, connects the two sides of the hamlet of Kerhonkson. It reopened late last month after a 21-month construction project.

The bridge was closed in late 2008 because of structural deficiencies.  (Freeman 7/28/11)

KINGSTON — Two individuals were arrested Saturday on charges they sold alcohol to an underage individual as part of a law enforcement operation, deputies said.

Zhi G. Shen, 34, of 11 Ardsley St., Kingston, an employee of Rosendale Wine and Spirits on state Route 32, Rosendale, and William E. Morgan III, 24, of 661 Ulster Landing Road, Lot 9, Saugerties, an employee of the Accord Kwik Mart on U.S. Route 209, Accord were each charged with misdemeanor selling or providing alcohol beverages to a person less than 21 years of age. Both men were released on a ticket to appear in the local town court.

Members of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office conducted an alcoholic beverage control law enforcement operation focused on alcoholic beverage sales to individuals under the age of 21, deputies said. Deputies said 16 other establishments were checked and found to be in compliance.

The establishments in compliance were: Sunoco Mart in Rosendale; Cumberland Farms in Rosendale, Citgo Mart in Rosendale; Stewarts Shop in Rosendale; Crossroads Deli in Cottekill; Stone Ridge Citgo; Stone Ridge Mobil; Rondout Valley Grocery in Accord; Accord Wine and Spirits; PX Express in Kerhonkson; PX Mart in Kerhonkson; Kerhonkson 209 Market; Kerhonkson Discount Beverage; Stewarts Shop in Kerhonkson; Sunoco Food Mart in Kerhonkson; and Valero in Kerhonkson. (Freeman 7/11/11)

DWI: Harry Phillips, 40, of Kerhonkson, was charged Sunday at about 6:25 p.m. with driving while intoxicated and reckless endangerment, misdemeanors, according to state police at Wawarsing. The suspect was arrested along Cherrytown Road in the town of Rochester, police said.  (Freeman 8/16/11)

 

Criminal mischief: Cory E. Watkins, 25, of Kerhonkson, was charged with felony criminal mischief; the misdemeanors of criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child; and harassment, a violation, by state police at Wawarsing at 3:34 p.m. related to an incident reported in the town of Rochester. He was being held in lieu of cash bail. (Freeman 8/10/11)

 

DWI: Antonia Santiago, 29, of Kerhonkson, was charged Saturday at about 3:05 p.m. with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, according to state police at Wawarsing. The suspect was arrested along state Route 209, police said. (Freeman 8/8/11)

 

DWI: Raymond J. Williams, 26, of Kerhonkson was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving and misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle with blood alcohol content greater than .08 percent by state police in Ulster at 7:35 p.m. on Friday on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Ulster. Williams was released to a third party. (Freeman 7/31/11)

 

DWI: Matthew Miller, 27, of Kerhonkson, was arrested at 4:10 p.m. Saturday by state police at Wawarsing and charged with two counts of drunken driving and aggravated unlicensed operation, both misdemeanors. He was issued tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 7/15/11)

 

Drugs: Belinda M. Vanleuven-Wolf, 49, Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Ellenville Sunday at 6:10 p.m. at 25 Indian Road and charged with operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs, a misdemeanor. She was issued an appearance ticket. (Freeman 7/12/11)

 

Unlawful imprisonment:  Walter L. Relyea, 57, of 10 Academy St., Kerhonkson, was arrested by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies Thursday at 3 p.m. and charged with burglary, a felony; and unlawful imprisonment and mischief, both misdemeanors. Deputies said Relyea had broken into the home of a female acquaintance and physically restrained her as she tried to call 911. He was arraigned in Wawarsing Town Court and released on his own recognizance. (Freeman 7/9/11)

 

DWI: Erica L. Shultis, 24, of Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Wawarsing at 3:55 a.m. Monday following a traffic stop on North Main Street and was charged with drunken driving and facilitating aggravated unlicensed driving, both misdemeanors. She was issued appearance tickets for Wawarsing Town Court. (Freeman 7/6/11)

Local artist Pat Travis Rosenberg is the featured artist at The Gallery, Prudential Nutshell Realty, Stone Ridge NY.  The show, “Horse, Eye to Eye,” showcases Pat's large pastels capturing the expression of the horse. Opening reception on July 16, 1-3 pm and will continue through September 10.

Route 213 between Binnewater and Cottekill Roads will be closed from July 5 to August 4 to finish road repairs near the Snyder Estate in Rosendale.

The Kerhonkson bridge connecting Main street and 42^nd Street/Route 209 was rededicated after nearly two years of construction on June 29^th.  The bridge had been closed to due structural problems and was completely replaced with approximately $4.7 million in federal economic stimulus money.  The bridge was dedicated to the late Herbert Poppel, who died in 2000.  Poppel was a WWII veteran, Wawarsing Town Justice and a life member of the Kerhonkson Fire Dept.  He also served in the Ulster County Legislature and was active in the Kerhonkson Lions club, the Kerhonkson Synagogue and the Cub Scouts.

State's highest court refuses to hear ShopRite appeal

 

By Michael Novinson

Times Herald-Record

06/30/11

 

NAPANOCH — No more legal obstacles stand between Walmart and their proposed 132,000-square-foot store on the Napanoch Valley Mall site.

 

New York state’s highest court refused Tuesday to hear an appeal from ShopRite and a Wawarsing citizens’ group to halt the project based on environmental, traffic and community character concerns. ShopRite has a store in Wawarsing, a mile down Route 209 from the proposed Walmart site.

 

“Everything is positive at this point,” said Wawarsing Supervisor Lenny Distel, who supports the project.

 

A state Appellate Court panel ruled in favor of Walmart in March, concurring with an earlier state Supreme Court ruling. The Court of Appeals rarely takes cases in which the two lower courts have reached the same decision.

 

Wawarsing supervisor Lenny Distel expects construction to start after July 4 on a smaller shopping plaza for the four businesses still operating in the Napanoch Valley Mall. The Napanoch post office will need to be relocated to the new site over the Nov. 11 Veterans Day Weekend.

 

After that, the abandoned mall will be demolished so that a new Walmart structure can go up in its wake. The store is scheduled to open in November 2012, Distel said, and will provide roughly 250 full- and part-time jobs.

 

 

Bruce G. Schoonmaker died on June 19 at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, NY at the age of 73 after a long battle with heart disease. Born Jan. 6, 1938 in Kingston, he was the son of the late Anna H. and Grant A. Schoonmaker. Bruce was a life resident of Accord except for his early childhood when he lived at Yama Farms Resort in Napanoch, NY.

 

Bruce was a Senior Education Specialist at IBM, where he worked for 38 years. He was a member of IBM’s Quarter Century Club and frequently told stories of the many times he met IBM founder Thomas J. Watson. After Bruce retired in 1992, he was named Security Supervisor and later Security Department Director at the Kingston Hospital before retiring in 2009. He also served as an Ulster County Deputy Sheriff for several years and was a longtime Constable and Court Officer of the Town of Rochester Justice Court.

 

Bruce was a life member of the Accord Fire Company, which he served for 56 years and was a Trustee of the Pine Bush Cemetery Association for 40 years. He was a former Town of Rochester Assessor and a long time member of the Board of Assessment Review. Mr. Schoonmaker loved all animals, and spent many happy years with various canine companions. His appreciation of the outdoors started as a youth when he hiked the Shawangunks with his father, who was one of the last fire rangers to man the Smiley fire tower at Mohonk.

 

He was an avid reader, movie buff and local historian with a large collection of articles, postcards, and historic photographs of Ulster County. Bruce enjoyed dining with friends every week and vacationing in Las Vegas, Lake George and the Jersey Shore. He enjoyed spending time with his grandsons, Nicholas, Aidan and Jace. Survivors include his wife of 46 1/2 years, Beverly Christiana Schoonmaker, a daughter Christine J. Barnes and her husband Jeffrey of West Hurley, a son Steven B. Schoonmaker and his wife Thuy and their sons.

 

“From the minute I first met Bruce, we were instant friends. The kind generous person who embodies what being a friend and neighbor is all about. I miss him every day,” said Lynn Archer, a neighbor and Town Council member. “Bruce was welcoming and generous – he quietly and anonymously distributed food baskets and gifts to needy families during the holidays and went out of his way to contribute to the community” said Zali Win, president of the Rochester Residents Association.

 

The Rev. Sara Tweedy-Thomson presided at a Celebration of his life on June 23 prior to his burial at Pine Bush Cemetery, Kerhonkson. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Bruce's memory to the Spectrum Service Foundation, 70 Kukuk Lane, Kingston, NY 12401 and/or the National Humane Society, 4039 Gunn Highway, Tampa, FL 33618.

Brian Demorest Sr died on June 1 at his home in Accord.  He was 42.  Demorest was born on August 29, 2968 I Kingston to Beverly (Osterhoudt) Demorest and the late David Demorest.  He was a graduate of Rondout Valley High School and owned Demorest Boxing in Kingston for over 15 years.  He enjoyed photography, biking and kayaking and was a member of the Old Dutch Church in Kingston.  In addition to his mother, Beverly of Accord, he is survived by his children, Brian and Megan Demorest of Kingston, his brothers, George of Kerhonkson and Scott of Accord and his maternal grandmother, Ruth Osterhoudt of Ellenville.  A Celebration of his life will be held on July 16 at 1pm at the Accord Fire House on Main Street.  Donations may be made in Demorest’s name to the Old Dutch Church, 272 Wall Street, Kingston, NY 12401.

Notice is Hereby Given, that the undersigned, the assessor of the Town of Rochester, County of Ulster, New York has completed the assessment roll for said town, for the year of 2011.

A certified copy thereof has been filed in the office of the town clerk of the Town of  Rochester on the 1st of July 2011 for public inspection.

Dated this 1st day of July 2011

Cynthia Stokes - Sole Assessor, Town of Rochester

Webmaster Note:

The 2011 Assessment Roll is now viewable on the Town website

Go to http://www.townofrochester.net/Pages/index

and follow the link to the Assessment Roll posted on the home page. 

The Roll is also viewable from a link on the Assessor's Office page.

Our thanks to the Ulster County Real Property Service Agency for their aid in accomplishing this

TOWN OF ROCHESTER — Real Escapes Property LLC and Dr. Simone Harari are applying for a permit to expand the spa and the fitness business at the Body of Truth Holistic Spa.

The proposal includes a new gym; a 2,500-square-foot, three-season pavilion; office and spa  additions; a pond expansion; and a sauna house.

The project is to be discussed by the Ulster County Planning Board during a meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Surrogate’s Court on the third floor of the Ulster County Office Building, 244 Fair St., Kingston; and at a town of Rochester public hearing at 7 p.m. July 12 in the Town Hall, 50 Scenic Road, Accord. (Freeman 7/1/11)

Sunday, July 3, 2011

 

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE

Correspondent

 

GARDINER — Neighboring property owners say the non-profit Mohonk Preserve and its partner agency, the Shawangunk Conservancy, have used intimidation and fraudulent documents to add to the preserve’s 7,000 acres.

 

The allegations are in response to two lawsuits filed by the Mohonk Preserve in state Supreme Court in disputes over land ownership.

 

In one case, Karen Pardini and her husband, Michael Fink, are awaiting a ruling on the ownership of a 71.45-acre portion of a 300-acre parcel in the town of Rochester.

 

In the second case, oral arguments were completed this month, but legal documents still are being filed.  In the suit, the Mohonk Preserve is seeking to clarify boundaries of a 14-acre property in the town of New Paltz. The suit, which names Christopher Ullrich, Sarah Emond, Thomas Marks and Helen Ullrich as defendants, contends a neighboring parcel has been used for access to preserve property to cut firewood and that “No Trespassing” signs have been removed from preserve property.

 

As for the 71.45 acres claimed by  Pardini and Fink, the Mohonk Preserve, citing a paper trail dating to 1881, argues that deeds show the property is among holdings it obtained through previous purchase. The dispute represents the third legal battle in the past 16 years over ownership of various sections of a 300-acre parcel purchased by the couple from Marellan Associates and the fifth case overall for Fink stemming from the land disputes.

 

In 2004, the Mohonk Preserve  charged Fink with trespassing on preserve property, but the case was dismissed. Fink subsequently filed a suit charging the arrest amounted to malicious prosecution. That suit was settled for an undisclosed sum.

 

Mohonk Preserve Executive Director Glenn Hoagland acknowledged the settlement but declined to discuss details because of restrictions in the agreement. He did say the organization was forced to ask state police to intervene in the 2004 case because Fink was being disruptive.

The first case overall was won by Pardini and Fink in 1997, when the Shawangunk Conservancy claimed ownership of more than 136 acres. Fink said the conservancy sought property that actively was used by the Mohonk Preserve and that false documents were used to support the conservancy’s case.

 

“The deed that the conservancy claimed the property by was certified to Mohonk Preserve,” Fink said. “Their name (Mohonk Preserve) was on the deed. Mohonk Preserve posted the property. Mohonk Preserve installed a cable across the access.”

 

In 2005, the Mohonk Preserve filed suit against Fink and Pardini, claiming it owned a 38-acre parcel. The couple settled by selling the land for $15,000.

 

“We settled the case because she didn’t want to go through any more,” Fink said, referring to his wife. “At the time, we’d been in court since 2004 (with the trespassing cases). It affected our lives big time, cost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, and she didn’t want to go on. At that time, (Pardini) was stressed, so we made a settlement.”

 

Hoagland says the 1997 case involving the Shawangunk Conservancy should not be associated with his organization.

 

“It is a separate non-profit organization,” he said. “We were not involved as a party to that, we weren’t named in any judge’s decision, we weren’t called to testify. It’s a huge stretch to say we were involved in that case.”

 

Hoagland said his organization has cordial relations with most owners of properties abutting the Mohonk Preserve.

 

“It’s over 250 contiguous neighbors, and we’re in court with two of them,” he said.

 

The case against Christopher Ullrich and his domestic partner, Emond, as current property owners, and Marks and Helen Ullrich involves a boundary dispute. Marks and Helen Ullrich are the parents of Christopher Ullrich. They owned property adjacent to the Mohonk Preserve that they sold in 2005 to their son and Emond.

 

Christopher Ullrich said the case was initiated after Mohonk Preserve officials came to him with claims that he was clearing land deeded to the preserve by a previous owner.

 

“They presented me with a map ... and said that the prior owner agreed that the line was here (and) ‘we’d like you to sign a boundary line agreement,’” he said. “So I showed the map to my father. He’d never seen the map, and, basically, it turned into a lawsuit from there. Then they didn’t even end up using that map. Interestingly enough, the map they have (and produced for the court case) refutes the first map.”

 

Hoagland said Ullrich has declined to produce surveys supporting claims to boundary lines, but he contends there is about a 20-foot margin of difference in ownership claims between the two sides.

 

“(Christopher Ullrich) bought the property in 2005 and, shortly thereafter, started making incursions seeking private gain onto Mohonk Preserve property,” Hoagland said. “As a land conservation organization ... we hold these lands as a public trust, and our job is to defend the lands entrusted to us to prevent these kinds of incursions.”

 

Other property owners also have complained about tactics used in boundary and title disputes by preserve officials, as well as by the Shawangunk Conservancy.

 

One persistent critic has been Sue Boice Wick, who began following what she calls “bullying” tactics after she said her grandmother was the victim of improper efforts to acquire land in the town of Rochester that had been in the family since 1918.

 

“The original piece she had ... was 3.75 acres,” Wick said. “All of a sudden, it disappeared off the assessment tax roll sometime after 1950.”

 

The change was found by Fink in 1997 and brought to the attention of Wick’s family, which ultimately was given title to the property as a 3.26-acre parcel.

 

“Nobody noticed it was missing because my grandmother died (in 1960), and my mom was busy raising nine kids,” Wick said. “Mohonk had known that there was an error as early as 1992, but they didn’t do anything about it.”

 

Hoagland said the preserve actually restored ownership to Wick’s family after conducting surveys to review its own land holdings. “Those lands were incorrectly assessed by Ulster County, which is often the case” he said.

 

Wick, a professional property deed title examiner, said her mother was contacted in 1988 about another parcel that Mohonk Preserve officials wanted to buy.

 

“They told her that if she didn’t sign it over to them for a couple hundred dollars, they were going to take her to court and she wasn’t going to get anything,” she said. “The outcome of that was that my mother called me crying. … So I had her set up a meeting and got (a Mohonk Preserve representative) to say the same thing, then told him to get out of the house.”

 

Wick also said a town of Rosendale property listed at 5 acres was purchased by the Mohonk Preserve at a tax sale in 1987 for $1,400 but since has expanded to 22.59 acres after the preserve conducted surveys. She said that is one of several tactics used by the organization to expand its holdings.

 

“They create conflicting chains of title, enhance their surveys, they piggyback their deeds, they change the assessments, they threaten, they lie to people and talk people into selling their land for peanuts,” she said. “They’ll chain off an access road, and then they’ll tell people they’re landlocked now, (saying), ‘We’ll give you a key, but you’ll never be able to sell your property because we own the road.’”

 

Hoagland said it’s not surprising that acreage would be adjusted after being purchased by the Mohonk Preserve.

 

“All property the preserve acquires is subject to survey and the normal deed transaction, so if acreage changes, it probably means the surveyor got a look at it and found the deed didn’t match the acreage that was being advertised,” he said. “That’s very common in real estate transactions.” (Freeman 7/3/11)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

 

By PATRICIA DOXSEY

Freeman staff

 

KINGSTON — One of the two men responsible for the 1996 bludgeoning death of 15-year-old Joseph Martin will remain behind bars for at least another two years.

 

A state parole board earlier this month denied Alexander Barsky parole, calling Martin’s slaying “a violent malicious act,” and that to release Barsky now “would so deprecate the seriousness of the ... offense as to undermine respect for the law.”

 

The ruling came as welcome news to Martin’s family, who spent more than a decade wondering what had become of him on that fateful night in March 1996 when he slipped out of his Krumville Road, Kerhonkson, home, ostensibly to watch comets with Barsky and Daniel Malak. He was never seen again.

 

His disappearance remained unsolved until May 2008, when, under renewed questioning by state police, Barsky admitted that he and Malak, both 15 at the time, beat Martin with a pipe and hid his body in a crevice in a nearby rock ledge.

 

Barsky was charged with murder and, in August 2008, pleaded guilty in Ulster County Court to one count of felony manslaughter, saying that he intended to cause Martin harm, but not to kill him. In statements to the court, he said that he and Malak devised a plan to “hurt” Martin because, he said, Martin had stolen from him. Barsky said that Malak hit Martin twice on the head with a steel pipe and that he, Barsky, then hit the unconscious or dead Martin twice more on the legs.

 

Barsky was sentenced to 3 1/3 to 10 years in state prison, the maximum sentence allowed under state law for a juvenile convicted of first-degree manslaughter.

 

Cathaleen Martin-Lightstone, Martin’s mother, said she, Martin’s stepfather Lance Lightstone, and Martin’s sister, Emily, appeared before the parole board to ask that Barsky remain behind bars.

In their statements, the family talked about the loss of their son and brother and Barsky’s seeming concern over Martin’s disappearance.

 

“He used to come to the house right off the bus with Joe’s older brother, William, and was always asking, “Did you hear from Joe today? Does anybody know what’s going on? And the whole time he knew,” Martin-Lightstone told the parole board, according to a transcript of their appearance.

 

“It was a cold thing to do,” she said. “I hope he has to serve the maximum that is allowed.”

 

Martin-Lightstone said she learned Friday that Barsky’s parole had been denied. “We’re very happy about the decision,” she said. “We’re relieved.”

 

Barsky will be eligible to go before the parole board again in 2013. Lightstone said the family intends to attend that hearing as well, to again protest Barsky’s possible release.

 

He is eligible for release in 2015.

 

Malak was convicted of murder in Martin’s death following a four-day trial in September 2010. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

 DWI: Shane D. Avery, 26, of Kerhonkson, was charged with misdemeanor aggravated drunken driving, misdemeanor drunken driving and misdemeanor aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle by state police in Wawarsing at 9:51 p.m. on Friday on Samsonville Road in the town of Rochester. Avery also was charged with the traffic infractions of leaving the scene of a property damage accident and unsafe lane change. He was released on appearance tickets. (Freeman 7/3/11)

 Grand larceny: Caleb K. Kanney, 29, Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Ellenville Sunday at 10:50 a.m. and charged with grand larceny and forgery, both felonies. He was released on his own recognizance. (Freeman 6/28/11)

 DWI: Corinna C. Nichols, 44, Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Ulster Thursday at 10:36 p.m. at state Route 28 and charged with drunken driving and operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content exceeding .08 of 1 percent, both misdemeanors; and two traffic infractions. She was issued an appearance ticket. (Freeman 6/25/11)

 Falsely reporting an incident: Timothy Laurange, 46, of 4653 U.S. Route 209, Accord was arrested Sunday at 10:20 p.m. on misdemeanor charges of falsely reporting an incident, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration, as well as the violations of harassment and disorderly conduct. Ulster County sheriff’s deputies said Laurange was arrested after he called 911 to report that judgment day was coming. While deputies were investigating the incident, Laurange attempted to hide his cellular phone and then began fighting with deputies to try to avoid arrest, deputies said. Laurange was released on tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 6/23/11)

DWI: Tracy A. Warren, 30, of Kerhonkson, was arrested at 10:49 p.m. Wednesday on Samsonville Road by state police at Wawarsing on misdemeanor charges of drunken driving and possession of a controlled substance. She was released on tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 6/23/11)

 Drugs: Eva A. Rogers, 53, of Kerhonkson, was arrested at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday and charged with criminal possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor, according to state police at Wawarsing. Rogers  was arrested at 55 Indian Road in Wawarsing, police said. (Freeman 6/17/11)

DWI: Dashiell W. Stratton, 37, of Accord, was charged Wednesday with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, according to state police at Wawarsing. Stratton was arrested on U.S. Route 209 in Wawarsing at about 11:05 p.m., police said. (Freeman 6/17/11)

Assault: Cayla M. Hoffman, 18, of Kerhonkson, was arrested Tuesday at 3:41 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with assault and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors, and disorderly conduct, a violation. She was issued tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 6/16/11)

Drugs: Nelson P. Mazzella, 51, of Kerhonkson, was arrested Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with misdemeanor possession of a hypodermmic instrument. He was issued tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 6/16/11)

Tuesday, May 17, 6am to 9pm, RV Schools District Office, Kyserike Road, Accord.

If you are unable to vote in person, an absentee ballot application can be downloaded from:

http://www.accord-kerhonkson.com/SchoolDistrictAbsenteeApplication.pdf

Note: the deadline is approaching quickly.

The Bret Adams Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,500 will be awarded to a graduating high school senior from the Town of Rochester who has demonstrated a strong dedication and serious interest in the performing arts.   

The $1,000 Rochester Residents Association Community Scholarship will be awarded to a graduating high school senior from the Town of Rochester who demonstrates leadership and academic promise.

Both scholarships will be awarded under the auspices of a Scholarship Committee appointed by the RRA and is funded by the RRA's members.  Application deadline is May 15.

For further information, including an application visit:

www.accord-kerhonkson.com/scholarships.htm

Sunday, May 8, 2011

 

 

KYSERIKE — Rondout Valley school district voters on May 17 will choose three of five candidates to serve three-year terms on the Board of Education.

 

Incumbent Trustees Kent Anderson, James Ayers and Pamela Longley are joined on the ballot by James Blair and Peri Rainbow.

 

Rainbow, 51, cited more use of “low- or no-cost” community resources to help meet the demands of providing a better education in a tough fiscal environment.

 

Rainbow cited partnerships with area higher education institutions, the use of volunteer mediators and the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network’s Safe Schools Roundtable as examples of community resources that not only can enrich students’ educational experience, but also help teachers tackle tough topics like bullying.

 

A SUNY New Paltz adjunct professor who teaches educational studies, women’s studies and psychology classes, Rainbow said she aims to improve the district’s culture to one in which students and teachers feel safe, accepted and included, and which allows everyone to focus on academics and improving student achievement.

 

During tough economic times, Rainbow said, the district should lean more on parents and volunteers to, for example, supervise students on school buses.

 

She said she also wants the atmosphere between the school board and public to be more open and inclusive.

 

Rainbow, who holds a master’s degree in humanistic multicultural education from SUNY New Paltz, lives on Buck Road in Stone Ridge with her spouse, Tamela Sloan, an assistant principal at Grove Street Academy in Kingston, and her 15-year-old daughter, a Rondout Valley High School student.

 

Longley, 38, cited among her top priorities finding new ways to bring in revenue or cut costs, like sharing services, contracting out in areas where money can be saved and using the district’s reputation for its “strong special education” program to get non-district residents to come to Rondout Valley and pay tuition.

 

A paralegal assistant at the Ulster County Attorney’s Office, Longley also wants “to improve the climate in the district for all stakeholders” along with district communication overall. She said the district should foster an environment in which everyone feels like they are heard and respected and that nurtures learning at all levels.

 

Longley, who is seeking her third term on the board, said it also is important to integrate technology with the academic program to give students the skills they need to succeed in 21st century workplaces.

 

Longley said she wants students to graduate with critical and analytical thinking skills, good judgment, confidence, a love of learning and a general feeling of empowerment that will make them succeed at whatever they do in life.

 

Longley, who lives on Old Clove Road in High Falls, has a child in the district.

 

Blair, 70, cited bringing “a more pragmatic” approach to contracts with district employees among his top priorities. He said a big problem facing the district now is the intersection between school officials’ past agreements to “generous” compensation with the current fiscal realities of declining state aid and rising pension and health insurance costs.

 

A retired Manhattan commercial litigation attorney, Blair said employee costs have become unaffordable, citing the approximately 50 positions being cut in the district’s proposed budget for 2011-12. He said it is important to come up with budgets that not only work for employees, but also are affordable for district residents.

 

Blair, a member of the Marbletown Property Tax Reform Task Force and the New York State Property Tax Reform Coalition, also is a proponent of consolidating the district’s schools, saying it seems inevitable. He said the district is paying Westchester County-like costs per student and getting only average performance.

 

Blair was part of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine force from 1962 to 1967, reaching the rank of lieutenant. He graduated from Dartmouth with a master’s degree in math and from Harvard Law School.

 

He lives on Krom Road in Stone Ridge with his wife, Wendy, a retired property administrator for New Zealand’s mission to the United Nations. They have a 29-year-old daughter.

 

Ayers, 67, cited renegotiating the contract with the Rondout Valley Federation of Teachers among his top priorities. The contract between the union and district calls for 4 percent raises on top of 2 percent step raises for 2011-12 and expires at the end of that school year.

 

The retired Rondout Valley math teacher also listed “rightsizing” the school district as a need. He said an elementary school probably will have to be closed, given declining enrollment and tough economic times. The matter, however, still needs more study, he said.

 

Ayers, who is seeking his fourth term on the board, said that with new statewide teacher evaluations coming down the pike next year, developing the part of the process in which there is local discretion also will be important. Issues, he said, include developing assessments, which must include ways to evaluate special education, art and physical education teachers,  and ironing out an appeals process.

 

The president of the Ulster County School Boards Association, Ayers also expressed disappointment in the district’s progress in addressing English language arts scores. He listed that as another priority.

 

Ayers holds a master’s degree in math from Florida State University. He lives on Samsonville Road in Kerhonkson and has two children, ages 31 and 23.

 

Anderson, 58, said improving curriculum and relationships between staff members and the administration are among his priorities. He described those relationships as strained at present.

 

“Both sides need to emphasize being collegial rather than adversarial,” he said.

 

Anderson said consolidating the district’s schools is important to him because of the district’s declining enrollment and the difficult fiscal climate.

 

Anderson, who is seeking his fourth term on the board, is a private-practice attorney in Kingston. He received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

 

He lives on Candlewood Lane in Stone Ridge with his wife, Gail, a retired teacher. They have two children, ages 23 and 26.

(Freeman 5/8/11)

 

 

By Terence P. Ward

 

ACCORD – In a contentious 6-3 decision the Rondout Valley Board of Education approved a spending plan of just under $59 million, which will be put up for a vote on May 17. This was after a slightly higher figure was rejected, also by a vote of 6-3. The plan, which reduces spending by about 2% over last year by eliminating some fifty jobs, would result in a four percent increase to the tax levy should it be approved by voters.

"The reason the total goes up is because the state keeps taking money away," said Vice President Lennart Berg, who was concerned that any deeper cuts would cause irreparable harm to school programs.

 

William Oliva, however, didn't think the cuts were large enough. "With a five percent drop in students, we have a seven percent increase in per-student spending," he said. "It's a significant increase."

 

"That increase perfectly fits the increase in contractual obligations and pensions," said Berg. "It's exactly where it should be."

 

The final amount, $58,816,943 according to calculations made on the fly by Business Administrator Debra Kosinki, factors in $97,000 in savings from a contract settlement with the Rondout Valley Administrators' Association, as well as a music teacher retirement. Those last-minute changes led to some quick jockeying of numbers to shore up the art and music programs, but the details left some board members frustrated.

 

"This is a last minute decision," said member Matthew Finck. "We only received this information yesterday, and we haven't had a chance to review it." Similar sentiments were reflected by music teachers in the audience.

 

What followed was a discussion about how to distribute art and music teachers to ensure that elementary and middle school students received adequate instruction. Lennart Berg proposed voting on the figure which had been suggested prior to the last-minute changes, which was voted down 6-3. More discussion ensued over how to organize staff under a smaller budget.

 

Chris Kelder was concerned that the board was focusing too much on the details, rather than the big picture. "We set policy," he said. "We're not supposed to micromanage — I for one won't. We should vote on Rosario's recommendation, and trust the administrators" to distribute staff in the best way possible.

 

For the approved budget, the three dissenting votes were cast by Breanna Costello, Lennart Berg, and William Oliva. Oliva then pushed for the board to adopt a contingency budget number right away, saying that he wanted to give the voters a choice.

 

"One choice we are not giving the community is to spend more," said Kent Anderson, pointing out that this had been requested numerous times during public comment.

 

Upon hearing from Agostaro that Oliva's proposed contingency would cut an additional fifteen positions, James Ayers said, "You can't gut the school district for one year." He recommended a "carefully crafted exit poll" because he believed that "if they vote this down, it may be because it's too low."

 

President Gail Hutchins agreed with the sentiment that there was no need to decide on a second figure unless the first budget proposal failed. "This has been the most emotional budget I think we've ever worked on," she said. "We don't need to go there right now." (Shawangunk Journal 4/21/11)

 

Mombaccus Excavating filed an appeal with the NYS Appellate Division of the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a challenge to the Town of Rochester’s new zoning law.  Mombaccus, a sand and gravel company owned by Keith Kortright and located on at 269 acre parcel on Rochester Center Road, is seeking the full invalidation of the zoning code, adopted by the Town Board in September 2009. 

Redistricting Commission Agrees on a Map

 

By Paula Sirc

 

KINGSTON – Following weeks of contentious meetings and some eight iterations of maps, the reapportionment commission reluctantly, but unanimously adopted a legislative districting plan.

Referred to as the Benkert and Messina alternative, the final map addressed some of the concerns expressed about creating the cohesiveness in the town of Shawangunk that previous versions lacked.

 

The final version expands the Ellenville district, number 15 on the map, and splits the Shawangunk and Wallkill prison populations across two districts, a move that Legislator Ken Ronk, R-Wallkill, called fair.

 

"There are a lot of people from both towns who work at the prisons," he said.

 

The seven-member commission unanimously approved the plan, but the two Republican appointees, Bill West and Michael Catalinotto, expressed reservations about the 10-year plan, saying the commission failed to thoroughly examine a weighted voting plan based on town boundaries.

 

Catalinotto said the commission was directed by the Charter to maintain town lines and that weighted voting would allow each town to retain its identity. The districting plan "ceases to be 'one man, one vote.'"

 

"We've accomplished a conglomeration, a homogenization and a cannibalization of towns with the product we are going to submit to the legislature," the Saugerties attorney argued.

 

West said the vote is bittersweet because he felt it disenfranchised people from their government. He called it "a sad, sad day for our communities" because the commission did not consider weighted voting.

 

"Towns do matter," he said. "Towns are people; towns are the culture and social center of areas."

 

In a weighted voting plan, the preferences of some voters carry more weight than the preferences of other voters, a system that Gerald Benjamin, former dean of SUNY New Paltz, who chaired the Ulster County Charter committee, said is "unconstitutional and would provoke legislation."

 

As outlined in the Charter and voted into law in 2006, the final plan uses 2010 census data to convert 12 multimember districts with 33 legislators, into 23 single-member districts. The new districts each contain approximately 7,900 people.

 

A handful of legislators argued for changes to their respective districts during Monday night's public comment segment, but, in the end, the commission left the version unchanged.

 

During public comment, town of Rochester's county planning board member Mike Baden told the board that if they could justify every line they made on the map, then they should vote on the plan and not try to appease everybody.

 

West concurred, saying that there "wasn't one point raised by the public that we have not looked at one, two or three times."

 

"There comes a point after you've had unlimited discussion that you have to draw a line in the sand, for better or worse," the commissioner said.

 

Of Ulster County's twenty towns, six are kept whole in the final plan, including the town of Rochester.

 

If adopted by the legislature, the redistricting plan will force several primaries among the current legislative body. Republican incumbents Mary Beth Maio and Majority Leader Paul Hansut, both of Highland, could face each other and longtime legislator Frank Felicello of Marlboro in a September primary for District 10.

 

In Saugerties, 16-year incumbent Robert Aiello will contend with Walter Frey for a seat in District 2 and Republican Catherine Terrizzi of Wallkill could challenge Conservative Jack Hayes of Gardiner for District 16.

 

In District 15, which encompasses the village and outlying areas of Ellenville, Democrat Joe Stoeckeler could square off against fellow Democrat and village manager, Mary Sheeley. Democrat Mike Madsen could face former legislative chairman David Donaldson for the city of Kingston's District 6. And, in District 23, which includes Woodstock and West Hurley, Democrat Donald Gregorius could challenge Roy Hochberg.

 

There are currently no incumbents in District 14, which includes most of Wawarsing and part of Shawangunk, in District 1, comprising the northwest section of Saugerties, and in District 22, which is composed of the towns of Olive, Shandaken, Hardenburgh and Denning.

 

The legislature will hold a public hearing and is expected to vote on the districting plan at the end of the month. (Shawangunk Journal 5/5/11)

Police Blotter

Aggravated harassment:  Charles E. Kelsey, 23, of 63 Ridgeview Road, Kerhonkson, was arrested by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies Friday at 2 a.m. and charged with aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor. According to deputies, Kelsey threatened to break the legs of another person in a phone conversation. He was released on his own recognizance. (Freeman 5/7/11)

 

DWI: Robin C. Scates, 48, of Kerhonkson, was arrested about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday and charged with driving while intoxicated, a felony, according to state police at Wawarsing. Scates was arrested on U.S. Route 209 in Wawarsing, police said. (Freeman 4/28/11)

 

Contempt: Wayne L. Clark, 40, of Kerhonkson, was charged with felony criminal contempt by Shandaken town police at 6 p.m. Thursday related to a March 19 incident during which police said he violated an order of protection. During that incident, he was charged with the misdemeanors of assault and obstruction of breathing. He was sent to Ulster County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash/$20,000 bond. (Freeman 4/18/11)

 

Man charged with embezzling $302,770 from Hurley business

Published: Sunday, April 17, 2011

 

By Mid-Hudson News Network

 

HURLEY — A Kerhonkson man has been charged by state police at Hurley with stealing $302,770 from his employer over 3½ years.

 

Police said Vincent Navarra, 53, was the property manager of several rental properties in the town of Marbletown. He allegedly stole the money from 2007 through 2010 by using corporate funds to pay for personal expenses.

 

He was charged with grand larceny in the second degree and falsifying business records in the first degree, both felonies.

 

Navarra was arraigned and remanded to the Ulster County jail in lieu of $15,000 bail or $30,000 bond.  (Freeman 4/17/11)

 

DWI: Andrew T. Campbell, 23, of Kerhonkson, was arrested about 415 a.m. Sunday along state Route 209 in Wawarsing and charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, according to state police at Wawarsing. (Freeman 4/11/11)

 

DWI: Efrain R. Torres, 42, of Kerhonkson, was charged with felony drunken driving and felony operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level greater than .08 percent by state police in Ulster at 2:48 a.m. on Saturday on Wall St. in the city of Kingston. Torres was released on his own recognizance. (Freeman 4/3/11)

 

To the Editor:

 

As the Bluestone Press reported (“No School Will Close,” April 1, 2011), at its meeting on March 29, the Rondout Valley CSD Board of Education announced that it would take no further action on closing one of its three elementary schools this fiscal year but will continue to “study” the closing of a school in the 2011-2012 year. In doing so, the BOE maintains a long tradition of avoiding confronting the glaring fiscal consequences of a declining school population.

 

The student population has been declining since 2000 but the board took no action to reduce staff or facilities until 2010-2011 when it reduced personnel by 12 teaching positions, entirely through attrition by retirement.

 

Finally, in December 2010, when the population of the three elementary schools had fallen by three percent, it created an Advisory Committee to study school “consolidation,” e.g. closing a school.

 

The Committee submitted its report on March 8.  It explored in detail the compelling facts supporting the closing of one of the three elementary schools in the district, the potential reconfiguration of the remaining schools, and the savings in excess of $1 million per year that would result from closing one of the schools.

 

At that same meeting at which it was announced that no action would be taken until the end of the 2011-2012 year, at the earliest, all board members who addressed the matter conceded that a school closing was inevitable.

 

Deferring action for a year will not make the process any easier; those members of the community who expressed opposition to a closing for the 2011-12 year will be just as opposed to a closing for the 2012-13 year, and the closing will be just as inevitable.  The cost of deferring taking this inevitable action is $1 million and rising for every year in which the board keeps a surplus school open, money which could be used to save other programs which will be abandoned for 2011-12 in any of the budgets the BOE is considering, such as French language instruction, or to reduce taxes by approximately 1.5%.

 

In short, the BOE’s ability to close an unneeded school is costing the community over $1 million per year, a very high price indeed for inaction.

James Blair

Stone Ridge.

 

  

 

An Open Letter to the Rondout Valley School Board

 

By Steve Wood

 

I come from a family of teachers that goes back four generations. My grandmother was a teacher then principal of Highland High School. My mother was a public school teacher and union activist for her whole adult life as was her sister, my aunt. They both graduated from New Paltz State Teachers' College, now known as SUNY New Paltz. My sister is a teacher. My two adult nieces are both teachers. I have taught in high schools in Connecticut and New York City and was a professor at Trinity College in Hartford. As a strong supporter of public education it is troubling to see my community's school board incapable of leadership in the midst of a fiscal crisis.

For the past several months I have made it a point to talk about the school budget with as many folks as I could, one on one. The depressing fact is that most see the RVSD school board as ineffectual in taking strong, pro-community positions that focus on the consequences of their financial decisions. It has been made painfully clear in the past few weeks that citizens in the communities of the district have been reduced to making terrible financial decisions due to the onslaught of crippling school taxes. In one painful example, a self-employed individual in a publicized letter stated that the school tax burden has forced her to drop health insurance coverage in order to remain in her home. This is hardly an extreme example. The school board must be aware of the groundswell of negative feeling in the community towards the tax burden posed by exploding school budgets. This simmering resentment is due to the succession of outsized school budgets, fostering a fear of the future as homeowners see the value of their homes declining under the weight of an ever-growing tax burden.

For most families, this hurts in two ways: first, they must generate more after tax dollars to pay for more school revenues; secondly, they see their primary asset — their home — decreasing in value. Too many families are making the heartbreaking choice to sell their homes and leave the area. A recent article in the New York Times profiled three New York couples selling their homes and leaving the state because they cannot afford the school taxes. One of these couples was from High Falls.

 

The Rondout Valley now boasts a per student cost approaching $28,000. Compare this to a national average of less than $14,000 a year, and a New York State average of $16,000. So, might one safely assume that we are getting a premium (see Westchester County) educational system for our premium expenditure? Unfortunately, this is far from the case. The RVSD has the dismal honor of being on the state's watch list for underperformance, ranking in the bottom third of state public schools. Different grade levels in the elementary, middle and high schools of Rondout Valley have been flunking the State Board of Education's standards regularly since 2004. This fact takes on a darker meaning when one understands that New York State's public education system is itself among the worst in the country, ranking 34th in the nation. So although our school district regularly fails to meet the standards of a state that ranks in the lowest third in the country, Rondout taxpayers are asked to underwrite budget increases year after year.

 

And the numbers are truly staggering: Since 2005 Rondout Valley school boards have increased spending 43%, climaxing this year in a behemoth budget approaching $60,000,000. During this same period student enrollment has declined by 18%, but for some inexplicable reason staffing decreased a mere 3%. Meanwhile, the lack of inflation has checked salary and cost of living increases for most of our population, yet our school boards have continued to expand the school budget oblivious to the effect on household budgets. The decline in student population will accelerate in coming years as families continue to flee the high cost of living, leaving fewer taxpayers to carry an ever greater tax burden adding to the future misery of property owners. Anyone with a basic knowledge of math can understand that this is unsustainable.

 

Our current school board has proven incapable of making tough decisions based on reality: the need to downsize the budget by consolidating schools, increasing class sizes, laying off redundant personnel and redefining criteria for special needs staffing. Though closing one underutilized elementary school would not begin to address the evolving financial calamity, the board has proven incapable of doing even that. Because of Board inaction the 2011-2012 budget we are being asked to approve next month will sustain an overstaffed system of underperforming schools operating far below capacities, serving a dwindling student population.

 

There is a way to give our children excellent schools that operate with financial efficiency. But for this to happen there needs to be engagement with the one group that has not been asked to sacrifice as this crisis has evolved: the teachers, staff and administrators that make up over 75% of budget expenditures. The Rondout Valley Federation (representing teachers and staff) needs to contribute creatively to lighten the burden born exclusively by indentured taxpayers. School superintendent Rosario Agostaro has set the tone of creative leadership by freezing his salary and those of his staff. It is time for teachers to step up and become part of the solution. They can voluntarily freeze all salary increases, and take on a greater share of their "entitlement" costs. Ever increasing salaries, health insurance and pension obligations remain at the heart of the current crisis, regardless of how many schools are closed.

 

Unfortunately, any kind of creative dialogue between the union and the board is unlikely to happen. Why? More than a few people I have spoken with have alluded to the public perception that the current school board is compromised of members who have either been employed by the RVSD, or have family members in the system. This makes the board vulnerable to charges of a nepotistic mindset at a time when they need to be making tough decisions based on reality. The proposed budget comes from the current culture of squandering taxpayer revenue. Board members currently up for re-election have not earned the right to continue this pattern of failure. We need new blood, individuals who have the whole community in mind. These should be men or women who will break the board's addiction to ever higher revenues supporting a dysfunctional system. A hard look at the projected growth rate in teacher/staff pension and healthcare commitments shows it will steadily worsen in the coming years if radical economic adjustments are not made. It is a dark picture.

 

Here is a stark symptom of the shrinking economic support for this unsustainable situation. The Marbletown Planning Board, of which I have the privilege of being a member, has cancelled four of our monthly meetings over a period of six months due to lack of building applications. This has not happened in the five plus years I have served on the board, and one fellow member said she could not remember this many cancellations in 17 years. Building permits are a "leading indicator" of local financial health as they suggest future financial activity and a lack of same is a dramatic sign of how economically stagnant our community will remain in the near future. As if further proof were necessary the growing delinquency of property tax payments (11% last year and surely greater this year) further underlines how unsustainable our local tax situation has become.

 

A school budget of between $48,000,000 and $50,000,000 should be the long term goal for a community our size. To reach a budget of this scale there will need to be consistent downsizing of staff and facilities for the next several years regardless of the amount of state aid we receive. Governor Cuomo's excellent plan to cap property tax increases at 2% a year should be vigorously supported. (Go to www.taxcapnow.org to voice support.) As an aside, it is a sad reflection of the gulf between teachers and the community they serve that New York's teachers' union is bankrolling lobbyists to defeat this common sense solution; ironically using taxpayer money!

 

In closing I suggest to the Rondout school board that it requires no imagination or courage to refuse change and increase taxes. However, the message you are sending to those of us who live here, to prospective home buyers, to small businesses seeking to relocate in the Rondout Valley is clear: look elsewhere, this community is too expensive to sustain middle class families. In putting forward a budget that increases taxes by over twice the rate of inflation, the board has crossed the line from hapless financial miscalculation to aggressive disregard for the financial welfare of the community they represent. As such they no longer deserve the support of the community. This budget should be voted down and current board members up for re-election voted out. Voters must make clear that enough is enough.

 

p.s. For those wishing to share ideas or shoot the messenger my email is: swood61@atlanticbb.net

 

Steve Wood

 

 

The Rochester Residents Association has posted the Town of Rochester’s Tentative Assessment  Roll.  It is available at www.Accord-Kerhonkson.com

The Rochester Residents Association is offering two scholarships for Rondout Valley High School graduating seniors. 

The Bret Adams Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,500 will be awarded to a graduating high school senior from the Town of Rochester who has demonstrated a strong dedication and serious interest in the performing arts.   

The $1,000 Rochester Residents Association Community Scholarship will be awarded to a graduating high school senior from the Town of Rochester who demonstrates leadership and academic promise. 

Both scholarships will be awarded under the auspices of a Scholarship Committee appointed by the RRA and is funded by the RRA's members.

For further information, including an application visit: 

www.accord-kerhonkson.com/scholarships.htm

The Planning Board has issued a negative State Environmental Quality Review declaration for a 16-unit subdivision application submitted by Streamside Estates on Cherrytown Road. The proposed lots will be three to 21 acres.  Streamside Estates, which is owned by Michael Baum, submitted an unsuccessful plan several years ago for a significant expansion of the trailer park located adjacent to the property.

 

Correction:  Steve Rice was designated Vice Chair of the town’s Environmental Conservation Commission, not Judith Karpova as previously reported.

 

Property reassessment notices have been sent to all property owners. 

 

A list of tax delinquent properties being auctioned by Ulster County is available at:

http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/finance/2011%20Public%20Auction%20Brochure.pdf

 

 

OF ILLUSTRATED TALK AT ROCHESTER REFORMED CHURCH

ON APRIL 15, 2011

The much-anticipated survey of historic farmsteads in the Town of Rochester is complete and preservationist Neil Larson will present his findings in an illustrated talk at the Rochester Reformed Church, 5142 Route 209 in Accord, on Friday evening, April 15, at 7:00 p.m.  Refreshments will be served after the presentation.

 

The historic farmstead survey, commissioned by the Town’s Historic Preservation Commission, is the most in-depth document ever produced about Rochester’s 330-year history of farming. It is filled with revelations about who worked on the farms, the farm buildings, what was grown and where the farm products were shipped.  Carl Chipman, Rochester Town Supervisor, hailed the survey’s completion saying, “I congratulate the Commission and Neil Larson on this survey, which will be a source of pride for our town’s residents and a useful reference for understanding the significance of our historic farms and agricultural history. “

 

The survey focuses on ten historic farmsteads located along the Rondout Creek, then rising from the north side of Route 209 up Airport Road and across to Lower Whitfield Road. They represent, among other things, the Town’s oldest farm (Saunderskill Farm, dating from 1680), possibly its oldest stone house (on the Osterhoudt Home Farm, dating from the 1720s) and the only farm in Ulster County with a building filled with African game (Appeldoorn Farm). Rochester’s farms tell a story of intermarriage, extensive slave holdings, and local, regional and international commerce.

According to the evening’s speaker, Neil Larson, “The ten farms documented in this project represent the agricultural history of the Town of Rochester as it has developed from 17th-century homesteads and 18th-century wheat plantations to the truck farms of the present. All have farmland that is still in cultivation or use and historic buildings that represent significant periods of domestic or farm development. These farms are both artifacts and functioning entities.”

 

The Historic Preservation Commission’s farmstead survey was made possible by a grant from Preserve New York, a program of the Preservation League of New York State, with additional funding from Robert Anderberg and Elaine Laflamme and an anonymous local resident through the Open Space Institute (OSI).

 

Bring yourself, bring a friend, meet your neighbors, and stay for free refreshments.

WHEN:  April 15, 2010 @ 7:00 pm

WHERE:  Rochester Reformed Church, 5142 Route 209, Accord, NY

For more information or directions to the Reformed Church, please call  687-9998 or go to http://www.rochesterreformedchurch.org/locateus.htm .

By Terence P. Ward

 

Tensions mounted at the March 22 Rondout Valley School Board meeting, where residents slung barbs at school officials both during the public comment periods and throughout the meeting. Much of the public interest was focused on administrative costs and the use of the district's reserve funds, while the administration itself used its budget presentation to ratchet up pressure on teachers and other staff to offer salary cuts or other concessions.

Anticipating a longer budget update, Board of Education President Gail Hutchins limited the initial public comment period to 15 minutes. "We have a lot of work to do tonight, but there is another public comment period at the end of the meeting, and it will have no limits," she told the audience.

 

This didn't sit well with some of those in attendance, such as the man who called out, "Some of us have children and can't stay for the whole meeting, can't you hear us now?" After a whispered conversation with District Clerk Debra Barbiani and Superintendent Rosario Agostaro, Hutchins held her ground and cut off the comments, but the meeting's tone became more antagonistic, particularly during the "board time" section when members express their views.

 

"I'm sorry if I'm boring you, Gail," said resident Eve Waltermauer during her lengthy comments about the administrative budget lines. Waltermauer, who has taken Hutchins to task in the past for mispronouncing her name, claimed that the president's facial expression suggested she wasn't paying attention. She went on to explain how a number of administrator positions, such as the athletic and technology directors, were once lower-paying jobs that did not require the "certified administrator" designation. "If you had provided this information, Rosario, then I wouldn't have to," she told the superintendent.

 

Agostaro's own presentation touched on the possibility of paying down the tax levy still further from the some $2.5 million dollars in the district's fund balance, but focused heavily on the possibility of wresting concessions from the various unions, in particular from the teachers. The $250,000 worker's compensation reserve, set up last year, will be used to bring the tax levy down to 6.69% from the 7.46% projected earlier, and drop to as low as 5.14% if $500,000 of the fund balance is used.

Kent Anderson was concerned that more aggressively paying down the tax levy this year would only delay the problem. "If we use the money now, it's more we have to come up with next year," he pointed out.

 

"Either way it's the taxpayer's money," said member William Oliva. "We should look at the total cost to the taxpayer." Oliva also wanted to "talk about how big the fund balance should be," and if keeping it at the maximum allowed by law — 4% of the budget — was really necessary.

 

Agostaro characterized salary and benefits as "significant drivers" in the district's budget. Salaries account for $28.6 million dollars, Agostaro said, while retirement and health insurance contributions add up to $11.9 million. These costs are either out of the control of administration, in the case of some benefits costs, or can only be altered during contract negotiations. The superintendent said, "Formal requests have been sent to each of the bargaining units" to talk about concessions, and he showed a number of slides to illustrate his point. In comparing various bargaining units, the cost of the teachers' contract was significantly higher in all categories, implicitly suggesting that teacher concessions are a high priority. A 2% salary reduction to teachers would save the district $675,000, Agostaro said. The superintendent and other administrators have agreed to a wage freeze for the upcoming budget year.

 

During "board time," there was significant interplay with the audience, some of it invited by board members who engaged individuals directly, but attendees were also wont to call out remarks. The public comment and board time became blurred towards the latter portion of the meeting, and Hutchins' frustration was evident.

 

"Please show us respect," the president said, "and don't speak to us condescendingly. I've stood for excellence in this district for eleven years now and I have never seen treatment like this. I'm really offended" by the tone of the meeting, she said.

 

Agostaro asked the board for direction twice during the meeting, and received no response, a fact which was not lost on resident David O'Halloran. "If you want him to cut administrative positions, or operational costs, he'll do that," he told the board, "but you have to show leadership, and tell him what you want."

 

The board will continue its budget discussions at a special meeting to be held on Tuesday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the high school gym.  (Shawangunk Journal 3/24/11)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

 

By KYLE WIND

Freeman staff

 

KERHONKSON — A wage freeze for Rondout Valley school district employees would save slightly over $2 million in 2011-12, Superintendent Rosario Agostaro has told the Board of Education.

 

Agostaro said he has reached out to each of the district’s unions seeking financial concessions, and in the meantime, he and seven other central office employees have agreed not to take raises as school officials craft next school year’s budget at a time when Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal would slash the district’s aid by $1.9 million.

 

A 2 percent salary cut after budgeted raises for all employees would save about $675,000, Agostaro added during a school board meeting at Kerhonkson Elementary School.

 

Sheryl Delano, president of the Rondout Valley Teachers Federation, had no immediate reaction to the superintendent’s comments on Wednesday, saying commenting on concessions at this point amounts to negotiations, which she cannot do publicly.

 

According to Agostaro’s presentation, the scheduled 4 percent contractual increase to teachers’ salaries would cost the district $848,573 in 2011-12, and 1.99 percent step raises would cost $427,797.

Many speakers during the meeting’s public comment period also continued to say that school officials should make cuts at all levels, including to the district’s highly paid administrator positions.

 

Chris Wynkoop, a paraprofessional in the district, said when adding up salaries, 15 top administrators cost the district $1.366 million in salaries compared to “just over $2 million” for 93 paraprofessionals, which include teaching assistants.

 

“That’s a big gap,” she said. “Perhaps we need to think about closing it.”

 

Meanwhile, two budget scenarios the superintendent had previously presented were tweaked since the last meeting.

 

A $59.9 million “B budget” that included cutting 51.7 positions and a tax levy hike of 7.7 percent was trimmed to $59.25 million and a projected 7.46 percent levy increase.

 

Also, the “C budget,” which amounted to $58.85 million, called for eliminating 65.1 jobs, and raising the tax levy 4.4 percent, was adjusted to $58.145 million and a 4.04 percent levy increase.

 

Reasons for the changes included retirements and subtracting allocations from the general fund that are to be funded by federal jobs money.

 

Agostaro’s presentation on Tuesday largely focused on potential changes to the B budget, which he has described as being educationally preferable to the C budget, which he has described as the minimum budget with which he’d be comfortable.

 

In response to district resident David O’Halloran’s recent comments that school officials can save jobs by budgeting less conservatively in areas in which they do not tend to spend what is allocated each year, Agostaro said applying $250,000 from workers’ compensation reserve would lower the B budget’s tax levy to 6.69 percent.

Agostaro also presented the school board with tax levy figures associated with increasing the fund balance allocation from the current budgeted $2.5 million, which school officials estimate would leave the district with another $2.5 million to work with next year.

 

Using another $100,000 of the fund balance would lower the levy to 6.38 percent, or 0.31 percent, under the B budget. Applying an additional total of $500,000  would reduce the levy to 5.14 percent. (Freeman 3/24/11)

By KYLE WIND

Freeman staff

 

KYSERIKE — A committee studying Rondout Valley school consolidation options has not provided recommendations for a specific course of action, but its chairwoman told the school board this week that it seemed natural to members that if one of three elementary schools is closed, Kerhonkson Elementary School should remain open.

 

School board member Breanna Costello, who chaired the advisory committee, said at Tuesday’s board meeting that maintaining one building at the northern end of the district — where Rosendale and Marbletown elementary schools are located — and one at the southern end of the district — where Kerhonkson Elementary School is located — seemed logical to keep bus rides from becoming too lengthy.

 

The committee considered several different models but spent most of its time studying an option that would include closing one elementary school and having the other two continue to serve grades kindergarten through four, Costello said, adding that members were not necessarily recommending that proposal and needed more time to study it.

 

One figure she said the group needed more time to nail down is how much money such a move would save.

 

An early estimate the committee did not discuss during its presentation to the school board put the savings of implementing that model at between $1.71 million and $1.79 million, without considering added transportation costs.

 

School district Superintendent Rosario Agostaro said it took administrators about four weeks to delve deeply into that model, and the other 13 proposals did not get the same level of analysis.

 

Costello said if one school were closed and redistricting followed, class sizes would be driven up but evened out while Kerhonkson Elementary School would be “filled to the brim.”

 

Trustee William Oliva said that would put the Kerhonkson school at 94 percent capacity, leaving “little wiggle room” if a recent increase in birth rates reverses the trend of declining enrollment.

 

Instead, he suggested, if Rosendale Elementary School were closed, Marbletown Elementary School could absorb both attendance zones, and Kerhonkson’s attendance zone could remain the same.

 

That, would leave Marbletown, the elementary school with the most classroom space, at about 88 percent capacity and Kerhonkson at 70 percent, Oliva said. Trustee James Ayers and Gail Hutchins, the board president, indicated that seemed plausible to them.

 

Rosendale Elementary School is the district’s newest school with the least capital needs, and Kerhonkson Elementary School is the oldest with the most infrastructure needs.

 

There was no resolution to the elementary school discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting. Residents who spoke during the public comment period said school district officials need to take more time to make the best possible decision with better data rather than rush to implement a decision this fall.

 

The school board also is considering two budget drafts for 2011-12 that would slash 51.7 and 65.1 jobs from the payroll. Some members hope to offset cuts to program with a school closure. (Freeman 3/17/11)

 

Update:  On March 28^th the School Board voted to keep all three elementary schools open for the next school year

By Adam Bosch

Times Herald-Record

Published: 2:00 AM - 03/29/11

Last updated: 10:21 AM - 03/29/11

KINGSTON — Attorneys for both sides of a redistricting argument in Ulster County said the election process could falter if new legislative districts are not agreed upon quickly.

 

Both sides of the argument gave testimony before acting State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O'Connor on Monday.

 

The dispute is over who has final say in creating single-member districts that will cut the Ulster County Legislature from 33 to 23 members. Those districts are supposed to be adopted soon and become effective for November's election.

 

County Attorney Bea Havranek said the Legislature should have final approval over any plan set forth by a special redistricting committee. She noted the county's charter does not explicitly give that power to the committee.

 

John Parete, a former county Democratic chairman, and Tom Kadgen, an active government watcher, sued in February because they believe the charter meant to have redistricting taken out of the hands of county lawmakers.

 

Their lawyer, Josh Koplovitz, cited language from the charter, meeting minutes and an affidavit from charter author Gerald Benjamin that said the special committee was supposed to have exclusive power over drawing the new district lines.

 

Both sides agreed on one thing: A decision has to come soon.

 

An appeal to a higher court, a challenge by one of the major political parties and public-notice requirements for adopting laws could all throw a wrench in the political schedule. Both lawyers feared districts might not be set by the time Democrats and Republicans choose their candidates in early summer.

 

"Everybody is expecting some grumbling, if not some legal action," Koplovitz said.

 

O'Connor agreed to make a decision on the case soon and retain power over the issue if new petitions arise.  (TH-Record 3/29/11)

STONE RIDGE — State police have arrested two area men, charging them with breaking into Benny’s Pizza and stealing money.

 

Kevin J. LaMastro, 19, Stone Ridge, and Robert P. Vanleuvan, 36, Accord, were arrested March 24 and each charged with burglary, a felony, according to state police at Ulster.

 

Police said the pizzeria was burglarized during the early morning hours of March 21.

 

The two men forced their way into the business on U.S. Route 209 and stole cash, police said.

 

The two were arraigned in Rosendale Town Court and released pending an appearance in Marbletown Town Court. (Freeman 3/29/11)

Drugs: Jonathan J. Statt, 25, of Kerhonkson was arrested Sunday at 2:55 a.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with misdemeamor possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of a hypodermic instrument and misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs. He was issued tickets to appear in Wawarsing Town Court. (Freeman 3/28/11)

 

 

DWI: Eugene G. Bolduc, 39, of Kerhonkson, was charged by state police at Wawarsing with drunken driving and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content greater than .08 percent, misdemeanors, at 9:12 p.m.  Friday on U.S. Route 209. Bolduc was released with court appearance tickets. (Freeman 3/26/11)

 

DWAI: Gregory J. Sage, 54, of Kerhonkson, was charged with felony driving while ability impaired by drugs and the infractions of a seat belt violation, driving left of pavement markings, and driving a motor vehicle on or across a sidewalk by state police at Wawarsing at 5:16 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Rochester. He was issued a court appearance ticket. (Freeman 3/24/11)

 

Drugs: Kurt B. Jenkins, 26, of High Falls was arrested Saturday at 9:15 a.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance; misdemeanor possession of a hypodermic instrument and misdemeanor use of drug paraphernalia. Additional information was not available. In the same incident, James L. Terbush, 37, of Kerhonkson was arrested at the same time and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and felony possession of a narcotic drug. He was held by police pending further proceedings. (Freeman 3/21/11)

 

Drugs: George T. Tsoucalas, 30, of Summitville, was arrested at 1:59 p.m. Tuesday following a traffic stop on U.S. Route 209, and charged by state police at Ellenville with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance along with the violations of unlawful possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance in a non-original container. He was issued tickets to appear in Rochester Town Court. (3/17/11)

 

Assault, endangering: Alex Ruland, 28, of 303 Old Kings Highway, town of Rochester,  was charged arrested on several charges Feb. 25 after a report of domestic violence, Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies said. Deputies, who responded with state police, said Ruland, during an altercation with his girlfriend, took a cell phone, which kept her from calling police, in front of four children. Ruland was charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors, and harassment, a violation. He was sent to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail following his arraignment, pending an appearance in Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 3/12/11)

 

Road rage: Christopher S. Sickles, 24, of Lot 3, 4695 U.S. Route 209, was arrested by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies on multiple charges Feb. 27 following an alleged road rage incident. Deputies said Sickles allegedly followed a vehicle carrying his ex-girlfriend, pulled alongside it and forced it off the road before fleeing the area. He was later charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, both felonies, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, and several traffic violations. He was released to return to Rochester Town Court. (Freeman 3/12/11)

An informational forum, regarding the rail trail, will be held at 7 pm on March 16, 2011 at the Kerhonkson Fire House, Main Street Kerhonkson.
Stephan Yarabeck, President of Hudson and Pacific Design, will be the primary speaker.
A Power Point presentation will offer conceptual drawings of the rail trail. Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer session.
All interested parties are welcome.
For more information, please contact John Motzer, Town of Wawarsing Rail Trail Liaison, at 626-7536 or 399 - 7536

April 16th. 10-2 . Join your neighbors and pitch in for road clean up followed by a thank you party at the community center in Accord at 2 o'clock sponsored by the Youth Commission
April 23rd.10-2 . Rail trail hike and cleanup- followed by a picnic at the town park. Meet up at the town hall.
Sponsored by the Town of Rochester ECC. Earth Day Every Day!
Contact us to rsvp and for meet up information at rochesterecc@gmail.com or find meet up locations on the town website.

March 1 thru March 30, 2011 - Ulster County is accepting requests from landowners to have their predominately viable agricultural lands to be included within a NYS Certified Agricultural District. For more information go to : www.co.ulster.ny.us/planning /ann_inc.html or contact Virginia Craft at 845-340-3469.

ACCORD- Concerns about property taxes and senior citizens occupied the Rochester Town Board at its March 3 business meeting.
Michael Dunham appeared on behalf of Town Assessor Cindy Stokes to update the board on the revaluation. The assessment phase is complete, and Dunham shared some statistics with the board. "The overall assessed value of the town is increasing by just .78 percent," he said, but residential properties dropped nearly 4 percent. Commercial properties, along with vacant lots and farmland, offset those decreases. Farmland went up 17%, but according to Dunham, "There's only four properties in the town that would see an increase of over $300 in tax," largely due to agricultural exemptions.

Among those senior citizens who are qualified for the enhanced STAR exemption, 85% will see their tax rate stay the same or go down.

"Let me be clear that these are not all the senior citizens of the town who own property," said board member Tavi Cilenti. STAR exemptions are not available for anyone with an income of over $79,000 a year.

Notices of the new assessments are being mailed to property owners this week. Dunham invited any member of the public to make an appointment for a detailed explanation. (Shawangunk Journal 3/10/11)

ACCORD - The budget, not surprisingly, was the focus of the February 22 meeting of the Rondout Valley School Board meeting. The preliminary budget released by Superintendent Rosario Agostaro called for cutting 67 educators from the payroll, and that brought people out to speak their minds. Many set their sites on administrators and their salaries, which often top $100,000 a year.
"If you consolidate administration, maybe the unions will be willing to talk about concessions," said resident Eve Waltermaurer, who has been blogging about the budget and school consolidation process. Waltermaurer claimed in her blog that less than 4% of the budget savings were in the administrative line, while 83% was in staffing. She wanted to know why cutting administrators was not on the table. "No one will answer these questions," she told the board. "When are you going to tell us?"

Colleen Viddy, one of several commenters who is both a teacher and parent in the district, said that she is "appalled by the cuts proposed." She urged the board to consider "several higher budgets" and rally parents and teachers to get a bigger budget passed by the voters in May.

Agostaro agreed with Viddy, recommending that the board look at three budget models, rather than only the one he'd been asked to supply. Acknowledging that they are faced with "the most difficult and painful decisions imaginable," he urged the public, "Don't let this tear the community apart."

Christine Wynkoop asked, "Do we still need 14-15 administrators in the district office? You've asked us to do less with more."

This sentiment was echoed by many people who came to speak their mind to the board. The salaries of administrators, and the lack of cuts to those numbers, frustrated many. "Why is the superintendent earning 25% more than his predecessor?" asked one man.

The superintendent also spoke to the question of administrative cuts. "I reviewed the organizational structure when I began my work here a year ago," he said, and since then two positions have been reduced through attrition. In addition, the administrators are accepting wage freezes, Agostaro included. "The idea that these people have no contact or impact on children is false," he said. "They are responsible for the safety and education of our children, as well as for overseeing the unfunded mandates which we must carry out, over 140 at last count."

According to School Board President Gail Hutchins, the entire board will now be considering the budget at every regular meeting, and special meetings will be added if they are necessary. This will replace the separate Budget Committee meetings, which up until now were held on Tuesdays when the full board did not meet.

Another important calendar change is a postponement in the schedule of the advisory committee charged with looking at consolidation - closing of a school. That group, originally slated to meet on February 23 to analyze transportation costs, will not meet again until March 2. According to Breanna Costello, who chairs that group, they are giving time for Agostaro to get information from real estate professionals about the possible lease or resale value of the buildings. The committee was originally due to make a recommendation to the board on March 8, but that date is presently in flux.

John Dunham wanted to know what security in the schools would look like with so many fewer staff members. "That's a lot of kids to supervise, and a lot less people to do it," he said.

Agostaro replied, saying, "Our focus for security has been external, making sure that access to the buildings is controlled," with staff members wearing badges and visitors being required to produce photo ID and sign in. "You raise a good point, though, and I'm not sure about the impact of less supervision."

Dunham, who called for every line of the budget to be made public, remarked that, "It's funny how this time they went straight to cutting people. Usually it's music or sports that go first." (Shawangunk Journal 2/24/11)

ACCORD - Superintendent Agostaro presented a second, slightly larger budget proposal to the Rondout Valley Board of Education at its March 8 meeting. Coming in at just under $60 million dollars, this so-called "B" budget saves 13 jobs which would be axed under the "C" budget. This would be accomplished by increasing the tax levy 7.77%, as opposed to 4.44% for the $59 million "C" plan. The new alternative offered no additional cuts to the administrative line, much to the consternation of those in the audience.
While the "C" budget calls for the elimination of roughly 65 positions, a number of positions are returned in this slightly more generous plan, with only about 52 people losing jobs. Among the positions to be restored are approximately eight teacher aides and four teachers at various levels. The junior varsity sports program, completely eliminated in the "C" proposal, would be saved from the chopping block.

Board members were concerned about the possibility of getting even the "C" budget passed. James Ayers pointed out that last year's budget, which called for a 2.87% tax levy increase, failed on its first attempt. "We have to present a budget that people are going to accept," he said.

Parents in attendance pledged to support the effort to get the right budget passed. Aaron Burke questioned the need for 14 administrators in the district, and asked for more cuts at that level. "If you spread sacrifice around, I will help you get the 7-8% increase you need," he told them.

Others questioned the reserve fund practices of the board. David O'Halloran commented on the reserves established last year for workers' compensation and unemployment claims, to the tune of $400,000. "You didn't have that last year, and you survived very well. You can't afford those extra reserves." Chiding the board, he reminded them that "you had a surplus every year for the last ten years ? you never cut your budget to the quick."

The board will not hear a report from the School Consolidation Advisory Committee until March 15, but in public comment several people expressed concerns about its findings. "No longer do I think Rosendale Elementary can close ? maybe next year, but not this year," said Burke, who asked the board to find more time to study the issue. The committee completed its work on March 7, and most of its members were not comfortable recommending any school closure based on the limited time they had to review the information.

"I'd like to ask them to continue their work," said board member Pamela Longley. She expressed hope that they could find additional alternatives as the board worked through the budget process. It was agreed that the board would revisit the issue after hearing the committee's findings.

"The board has not taken a microscope to expenses, and you need to before closing a school or laying off people," said O'Halloran.

Sheryl Delano, President of the Rondout Valley Federation of Teachers and Paraprofessionals, found the new budget proposal wanting. "What you added back in is great, but it's not nearly enough. Cutting essential services for kids is not educationally sound or fiscally responsible." Delano felt the cuts to special education, math, and science were particularly egregious. "This is where our kids have struggled," she told the board. "Where are you going to go next year from here?" She pointed out that people have been asking the board to preserve these programs at every meeting, but, "You've ignored it all and taken it away from kids." (Shawangunk Journal 3/10/11)

Assault, endangering: Alex Ruland, 28, of 303 Old Kings Highway, town of Rochester, was charged arrested on several charges Feb. 25 after a report of domestic violence, Ulster County Sheriff's deputies said. Deputies, who responded with state police, said Ruland, during an altercation with his girlfriend, took a cell phone, which kept her from calling police, in front of four children. Ruland was charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal mischief, and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all misdemeanors, and harassment, a violation. He was sent to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail following his arraignment, pending an appearance in Rochester Town Court. 3/12/11

Road rage: Christopher S. Sickles, 24, of Lot 3, 4695 U.S. Route 209, was arrested by Ulster County Sheriff's deputies on multiple charges Feb. 27 following an alleged road rage incident. Deputies said Sickles allegedly followed a vehicle carrying his ex-girlfriend, pulled alongside it and forced it off the road before fleeing the area. He was later charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, both felonies, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, and several traffic violations. He was released to return to Rochester Town Court. 3/12/11

DWI: Rebecca J. King, 26, Napanoch, was arrested by state police at Ellenville Sunday at 6:43 a.m. on state Route 209 and charged with drunken driving, operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content exceeding .08 of 1 percent and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, all felonies. She was issued an appearance ticket. (2/22/11)

Rondout Valley taxpayers demand a review for consolidation of the district administration
If you or anyone you know might be interested in signing this petition, please pass along.
It's hot off the presses... and you can sign at this web address:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rvs_district_audit/

Thanks,

Rochelle Victor, Accord
--------------------------------

It is the responsibility of the Rondout Central School's District Office to balance educational soundness with fiscal responsibility. We feel that this balance is not being achieved by the Administration and Board of Education's approach of forcing principals from every school to make drastic cuts to next year's budget which has resulted in reduced teaching and reduced programming while other budget reductions are not being fully explored. This approach that considers mainly the two options of closing a school or firing teachers, including special education teachers, opens our district to significant and costly problems in the future due to failures in delivery of services, lowered test scores, and new construction demands to name just a few.?
In the past five years we have gone from supporting five district-wide administrative positions to ten. The average salary for these positions is $120,000, while the median income for this community is only $31,664. The administration has thus far proposed only minimal administrative cuts (an assistant principal, a nurse, and a grant coordinator whose position has never been filled to begin with.) The first two of these positions are notable for being administrative positions with a good deal of direct student contact; the third position is actually a position that could bring revenue to the district. The administration has thus far declined to provide detailed documentation to support why every district administrator's job must be saved while teachers, teaching assistants and programs are cut. We are told that the funded mandates are to blame but our review (see Blog Tab above) argues otherwise. The BOE has remained silent to our request but we request this as tax payers, many of whom have lived here a lifetime.
While we acknowledge the important role that administrators play in providing leadership, direction and consistency in the schools, in this extraordinary time, every category of position must be scrutinized for possible savings. We have done well with a leaner administration in earlier times; these lean times demand such a scaling down. As homeowners & community members, we know the value of good schools to our community's economic health. The scaling down must begin at the top, not at the bottom.
As the Rondout tag line states, "Together we can, Together we will". It is time to realize that "together" means each and every one of us, even the ones at the top. Let's rebuild the trust in our community with transparency, collaboration, and equity.

At the January 6th Town Board meeting, Supervisor Carl Chipman discussed the Town's accomplishments in 2010, including the opening of the Town's Veterans' Park and the completion of the Creek Road stream bank stabilization project. Stated goals for 2011 include improving broadband service (and the allocation of $35,000 of the Town's budget to help with this), improvements to the rail trail, and a property tax assessment revaluation.

By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff

KYSERIKE - Each of the three elementary schools in the Rondout Valley district has distinct strengths and weaknesses, according to documents reviewed by an advisory committee considering the potential closure of one building.

Kerhonkson Elementary School has the highest enrollment and a key location in the southern part of the district, but the building also is smallest and the oldest of the three schools, according to documents. It also requires the most significant repairs.

Marbletown Elementary School is the largest building, with middling maintenance needs, and nearby Rosendale Elementary School is the newest building, with more space than Kerhonkson but less than Marbletown.

Breanna Costello, the school board member who chairs the district's School Consolidation Advisory Committee, said the committee and school board have a "very complicated decision" in front of them.

"One of the strengths of the school district is our elementary schools," Costello said. "All three have positives like community gardens, nature trails, and incredible teachers and principals. Everyone is proud of their schools, and for good reason."

Costello said the committee still is gathering information and is "not ready to come to any conclusions" about what its recommendation to the Board of Education will be.

Rondout Valley Superintendent Rosario Agostaro told the school board last month that the grim fiscal climate facing the district was leading him to recommend fast-tracking a reorganization of district schools by the start of the 2011-12 school year. That was before the release of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's state budget proposal, which would cut state aid to the district by more than what school officials initially considered a worst-case scenario.

According to advisory committee documents, Rosendale Elementary School was built in 1968. Its enrollment is 217, down from 316 a dozen years ago. The school has 19,392 square feet of classroom space in 24 classrooms. Its most significant upcoming maintenance needs are a $115,000 abatement of asbestos tiles throughout the building and a $70,000 rooftop ventilator replacement.

Marbletown Elementary School was built in 1952. Its enrollment is 271, down from 450 a dozen years ago. The school has 20,905 square feet of classroom space in 26 classrooms. Its most significant upcoming maintenance needs are a $220,000 abatement of substructure utility tunnels and a $57,500 project to reconstruct bathrooms to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Kerhonkson Elementary School was built in 1926. Its enrollment is 294, down from 395 a dozen years ago, but its enrollment has held steady for the last four years. Its most significant upcoming maintenance needs are a $365,500 water distribution pipe replacement and a $150,000 interior electrical distribution replacement.

Marbletown leads the buildings in annual utility costs at $98,586, followed by Rosendale at $81,180 and Kerhonkson at $68,156.

Rosendale has the most acreage with 35.69, followed by Marbletown with 24.29 and Kerhonkson with 8.47.

The committee is expected to give the school board its recommendation on March 8. (Freeman 2/13/11)

By KYLE WIND
Freeman staff

KYSERIKE - The Rondout Valley school board has created an advisory committee to gather information and community feedback about a potential elementary school closure.

The board also has voted to suspend a policy requiring the committee to prepare an educational impact statement six months in advance of such a move. Trustees said the six-month requirement was suspended because they do not think they have that long to make a decision about whether to close a school.

The committee, which is being chaired by Trustee Breanna Costello, is scheduled to meet each Wednesdays - starting with a 5:30 p.m. meeting on Feb. 2 at Kerhonkson Elementary School - and give the school board a recommendation on how to reorganize district schools by March 8.

District Superintendent Rosario Agostaro said potential models to be considered will include two K-3 elementary schools and moving fourth grade to the middle school as well as a K-1 and 2-4 pairing.

School board member James Ayers said part of the committee's purpose is to "make sure all stakeholders are given a chance to voice their views."

Lennart Berg, vice president of the school board, said the committee's report will list advantages and disadvantages of proposals that involve closing a school. He described the decision as "wide open" at this point.

Agostaro has said he once wanted to take a slower approach, but after reviewing budget scenarios in light of likely reductions in state aid and a possible cap on property tax increases, he now is targeting September to implement a decision.

Agostaro said the committee still is being put together, but it will comprise a building principal, a teacher from each elementary school, a parent from each elementary school, two community members and an educator from outside the district.

Trustee Pamela Longley, the only school board member to vote against suspending the six-month requirement, said on Wednesday that she believes the policy's original timeline should be respected and that shutting a school must be a community decision.

"Something as emotional and serious and critical as closing a school needs to be looked at fully and with care," Longley said. "I'm not saying it won't be, but a previous board put (the six-month requirement) there for a reason." (Freeman 1/27/11)

By WILLIAM J. KEMBLE
Correspondent

KERHONKSON - Two local officials expressed optimism on Thursday about a plan for the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa to pay back $25.9 million in debt and remain open.

The hotel, once known as the Granit and now owned by Everyday Logistics LLC, has been in bankruptcy proceedings for a year in an effort to keep its 323 rooms open and its 119 workers employed.

"They are the largest private employer in the town (of Rochester), and if they don't get through this reorganization, it's going to be a major loss for the town," said Rochester Supervisor Carl Chipman.

"We've had some people who have worked there for many, many years over the course of several owners," Chipman said. "Unfortunately, we don't have much industry in the town of Rochester. Most people ... used to work in Wawarsing, but those jobs aren't there anymore, and you had a few that we're IBM'ers, but that's gone (from the town of Ulster), so they have to go all over God's creation to work in the first place."

Also, Chipman note, the hotel pays about $40,000 per year in property taxes to the town of Rochester.

"Their place is assessed at like $4.5 million, so it's a tough, tough situation," he said. "If they close it, would definitely affect the value of the property. ... We can't afford them to go out."

Chipman said there has always been an optimism about the resort, dating to when it was the Granit about 15 years ago, because owners always have worked hard to keep it active.

"I guess they (the current owners) have had other investors look at the place, but then the economy went south," he said. "That makes it difficult because these resorts rely on discretionary income that people have, and when times are tough, that's what people cut."

Ulster County Development Corp. President Lance Matteson said the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa is important in keeping the region in touch with tourism roots.

"The Catskills have benefited from the proximity to New York City and the fact that some people will come here rather than go to Colorado or somewhere like that," Matteson said.

"I think the Borscht Belt tradition has been a very lively one, and I think with a lot of the resorts in the Catskills, there's still a lot of sentimental feeling about this," he added. "I think there's been a kind of pervasive sentiment that we ought to revive it, and maybe it's not going to exactly be the same, but (the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa) has a lot of the elements of that era still in place.

"That's huge because, just in the four years that I've been here, the capital markets see that - the proximity to the city and the beauty of the area - as an opportunity."

Matteson said he has spoken with the hotel's owners over the past several years about possible improvements, such as upgrading the site's 18-hole golf course, as well as restructuring the business.

"Given the economic climate, though, it is really hard to get financing if you're a resort," Matteson said. (Freeman 2/4/11)

By PAULA ANN MITCHELL

Freeman staff

 

ACCORD — State police at Wawarsing have identified the man who died in Saturday night’s snowmobile accident as Richard Johnson, 34, of Kerhonkson, and the survivor as Walter Startup, 38, also of Kerhonkson.

 

Startup, who suffered multiple trauma in Saturday’s accident, was in critical condition Monday at Westchester Medical Center, said state police Senior Investigator Stan O’Dell.

 

Police were still uncertain about the time of the accident, but they said it happened sometime Saturday in “the overnight hours.”

 

O’Dell said the men were riding the same snowmobile, but he was unsure who was driving. He said it appeared both men were wearing appropriate gear, including helmets.

 

He said the accident happened in a remote location off Loosestrife Lane in the town of Rochester.

O’Dell said the snowmobile hit a homemade shed-like trailer with wood siding that was in the middle of the field.

 “It appears they hit it in the dark,” O’Dell said.

 

“It’s an unfortunate thing. It appears they came up over a knot in the field. We don’t know exactly how fast they were going, and they never saw the structure until it was too late. They hit a corner of it, and it sent them both off the snowmobile.”

 

O’Dell said a man who was snowmobiling Sunday at 2 p.m. found the overturned vehicle and called 911.

 

“He saw one subject lying in the snow,” O’Dell said. “It was the survivor.”

 

O’Dell said before Johnson died, he had apparently pulled himself in the shed to keep warm.

 

"We’re assuming that’s what happened,” he said.

 

Police said they’re still investigating whether there was alcohol involved.  O’Dell said police plan to interview Startup to get more details from him.  (Freeman 2/15/11)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

 

BY ERIC HOUGHTALING

Freeman staff

 

NAPANOCH — Hundreds of friends, relatives and co-workers  gathered here on Saturday to celebrate the life of Casimiro “Maxi” Pomales, an officer at the Eastern Correctional Facility who died in a van accident Jan. 28 on the Thruway while transporting an inmate.

 

The memorial service at Unity Hall in Napanoch was held in the shadow of the prison where the 52-year-old Pomales worked for more than two decades.

 

“We are here to celebrate a life, a beautiful life,” Eastern’s chaplain, T. Tongo, said to the gathering of about 250 people. “We pray today for strength for his family and friends.”

With the back of the hall lined with his co-workers, in uniform, the Philadelphia native who lived in Kerhonkson was remembered as a man with a positive outlook who always tried to help others.

 

“I haven’t met anyone who can talk about Maxi and finish a story without chuckling about what he did or said,” said Wilson Russell, an elder at the Living Word Chapel, where Pomales worshipped. “He always knew the right thing to say, and now we need to tell these stories to his family so they realize the positive affect he had on other’s lives.”

 

Pomales also was remembered as a family man and someone who recognized people’s ability to change.

 

“Maxi was an unsung hero,” said Deacon Joseph Doherty, also a member of the Eastern clergy. “His family came first, and he loved all kids. Maxi believed that kids that did wrong could be changed.”

 

Pomales’ infectious smile and the way he greeted everyone he met also were  common themes of Saturday’s service.

 

“Maxi had a generous smile and was always friendly,” Doherty said. “He’d greet you smoking his cigar and was just an all-around great guy.”

 

“Maxi was the glue that held his family together,” Russell said. “He loved his family and he always showed it.”

Pomales was killed in an accident that occurred as he and fellow Corrections Officer John Minuck were transporting Eastern inmate Ralph Ambert to Albany for an eye doctor's appointment.

Around 1:35 p.m. on Jan. 28, the state prison van that Pomales was driving was side-swiped by a Mercury Sable driven by Valerie Rea, 27, of Bellvale, near mile marker 94.2 on the northbound side of the Thruway. Police said Rea took her eyes off the road to adjust the heat in her car and drifted over.

Both vehicles went off the road, and the van overturned. Pomales was pronounced dead at Kingston Hospital following the crash, while Minuck and Ambert, a convicted murderer, were treated at the hospital and released.

Rea and a passenger in her car were not hurt.

State police are continuing to investigate the crash and have said charges against Rea are possible.

Tongo brought a message to the service from Ambert, 40, who is serving a sentence of 20 years to life.

"Ralph told me to bring his blessings and wanted to share that he is praying for all of you," Tongo said. "He told me that Maxi was his friend."

Doherty offered some suggestions to those assembled about trying to make sense of the tragedy.

"I've heard it said that you should map out life, but do it in pencil," Doherty said. "Mother Teresa also used to say that if you want to give God a laugh, tell him your plans. I'm still trying to figure out why bad things happen to good people. It is one of the great mysteries of life. I do know that God wants us to leave this world a better place than when we arrived. Maxi certainly did just that."

Pomales, a U.S. Navy veteran, was the son of Casimiro and Wanda Wineburg Pomales.

He is survived by his longtime companion, Victoria Bangert; two sons, Casimiro and Maximino J. Pomales, both of Kerhonkson; one daughter, Zanneya Pomales of Kerhonkson; two stepsons, Michael and Eric Bangert, both of Wawarsing one stepdaughter, Melissa Bangert of Long Island one sister, Jacquilanda Pomales Moody of Raleigh, N.C.; and a half-brother, William Stewart of Philadelphia.

He also leaves behind 12 grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Pomales was cremated prior to Saturday's service. (Freeman 2/6/11)

By Freeman staff

KERHONKSON - An accidental electrical fire was contained to the bathrooms of a two-room building at the Colonial Motel on U.S. Route 209 early Monday morning, the fire chief said.

Kerhonkson Fire Chief Kevin Mutz said his department was called at 6:10 a.m. to the motel at 6812 Route 209. He said firefighters found a structure fire in an approximately 30-foot by 30-foot building at the motel, which contained two rooms. Mutz said the fire was in the area of the electrical service where it entered the building.

The electrical service entered the building near its two bathrooms, which were adjoining, and was contained to those rooms, Mutz said. He said firefighters knocked the fire down quickly and were finished at the scene by 9 a.m. Mutz added that no one was injured and the occupants of both rooms were outside when firefighters arrived.

The Napanoch Fire Department assisted at the scene, Mutz said. (Freeman 1/24/11)

o Criminal mischief: Dana Schwarz, 42, of Willow Lane, Kerhonkson, was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief and misdemeanor criminal trespass by Town of Shandaken Police Department at 8 a.m. on Thursday. Police said Schwarz was arrested after he was involved in a domestic dispute at a home on Main St. in Phoenicia where it is alleged that he smashed a window to gain entry into the home. He also was charged with the violation of harassment. Schwarz was arraigned in Shandaken Town Court and was sent to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $1,000 cash bail. (Freeman 2/13/11)

Forgery: Aaron B. Brodhead, 32, of 110 Vantine Road, Kerhonkson was arrested Thursday at 9:45 a.m. by detectives from the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and charged with felony forgery, felony grand larceny and felony falsifying business records. He was additionaly charged with the misdemeanors of falsely reporting an incident, falsifying business records and making a false written statement following their investigation into alleged fraudulent business transactions. Detectives said in late November 2010, Brodhead reported to them that he was the victim of a forgery, in which another party was alleged to have signed his name to a motor vehicle lease agreement that Brodhead claimed he never signed. They said their investigation discovered evidence indicating that Brodhead had, in fact, signed the lease and falsely reported to detectives that he hadn't. During their investigation, detectives said additional evidence was discovered indicating Brodhead had forged the name of a family member on a credit application to obtain construction materials from an Albany business. Detectives said he was sent to Ulster
County Jail in lieu of $1,000 bail. (Freeman 2/11/11)

DWI: Andrew T. Campbell, 23, of Kerhonkson, was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving and misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content greater than .08 percent by state police in Gardiner on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Wawarsing. Campbell was released on appearance tickets. (Freeman 2/6/11)

Theft: Walter L. Relyea,, 57, of Kerhonkson, was charged Tuesday with grand larceny, a felony, petit larceny and identity theft, both misdemeanors, at about 1:02 a.m., according to state police at Wawarsing. Relyea was arrested at the state police barracks in Wawarsing. Further details were not immediately available. (Freeman 2/3/11)

Endangering the welfare of a child: Malissa J. Lee, 16, of 409 Schwabbie Turnpike, Kerhonkson, was arrested at 10:30 p.m. Jan. 15 on charges of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, misdemeanor assault and violation harassment. Ulster County sheriff's deputies said Lee reportedly got into a verbal dispute with her mother and pulled her across the room by her hair and then threw a wooden candle holder at her mother. The candle holder missed her mother, but struck her 10-year-old brother in the back, causing an injury that required medical treatment, deputies said. Lee was arraigned in Rochester Town Court and released on her own recognizance. (Freeman 1/26/11)

DWAI: John W. Hunlock, 35, of Kerhonkson was arrested Saturday at 7:20 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with felony driving while ability impaired by drugs and felony aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. No further information was available. (Freeman 1/24/11)

Theft: Ernest J. Smith, 38, of Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Ellenville Thursday at 4:20 p.m. on U.S. Route 209 and charged with felony grand larceny and two counts of issuing a bad check with knowledge of insufficient funds, a misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket. (Freeman 1/29/11)

Members of the Rochester Residents Association donated more than $12,000 to support the Rochester Food Pantry.  The RRA has sponsored a fundraising drive for the Pantry in each of the past five years and also underwritten a substantial portion of the cost of the Town’s annual Thanksgiving Dinner, hosted by the Youth Commission.  This year, more than 100 donors made contributions, a record. 

Thank you for your generosity and support of our neighbors in need. 

The Rochester Residents Association is pleased to publish the Town of Rochester's final tax roll for the July 1, 2010 assessment date.  As far as we are aware, Rochester is the only town in Ulster County for which town-wide tax rolls are available online.  The next assessment date will be as of July 1, 2011.  To see the tax roll, visit: www.Accord-Kerhonkson.com

Town Tax rate down: Rochester: $4.06 per $1,000, down 21 cents, or 4.9 percent, from the current $4.27.

The Town Board adopted a local dog licensing law on December 2 in order to comply with State law, which has passed the responsibility to municipalities.  There is no change in the cost of dog licenses and revenue will be used to administer the program and to support the town’s dog pound. 

As of January 1, 2011 NYS has turned over the entire licensing process to the local municipalities. This means when you renew your dog license for 2011 you will receive a new Town dog tag with a new license number and the State tag number will be phased out. In addition NYS has also created an Animal Population Control Fund charging $ 1.00 for spayed and neutered dogs, and

$ 3.00 for unspayed and unneutered dogs.

Please note: 

Spayed/ neutered dog charge is now $ 4.00 per dog

Unspayed/Unneutered dog charge is now $ 14.00 per dog

Please remember to replace your dog’s tag!

The Town Board voted to accept the conveyance from Ulster County of a portion of the rail trail from Kyserike Road, near Williams Lumber, to Old Lucas Avenue.  The Rondout Valley Business Association has been working actively to upgrade the rail trail to make it more accessible and attractive for the community and visitors. 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town of Rochester Town Board will hold Interviews on 1/27/2011 for those interested in open vacancies on all Boards and Commissions for the Town of Rochester. All interested persons must submit a letter of Intent to the Town Supervisor PO Box 65 Accord, NY 12404 no later than 1/24/2011.

BY THE ORDER OF THE TOWN BOAR\D

KATHLEEN A. SERGIO

TOWN CLERK/ TAX COLLECTOR

The Town’s Youth Commission honored Susan and Tim Bruck with the Mary Lee Friend of Youth Award in December for the services that they have provided to promoting the local 4-H program. 

ACCORD — The Assessor’s Office for the Town of Rochester is reminding all property owners that the statewide filing deadline for all exemptions is March 1.

Property owners who are currently receiving the Enhanced Star, Senior Citizens, Agricultural, Disability, and Wholly Exemption from property taxes must file their renewal form by March 1. All renewal applications will be mailed to property owners by early December. If a property owner does not receive the application, they should contact the Assessors’s Office as soon as possible.

If a property owner is receiving the Basic Star Exemption they do not need to file a renewal exemption. If a property owner will be 65 by Dec. 31, 2011, they may be eligible for the Enhanced Star Exemption, and they should contact the Assessor’s Office before March 1. The income level for Enhanced Star has also been raised to $79,050. Property owners who did not qualify in the past for the Enhanced Star Exemption because of income may be eligible under the new income level and should contact the Assessor’s Office.

All property owners are eligible for the Basic Star Exemption on their primary residence, regardless of age or income. If there is more than one primary residence on a property, each owner is now eligible for the exemption if they are the owner of the property. In addition, if a person owns a mobile home and the home is located on  property owned by another person, they are eligible for the Star Exemption.

Any property owner who has served in the military at any time and has been discharged from service may be eligible for a Veterans Exemption from town or county taxes. The exemption would apply whether a property owner served during a wartime period as defined by law or not. Any property owner who feels they may be eligible for the exemption should contact the Assessor’s Office.

If a property owner has questions about any exemptions and whether they are eligible they should contact their local assessor’s office prior to March 1, 2011. In the town Rochester, call (845) 626-0920.  (Freeman 12/7/10)

TOWN OF ROCHESTER – The elderly woman who was rescued from her burning home on Friday by a neighbor is looking to thank the woman and is also looking for her missing cats.

“They’re my best friends,” said Rita LaPorte, 76, after reading about her rescue in Monday’s Freeman. She contacted the newspaper through Jan Campbell, a customer who was waiting for her car at LaPorte’s son’s transmission and repair shop in Port Ewen.

Campbell said LaPorte wanted to speak with neighbor Jill Lynch, who persuaded her to open the door so she could get her outside the burning home on Old Minnewaska Trail. “I want to thank her,” LaPorte said.

“I’m with my son, Marc (Weinberger), in his shop. He brought me here today so I wouldn’t be alone,” LaPorte said.

In the aftermath of the fire, LaPorte said she’s “a little up in the air.

“I lost my house and I lost my cats,” she said.

She said a neighbor told her he was putting food out for the cats. “But, it’s so cold and I’m worried about them,” she said.

LaPorte said the cats,  both black and siblings, are named “Pretty Boy” and “Sweetheart.”

“My whole life revolves around them,” she said.

Anyone with information about the cats is asked to contact LaPorte’s son at Marc’s Transmission and Repair, 453 Broadway, Port Ewen, at (845) 338-4881.

TOWN OF ROCHESTER — A neighbor rescued an elderly woman from her burning house on Old Minnewaska Trail on Friday, and the blaze rendered the house “unliveable,” a fire official said.

John Dunning, deputy chief of the Accord Fire District, said the fire was reported at 5:26 p.m. and firefighters arrived to see flames shooting from the roof of the single-story home.

The  woman  who occupied the house was rescued by a neighbor after initially being trapped in the kitchen, Dunning said.

The woman’s two cats apparently escaped on their own, Dunning said.

Neither the woman nor her rescuer were immediately identified.

The woman was taken  to Kingston Hospital with complaints of chest pain, Dunning said.

Dunning said the fire appeared to be accidental in origin, having started near the furnace.

Firefighters had the blaze under control within 10 minutes of arriving on the scene, he said.

“The guys did such a great job,” Dunning said. “It was a really good stop.” Continued...

He said the fire was contained to one room and the attic but that the house was rendered uninhabitable because the flames burned through part of the roof and because firefighters had to cut holes in the roof for venting. (Freeman 12/18/10)

   Friends of Little Ones, Inc., AKA Little Ones Learning Center, has recently received $1,000 Matching Grants from two different local families who support our program.  This year was especially difficult financially because we lost all funding from the Ulster County Youth Bureau and had to make up the difference - $10,000, which is approximately 40% of our budget. 

The Little Ones Learning Center is a free, drop-in, early literacy program for children ages 0-6.  Three 2-hour story times are held weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10 AM to Noon.  In 2009, Little Ones served 237 different children (counting each child only once all year).  As this is a drop-in program, some children came only a few times while others came 30-40 times.  Over 1,500 books were loaned from our collection of over 3,000 to encourage and support literacy in the home.  Please visit our website to learn more about the program.

        Little Ones will not be receiving any financial support from the Youth Bureau in 2011.  We are actively seeking grants from all sources.  If you are aware of any grant sources we might investigate, please let us know.  We are working hard to keep Little Ones open 3 days a week, but the need to cut back to 2 days is a real possibility.  The Board of Directors and participants feel that this is a very important resource in our community and do not want to see our services diminished.

        If you would like to help us meet our match and turn $2,000 into $4,000, please mail your tax-deductible donation to the address below or make your donation through our website.

Are you still looking for a gift for that someone who has everything???  Consider making a donation to Little Ones in his/her name.  A card will be sent to the individual(s) informing them of your gift to Little Ones in their name.

        Thank you for your support!

        Mary Lee, Treasurer

        Friends of Little Ones, Inc.

        5142 Route 209

        Accord, New York 12404

        www.littleoneslearningcenter.org

are available NOW!  These full color wall calendars beautify any home and make a perfect  BUY LOCAL holiday gift.

An affordable option at only $11.85 each ($10.95 + tax)

Each calendar:

·          Measures 12" x 24" when open     

·         Each page includes a calendar grid with important RVBA dates, holidays and plenty of room to record appointments, complimented by a seasonal photograph.

·         Photos include striking local landscapes and a collection of simple and unique images that speak to the character of our treasured Rondout Valley.

·         Calendar sales benefit the RVBA scholarship fund for college-bound high school students.

              Buy your 2011 Calendar online today  (www.RondoutValley.org)

Or at any of these fine local retail establishments:

·         A&M Hardware, Accord  

·         Bodacious Bagels, Stone Ridge

-         Davenports, Stone Ridge - (CLOSING for the Season 12/15/10)

·         Ellenville Public Library

·         Ellenville - Warwarsing Chamber of Commerce Office, Ellenville   

·         Emmanuel's Marketplace, Stone Ridge 

.         High Falls Cafe, High Falls

·         Kelders Farms, Accord  

·         Lydia's Country Deli, Stone Ridge

·         Marbletown Hardware, Stone Ridge

·         Matthews Pharmacy, Ellenville

·          Pleasant Stone Farm, Ellenville

·         Rondout Valley Golf Course/ Ivan's Restaurant, Accord

·         Saunderskill Farms, Accord -  (CLOSING for the Season 12/24/10)

·         Stone Dock Golf Course / The Tapp Inn Restaurant, High  Falls  

·         Stone Ridge Wine & Spirits, Stone Ridge 

·         Victoria Gardens, Rosendale  

·         Williams Lumber, High Falls

For more information please contact the RVBA at info@rondoutvalley.org

ACCORD – Ihor Procyk says he is a radical and he wants to see significant change in US government in Washington, DC.

Procyk, 54, of Accord, announced Monday he would run for president of the United States next year on the Clean Sweep Reform Party ticket.  He said the “war” on the poor and middle class must come to an end.

“My idea whether I win or not, is anything is possible in this world because of the strange times that we are in, but to raise issues and to raise the possibility of totally different solutions,” he said. “I think we really have Frick and Frack and what is offered is some version of what corporations want.”

Procyk’s platform includes bringing home all US troops on foreign soil starting with those in war zones; forming a unicameral federal Congress with three congresspersons per state with four year terms and a five term limit; decriminalizing, regulating and selling all recreational drugs to adults of legal age, which he said would kill the cartels and stop “the Mexican drug murder campaign”; and develop a federal small cities emergency bill. (Mid Hudson News 12/21/10)

Gentle, but strong. The seeming opposites attract and unite in a unique exercise program that aids both the healthy and the recuperating in a program available to the public at Benedictine Hospital.

Under the watchful direction of instructors Ujjala Schwartz and Angel Ortloff, participants engage in the healing movements of a SmartBells workout, each moving at his or her own pace.

SmartBells, a device created by Paul Widerman of Accord, work in the opposite method of the distant-relative, the dumbbell, but offer whole-body stimulation.

Widerman devised SmartBells more than 15 years ago. The weight is an unusually curved, disc-like device, about 11 inches in diameter with two handles set within the disc, that is central to a carefully contrived system of exercise that restores “chi” or balance to the body.

Widerman, on the SmartBells website, thinkfit.com, said “We knew the “Smart” nomenclature was definitely overused. But we also saw that the new invention was a quantum leap past dumbbells. So, we could not resist calling them ‘SmartBells.’

Widerman pointed out in the same article that the SmartBells “in fact, do positively affect the brain and neural pathways. There are literally an infinite number of ways to use them. SmartBells are like a musical instrument for the mind/ body and they do have a ring tone.”

“SmartBells move in a fluid, circular motion as opposed to dumbbells that are more linear,” explained Ortloff, a massage therapist in Mount Tremper, who also uses them in her private practice with some clients.

“The body,” Ortloff said, “knows its balance and seeks return to homeostasis.” But, sometimes disease, or its treatment, such as chemotherapy, deter the body from balance, she said.

“Exercise helps the body balance itself,” she said.

The program, established 15 years ago at the hospital, is one of Benedictine’s most popular offerings. It is open to the public, for both men and women, and is held every Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in the hospital auditorium. The fee: a mere $6 for an hour’s worth of low-impact, but stimulating activity.

Ortloff said Benedictine Hospital originally offered the program for the elderly and bought the necessary SmartBells for the sessions. “Benedictine has the bells. People just need to bring themselves,” she said.

Schwart, a master SmartBells instructor, on temporary leave from the program, described them as, “A key that unlocks intuitive movement in the body.”

She started teaching SmartBells at Benedictine Hospital in 2003 through a hospital grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation to teach the SmartBells Sculptural Weight Exercise Program to oncology patients. When the grant was completed, the exercise was opened to the 50-plus as well.

The SmartBells program is offered as a program of the Oncology Support Program of Benedictine Hospital, a member of the Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley. The oncology program is housed in the Herbert H. and Sophia P. Reuner Cancer Support House at 80 Mary’s Ave.

The Oncology Support Program offers support groups for local cancer patients and their families, educational programs on health and wellness, programs in the healing arts and a variety of classes, including yoga, QiGong, restorative yoga/meditation and Pilates.

Both Schwartz and Ortloff are trained SmartBells instructors. They take participants through a core routine of gentle activity that combines calisthenics with circular motions. There are also exercises on the floor with mats.

“We teach squats, lunges, thrusts, depending on the client’s needs,” Ortloff said. She explained that the routines are constructed to move from gentle to more vigorous, building up energy and moving to a climax of partnering with someone else for additional strength training.

“We start with a warm up routine and end with a cool-down. In between, we get some cardio workout,” said Ortloff, who currently is the instructor. She received her training at the Center for Natural Wellness in Albany and also is associated with Woodstock Integrative Health.

SmartBells exercise incorporates all the muscle groups to encourage more balance, “Ortloff said. “The exercises make people stronger so they can go about their daily activities. Never underestimate the power of daily activity,” she said.

A particular target of the exercises is upper body strength, Ortloff said, noting that many regimens stress only lower-body strength. She said the exercises build bone mass as routines are repeated with the weights.

“As a nation, we are medially rotated,” Ortloff said, explaining that all that sitting in front of a computer, with everything within arms’ reach, has cheated the upper body, especially the shoulder area from staying strong.

“We don’t open out our arms and reach out or up for items,” she said, noting that the SmartBells program emphasizes strengthening the whole body.

Partnering work is also important for strength building. “The instructor pairs participants, putting people of similar strengths with each other,” Ortloff said.

In a favorite exercise, called chu-chu, partners each hold one side of the disc and move together in a circular motion. “It’s a good shoulder workout,” she said.

In addition to building strength, Ortloff said, the program builds something equally important, but much less tangible: Trust. She said that participants learn to trust the instructors and each other as they partner.

“We form a circle, with each person holding a bell, so we can see each other’s strengths,” she said.

A variety of people, some who are restored to health, others who are in treatment, come to the weekly program and establish a pattern of anticipation in their lives.

“A real camaraderie develops between and among people,” Ortloff said. “They see each other every week and it gives them something to look forward to. They also see the improvements they make as they continue to feel better,” she said.

“We try to give people the strengths they need to enjoy their lives,” Ortloff said. “We want them to take walks in the woods, to enjoy nature.”

Further information on the SmartBells program at Benedictine Hospital may be obtained by calling (845) 339-2071; information on Angel Ortloff may be obtained by calling (845) 697-8634; more information on SmartBells may be obtained by visiting www.thinkfit.com. (Freeman 1/13/11)

KYSERIKE — With the Rondout Valley school district facing grim budget options, Superintendent Rosario Agostaro says he wants to “fast track” a reorganization of district schools with the goal of closing an elementary school by the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Agostaro, who initially said he wanted to form a subcommittee to analyze how district schools are organized and make recommendations, told the Board of Education at a meeting on Tuesday that he no longer thinks action can wait.

The board later unanimously approved a hiring freeze on permanent employees.

The district’s current budget stands at $60 million. If everything in the 2010-11 budget were rolled over to 2011-12, Agostaro said, the same programs would cost 9.27 percent more and increase the property tax levy by an estimated 24.57 percent in what would likely be a $65,719,841 spending plan. The increases in appropriations and the tax levy would be driven by rising costs and expected reductions in state aid.

A contingency budget — a 1.99 percent spending increase from this year’s level, or $61,337,974 — still would raise the property tax levy by 11.01 percent, the superintendent said, noting the difference between the two would be multimillion-dollar cuts.

To get to a budget that keeps the property tax levy, at its current level, Agostaro said, appropriations would need to be cut 3.93 percent from current levels, which would put total spending at $57,780,370.

Agostaro also noted that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing a proposal that would cap property tax increases at 2 percent. If enacted, “our options quickly begin to dwindle when we’re talking those kind of numbers,”  Agostaro said.

“That’s the reality, folks,” he said. “We just don’t have the money.”

Agostaro said his team has considered several different models for reconfiguring the school district and found a scenario in which closing one of the district’s three elementary schools — Marbletown, Rosendale or Kerhonkson — is the most viable.

Following Tuesday’s board meeting, the superintendent said his team considered options that included keeping all three elementary schools open, but found those options would not save enough money; Agostaro said his team also considered trying to house the entire district’s K-12 program in just two schools, but found there was not a pair of schools that have the capacity to absorb all of the district’s students, projected to number 2,128, down 4.5 percent from 2010-11.

He described closing one elementary school to be “the model we found to be least disruptive academically.” Agostaro said the decision cannot be driven completely by money, adding “that decision wouldn’t be what I was brought here to do.”

School board President Gail Hutchins said after the meeting that school officials will conduct presentations to community groups and hold a public hearing at the district office once they have developed “a solid plan.”

In the meantime, details — like which school could be closed, how many staff members would be cut in the move, how much money a closure would save, what the impact on the length of bus trips would be and what the exact impact on class sizes would be — still are being worked out, Agostaro said.

He did say elementary class sizes tend to vary in the 18-to-22 range and probably would increase by two to five students if one school is closed.

The superintendent said he plans to present more information on the progress of the plan at the next school board meeting.

Other austerity measures enacted at Tuesday’s meeting included a one-time $13,500 retirement incentive for district support staff and a $5,000 retirement incentive for employees who are members of the Civil Service Employees Association. (Freeman 1/13/2011)

NEW PALTZ – Three Ulster County residents were arrested Tuesday in connection with the robbing of a Wallkill man who had been at the same Main Street bar as his attackers, police said.

Andre Fernandez, 27, of 888 Samsonville Road, Kerhonkson, Nicholas Mason, 21, of 23 Mickle Drive, Stone Ridge, and Luis DelGado,. 21, of 13 Bakertown Road, Accord, were arrested shortly after 2 a.m., according to the New Paltz Police Department.

Fernandez and Mason were charged with felony robbery, police said. Delgado was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of stolen property, police said.

Police said Fernandez and Mason had allegedly accosted the victim after leaving McGillicuddy’s Bar. The two followed the victim and a friend along Main Street.

The victim and his friend were not identified. All of those involved in the incident had been at the bar, police said.

At some point, the victim “alleges that Fernandez and Mason struck him several times proceeding to steal his jacket and other personal belongings,” according to a press release.

As the attack occurred, police said, a larger disturbance began but police were able to stop any other violence.

Delgado was found to be in possession of items taken during the incident, police said.

All three were arraigned by New Paltz Justice Jonathan Katz. Fernandez and Mason were ordered held at Ulster County Jail in lieu of $5,000. Delgado was ordered held at the same jail in lieu of $2,500 bail.  (Freeman 1/11/2011)

Drugs: Charles D. Shaver, 57, of Kerhonkson, was charged with felony criminal possession of a controlled substance and the misdemeanors of criminal possession of a controlled substance and manufacturing drug-related paraphernalia; and Randolph G. Wolfeil, 40, of Accord, was charged with the felonies of drunken driving, driving while ability impaired by drugs, and aggravated unlicensed driving, as well as unlawful possession/use of fireworks, a violation, and a safety glass equipment violation, an infraction, by state police at Wawarsing at 9 p.m. Monday on 44th Street in the town of Wawarsing. They were being held. (Freeman 1/5/11)

Parole violation: Keith A. Bruce, 30, of 357 Mettacahonts Road, Accord, was arrested at 4 a.m. Tuesday following two foot chases by Ulster County sheriff’s deputies. According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies stopped Bruce on U.S. Route 209 for traffic violations. Bruce fled the car on foot, but was located several hours later after reports that he was knocking on doors trying to use a telephone. A second foot pursuit ensued and Bruce was found hiding in a wooded area by deputies and the sheriff’s canine, Drago. Bruce was arrested and charged on a parole warrant and sent to Ulster County Jail. Additional charges are pending. (Freeman 1/6/11)

Contempt: Roman Kowalczuk, 53, Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Ellenville Friday at 3:45 a.m. and charged with felony contempt, violating an order of protection. He was being held. (1/1/11)

Shoplifting: Antonio Santiago, 28, of 439 Granite Rd., Kerhonkson was arrested by town of Ulster police and charged with misdemeanor petit larceny. Police said units responded to WalMart after being notified by asset protection personnel that Santiago had left the store without paying for two music compact discs worth $18.88. He was charged and issued a ticket to appear in Ulster Town Court.  (Freeman 12/19/10)

DWI: David A. Carelli, 22, of Kerhonkson, was arrested by state police at Ellenville Friday at 2:45 a.m. at U.S. Route 209 and Mettacohonts Road and charged with drunken driving and operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08 percent, both misdemeanors. He was released on his own recognizance. (12/18/10)

Sexual abuse: Thomas P. Maloy, 21, of Kerhonkson, was charged with the misdemeanors of sexual abuse and public lewdness by state police at Wawarsing in connected with an incident reported at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday in the town of Wawarsing. (12/16/10)

DWI: Judith L. Young, 50, of Kerhonkson was arrested Saturday at 11:11 p.m. by state police at Wawarsing and charged with two counts of misdemeanor drunken driving. She was issued tickets to appear in Wawarsing Town Court. (12/13/10)

Shoplifting: Joseph E. Staff, 18, of Kerhonkson, was charged with misdemeanor petit larceny by state police in Wawarsing at 2:20 p.m. on Friday at 122 Kyserike Rd. in the Town of Rochester. He was released on tickets. (12/12/10)

ROCHESTER - A town man faces a misdemeanor charge after threatening to burn a 9-year-old child with a cigarette while highly intoxicated, police allege.

Kevin R. Chronister, 46, of Stony Kill Road, was charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child by Ulster County Sheriff’s deputies at 3:24 a.m. Sunday.

Police said they responded to his home and found Chronister was highly intoxicated. Police believe he got into a “verbal argument with a 9-year-old over his high level of intoxication and attempted to burn her arm with a lit cigarette.” The 9-year-old, however, got away, police said. Chronister’s arraignment was postponed “due to (his) high intoxication level,” and he was released on his own recognizance to return to court at a later date. (11/29/10)

Dear Editor

I would like to thank all the members of our community who made contributions to the Rochester Food Pantry in the past couple of months.  This year, we received more than $12,000 from over 100 donors – far exceeding our expectations, our prior level of gifts, and number of contributors.  I would also like to thank the Rochester Residents Association and Zali Win for matching the first $1,000 in contributions and for organizing our fundraising efforts for the fifth straight year.

The Pantry is run and managed by an all volunteer staff and our physical space is provided by the Accord Fire Department.  Thanks to this and in-kind donations of produce from our local farms and durable goods such as a cooler and refrigerator from local contributors; we have been able to keep our operating costs extremely low.   As a result, we were able to meet the high demand from clients in 2010.  We provided over 28,000 meals to more than 2,300 individuals….over 900 of whom were children and many of whom were seniors.

Sincerely,

Margaret Bonner

Corresponding Secretary

Rochester Food Pantry

We invite you to submit the following for publication:

Contact us by e-mail to TownCrier@Accord-Kerhonkson.com or by mail at PO Box 257, Accord, NY 12404.

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