The Clam Before The Storm

Caruso Denounces Larkin

Ralph Caruso, in a daring break from his meal ticket, has made a pursuasive argument for kicking State Senator, and reknowned double-dipper, Bill Larkin, out of office.

In this week's Woodbury Gazette Caruso argues that we must judge candidates by the endorsements they accept.  For years the political leaders of Kiryas Joel have endorsed Larkin.  Caruso himself has denounced those same KJ leaders.

The implication is unavoidable.

Kudos Ralph!

Assembling A Split Ticket

So, here are the first two of the Uncle’s endorsements (fat lot of good it will do the candidates).

For the Assembly in the 97th AD we’re going with Annie Rabbitt. She actually has been available to constituents and actually listens (or does a damn fine job of faking it). This matters. Of even greater importance this time around, she’s not Gerry McQuade – if you have any difficulty understanding the import of that, listen to the recording in the post below.

In the 99th AD, the Uncle smiles upon Woodbury’s own James Skoufis. He’s been a terrific member of the town board (to the degree that that board allows terrificness to flourish). His newsletters have actually been informative (as well as being a wonderful substitute for our actually writing something original for this blog). From the start he understood that constituent services meant actually doing stuff for townspeople. Wow, now that’s a concept!

If we want to encourage responsive office holders and discourage the other sort, voting for these two folks seems like a good idea.

Assemblers Dissemble!

Gerry McQuade, Democratic candidate in the 98th Assembly District, promises the Kiryas Joel community that he is with them on all their issues and will be their voice in Albany:

In The Public Interest?

The Monroe Town Board is about to vote to accept KJ's and Ziggy Brach's annexation petition.

And why shouldn't they, you might ask.  After all, it minutely increases Monroe's tax base.

Well, for starters the petition is legally deficient.  It makes no case for the annexation to go forward. 

And there is a good case to be made that, by claiming that there is no environmental impact, it is an example of segmentation, which is illegal under SEQRA.*

Further, Monroe's board (and Woodbury Town and Village Boards) must consider if the annexation is in the general public interest, not merely Monroe's.

So why does the Uncle expect the Monroe Town Board to vote yes?   Any guesses?

*Segemnation occurs when you deliberately break an action down into smaller parts in order to evade SEQRA (State Environmental Quality  Review Act).

Woodbury rejects annexation request

HIGHLAND MILLS — A request by the Village of Kiryas Joel and a member of the orthodox Satmar Jewish community to annex land from the town of Woodbury failed last week to win approval from the Woodbury Town Board.


Board members rejected the request to carve out more than a dozen acres of land from Woodbury, citing a lack of evidence that the annexation would result in a “unity of purposes and facilities,” according to the minutes.

The board also pointed to a suspicion that the proposed annexation was designed to bypass local laws and zoning rules of Woodbury in making their decision.

“We did tremendous due diligence and our conclusion was that annexation was not in the best interest of Woodbury,” Supervisor John Burke said. “We just felt we had a number of excellent reasons for the decision. One doesn’t stand out more than another.”

Of the five members on the Woodbury council, four voted against the request.

Councilman Frank Palermo, who was absent due to a personal matter, sent an e-mail to the council stating his opposition to the request for annexation, Burke said.

Zigmund Brach joined with the Village of Kiryas Joel this summer to try and annex some 12 to 14 acres of Brach’s land on the western side of a ridge occupied mostly by the citizens of Kiryas Joel.

Two large water towers serving Kiryas Joel sit on a half-acre portion of the property.

The petition requests the entire tract be annexed to the Town of Monroe, of which the village of Kiryas Joel is a part.

Members of the Monroe’s council have not yet voted on the request.

The 90-day window for the towns to decide on the request will lapse in the coming week, Burke said.

Should Monroe’s council vote in favor of the request, Brach and the Village of Kiryas Joel may appeal the Woodbury’s denial, Burke said.

“The two petitioners have a right to appeal if they are not happy with the vote,” Burke said. “If it’s appealed then we’ll decide how we want to be involved.”


By Joshua Rosenau - Photo News

Wake Up, There's Politics Goin On

Anybody Watching?
Any opinions?

Got any popcorn?

Not Quite A Done Deal Yet

KJ, DEC spar over aqueduct tap
Backup wells' use holding up permit talks

By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 08/29/12

Kiryas Joel's long quest to tap the Catskill Aqueduct now hinges on the state's approval of new wells the village wants to activate to assemble an adequate backup water supply.

With money bonded for the $29 million water project and no further legal obstacles in its way, Kiryas Joel has been pressing state environmental officials for a key permit it needs to connect a bountiful well in Mountainville to the 13.5-mile pipeline it plans to bury beside roads from the village to New Windsor.

The same permit would allow the village to tap a new well within its borders and make greater use of two existing wells in Kiryas Joel.

Village officials expect to qualify to buy up to 2.5 million gallons per day of New York City's aqueduct water, based on their community's 2010 population, and have been trying to cobble together an equivalent backup supply, as the city requires upstate aqueduct users to do in case it must shut down one of its water tunnels for repairs.

Representatives of Kiryas Joel and the state Department of Environment Conservation met at the department's New Paltz office on Aug. 7 to review a draft permit and iron out remaining issues.

One sticking point is the state's proposal to restrict future use of the village's wells by labeling them backup sources once the aqueduct connection is made. In a follow-up letter last week to the DEC's Region 3 director, William Janeway, a lawyer for Kiryas Joel protested that the village should have the option to continue using its wells and might need them to supplement aqueduct water during peak-demand times.

"The Village is entitled to that flexibility," lawyer Michael Sterthous wrote.

According to documents submitted to the DEC, water use in Kiryas Joel averaged 1.6 million gallons per day in 2011, but reached 2.2 million gallons at peak times. Those surges exceeded the 1.9 million daily gallons the village is allowed to draw from its well network.

Water use is especially high before Passover, when residents of the Hasidic Jewish community scrub their homes to prepare for the weeklong holiday. The village brought in 70,000 gallons in water tankers to augment its supply for the most recent Passover in April, Mayor Abe Wieder told Janeway in a May 8 letter.

The village has been planning since 1999 to tap the Catskill Aqueduct to meet the long-term water demands of its growing population, counted at 20,175 in the 2010 census. Orange County sued twice to challenge the environmental review for the project, but dropped the case in 2010 as part of a legal settlement with the village.

Installation of the 24-inch-wide pipeline is expected to take place it two phases. The first would stretch 6.5 miles from Kiryas Joel to an undeveloped parcel beside Route 32 in Mountainville, where the village plans to build a pump station and connect an unused well it says could produce more than 600,000 gallons per day. The path would follow Seven Springs Road, Ridge Road and Route 32 in Woodbury.

Woodboring

Woodbury is, at least for the moment, rather boring.

You want the Uncle to come up with the energy to post something? Then do something!

Rob a bank.

Stage a nude sit-in at Town Hall.

Name a dog something other than Bailey.

There's lots going on in the world. Missouri senate candidates scaring the bejeebers out of the Republican party. Congressman skinny dipping in holy water. Joe Biden talking. Donald Trump being Donald Trump.

BUT YOU FOLKS DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT!

So don't blame your Uncle!