TRR photo by David Hulse Toronto Reservoir was a picture of mostly frozen mud flats last week. (Click for larger image)

County and towns finding places in Toronto development

By DAVID HULSE

MONTICELLO — County and town officials last week lined up, albeit carefully in some cases, behind an effort by Woodstone Lakes Development LLP to get federal regulators to guarantee minimum water levels in the Toronto Reservoir.

Highland and Lumberland officials, saying town residents were being denied access to recreational waters required by federal hydroelectric licensing standards, complained in resolutions supporting Woodstone.

Lumberland Councilwoman Nadia Rajsz called the access sites at Toronto “one of the best kept secrets in the county,” and lauded Woodstone as an environmentally conscious developer.

Supervisor John LiGreci told his board that the land would depreciate in value if the water levels were not maintained, prompting resident David Meehan to warn that formally resolving that land values were depreciated was dangerous.

“What happens if their complaint doesn’t go through? They can request lower taxes because you’ve said it’s worthless.

“It’s only common sense that mud is worth less than water front,” LiGreci responded

“But the reservoir is in Bethel,” Highland resident Ted Vitanza said, scratching his head as he stared at a county map after the Highland board meeting. “What business is this of ours?”

It’s the Highland and Lumberland business because Woodstone’s planned 5000-acre development of some 450 luxury second homes and an 18-hole championship golf course would overlap into Highland and Lumberland from a base around the reservoir, which is owned by the Southern Corporation and is part of the Mongaup hydroelectric system.

If the reservoir water levels can’t be guaranteed, town officials fear Woodstone might cut back on its ambitious plans and that would mean a lot of lost revenues for the towns. LiGreci estimated that the 75 homes planned in Lumberland could increase the town’s tax base by 8 to 10 percent.

More than 200 homes are said to be planned on a larger Highland portion of the tract.

The development means big money to Sullivan County as well. The Legislature last week passed a similar resolution, but not before hearing some cautious remarks from a representative of the Swinging Bridge property owners association.

Arthur Goodman noted that Toronto is a feeder for the heavily developed Swinging Bridge Reservoir, which has itself suffered from low water level problems in past. Goodman said his association has filed for interveners status in Woodstone’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) complaint.

Goodman said he hoped the complaint would address water level problems in both reservoirs, and while he went on to voice support for Woodstone’s development effort, legislators heard caution in his remarks.

Legislative chair Rusty Pomeroy said the Legislature “wouldn’t want to stabilize one reservoir to the detriment of another,” and the county panel agreed to voice additional comments to FERC on behalf of Swinging Bridge.

Swinging Bridge water levels dipped during the drought period of 1998-99, but Toronto has been depleted on a regular basis since the State Department of Environmental Conservation called for regular 100-cubic-feet-per-second flows to be restored to a formerly bypassed section of the Mongaup River below the downstream Rio Dam.