Shandaken Town Hall move could help settle debt to NYC environmental department

Daily Freeman story dated September 14, 2016:

Plans for a new town office complex are taking shape, and a fringe benefit of the project is the town could be off the hook for $70,000 it owes to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.


The complex, which is to be on land set aside for a Phoenicia sewer project that voters rejected, would house the town’s government offices and highway and ambulance departments.

Before voters rejected the sewer project, the town used more than $70,000 of Department of Environmental Protection money to buy the property. The department asked for its money back after the project failed at the polls.

Shandaken Supervisor Rob Stanley said the town has tried to sell the land but has been unsuccessful, and now the city department is demanding payment, sale or no sale.

But thanks to the Catskill Watershed Corp., which provides funding to relocate municipal buildings out of floodways, the town could be able to both keep the land — which is on Route 28 in the hamlet of Phoenicia, just east of the Phoenicia Plaza — and pay back the New York City department.

The current town office complex is on Route 28 in the hamlet of Allaben, on land within the Esopus Creek floodway.

The Town Board on Monday agreed to file a funding application with the Catskill Watershed Corp. If the application is approved, the town will use the money to pay back the Department of Environmental Protection.

Asked what would happen if the funding is approved but the town office move fails to materialize, Stanley said it would be better to owe money to the Catskill Watershed Corp. than the Department of Environmental Protection.

Ashokan watershed maps

I received two emails about the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program


 Preliminary FEMA Flood Maps for the Ashokan Watershed are available for review on the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program (AWSMP) website: www.ashokanstreams.org. These maps developed by FEMA contractors utilize the most up-to-date technology to determine the watershed’s hydraulics, hydrology, as well as topographic features and elevations. The maps are more accurate than current floodplain maps, which were adopted in the 1980s. Municipal officials, real estate professionals, home and business owners, and many others, can utilize these maps to help determine the level of flood risk a particular structure or development may be exposed to near the floodplain. Once adopted, these maps and other information will be used to determine flood insurance rates and requirements for property owners in the floodplain.


New FEMA Levee Mapping Procedures FEMA Finalized Analysis and Mapping Procedures for Non-Accredited Levees The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), today, released its updated procedures for analyzing and mapping flood hazards in the vicinity of non-accredited levee systems. These updated procedures are a part of an on-going effort to reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). To review the final approach document, visit:
http://www.fema.gov/final-levee-analysis-and-mapping-approach.

City that Drinks the Mountain Sky

Story from PostStarNews.com:

On Saturday July 14, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County’s Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program (AWSMP) hosted a production of the Arm-of-the-Sea theatrical troupe’s production of “City that Drinks the Mountain Sky.” This play uses masks and puppets to tell the story of the Catskill Mountains and the development of the NYC Watershed.

CWC pulls out of Phoenicia sewer project

An article in the Watershed Post announces:
Shandaken's latest bout of dithering over a proposed Phoenicia sewer plant may have cost the town $15.8 million in New York City grant money. After years of negotiation with a reluctant town board over the Phoenicia sewer project, the Catskill Watershed Corporation has finally decided enough is enough.

And: But it seems there is little hope that Phoenicia will be able to get that grant now. Alan Rosa, executive director of the CWC, told the Watershed Post on Tuesday that the nonprofit is washing its hands of Phoenicia's dirty water

Muddying of beloved creek last straw for city reservoir neighbors

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times - The Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County is kept clear by emptying its muddy water into Lower Esopus Creek. Local residents fear it may never run clear again.

For years, the resentment simmered as residents of Ulster County endured development bans, flooded basements and ruined crops, all for the sake of protecting New York City’s water supply. But the last straw in a string of grievances was the browning of a cherished tributary that is vital to recreation and agriculture in this corner of the Catskills. Discontent has given way to full-throttle fury against the city, which has always called the shots on reservoir management in the region.


The browning of a cherished tributary link is to a document issued by the Ulster County Executive Hein that includes an announcement of Ulster's filing of a lawsuit against NYC's DEP for polluting the Lower Esopus.


The tipping point was a two-year-old decision by New York City environmental officials — with state support — to allow frequent releases of muddy water from one of the city’s major upstate reservoirs, the Ashokan, into the waterway, the 34-mile-long Lower Esopus Creek. The purpose of the discharges is to rid the reservoir of clay particles and other materials stirred up by rainfall, ensuring that the water supply for nine million people downstate remains pristine.

Watershed coalition reaches land agreement with NYC

From the Daily Freeman.

Watershed acquisition program

A story appeared in The Daily Mail, a Greene County newspaper, that might be of interest.


Watershed stakeholders issue new land acquisition program

Document would extend DEP authority through 2022

By Jim Planck - Hudson-Catskill Newspapers - Published: Friday, June 18, 2010 2:13 AM EDT

New York City’s land acquisition program in its Catskill Mountains watershed region — officially known as the West of Hudson Watershed — has been one of the Big Apple’s shining stars for water quality protection since its inception in 1997.

Click on the headline of this post for the full story.