by Will Solomon
August 17, 2023
The Open Space Institute, a northeastern conservation organization, has long been active in growing public lands in New York State. Founded in 1974 in the Hudson Valley, OSI has protected over 2.3 million acres in the United States and Canada, including over 150,000 acres in New York.
This has included adding over 13,000 acres to Minnewaska State Park and fundraising $3 million toward a visitor center that was opened in 2020, doubling the size of Fahnestock State Park since the 1990s and launching a major improvement plan in 2020, and adding over 1,200 acres to John Boyd Thacher State Park in Vorheesville.
The organization may soon have another acquisition.
by David Gordon
September 25, 2022
Danny Melnick, the owner of a music tour and production company called “Absolutely Live,” said that he has produced music festivals around the world for more than 30 years, “and if anyone should be excited about an amphitheater in this area it is me; but I am not. Amphitheaters are huge; they accommodate thousands of people, and this is how our two amphitheaters, SPAC and Bethel Woods are designed. They must have parking lots many times larger than the amphitheaters themselves.” An amphitheater would bring in thousands of cars, as well as trucks and buses idling on Route 212 and Route 32, as well as sanitation and other service trucks entering and exiting the site. In addition, “sound checks and concerts can be heard almost a mile away. I have never worked at an amphitheater anywhere in the world situated in a residential community.”
By William J. Kemble
September 22, 2022
Resident Bari Koral read a letter from her 13-year-old daughter, Tuli Caigan, who wanted board members to consider ways to have the scoping document protect the town’s environment and character.
“In five or six generations what will this place look like?” she wrote. “We are talking about destroying or dividing (a) forest that protects us…As more places become uninhabitable I worry for my future (because) we are the generation that will inherit climate change.”
Why this is important: Have an impact on the Winston Farm Environmental Assessment. Follow the steps below when crafting your letter to the Town Board in preparation for the Public Hearing on September, 21st at 6PM.
By William J. Kemble
August 18, 2022
Resident Gene O’Donovan, who owns property adjacent to Winston Farm, said developers are doing a disservice to the town.
“This project doesn’t have any responsibility to any of its neighbors,” he said. “It’s going to take Buffalo Road…and make it into its entrance to this property. Do you want your kids living on Buffalo Road to dodge the dump trucks as they come back and forth? I don’t think so.”
Bari Koral, a founding member of Citizens for a Beautiful Saugerties, gives a brief but impassioned speech at our last CBS meeting.
“This development is as big as Saugerties. If you want to put your energy into something, you can put your energy into this. We have to talk about this. We have to galvanize people. We have to tell people about this. We need people at our meetings. We can have a say. We have power here and this is really our moment.”
Why this is important: Have an impact on the Winston Farm Environmental Assessment. Follow the steps below when crafting your letter to the Town Board in preparation for the Public Hearing on September, 21st at 6PM.
This will ultimately come down to the Town Board, the Planning Board, and the Zoning Board so our local officials are key to this process! Call our representatives, listed below, and express your concerns. They should hear from at least 1 citizen DAILY!
Fred Costello Jr.
Phone: 845-246-2800 Ext. 345
Email: fcostello@saugertiesny.gov
Leeanne Thornton
Phone: 845-246-5652
Email: leeanne.thornton@yahoo.com
Mike Ivino
Phone: 845-399-3507
Email: mivino@saugertiesny.gov
Peg Nau
Phone: 845-246-6929
Email: pnau@saugertiesny.gov
Zachery Horton
Phone: 845-246-9654
Email: Zhorton@saugertiesny.gov
C. Howard Post, Chairman
Email: chowardpost@gmail.com
Becky Bertorelli, Recording Secretary
Phone: (845)246-2800 Ext. 358
Email: BBertorelli@saugertiesny.gov
Pat Ryan, Ulster County Executive
Phone: 845-340-3800
Email: exec@co.ulster.ny.us
Assemblyman Chris Tague
Phone: 518-943-1371 (Catskill office)
State Senator Michelle Hinchey Phone: 845-331-3810
Email: hinchey@nysenate.gov
Please submit letters to the editor about your concerns:
Hudson Valley One: submit at this link. Monday is the deadline for the weekly paper.
Daily Freeman: submit at this link or email letters@freemanonline.com.
