Mamakating’s not for sale

I am writing not only as the elected legislator for District 2 but also as a resident of the Town of Mamakating to lend my voice to the majority of tax paying residents who rightly believe that Yukiguni Maitake mushroom plant will be an economic and environmental tragedy for our community. The more we learn of the true facts regarding this industrial project in the heart of Mamakating, which is demanding five zoning variances from our Zoning Board of Appeals, the more our considered judgment turns against it. Congressman Maurice Hinchey strongly opposes it and Bill Pammer, commissioner of the Sullivan County Planning Department, has urged the zoning board not to grant the variances.

I, for one, do not believe the mass-market publicity campaign that the company has recently undertaken. How dare they presume to tell us what is best for our community when they do not live here, pay taxes here, nor raise their families here?

This is our home, and it is the perfect place for families and not a “soft target” for low-tech industry. We cannot stand idly by and allow high-intensity development simply to occur for development’s sake.

I am asking all the residents of our region to stand up against this type of industrial development that is being forced upon homeowners and residents in our county by outside interests, because it will have significant countywide implications regarding economic, cultural and natural resources.

An eight-story factory building will not only jeopardize the Village of Wurtsboro’s water supply, but will also jeopardize the world-renowned and historic Wurtsboro Airport. This type of callous industrial development will stifle the positive economic development that we have begun to see in the town and so many communities in our county.

Let the town board and the planning board know that we want smart and clean growth in our community and that Mamakating is not for sale.

Our children, our families in the Town of Mamakating deserve more.

We need a new bridge

[The following letter dated August 4, 2005 by the Upper Delaware Council, was addressed to Stephen J. Shimko, District 4-0 executive of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and Jack Williams, regional director of the New York State Department of Transportation]

The Upper Delaware Council, Inc. (UDC) wishes to affirm its support for the construction of a new bridge at Pond Eddy following the Section 106 Consulting Party Meeting which took place on June 29, 2005 in Shohola, PA, and subsequent discussions at the Council’s July 19, 2005 Water Use/Resource Management Committee meeting and the July 26, 2005 Project Review Committee meeting. 

We also join our member municipalities—Shohola Township, PA and the Town of Lumberland, NY—in calling for the convening of quarterly public meetings, at minimum, to keep the local community updated on this project’s status. Prior to the June 2005 meeting, we noted that the last public meeting on this subject had occurred in 1999. 

The UDC agrees with the recommendation of consulting engineers from Hatch Mott MacDonald to construct a new bridge at Pond Eddy on the basis of public safety, sound financial investment and sustainability. With regards to the option that was also studied of rehabilitating the existing bridge, the UDC’s position is that the higher construction and maintenance costs, significantly reduced life expectancy, inability to raise the current bridge’s load capacity to a standard weight posting and necessity to alter the structure’s historic appearance all render that alternative less desirable. 

The Upper Delaware Council has worked since 1988 in partnership with the National Park Service to oversee the coordinated implementation of the River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Our voting members are the two states (New York and Pennsylvania) and 11 local governments that border on the Upper Delaware River. The Delaware River Basin Commission is a non-voting member. 

Thank you for this opportunity to comment. We hope to see this long-debated project reach a point of decision as soon as possible for the sake of the affected residents and travelers.

Mourning a pillar of the community

The other day I was going through my notebook, which has registered in it the most important days and events in the Town of Lumberland since I moved here more than quarter of a century ago. I stopped for a while on the date of August 25, 1997. On that day our town lost a memorable supervisor, Thomas Hill, and I personally lost a good friend. He was a unique person, a humble human being, who, as a public servant, with dedication cared about his constituents and about his town. He was friendly person, reliable and he loved his community and in turn people loved and respected him. Christina Bodnaruik, the town clerk at that time who closely worked with Tom Hill, expressed her sorrow with these words: “He had a good heart and compassionate soul.” And how rightly said. I was proud to know him and Tom always had time to listen and talk with me. He was modest and a delightful individual. Our town lost a special man.

In February of 1997 he was diagnosed with leukemia and spent some time in the hospital. Although seriously ill he resumed his duties in May and June of that year. I remember that at the town board meeting in June of 1997 I presented him with a poster-sized get-well card from the Lumberland Ukrainian community with an enlarged photo of Tom Hill and over 120 signatures of well-wishers.

As his friend and admirer, I will visit his grave here in the Glen Spey cemetery on August 25 of this year to pay my respect and bow my head in prayer for his soul. I am also suggesting that the employees of our municipal office, in respect to this great man, visit his burial place to pay solemn tribute at a designated time. If my suggestion is heeded, it would be advisable that we, the residents of our town, join in that ceremony.

This school is unique

My name is Jessica and I’m a freshman at Glory to God Christian High School in Liberty, NY. In my former school I did not understand the work and was terribly lost in all my classes. I never raised my hand in class to answer a question. I was scared I was going to get it wrong and people would make fun of me. In July of last year, my mother came home and told me about this school.

Just one year since then and I’m more confident in myself and my work. I’m not scared to walk through the doors of this school. Most important, I am getting a much better education than I was. I have improved so much and I’m very proud of what I have accomplished this year. To tell you the truth, I was scared to come to this school, because I kept wondering if the other students here would like me or not, but we are all friends here. We get along and help each other out.

Please help us keep this magnificent school open. This school is not like any other. This school is very unique. Just imagine your child staying out of trouble, getting wonderful grades and not coming home and crying because other children are teasing her/him. I can truly say this school is so much better than other schools.

Truth in a jest

The most recent episode out of Karl Rove’s bag of dirty tricks is only the latest indication that things at the White House are not going according to script. At this year’s White House Correspondents’ dinner, Laura Bush upstaged her husband, announcing that George is in bed asleep by 9:00 p.m. She labeled him “Mr. Excitement” and said she was left to watch “Desperate Housewives” on TV in the company of Lynne Cheney.

It was supposed to be part of the jokes and put-downs of the evening, but often the truth comes in the form of jest.

As for Lynne Cheney, in past years she wrote steamy romance novels. She, too, must be in a state of desperation, married to a man who runs off to his secret underground bunker in western Pennsylvania every time the terror color code changes to yellow. Maybe she should bribe the Secretary of Homeland Security to call a pink alert.