Saugerties Library is getting rowdy
Proposed fire training site proving unsuitable
Dear Editor, Re “Ulster town officials to negotiate with county for fire training site,” by William J. Kemble, Sept. 6, 2018: That Ulster County Executive Michael Hein is negotiating with the town of Ulster to have the largest facility at Ulster Landing Road was intriguing.
Where does that leave the much-disputed SUNY Ulster corner site that backs up on Leggett Road/Route 209, Cottekill? I hope it eliminates all uses but classrooms. It is not bearable to expect residents to accept three to five firetrucks, 30 cars, walkie talkies, and high night lights until 10 p.m. Fifty companies will use this. And all day Saturday, as well.
On top of that, this site is proving unsuitable — an environmental hazard.
A respected environmentalist from Hudsonia examined the site and found it very faulty, probably fill. And the county planner’s own Environmental Assessment Form reveals numerous dangers and leaves out others. Why build over the principal aquifer? Along a Department of Environmental Conservation mapped stream? Why destroy the adjacent natural habitat?
Six hundred feet from a baby and child care center. How can these poor residents endure the 8-12 months of construction with asphalt pavers, concrete mixers, and dump trucks?
And this is much too close to the National Historic Register area of Stone Ridge. Our history and natural beauty and serenity are the area’s strongest appeal.
That the fire tower won’t burn sounds dubious. Why is it metal then? Look at the builders, firefacilities.com, and see what you think. It says all their fire towers are metal and come with a burn unit. Now they say they won’t light it? Really?
There are also many protected species right there.
And let’s call this for what it is — the human beings are a species that should be protected, too.
There are two fine industrial sites for this project and plenty of money to upgrade them. Laura Cunningham Stone Ridge, N.Y.
Ulster Landing Road site good for training center
Dear Editor, I wish to commend Ulster County Executive Michael Hein for pursuing the idea of creating a fire training center on the Ulster Landing Road site. This could be an all-inclusive site offering state-of-the-art active training for our much-respected firemen.
And keep the educational classroom instruction component at SUNY Ulster. That makes sense.
Thank you. Claudine Brenner Stone Ridge, N.Y.
Marbletown supervisor has no mandate
Dear Editor, Having been elected by a margin of one questionable vote in the Marbletown Democratic caucus, Rich Parete has now become town of Marbletown supervisor.
He is a long way from a mandate.
Aware of this tiny margin, he says he wants to hear the voices of Marbletown citizens. But, in spite of many letters and comments expressing opposition to allowing public events in residential areas, he seems to favor changes to existing zoning laws that would allow it.
We wonder, who he is listening to? Marbletown citizens who he was elected to serve? Or the voices of a few who would profit from such a change? Kim & Lorna Massie Lyonsville, N.Y. Dear Editor, I write with a concern I think a lot of us in sleepy, historic Saugerties are currently sharing.
Within the past few months, there has been an influx of teenagers who are truly out of control. They’ve been through the village and even in the hamlets — Barclay Heights, in particular — destroying property, harassing people in cars at stop lights, and creating such a disturbance it makes me want to move.
Not even our last safe haven has been untouched — the Saugerties Public Library seems to have created a space for these kids to wreak havoc. Multiple complaints have been brought to the director, who seems to be unwilling to hold these kids responsible for their actions. While creating a safe space for them to act out, the library has created an unsafe environment for others to read, relax, and socialize with the community. My own children have told me they no longer want to go to the library to do homework or check out books after school because they fear the rowdy group that constantly hangs out outside and makes a spectacle of harassing other members of the library. I have heard from community members who don’t want to pass through the front doors as these kids are outside, dangerously climbing all over the building and sometimes yelling at people who want to enter.
I hope to get the attention of the director or someone else who can and will do something. This safe space for rowdy teenagers has created a decidedly unsafe space for everyone else. It’s preposterous. Daniel Smith Glasco, N.Y.