7 PM
Tonight
Public Hearing on
the KJ Pipeline
and the
County's Water Master Plan
at the
Central Valley Elementary School
Be There or Be Octagonal
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
The Thing That Would Not Die
He's baaaaaack!
Yep
Petitions are making the rounds for the Republican candidates for Town Council.
Geaorge Pedersen and, honest to God, Ralphie!
This will be fun!
Diana Agrees To Sue
Diana decides to sue Kiryas Joel again over pipeline project
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
June 25, 2009
GOSHEN — Orange County Executive Ed Diana announced Thursday he plans to sue Kiryas Joel for the second time over the environmental review for the village’s proposed connection to the Catskill Aqueduct.
Diana said he believes the village’s amendments to the review still fail to address adequately the issues the courts identified in response to the county’s 2004 lawsuit.
His decision to sue comes four days before the county Legislature planned to hold a public hearing on the pipeline project and six days ahead of a planned Legislature vote on whether to sue.
The Pieman writes to say that it still very important that there is a huge turnout at Monday's Public Hearing at Central Valley Elementary School (7 PM) in order to send a message to the County Legislature.
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
June 25, 2009
GOSHEN — Orange County Executive Ed Diana announced Thursday he plans to sue Kiryas Joel for the second time over the environmental review for the village’s proposed connection to the Catskill Aqueduct.
Diana said he believes the village’s amendments to the review still fail to address adequately the issues the courts identified in response to the county’s 2004 lawsuit.
His decision to sue comes four days before the county Legislature planned to hold a public hearing on the pipeline project and six days ahead of a planned Legislature vote on whether to sue.
The Pieman writes to say that it still very important that there is a huge turnout at Monday's Public Hearing at Central Valley Elementary School (7 PM) in order to send a message to the County Legislature.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Keep Paying Attention
My View:
Water master plan contains wrong numbers, bad conclusions
June 19, 2009
The recently released Orange County Water Master Plan is not about planning but about taking total control of our precious water resource. It must be stopped.
Our communities need representation on a county level to participate in the management of the water resources in each of our towns. Currently the master plan is not the answer because:
* It is based on faulty population assumptions that either seriously exaggerate or understate population growth rates.
* It gives control of our water resources to the Orange County Water Authority without any oversight or local elected officials' input.
* It gives the water authority MTA-like government powers without proper oversight by our legislators or locally elected officials.
As an example, the growth projections the master plan uses for Washingtonville and Kiryas Joel are absolutely wrong, or have been fabricated to support the priorities identified in that document. The Kiryas Joel growth rate used in the plan conflicts with Kiryas Joel's own growth-rate projections as laid out in the Final Environmental Impact Statement in support of the aqueduct pipeline request.
The growth assumptions used suggest that Washingtonville will grow at almost the same rate as Kiryas Joel, which is not supported by the U.S. Census data. The Census shows a significantly smaller growth rate for Washingtonville and a significantly higher growth rate for Kiryas Joel.
The Census growth rates would cause Washingtonville to fall out of the "in need of water" category and thus eliminate the justification for the proposed link between Washingtonville and Cornwall.
The bottom line is that the plan improperly "moves" new population from Kiryas Joel, where it is expected, to Washingtonville, where it isn't. This phony "population transfer" has the effect of concealing the real reasons for the priorities identified in the master plan and that is to get access to 1.7 million gallons a day of Cornwall water for the users of those links.
There is the additional concern that the master plan will give the Water Authority unbridled powers over the control and management of our water once the plan is approved. The Authority will be able to 1) acquire right of ways using eminent domain, 2) sell bonds without legislative approval, 3) charge whatever fees they see fit to build and maintain the links they install and control, 4) once the water is in their system, send it to whomever is linked to that system.
The only involvement of our local elected officials will be powerless "consultation." The Orange County Sewer District is managed by the county; however, local elected officials have complained vigorously to no avail about how that facility is managed, how the capacity is distributed to its members and the lack of meaningful involvement in the budget process. We should assume it will be the same when the Water Authority seizes control of our water supply and decisions.
So I ask, should Cornwall allow the Water Authority to take its water without any oversight or controls in place to protect their own supply?
Since the Times Herald-Record reported in 2007 the wells in Monroe went dry when Kiryas Joel activated a number of wells illegally, this is a real concern. I urge the locally elected officials to resist the kidnapping of their oversight authority and their water supply.
We need to establish a board of commissioners with representation from all the impacted communities to manage our water. We need to resist giving it over to or the Water Authority to be managed like the Orange County Sewer District, where special-interest groups have the most influence.
Robert A. Fromaget lives in the Town of Blooming Grove.
Water master plan contains wrong numbers, bad conclusions
June 19, 2009
The recently released Orange County Water Master Plan is not about planning but about taking total control of our precious water resource. It must be stopped.
Our communities need representation on a county level to participate in the management of the water resources in each of our towns. Currently the master plan is not the answer because:
* It is based on faulty population assumptions that either seriously exaggerate or understate population growth rates.
* It gives control of our water resources to the Orange County Water Authority without any oversight or local elected officials' input.
* It gives the water authority MTA-like government powers without proper oversight by our legislators or locally elected officials.
As an example, the growth projections the master plan uses for Washingtonville and Kiryas Joel are absolutely wrong, or have been fabricated to support the priorities identified in that document. The Kiryas Joel growth rate used in the plan conflicts with Kiryas Joel's own growth-rate projections as laid out in the Final Environmental Impact Statement in support of the aqueduct pipeline request.
The growth assumptions used suggest that Washingtonville will grow at almost the same rate as Kiryas Joel, which is not supported by the U.S. Census data. The Census shows a significantly smaller growth rate for Washingtonville and a significantly higher growth rate for Kiryas Joel.
The Census growth rates would cause Washingtonville to fall out of the "in need of water" category and thus eliminate the justification for the proposed link between Washingtonville and Cornwall.
The bottom line is that the plan improperly "moves" new population from Kiryas Joel, where it is expected, to Washingtonville, where it isn't. This phony "population transfer" has the effect of concealing the real reasons for the priorities identified in the master plan and that is to get access to 1.7 million gallons a day of Cornwall water for the users of those links.
There is the additional concern that the master plan will give the Water Authority unbridled powers over the control and management of our water once the plan is approved. The Authority will be able to 1) acquire right of ways using eminent domain, 2) sell bonds without legislative approval, 3) charge whatever fees they see fit to build and maintain the links they install and control, 4) once the water is in their system, send it to whomever is linked to that system.
The only involvement of our local elected officials will be powerless "consultation." The Orange County Sewer District is managed by the county; however, local elected officials have complained vigorously to no avail about how that facility is managed, how the capacity is distributed to its members and the lack of meaningful involvement in the budget process. We should assume it will be the same when the Water Authority seizes control of our water supply and decisions.
So I ask, should Cornwall allow the Water Authority to take its water without any oversight or controls in place to protect their own supply?
Since the Times Herald-Record reported in 2007 the wells in Monroe went dry when Kiryas Joel activated a number of wells illegally, this is a real concern. I urge the locally elected officials to resist the kidnapping of their oversight authority and their water supply.
We need to establish a board of commissioners with representation from all the impacted communities to manage our water. We need to resist giving it over to or the Water Authority to be managed like the Orange County Sewer District, where special-interest groups have the most influence.
Robert A. Fromaget lives in the Town of Blooming Grove.
Pay Attention, Folks
Our View:
Surrounding communities concerned about Kiryas Joel pipeline
June 18, 2009
As supervisors and mayors in southern Orange County, we have heard from many of our citizens who are concerned about the impact of the Village of Kiryas Joel's proposed pipeline to hook into the New York City water system.
The pipeline would run 13 miles through many of our communities, causing major disruptions and impact to the environment. Five years ago when the pipeline plan was first submitted, the county went to court challenging the original Final Environmental Impact Statement on the grounds that it was deficient in a number of areas, including any real plan to deal with the increased sewage capacity that would be required.
The court agreed and ordered that the plan needed to address a number of issues, including wastewater, wetlands and population growth.
Unfortunately, the court did not seem to take the environmental impact review process seriously and allowed Kiryas Joel to file an amended impact statement that is not subject to further review.
The new amended statement most certainly does not answer the court's questions. In fact, the filing is still plagued with erroneous or missing information and miscalculations.
For example, on sewage, the plan claims that a new filtration system will be installed in the Harriman Sewage Treatment Plant, which will double its capacity, and that all of this new capacity will go to Kiryas Joel. In truth, the county has not yet decided if it will install this very expensive and experimental filtration system,. The most optimistic guesses say it might increase the capacity by 50 percent, not double it. Most egregious is Kiryas Joel's claim that all additional capacity, as well as all of the recent 2 million-gallon expansion of the Harriman plant, should go exclusively to its village.
This ignores the rights of the citizens of all the communities that have been involved in the expansion project and who have been on waiting lists for years to be hooked into the system.
To allow this project to proceed without further review will make a mockery of the State Environmental Quality Review process, because the issue is not the pipeline but the necessity that the environmental review be done properly to protect the environment and surrounding municipalities.
All we ask is that all towns and villages be treated fairly and equally when, in too many instances, this hasn't been the case.
The State Environmental Quality Review Act and the review under state General Municipal Law 239 are requirements mandated by law. The law's intent is to protect the environment and coordinate land-use decisions to mitigate intercommunity and countywide impacts. It is the state, county and court's responsibility to ensure that we are all treated fairly and equally under the law. If the laws are not going to be enforced equally across the board, then rescind the laws and put everyone on an equal playing field.
Lastly, there is the question as to whether this pipeline, which will serve only one community and enrich a small group of developers, is the best use of $30 million in taxpayer money.
Signed;
Charles Bohan, Supervisor of the Town of Blooming Grove
John Burke, Supervisor of the Town of Woodbury
Robert Jeroloman, Mayor of the Village of South Blooming Grove
John Karl is mayor of the Village of Monroe
Steve Neuhaus, Supervisor of the Town of Chester
Michael Queenan, Mayor of the Village of Woodbury
Kevin Quigley, Supervisor of the Town of Cornwall
Steve Welle, Mayor of the Village of Harriman.
Surrounding communities concerned about Kiryas Joel pipeline
June 18, 2009
As supervisors and mayors in southern Orange County, we have heard from many of our citizens who are concerned about the impact of the Village of Kiryas Joel's proposed pipeline to hook into the New York City water system.
The pipeline would run 13 miles through many of our communities, causing major disruptions and impact to the environment. Five years ago when the pipeline plan was first submitted, the county went to court challenging the original Final Environmental Impact Statement on the grounds that it was deficient in a number of areas, including any real plan to deal with the increased sewage capacity that would be required.
The court agreed and ordered that the plan needed to address a number of issues, including wastewater, wetlands and population growth.
Unfortunately, the court did not seem to take the environmental impact review process seriously and allowed Kiryas Joel to file an amended impact statement that is not subject to further review.
The new amended statement most certainly does not answer the court's questions. In fact, the filing is still plagued with erroneous or missing information and miscalculations.
For example, on sewage, the plan claims that a new filtration system will be installed in the Harriman Sewage Treatment Plant, which will double its capacity, and that all of this new capacity will go to Kiryas Joel. In truth, the county has not yet decided if it will install this very expensive and experimental filtration system,. The most optimistic guesses say it might increase the capacity by 50 percent, not double it. Most egregious is Kiryas Joel's claim that all additional capacity, as well as all of the recent 2 million-gallon expansion of the Harriman plant, should go exclusively to its village.
This ignores the rights of the citizens of all the communities that have been involved in the expansion project and who have been on waiting lists for years to be hooked into the system.
To allow this project to proceed without further review will make a mockery of the State Environmental Quality Review process, because the issue is not the pipeline but the necessity that the environmental review be done properly to protect the environment and surrounding municipalities.
All we ask is that all towns and villages be treated fairly and equally when, in too many instances, this hasn't been the case.
The State Environmental Quality Review Act and the review under state General Municipal Law 239 are requirements mandated by law. The law's intent is to protect the environment and coordinate land-use decisions to mitigate intercommunity and countywide impacts. It is the state, county and court's responsibility to ensure that we are all treated fairly and equally under the law. If the laws are not going to be enforced equally across the board, then rescind the laws and put everyone on an equal playing field.
Lastly, there is the question as to whether this pipeline, which will serve only one community and enrich a small group of developers, is the best use of $30 million in taxpayer money.
Signed;
Charles Bohan, Supervisor of the Town of Blooming Grove
John Burke, Supervisor of the Town of Woodbury
Robert Jeroloman, Mayor of the Village of South Blooming Grove
John Karl is mayor of the Village of Monroe
Steve Neuhaus, Supervisor of the Town of Chester
Michael Queenan, Mayor of the Village of Woodbury
Kevin Quigley, Supervisor of the Town of Cornwall
Steve Welle, Mayor of the Village of Harriman.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Pre-wedding melee erupts in Kiryas Joel; trooper cars pelted with eggs, plastic bottles
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
KIRYAS JOEL — Young men shouted and pelted trooper cars with eggs and plastic water bottles Monday during a melee that erupted hours before an outdoor wedding that was expected to draw thousands of spectators.
Troopers say roughly 200 young men staged a rowdy protest as workers from Orange & Rockland Utilities removed decorative lights that had been strung from poles without permission. The lights were for the wedding of a granddaughter of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, a Satmar Hasidic leader.
Protesters blocked the company’s trucks with metal pedestrian barriers and then climbed on the trucks, troopers said. Then they used the same barriers to block trooper cars as state police tried to escort the utility workers out of Kiryas Joel.
One trooper was treated for minor injuries. No police cars were damaged.
One man was arrested and was expected to face a felony charge. His identity and the charges were not immediately available.
....................................................................................................
Some background:
Moshe Witriol is head of KJ's "Department of Public Safety." That is to say, the enforcement arm of the people who run things.
The "buchers" are the yeshiva boys who act as Witriol's insta-mob.
The State Troopers are under standing orders that Witriol calls the shots. Laws (whether real or made up on the spot) that he wants enforced, get enforced. Laws that he wants ignored, get ignored.
Today, apparently, the buchers were pelting the O and R crew with eggs and bottles while Witriol stood nearby and watched.
O and R called the Troopers and the buchers turned their attention to them.
Right after the Troopers put one of the buchers in cuffs, Witriol sprang into action. He tried to get them to let the kid go.
Generally, the buchers are to be allowed to abuse whomever they want.
The problem is, the Troopers don't believe that that extends to allowing the buchers to abuse the Troopers themselves.
Live and learn.
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
KIRYAS JOEL — Young men shouted and pelted trooper cars with eggs and plastic water bottles Monday during a melee that erupted hours before an outdoor wedding that was expected to draw thousands of spectators.
Troopers say roughly 200 young men staged a rowdy protest as workers from Orange & Rockland Utilities removed decorative lights that had been strung from poles without permission. The lights were for the wedding of a granddaughter of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, a Satmar Hasidic leader.
Protesters blocked the company’s trucks with metal pedestrian barriers and then climbed on the trucks, troopers said. Then they used the same barriers to block trooper cars as state police tried to escort the utility workers out of Kiryas Joel.
One trooper was treated for minor injuries. No police cars were damaged.
One man was arrested and was expected to face a felony charge. His identity and the charges were not immediately available.
....................................................................................................
Some background:
Moshe Witriol is head of KJ's "Department of Public Safety." That is to say, the enforcement arm of the people who run things.
The "buchers" are the yeshiva boys who act as Witriol's insta-mob.
The State Troopers are under standing orders that Witriol calls the shots. Laws (whether real or made up on the spot) that he wants enforced, get enforced. Laws that he wants ignored, get ignored.
Today, apparently, the buchers were pelting the O and R crew with eggs and bottles while Witriol stood nearby and watched.
O and R called the Troopers and the buchers turned their attention to them.
Right after the Troopers put one of the buchers in cuffs, Witriol sprang into action. He tried to get them to let the kid go.
Generally, the buchers are to be allowed to abuse whomever they want.
The problem is, the Troopers don't believe that that extends to allowing the buchers to abuse the Troopers themselves.
Live and learn.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Two From The Record
Fired street sweeper seeks damages from Kiryas Joel
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
June 02, 2009 6:00 AM
KIRYAS JOEL — Anthony Martin of Highland Mills says he lost his job because he blew the whistle on tax cheats in the government of New York's fastest-growing village.
In a suit filed May 22 in U.S. District Court, Martin says the village's public works boss fired him last year because he notified the state Department of Labor and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that Kiryas Joel failed to deduct taxes from his paycheck.
Martin started as a full-time street sweeper in Kiryas Joel on May 26.
On Aug. 13, he reported the lack of payroll deductions to the state and feds, and on Aug. 22, the village fired him, according to his lawsuit.
"His speech addressed a matter of concern, i.e., municipal corruption, and is protected by the First Amendment," wrote Stephen Bergstein, the lawyer representing Martin.
Neither DPW Director Zalman Stern nor Donald Nichol, the village's lawyer, could be reached to discuss the suit Monday.
Authorities did not respond to a request for comment about what, if anything, they were doing about Martin's report.
Martin wants damages and compensation for lost wages. The suit doesn't name an amount.
He also wants to go back to work.
"Working for the government has its benefits," Bergstein explained. "The government doesn't go out of business."
Broker sues Orange County, claiming bid for La Guardia denied based on religion
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
June 02, 2009 6:00 AM
GOSHEN — A real estate broker who tried to buy the former Camp La Guardia property has filed a lawsuit claiming Orange County rebuffed his offer because his clients were thought to be Hasidic Jews affiliated with the Village of Kiryas Joel.
Robert Lawrence, owner of Hudson Valley Realty Company in Goshen, is suing the county and County Executive Ed Diana in federal court for the $460,000 commission he said he lost, citing violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. Neither he nor his former client is demanding the 256-acre property, which the county recently agreed to sell to a Westchester County developer.
In the lawsuit, Lawrence claims his $11.5 million offer in March 2007 was rejected because Diana knew "the religious beliefs and affiliation" of the potential buyer and didn't want the former New York City homeless shelter sold to a developer with even a perceived connection to Kiryas Joel.
Diana spokesman Richard Mayfield said Monday that the county hasn't been served with the suit and doesn't comment on pending litigation.
The court papers identify Lawrence's client as "a major real estate developer of the Jewish faith." Michael Sussman, the Goshen civil rights attorney representing Lawrence, confirms the client was Isaac Rosenberg, a Brooklyn businessman and member of the Satmar Hasidic community.
Rosenberg is cooperating with the litigation but didn't join in suing because "he felt it would detract from his business opportunities," Sussman said.
Sussman said Rosenberg had hoped to build a mixture of homes and businesses, similar to what is now proposed for Camp La Guardia. But public fear that Orthodox or Hasidic developers would build "another Kiryas Joel" made his offer — conveyed anonymously through Lawrence — unpalatable to Diana and most county lawmakers, Sussman argues in the suit.
The county bought the property for $8.5 million in 2007 and ultimately chose Mountco Construction and Development Corp. of Scarsdale as the buyer, after a protracted Legislature debate over proposals by four bidders.
Rosenberg, who made his offer long before the county solicited bids for the property, didn't participate in that formal competition because he "determined that it would be entirely futile," Sussman said in the suit.
By Oliver Mackson
Times Herald-Record
June 02, 2009 6:00 AM
KIRYAS JOEL — Anthony Martin of Highland Mills says he lost his job because he blew the whistle on tax cheats in the government of New York's fastest-growing village.
In a suit filed May 22 in U.S. District Court, Martin says the village's public works boss fired him last year because he notified the state Department of Labor and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that Kiryas Joel failed to deduct taxes from his paycheck.
Martin started as a full-time street sweeper in Kiryas Joel on May 26.
On Aug. 13, he reported the lack of payroll deductions to the state and feds, and on Aug. 22, the village fired him, according to his lawsuit.
"His speech addressed a matter of concern, i.e., municipal corruption, and is protected by the First Amendment," wrote Stephen Bergstein, the lawyer representing Martin.
Neither DPW Director Zalman Stern nor Donald Nichol, the village's lawyer, could be reached to discuss the suit Monday.
Authorities did not respond to a request for comment about what, if anything, they were doing about Martin's report.
Martin wants damages and compensation for lost wages. The suit doesn't name an amount.
He also wants to go back to work.
"Working for the government has its benefits," Bergstein explained. "The government doesn't go out of business."
Broker sues Orange County, claiming bid for La Guardia denied based on religion
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
June 02, 2009 6:00 AM
GOSHEN — A real estate broker who tried to buy the former Camp La Guardia property has filed a lawsuit claiming Orange County rebuffed his offer because his clients were thought to be Hasidic Jews affiliated with the Village of Kiryas Joel.
Robert Lawrence, owner of Hudson Valley Realty Company in Goshen, is suing the county and County Executive Ed Diana in federal court for the $460,000 commission he said he lost, citing violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. Neither he nor his former client is demanding the 256-acre property, which the county recently agreed to sell to a Westchester County developer.
In the lawsuit, Lawrence claims his $11.5 million offer in March 2007 was rejected because Diana knew "the religious beliefs and affiliation" of the potential buyer and didn't want the former New York City homeless shelter sold to a developer with even a perceived connection to Kiryas Joel.
Diana spokesman Richard Mayfield said Monday that the county hasn't been served with the suit and doesn't comment on pending litigation.
The court papers identify Lawrence's client as "a major real estate developer of the Jewish faith." Michael Sussman, the Goshen civil rights attorney representing Lawrence, confirms the client was Isaac Rosenberg, a Brooklyn businessman and member of the Satmar Hasidic community.
Rosenberg is cooperating with the litigation but didn't join in suing because "he felt it would detract from his business opportunities," Sussman said.
Sussman said Rosenberg had hoped to build a mixture of homes and businesses, similar to what is now proposed for Camp La Guardia. But public fear that Orthodox or Hasidic developers would build "another Kiryas Joel" made his offer — conveyed anonymously through Lawrence — unpalatable to Diana and most county lawmakers, Sussman argues in the suit.
The county bought the property for $8.5 million in 2007 and ultimately chose Mountco Construction and Development Corp. of Scarsdale as the buyer, after a protracted Legislature debate over proposals by four bidders.
Rosenberg, who made his offer long before the county solicited bids for the property, didn't participate in that formal competition because he "determined that it would be entirely futile," Sussman said in the suit.
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