Black Ball

OK

Here's our latest experiment.

No doubt it will fail as miserably as all the others.

Who are you against (primarily for Town Board) and - now here's the tricky part - why?

The goal (ha ha ha) is to be specific.

"Because he's a back-stabbing, mother-jumping, horse-stealing son-of-a-bitch" doesn't quite explain the animus.

The goal is to convince others that the candidate that you are denouncing is bad, bad, bad. Simply heaping denunciation upon insult upon invective may not accomplish that goal.

All that being said, we turn from Scylla to Charybdis. Getting specific may invite law-suits.

sooooooooooooooo, stick to what is on the record, or, if you are saying that you are a witness to some bad act, step forward and give your name (like that's gonna happen).

Oh, I already see that this ain't gonna work out.

Well, let's give it a shot and then try something else.

What "Signed" Means

Primary election time is fast upon us.

Here, at this spot, on this thread, at this post, your Uncle invites signed endorsements, denunciations and general comments about the candidates (there ain't many).

The one rule, comments must be signed, with real names even.

Anonymous, pseudonymous or any other kinds of mouses will be deleted.

If no one steps forward, okeleydokeley. We'll try it all over again for the general election.

Let he amongst you who knows his own name cast the first ballot (shes too).

Election Connection

There's chat going on further down the blog on the upcoming elections so I thought I'd supply a little conversation nook up here so everyone can follow along.

Oh, That Water Master Plan

Water-plan foes make case
Say county could force municipalities to connect
By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
HIGHLAND MILLS —

Could Orange County force municipalities to connect their water systems if they don't want to?

Three people who believe it could made their case to local officials at the Woodbury firehouse Thursday night, the latest rumblings of opposition to a proposed plan for the county's public water supplies.

The part attracting criticism is a recommendation for 19 intermunicipal pipe connections, which are intended to let well-supplied towns sell water to needier neighbors and steer development to areas the county has marked for growth.

The county Water Authority, which developed the plan, insists these links would be strictly voluntary, and says it will help any communities that want to build them.

But critics fear the authority could push forward without consent.

On Thursday, three opponents who studied the plan and its supporting documents laid out their findings in a PowerPoint presentation to 11 invited officials from the eastern part of the county.

They argue the authority could seize local water systems through eminent domain and tax the whole county for its costs, using a countywide water district created years ago but never used.

They also claim some wording in the documents betrays a forceful intent.

"The Legislature has no control over this authority," said Sheila Conroy, a Woodbury Planning Board member and former town supervisor. "It's only answerable to the executive branch of government."

Conroy gave the talk with Jonathan Swiller, leader of the OCEAN citizens' group; and Robert Fromaget, a Blooming Grove resident and county Legislature candidate.

Authority leaders responded Friday by repeating the pipe links are merely suggestions and wouldn't be forced on anyone.

"The authority is there for the purpose of trying to facilitate the interconnections so that everybody has a sufficient supply of potable water," said Marcia Jacobowitz, chairwoman of the five-member authority board. "This is not something that would be mandatory."

County Planning Commissioner David Church, who serves as executive director of the authority, said the notion of seizing water systems through eminent domain is "so far-fetched I never asked anybody if we could."

He emphasized that the authority can amend its proposal in response to public input. For instance, it could consider stating that no connections would be forced through eminent domain, Church said.

It's already reconsidering some population projections that Fromaget questioned.

"We're professional and humble enough to admit that if we're wrong, we'll correct it," Church said.

cmckenna@th-record.com



Pipe connections
The Orange County Water Authority has suggested connecting local water systems in 19 places as part of an overall plan for meeting water needs as the county population grows.


The most immediate connections it suggested are:


• Town of Wallkill and Village of Goshen


• Middletown and the Town of Wallkill


• Villages of Kiryas Joel and Monroe


• Villages of Monroe and Harriman


• West Point and Highland Falls


• Washingtonville and Cornwall-on-Hudson


• New Windsor and the City of Newburgh


To read the full report, go to: http://waterauthority.orangecountygov.com/

The Pieman Predicts

The Pieman is usually quite plain-spoken; however UB World Headquarters, nestled away in the swamps of Woodbury Falls, has now received the following rather cryptic email:

Unc,

As important as Woodbury Town Election, the KJ Pipeline and all the other things that we have been focused on are, they are small potatoes compared to the Orange County Water Master Plan.

This is the big one and it can have profound negative effects on all of Orange County. I'll have a lot more for you within a week or so.

Swiller

You Asked For It

Anonymous said...

Uncle Betty how about changing the topic to the upcoming town board candidates?

Residents need to know the ugly truth about Ralph.

He is pursuing an article 78 against the Village Planning Board and other entities that is costing the residents that live in the town.

How many lawsuits does that make?

When was the last time he actually served in an official elected position?

How many times has he lost an election?

WTF - we don't need or want Ralph!

6:30 PM, July 17, 2009

"Tsunami Of Sewage"

Orange County Legislature votes for 2nd suit vs. Kiryas Joel pipeline

By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
July 02, 2009
GOSHEN — Orange County lawmakers voted unanimously Wednesday night to support a second lawsuit against Kiryas Joel to challenge the environmental review for the village's proposed pipeline to the Catskill Aqueduct.

County Executive Ed Diana announced last week, as a public hearing and Legislature vote on the issue were looming, that he planned to file a suit, so the 20-0 vote was a purely symbolic show of support for that decision.

Litigation filed by the county in 2004 forced Kiryas Joel to elaborate on four parts of its environmental review but allowed the village to do so with no further public comment. Opponents contended the amendments made this year were inadequate and pressed for a second suit.

Legislators listened to two hours of arguments in support of a suit at a hearing in Central Valley Monday night and heard another round of public comments before voting.

Sheila Conroy of Woodbury reiterated her arguments that Kiryas Joel has underestimated its rapid population growth to play down the "tsunami" of sewage it will send to the county treatment plant if it's allowed to tap New York City's water supply.

"Supplying inaccurate responses just to say that it is done does not satisfy the intent of the court decision or SEQRA," Conroy said, using the acronym for the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

"Honest answers need to put out for all to look at," she added.

Jonathan Swiller, leader of a Woodbury citizens group called OCEAN, argued that allowing the amended review to pass without scrutiny means that "anything filed, a still-deficient document such as we have here, a phone book, a blank sheet of paper, must be accepted. That is absurd."

When it came time to vote, even Michael Amo, who represents Kiryas Joel on the Legislature, supported a lawsuit, saying, "Let's let the courts make that decision if it will satisfy people, and then let's move on."

Diana has until July 31 to file the suit, which will be funded with money left from the $250,000 lawmakers authorized in 2004 to challenge the pipeline study. His office said in 2007 that the county had spent $126,806 on an outside firm that handled the case.

Saving Face

Tonight the County Legislature voted to endorse Eddie Diana's decision to file an Article 78 lawsuit challenging the Amended FEIS on the KJ Pipeline.

Jeff Berkman wanted to have the whole matter dropped so that he wouldn't have to go on record voting either way.

That was a non-starter.

When it became obvious that the endorsement was going to pass, Berkman, Amo, Pahucki and Paduch bowed to the inevitable and voted yes, passing the resolution 20 to 0 (one absent).

Tonight's The Night

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

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!