(Photo by Dion Ogust)
The group Save Cooper Lake again urged action to prevent future exploitation of the town’s resources at the March 10 town board meeting, while the board also heard an update on the battle of the Radio Woodstocks.
While Niagara Bottling Company pulled out of a deal to buy Cooper Lake water to supply a bottling plant in the town of Ulster, Liz Simonson of Save Cooper Lake told the board a company with deeper pockets may be more willing to fight. She suggested a partnership with the city of Kingston, which maintains Cooper Lake as a municipal water supply for its residents. “Maybe this could be the beginning of trying to engage them as equal partners,” Simonson, a former town councilwoman, suggested.
She asked the board if environmental attorney Jim Baker, hired to assert the town’s rights in the Niagara talks, could present the board with ideas. Supervisor Jeremy Wilber said Baker is already working on recommendations and the board expects a report in the near future.
While Niagara did not state a specific reason for backing out, Councilman Bill McKenna posited his own theory, noting that along with Save Cooper Lake, prominent environmental group Riverkeeper and the Kingston Common Council were against the bottling plant. “I think the combination of all these things scared the crap out of them,” he said.
Simonson presented a resolution declaring February 13 as Cooper Lake Appreciation Day, marking the day when Niagara issued a press release saying it was backing out of the plan to build a bottling plant. Wilber, while complimenting the suggestions, said it would be prudent to wait on Baker’s report before acting on anything.
Niagara Bottling had proposed to purchase up to 1.75 million gallons of Cooper Lake water from the city of Kingston to supply a 415,000-square-foot plant near Tech City in the town of Ulster. Kingston saw the large-scale sale of water as a way to finance $18 million in urgently needed infrastructure repairs recently highlighted by a major supply line break on Sawkill Road in the town of Kingston.
Woodstock, too
Birds of a Feather Media CEO and Woodstock 104 (WIOF radio station) owner Randi Steele told the board that Radio Woodstock 100.1 FM’s (WDST) assertions her station is infringing on their trademark have no merit. WDST, which holds a trademark to the name, says while Steele can use “Woodstock” in identifying its location, the name Woodstock 104 is a trademark violation.
Steele said her attorney, Michael Cornman, who specializes in trademark issues, considers WDST’s complaint baseless.
In a memo to Cornman, WDST General Manager Richard Fusco said, “we would be happy to meet with them to help them come up with a name that works for us.” Steele takes that to mean only a name that would satisfy WDST. She went on to accuse Radio Woodstock of having a “gender glass ceiling,” pointing to a lack of female DJs. “Male chauvinism is alive and well on the radio in Woodstock,” Steele said.
In the memo, Fusco said Radio Woodstock will continue to pursue the issue but is willing to sit down and work out a solution to the trademark issue, despite Steele’s comments in a recent Woodstock Times article and on air. “The Birds of a Feather folks continue to be angry and aggressive in the article and on the air, bad-mouthing me and Radio Woodstock nightly on their broadcasts. We just want to work this out. That’s the ‘Woodstock’ way,” Fusco said in the memo.
Steele also took issue with a comment Fusco made in the article that she left “nasty messages” on his voicemail. Steele said she only called once and that was to leave her lawyer’s contact information.
The issue came to light after Steele offered the town rebroadcast rights to Woodstock 104 programming to fill gaps in public access station Channel 23. The board was ready to accept the offer until Fusco notified it of the trademark issue. That deal is on hold until the two radio stations come to an agreement.
Help for overdoses
Wilber announced the police department, with the help of the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, was recently trained in the use of nasal naloxone, known as Narcan, to treat victims of opiate overdoses. “It is no secret our nation is suffering from an epidemic of opiate abuse,” Wilber said. “I hope to god it’s never needed,” he said of the Narcan kits.
Money for a bridge
Nobody spoke at a public hearing on a resolution to transfer $140,000 from the Highway Repair Reserve to the MacDaniel Bridge Replacement capital project.
The MacDaniel Road bridge is the next of three getting replaced. The first was on Chestnut Hill Road and was recently completed. The Yerry Hill Road bridge will follow the MacDaniel bridge.
More filming
The board approved an agreement with Possible Productions for use of the Mountain View parking lot on March 27 for $1000. The lot will be used for filming scenes of “Happyish,” a Showtime series about a 44-year-old man who gets sick of a fast-paced city life and a 25-year-old boss and decides to move to the country. The production company also filmed scenes around town last month.
“Happyish” premiers on Showtime April 26 at 9:30 p.m.
Joe Barton says that on the issue of the Right of Woodstock 104 to use their call which is required by the FCC to state the location from which they are broadcasting from to be announced, as an identity is something that all radio stations do. For WDST to now claim that “Woodstock 104” cannot use the name “Woodstock” is in fact WDST’s attempt to regulate Woodstock 104 in a dictatorial manner. WDST’s claim to the right of the name “Woodstock” is absurd. Also The Woodstock Times stating everything that WDST claims without consulting Woodstock 104’s comments shows bias in the reporting by Woodstock Times. Woodstock Times has allowed WDST to state “The Birds of a Feather folks continue to be angry and aggressive in the article and on the air, bad-mouthing me and Radio Woodstock nightly on their broadcasts. ” The Woodstock Times did not allow Birds of a Feather Media to answer this charge. I as one of the producers on Woodstock 104 have had a lot to say about WDST’s trying to control what Woodstock 104 uses as its call. I as a producer am angry by this attack from WDST and when we at Woodstock 104 point out that this is harassment by WDST WE are labeled as “angry and aggressive”! When in reality WDST is aggressive and we are angry at their aggression and their hurling of insults as we should call our station “Hippie Radio” or Tie-Dye Radio” which clearly has demeaning intent.
where is my comment? I subscribed to follow this blog…?
I would like to note that while I applaud the local police taking Initiative to become trained in reaction to overdoses, we have a Major problem with the use of opiates and pharmaceutical drugs in our community, and a large portion of the problem includes woodstock’s youth.
If the average joe can see the problem by simply driving past cvs/Cumberland farms, why are we moving toward post issue reaction and still little movement on prevention?
I would also like to note that there were many groups and individuals who put tireless effort into governmental transparency and rallying of citizen engagement on the Niagara Bottling proposal. Not to note the Woodstock Land Conservancy, Esopus Land Conservancy and Kingston Citizens–three of the most involved and effective groups on this issue, is a major oversight on the part of the author of this and many of Ulster publishing’s mentions of the efforts on this proposal.
Kingston citizens is working on a timeline to show the efforts and effectiveness of the work on this proposal.
While there is plenty being done to further protect Woodstock from more situations like this one, it is important to note that there is much we were made aware of that we need to do in our region to move toward restorative and sustainable economic development in our region.
It is still bigger than just Cooper Lake and I feel blessed that Jeremy Wilber is looking from a wider scope.
I agree with Rachel about the police having the power to inject people, it bodes ill for the future if vaccinations become forced also…..to take this out of a medical arena is pretty scary. As far as the water issue all these groups that Rachel mention need to understand fraud and the need to unite in a common prayer against bank fraud because to sell the public commons can only be done if the public is now private, that is the people owned. How Jeremy looks depends on how free the people he is purportedly looking after want to free or under the illusion they are being represented properly. Fortis of Canada was also involved in a fraudulent contract. The World Bank and the IMF have models of just when the riots start, when the prices go so high people can not survive and the skinny guy becomes very aware of who is fat. Remember no one spoke FOR the sale of Central Hudson to Fortis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_hGxuWvGw this is part 2 of the Public Services Utilities Commission hearings two years ago.
opps part 1