The Sullivan Times Times We cover and uncover the big stories in Sullivan County, NY. NY.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018 - Issue 9 9
Monti School Board Will Try (Again) To Reopen Duggan May Referendum Aimed At Critical Repairs & Long Term Infrastructure Story & photos by Rich Klein
MONTICELLO, December 4, 2018 -- Although voters passed a $54 million bond (“Classroom 2020”) last month, Monticello School Board President Lori Orestano-James said on November 26 that it still needs approximately twice that amount to make critical repairs at all its schools -- and to upgrade much school infrastructure for the 21st century. The referendum that just passed will fund critical repairs at each School Superintendent Tammy Mangus, Board President Lori Orestano-James and Vice President Stacey Sharoff
1
building in the district, including repairs to HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems, new roofs, and other structural repairs. It would also include the demolition of the highly damaged district bus garage adjacent to the middle and high schools -- and construction of a new one. “Having an improved capital bond is only the first step in the path to a completed capital project,” said School Superintendent Tammy Mangus in a YouTube video released on December 3. “The process is a complex one that is subject to many New York state policies, procedures and regulations.” Mangus said in the video that the first action in executing the repairs is to make sure that all the district buildings have a “strong exterior envelope before we begin on our interiors.” She added that by September 2019, students at all schools will start the school year to buildings that either have new roofs or that have construction in process for those replacements.
At its recent meeting, Orestano-James and Mangus both said the Board is exploring the possible sale of District properties to raise additional funds if the May 2019 referendum fails. restano-James said at the November 26 meeting: “We needed 110 million dollars. At no point has this Board said we didn’t need that. But it’s how we you get there. We have to go where we said we have to go. “ After the meeting, she added: “If we don’t pass
School Board members Wendy Galligan and Timothy Crumley
(a referendum in May), we still have to do this work. We’re not going back and raising taxes to do it. We’re not going above that two percent.’’ She also noted that going forward, the Board expects to build green, which would result in the district receiving 62 cents on the dollar from New York State instead of the current 52 cents it currently receives. That shift to green construction (assuming it meets state’s standards), she believes, will help the school district’s financials in a big way. Although members did not divulge what will be included in what’s being dubbed “Phase II” of its Capital Improvement Project -- a source with knowledge of what’s being considered told The Sullivan Times t hat the reopening of The Cornelius Duggan School in White Lake is likely going to be on a new May 2019 referendum. Town of Bethel Supervisor Dan Sturm would not confirm that but did say: “I understand that the School Board is still committed to the next phase of their suggested improvements, which would include eventually opening and using the Duggan School here. I still believe that there will be a need to re-open Duggan, and it can be done in a responsible, cost effective manner for the entire district. We would continue, as always, to support the effort to help it happen.”
Board member Todd Grodin
2
Duggan was shuttered in June 2010 after a 5-4 school board decision that left many in the community heartbroken, including those who bought homes in the area because of the convenience of the elementary school. Other Bethel residents and business owners have said the closing has severely impacted the Town of Bethel community in a myriad of ways. And, since Duggan’s closure, the Board has also incurred significant increases in transportation costs to bus elementary school students from Bethel into Monticello for the past eight years. Jerry Sarosy, o wner of nearby Sorella’s Restaurant, which opened in 2011, said: “The dumbest thing they ever did was to close that school.” He added that if the school reopened, surely his business would see an increase from the teachers and parents who come to pick up their kids. The current school board is led by Orestano-James, who is a former MHS principal. Other members are Cathleen Doherty, John Kiefer, Stacey Sharoff (immediate past president), Alyce VanEtten, Timothy Crumley, Todd Grodin, Helen Jersey, Wendy Galligan and student board member Molly Garcia. At the late November meeting, the Board approved an agreement between the District and architectural firm Clark Patterson Lee, which is designing plans for existing critical repairs and future renovations/expansion. Another agreement that was approved by the Board was between the district and LeChase Construction. The school board also wants to repair and put its 22 St. John Street property (now operating as Eugene D. Nesin Theatre for the Performing Arts) back into circulation -- and says that would be used for some 35 employees in central administration, which right now is working in a historic but deteriorating building that is hazardous and not handicap-accessible. To help alleviate the working conditions of administration staff, the Board in late November authorized Mangus to seek new rental space for central administration employees district. The Board, through Orestano-James, said that the school and community use of the theater - site of the original Monticello High School built in 1894 - would be more cost-effective in that it can be used for smaller school meetings and events that don’t require the cost of opening the high school’s much larger auditorium. The building might also be used for a community health clinic that Orestano-James would like to see. For a list of the New York State Department of Education’s status reports of all school construction projects in Sullivan County, please click here. Note: There will be a regular meeting of the Monticello Central School District Board of Education on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. in the Cooke Elementary Multipurpose Room. There will be a proposed executive session at 6:30 p.m. The Board expects to spend a majority of the time in executive session. The open meeting will occur after the completion of executive session.
3
Chatwal Lodge in Bethel Breaking Ground This Week; Opening Set For 2020 BETHEL - Dream Hotel Group, whose chairman is Sant Singh Chatwal, is breaking ground this Wednesday on The Chatwal Lodge that is set to open in 2020 on some 23 acres in on the State Route 55 site of The Chapin Estate here. The group has a pending application before the Town of Bethel Planning Board and an application submitted in late November to the Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). Monticello attorney Richard A. Stoloff is representing “Chapin Hospitality Group” and “NVS Land Holding Corp.” but could not be reached for comment at press
Sant Sing Chatwal (official photo)
time. The application states that the project will create 340 construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs. Aside from Chatwal, many local leaders are scheduled to attend the event, according to a media advisory issued by Rubenstein Public Relations. They include Steve Dubrovsky, who built The Chapin Estate, Robert Byron-Lockwood, CEO of The Sullivan County Visitors Association and Josh Potesek, the County Manager. Former Bethel Supervisor Allan Scott presented to the Bethel Town Board on behalf of Dream Hotel in late February. According to the Board’s minutes from February 28, 2018, Scott told the board that the project is 26 acres on The Toronto Reservoir which has an equestrian, a bar, spa, restaurant, and events center. Scott said at the time that the company anticipated 100 jobs and would be located within the White Lake Fire District. In response to a request for comment about the project, Town of Bethel Supervisor issued issued a statement that said: “The new resort by Chapin would be a great addition for Bethel. In, Bethel we have always favored Green type Building, and especially new homes and businesses that have the least impact on our natural environment. Chapin Estates is a perfect example of quality building, while maintaining the beauty of our area. Also, a new resort would be bringing both full and part time jobs, both during construction and after it opens. More 4
people to work there, means maybe more people to live here in our Town. And then the new tourists and visitors that come would bring commerce and a better economic opportunity for our businesses already here. This will be a tax-paying venture, which helps everyone in our area. Finally, new tourists and visitors not only spend money here but also create a new vibrancy and excitement which adds greatly to the existing quality of our community. I look forward to working with our Town and planning Boards, and the developers to see this project through to its opening.” Resident Michael Baden, who bought a home in Chapin Estate a few years ago with wife, Linda, said he welcomes the arrival of the hotel. He said he was especially looking forward to the new hotel’s restaurant that is reportedly going to be headed by a Michelin-awarded chef.
A Chef’s Journey To The DeBruce Livingston Manor Restaurant Named A Top New Restaurant in America LIVINGSTON MANOR, December 4, 2018 - Sometimes it’s the delicious local carrot --without the stick-- that does the trick. That’s what happened to Aksel Theilkuhl, executive chef of The DeBruce when he first picked and ate a carrot out of the ground in Parksville -- at Somewhere in Time farm in October 2016. It was at that moment that Theilkuhl sort of found the “ingredient” to his future. “I took one bit out of this carrot and realized that this was a game-changer,” Theilkuhl said. “This is what a carrot tastes like. Pulling this thing directly out of the ground and the idea that I can pull this out of the ground and this could be served in a dish in a restaurant that evening.’’ At the time, Theilkuhl had just been hired to be the executive chef at The DeBruce, which opened in January 2017. Last week, The Debruce was named by Esquire magazine as one of the best new restaurants in America. Justin Sutherland, the owner of Somewhere in Time, said today that he recalled how he,Theilkuhl and Sims Foster were on their knees picking winter carrots two years ago. (Sims and Kirsten Foster own The DeBruce, The North Branch Inn, Nine River Road and The Arnold House.) According to Sutherland, Foster -- owner of Foster Supply Hospitality that includes The DeBruce -- brought Theilkuhl to the farm because Foster wanted him to taste the best carrot he ever had. “He’s now my main produce farmer,” Theilkuhl said of Sutherland. “I get really excited when he’s going to do something fun or creative with my crop,” Sutherland said of Theilkuhl, adding that the chef often asks him what he can do different with a particular crop like a purple pepper or a radish flower or arugula flower. Sutherland said that his friend is making cooking fun..”and that’s what he’s bringing to the table..pun intended. “ The 34-year-old chef who grew up in Orlando says 5
he always wanted to be “closer to the product” to be the most successful, even though by most standards, he was already hugely successful in his line of work. But after spending most of career thus far working in and opening restaurants in big cities like New York, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Atlanta, he decided a few years ago that living closer to the land would be most satisfying. “Let’s have a relationship with the land and the people who grow it,” Theilkuhl said about his line of thinking. Theilkuhl said that as a kid he was exposed to high end restaurants with amazing foods and global cuisines. That’s because his father’s stepfather was a general manager for a major hotel chain. “I spent a lot of time hanging out in hotels and their kitchens,” he said. During his junior year of high school, Theilkuhl said that he “quickly realized that I wasn’t going to be a doctor or a lawyer or sit behind a desk in college. I was intrigued by chefs so I made decision to go to culinary school with my parents’ support right out of high school.” He enrolled in Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts in North Miami. “I was hooked immediately,” he said, thinking, “Ok, this is what I’m going to do. I did everything in school to rise to the top. I wanted to be the best one. I got to know all the chef instructors.’’ After graduating, Theilkuhl soon made his way to Manhattan and credits French chef/restaurant owner Laurent Tourondel for his tutelage. “I spent about six years with him,” he said. During that time, Theilkuhl opened Tourondel’s “BLT” restaurant at the Ritz Carlton in White Plains. “He took a liking to me. I worked hard. I went from there to sous chef at BLT Market (Manhattan) ..and it spiraled from there. “ Tourondel then sent him to Charlotte for about 18 months to open a BLT there and that was Theilkuhl’s first head chef job. He later worked for another famous chef, Stephen Starr in Philadelphia and again with Tourondel on a restaurant in Chicago that did not survive. He then returned to New York and opened a restaurant in Tribeca and did some consulting. He still wanted to open his own restaurant in the city but said, “opening a restaurant in New York City is a $10 million to $15 million project. It’s an expensive, hard market. But I knew I wanted to do something on my own. “ So he started looking beyond the city’s borders. “I started looking for an opportunity outside the city if I want to be as a chef. I need to be in the center of it. “ As luck would have it, about four years ago he visited Sullivan County to see his friend Justine Sutherland, now director of operations for Foster Hospitality, but who was previously Theilkuhl’s pastry chef for many years. Sutherland had moved up to the region with her husband, Clark, who was a chef at The Arnold House. And that led to an introduction to Sims Foster, his future boss. A series of conversations over a period of months led to Foster hiring him and the pair began conceptualizing what the restaurant would be. As for the award, Theilkuhl said: “What will always set us apart is we don’t follow any trends,” adding that his dishes based on local farm products “can’t be replicated anywhere else.’’ Sitting in The DeBruce last week, Theilkuhl pointed out the window to the Somewhere in Time Farm on the top of the mountain. “Every chef in the city wants ramps but can’t get them. I can go up to that mountain and get them.’’ Sims Foster said that the three biggest awards for restaurants are from James Beard Foundation, Michelin and Esquire and was obviously proud of the accomplishment.
6
EXCLUSIVE:
Interview with Artist Who Designed the Woodstock 50th Stamp BETHEL - Antonio Alcalá is one of four art directors that is contracted with the United States Postal Service on the stamp development program. He’s been doing that for about seven years. And two years ago, he was assigned to create Woodstock’s 50th Anniversary stamp. Alcalá, 58, who grew up in California, wasn’t at Woodstock but he did see the famous Woodstock film that was released by Warner Brothers in 1973. He said that he watched the film again before designing the stamp that will be released in 2019. When thinking about the design, he said that because of legal reasons, he could not use photos of people who were at the event. Then, he said, there was a brief thought about putting an iconic Woodstock performer on the stamp -- but quickly realized that you can’t choose one.
This stamp issuance celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in the small farming community of Bethel, New York, in August 1969. It was the most famous rock festival in history and an expression of the youth counterculture of the 1960s. The stamp art, designed by art director Antonio Alcalá, features the image of the dove from graphic artist Arnold Skolnick's promotional 1969 poster for the festival along with some of the poster's words: "3 Days of Peace and Music.” In the stamp art the words are stacked in the background in brilliant colors along with the year 1969, USA, and Forever (the value of the stamp). The white dove stands in the foreground.
So he started to study the great music poster designers of the 60s and early 70s. “I’m a big fan of graphic design history and familiar with the iconic works of that time period,” Alcalá s aid. “I basically channeled that idea and that visual sensibility and created this lettering for the poster and then applied a graduated tone. “ He said the green at the bottom of the stamp, for example, was intended to signify the land on Yasgur’s Farm before the rain and the mud that hit the landmark festival. “But The real coup was securing the rights to the artwork of the dove to include on the stamp.” Alcalá s aid that he didn’t want to do a stamp that was his vision or that of someone who was there in August 1969. Instead, the goal was for the stamp to resonate with the larger general public since there will be millions of stamps printed and used around the world. He concluded: “There’s something in there that I hope people will think, ‘Yeah, I remember that.’”
7
EDITORIAL A Year To Remember For Sullivan Economy, Tourism Decades from now, 2018 will likely be remembered as the year that Sullivan surely got its tourism groove back. Sure, it had been in the making since Bethel Woods opened in 2006 along with the return to life of so many Main Streets in places like Roscoe, Rock Hill, Jeffersonville, Callicoon and Narrowsburg along with Bethel’s restaurant row and the vastly improved shopping districts in Monticello and Liberty. But let’s look at what happened this year: --The long awaited opening of Resorts World Catskills in Thompson that has employed many and boosted many local businesses. -- The opening of the Yo1 Wellness Center in Thompson -- Plans taking shape for The Eldred Preserve Project in Highland, set to open in 2019. -- Groundbreaking of The Chatwal Lodge in Bethel, set to open in 2020 -- Foster Supply Hospitality expanding and bringing great attention to the County, including The DeBruce just named as one of the top new restaurants in America. When the Sullivan County Visitors Association holds its Annual Dinner meeting this week, much of the above will surely be mentioned. And, starting next month, the entire County will likely begin to embrace (and benefit from) the build up to the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. The significance of the anniversary, regardless of what musical acts get signed, is sure to draw old hippies and new hipsters and thousands of other types back to the garden. The media attention will be enormous. There will be major cable networks, the most influential newspapers and magazines and more to shine the lights on our County as we move closer to the anniversary weekend. We saw that on the 40th anniversary and this will only add to more buzz about our region. We can only hope that the communities in our County still struggling the most --like the Village of Monticello and Town of Liberty -- truly benefit from this continued economic revival that’s taken hold. They can’t be left behind, especially because Monticello and Liberty were the backbone of the Borscht Belt economy that carried so many of our towns and villages for most of the 21st century. Two areas that still need more attention? Route 17B and Route 52. While there are stories of great success on both of these gorgeous roadways, there are still giant swaths of vacant land/commercial space that can be occupied with new businesses that serve their communities and our seasonal visitors. We continue to believe that Empire Resorts should unload the racino -- and let that big, beautiful piece of property be purchased by a socially responsible company that can create even more middle class jobs here. The Sullivan Times Editor & Publisher: Rich Klein PO Box 502 Jeffersonville NY 12748 sullivancatskillstimes@gmail.com Follow Us On Facebook and Instagram
8
9
