Award for ambulance captian
Also at Monday’s meeting, Richard Parrish, EMS Coordinator at HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, presented county and regional awards for emergency service to Richard Muellerleile, captain of the Shandaken Ambulance Service, and to the Shandaken EMS department itself. He praised Muellerleile and his team for their work during and after Hurricane Irene last summer, comprising over 2000 hours of service.
“The way you guys handled Irene is a credit to Shandaken,” said Parrish, describing how the crew staffed the command center, evaluated medical needs of the community, and helped equip the emergency shelter at Belleayre.
With phone and Internet communication knocked out by the storm, paramedics had to treat patients without the usual ability to consult with physicians for decision-making. As a result, a disaster protocol has been formulated to deal with such situations in the future.
In his EMS committee report to the town board, Muellerleile noted the increase in road accidents due to the high level of traffic during the tourist season, advising extra caution on the part of drivers. He reported a recent event in which ambulance driver Jesse Cowan responded to a call in Mount Tremper that turned out to involve his own family. “Although shaken, Jesse insisted upon completing the call for service…and drove his family to the hospital in the ambulance. Fortunately, everyone checked out just fine.”
Planning board removal
As Shandaken planning board member Charles Frasier has not attended three consecutive meetings and has not responded to calls to submit his resignation, the town board voted to remove him from the board and advertise for a new planning board member.
Earl Hatleberg of Chichester has been hired as the new director of the Shandaken Museum in Pine Hill. Hatleberg will work 12 hours a week at $10 per hour.
The town board approved public assembly permits for two upcoming Phoenicia events, the Ulster County Fireman’s Association Annual Convention on Saturday, July 28, and the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice on August 2 through 5.
The recreation committee, which recently sent out a questionnaire on recreation preferences to town residents, asked to be involved in decision-making regarding a 1200-acre parcel of land in Big Indian, purchased by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) from Crossroads Ventures, which is seeking to build its Belleayre Resort. It will be up to the town to decide whether the land is to be kept pristine, used only by hikers and hunters, or designated for more intensive use, which could include mountain biking, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing.
Another option is blazing trails to connect Belleayre Ski Center to the hamlet of Pine Hill. Town board member Jack Jordan said he’s opposed to leaving the parcel completely wild, as so much of the township is in that category. “We can’t afford to make any more areas with no economic benefit,” he remarked. He said the parcel could be broken up into three sections, with different designations for each area.
The town board voted to waive the 30-day notification for granting a liquor license to Four Corners Country Inn at 1564 Wittenberg Road in Mount Tremper, the site of the former La Duchesse Anne.++
The town of Olive received bids higher than their grant AND the city ponied up the money. Rob Stanley screwed up this deal and is STILL giving out misinformation. Everything Alan Rose said was correct. Phoenicia never would have had to find more funding on their own. Stanley lies, again.