The columnist Reynolds.
Hansen projects that some of the fresh cash the bottling deal might generate could be used to upgrade delivery systems to address chronic leakage estimated at about 20 percent of reservoir capacity. “If we fix the leaks we could probably save enough water to supply the bottler,” she said.
As an unusually dry summer heads into a cloudless fall, the superintendent, who keeps a daily record of rainfall, says not to worry. Rainfall for the year, she said, has been “normal,” with plenty of time to make up for shortfalls.
Meanwhile, out in Ulster, Town Supervisor Jim Quigley, a pro-development guy like most of his predecessors, is getting all dry-mouthed over the prospect of a new $15 million bottling plant in a vacant 57-acre field adjacent to the old IBM plant, with up to 120 jobs. And if 18-wheelers full of bottled water are running in and out of the plant around the clock, so what? Ulster’s attitude about traffic has always been to worry about it when it gets here.
These things and much more will be aired at next Tuesday’s regular Common Council monthly meeting at 7 p.m. at the city hall. Led by colorful Woodstock Supervisor Jeremy “The Hat” Wilber, some will make the argument that the city shouldn’t sell any more water to anyone. That’s not necessarily an extremist view anymore.
Council President Jim Noble, for one, is expecting a hot time in the old town. “We’ll probably have to expand the public speaking portion [of the agenda] from half an hour to who knows what,” he said.
Meanwhile, the water department is considering a public informational meeting on this controversial issue. The question is, has the tractor-trailer already left the bottling plant (metaphorically speaking)?
Executive action
As pointed out frequently by state Freedom of Information director Bob Freeman, many if not most executive sessions called by government agencies either abuse the law or violate it. For one thing, an elected body may go into executive session — usually to discuss personal employee matters, legal issues, or contracts — for only the publicly stated purpose. But who’s to know what they talk about in private?
Ulster Legislature Chairman John Parete is something of a stickler on the law. Speaking of last week’s executive session where county attorney Bea Havranek briefed legislators on the Mike Hein administration’s long-running lawsuit against the Catskill Mountain Railroad, Parete said, “I told them [the legislators] beforehand to stick to the subject. If they didn’t, I was going to adjourn the meeting.”
And he did adjourn it, after about 15 minutes.
Before the gavel came down, Havranek, speaking as Hein’s chief attorney, pleaded with legislators not to pull the plug on the county lawsuit which seeks to remove the railroad from county property before its lease expires in May 2016.
Even blabber-mouth legislators rarely talk about what goes on in executive session, but documents filed by the county attorney with the legislature indicate county taxpayers are in this thing for more than the proverbial dime. According to these documents, the county has spent or committed almost $115,000 in legal fees and for professional services to evict the railroad, without a cent being approved by the legislature. Under the charter, any bill under $50,000, a rather handsome threshold, need not be reviewed by the legislature. The cumulative total here is more than twice that sum, and counting. What’s not being counted is the county’s in-house staff expenses pursuant to this quest.
Railroad officials say their legal expenses to defend their lease are approaching six figures. Some say most of the profit derived from the highly successful Thomas the Tank Engine train promotion in Kingston last month will go toward legal fees.
Meanwhile, CMMR has apparently won a round. According to railroad President Ernie Hunt, a state Supreme Court judge has rejected the county’s motions filed in early August to turn over its financial records and to strike down its use of the so-called “Yellowstone Clause” which allows a lessee to sue to protect its interests under the lease with the county.
Had the court ruled otherwise, the railroad would have been out of business immediately.
There is every indication the county, despite rising legal fees, will keep the pressure on the railroad, even as the expiration date of its lease draws closer every day.
Legislator Dave Donaldson, who used to be Hein’s staunchest supporter, isn’t any more. He called the county executive’s stance “petty and vindictive and a burden on taxpayers.”
Hein, who says he’s only protecting the taxpayers, lets his lawyers do his talking.
