The best source for local news from Marbletown, Rochester & Rosendale
Published the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month | Vol. 28, Issue 4
Library session gets hot
February 17, 2023 | $1.00
New play based on historical themes
Cannabis new law Public hearing planned in Rochester
Thomas Childers BSP Reporter
Ann Belmont BSP Reporter
The Rosendale Library held its first listening session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at the library on Main Street, Rosendale. The library is going back to the drawing board to come up with solutions to best improve the library after a failed attempt to purchase the Belltower building on Main Street. The listening sessions are part of that process. Eight people were in attendance, including the town supervisor Jeanne Walsh, council member Ashley Sweeney and former council member Kenneth Hassett. The library’s director, Katie Scott-Childress, did not attend. Jeff Miller, a professor at SUNY New Paltz, led off the discussion with four questions about what people value in the
A Michigan man is suing the state of New York to be allowed to apply to run a cannabis retail business here under an obscure Federal interstate commerce law. New York law prohibits out-of-staters from applying for a license. Because cannabis is still technically illegal in the eyes of the Federal government, the case is still unresolved, holding up the granting of any dispensary licenses in the Hudson Valley. Nevertheless, local townships are getting ready for the future. Most are enacting local zoning laws concerning cannabis businesses, and a few have opted not to allow any. The Town of Rochester will be holding two public hearings at the Accord community center at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23. The first hearing concerns subdivision law (see related article), and the second will be about Law B-2023, which proposes to allow cannabis retail operations with specific restrictions on location, open hours, and type of activity on the premises. A quick summary follows. To begin with, a cannabis retail dispensary, defined as an entity licensed to "deliver, sell or otherwise transfer cannabis and cannabis products to cannabis establishments and to consumers," is considered separately from an "on-site cannabis consumption facility," licensed for the sale and on-site consumption of cannabis products. The first business will be like a liquor store, and the second, like a bar. Both will be required to go through the special use permit and site plan approval process with the Planning Board. No place will be allowed to operate as both a store and a cannabis "bar;" it can only be one or the other. Cannabis retail businesses will be allowed only in certain zoning areas. They will also need to be 500 or more feet away from any school facility grades K through 12, from "any daycare center, or any facility where children commonly congregate," which would include "playgrounds, youth
See Rosendale, page 12
In this issue, read all about this original play by High Falls' David Gonzalez called "Falcon Ridge," a fictionalized play set in a rural, multi-racial community in Ulster County between 1800 and 1950. The play combines the areas of Eagle’s Nest and Lapla Road, into a fictional place called Falcon Ridge. Pictured above are residents of the Eagle's Nest-Lapala (Lapla) Road area, in the late 19th century. The play will be performed on March 3 and 4 at the Old Dutch Church, Kingston.
See the full story on page 9
More plastics may be allowed at the Marbletown Transfer Station All plastics 1-7 would be collected Alison Stewart BSP Reporter Most of the plastics dumped into Marbletown's recycling container get trashed, said Jeff Anderson, Marbletown Transfer Station superintendent. “Eighty percent of what goes in there gets thrown out," Anderson said. "I'll talk myself blue about black plastic,” he said. However, that could change by the end of the month, if a plan discussed at the Feb. 7 Marbletown Town Board meeting goes through. Olive resident Del Umbers plans to place bins at the station where users can dump plastic with recycling numbers 1 through 7, including clamshell plastics. “The shape doesn't have to be tubs, jugs or bottles. It could be tubes, it could be
Winning silver at the Empire Winter Games PAGE 12
dental floss,” Umbers said. “These plastics are going in the trash now,” town supervisor Rich Parete said. As to when this service may be set up, it could be soon. “I have to order the containers,” Umbers said, and he expects everything to be in place by the beginning of March. Anderson said the containers would probably be placed in the recycling area. The bins, which could be large cardboard boxes like those used for pumpkins, would have plastic liners into which folks could toss their plastics. “The main thing is to get a layout so that people have room to move around them,” Anderson said. There wouldn't be any added cost to the town for this. “No money is going to change hands,” Anderson said. Parete confirmed it wouldn't cost the town anything, and in fact, could save the town some money. “We pay for tonnage," Parete said. "It's
still going to result in less trips to the landfill and keeping it out of there.” Though Umbers would not charge the town for this service, he hopes to get paid for his efforts by selling the plastic to brokers who will, in turn, shred the plastic and sell it again. Umbers declined to list his brokers specifically, but said similar companies include Waste Management, Casella Waste Systems and Republic Services. He said he'd be checking the containers regularly and, once they are full, collecting and sorting the plastics by number. He then plans to sell it by weight to his brokers. "Then it's their obligation to find another buyer so they can make products again," he said. He is proposing a similar service in Olive, Shandaken, Rosendale and Kingston. “We don't need more garbage,” Umbers said. "I think it'll work," Anderson said.
Duchess Farm and Town of Marbletown lawsuits settled PAGE 8
See Cannabis law, page 10
An incredible story from these two RV teachers PAGE 16
