The best source for local news from Marbletown, Rochester & Rosendale
Published the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month | Vol. 26, Issue 20
October 15, 2021 | 75 cents
Seeking balance
Student board member role expands School district gains web expert and hosts virtual college night
Rochester seeks balance between housing and rural preservation
Amber Kelly BSP Reporter Home learning policy was first on the agenda at the Oct. 12 meeting of the Rondout Valley School District Board of Education. Superintendent Dr. Joseph Morgan invited the school principals to talk about some of the conversations and activities going on. The elementary level discussion included allowing iPads to be taken home. The high school’s principal, Jessica Torok, said she met with a committee of department heads, and they decided the highest priority need was funding and time for professional training. The committee studied an article and worked with a graphic organizer called a square model. A recent virtual college night had high
See RV, page 16
Election 2021 Special Edition
Paul Bogart, fire chief of Marbletown, said, “Every year we attend Marbletown Elementary School during Fire Prevention Month. Besides the obvious fire tips like checking your smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, changing the batteries when you change the time on your clock, and other basic stuff, we express to the kids how important some tips are that we usually don’t think about. These are: knowing two ways to get out of your home in case one exit is blocked, having a meeting place away from your house where you can be accounted for, and ‘get out and stay out.’ As a fire chief, our main goal is life safety, and with these practices in place it is much easier for us to know if we need to rescue people.” These safety tips are echoed by Nelson. “Having an escape plan and rehearsing it with your family is a great idea,” he said. “In our local area people need to make sure their chimneys are clean going into
First on the agenda at the Oct. 7 Rochester town meeting was in regards to local law #4. Town supervisor Mike Baden read, “Whereas the zoning map shall be amended for the property known as SBL 76-4-4.1 and 76-4-4.2, at 18-19 Berme Road in Kerhonkson. The property is located in low density R-2 residential and shall be rezoned in residential-agricultural AR-3 zoning.” The property owner, Kaustubh Wahal, said, “We are wanting to rejuvenate the trees that we have. We have a lot of black walnuts and a lot of other trees, and we want to see if we can maintain them.” Baden said, “Anyone from the public who would like to speak?” Rick Jones, resident of the Town of Rochester, said, “I also happen to be on the Planning Board, but I am here as a private citizen. I am in favor of the plan [to rezone the lot], and both zones allow for the use that his family intend to use it for. The AR-3 will allow for seeking of funding for the restoration.” Jones reported visiting the property and said there are black walnut and pear trees, and that the owner intends to restore the soil and get the trees to be productive again. Neighbor Meg Smith pointed out that the property is visible from the rail trail and is connector to it, so appearance is important. She was concerned about the esthetics of an unused tent. An adjoining neighbor, David Lounsbury, wondered if the change of designation would make it easier or harder to put in a subdivision. Baden explained that an R-2 designation would require 2 acres per parcel, and an AR-3 designation requires a minimum of 3 acres per lot. Lounsbury wondered if the fact that application is not requesting events at present indicates a potential opening for events in the future. Wahal responded that any future special use request would need to be submitted to both the Town Board and the Planning Board, as per local law. Lounsbury continued, “The application also states, ‘to provide access for non-native
See Fire, page 3
See Rochester, page 4
The signs are up and the area is buzzing – it's time to prepare for Election Day, Nov. 2. All the local candidates want your vote. The town supervisor races in Rochester and Marbletown are especially in the spotlight. In this special edition you'll hear from the candidates running in BSP towns. All the contested races in Marbletown and Rochester are covered. Rosendale is the quiet town again this go-around with a townwide uncontested race this year. The county legislative races were covered in the Oct. 1 issue. In case you missed it, we put those on our website for easy reference. Lots to read inside this issue ...
Fire Prevention Month What our local fire departments do for us! Jeff Slater BSP Reporter October is Fire Prevention Month. The month was chosen to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire that took place Oct. 8-10, 1871. According to Peter Nelson of the Accord Fire Department, “It is really designed to help spread the word about fire prevention, home safety and emergency preparedness in our communities and directly to our citizens.” Nelson said, “Fire departments in the BSP area include Accord, High Falls, Kerhonkson, Kripplebush, Napanoch, Olive, Rosendale, Stone Ridge, Marbletown, Cottekill and Lomontville, and each has its own challenges, such as Minnewaska State Park in the Accord Fire District. Ulster County is all volunteer, with the exception of the City of Kingston, which is paid; there’s also Kingston and East Kingston, which are both volunteer. Across the entire U.S. about 67% of the fire departments are volunteer. We work closely with our neighboring departments on a regular basis and
Guys and girls growing with football Page 14
Accord Fire Department, NYS DEC and Minnewaska State Park rangers with NY State Police helicopter crew for a rescue at Minnewaska State Park Photo by Peter Nelson
also train together. Fire departments in the area have a mutual aid agreements that we commit to assist other departments whenever they need or call, and this happens all the time.”
Amber Kelly BSP Reporter
Two full pages of letters Pages 18 & 19
New grocery in Accord wants to be the town hub Page 17