Hudson LWRP

Senate reaches deal to avert government shutdown
Jennifer Steinhauer reports in The New York Times that the U.S. Senate voted Monday, Sept. 26, 79 to 12, to approve funding for the government for seven weeks, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that its $114 million on hand will last the week. It was a possibility that FEMA — with emergency centers currently in Greene and Columbia counties because of the storms associated with Hurricane Irene — would run out of money this week. Both New York Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, voted for the measure. Read the full story in The New York Times.

Easements protect farmlands in Dutchess, Columbia
Kyle Wind in The Daily Freeman reports that the, “environmental group Scenic Hudson and government officials on Monday announced the shared $3.6 million purchase of development rights to about 700 acres of farmland in Red Hook, Clermont, and Germantown.” The conservation easements are being financed with $1.8 million from the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, $1.2 million from Scenic Hudson, and $615,000 from the town of Red Hook through an initiative voters approved ten years ago. The Dutchess Land Conservancy is also “contributing toward stewardship and project expenses,” officials said. Eight farms, with 440 acres of easements, are in Red Hook, in Dutchess County. They include Northwind Farm, the Three Pond Farm, Migliorelli Farm, Missing D Farm, Trezza Farm, Panorama Farm, and the Sturges and Karpinski agricultural lands adjacent to two large farms. In Columbia County, the O’Neal Farm in Clermont and the Diehl Farm also are selling development rights. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

Report from Hudson Common Council special meeting about LWRP
Dan Udell recorded Monday’s Hudson Common Council special meeting to consider a part of the Local Waterfront plan, or LWRP, that is currently being considered. Click here to listen.

Christopher Reed of Friends of Hudson sent this report to the InFoH listserv, and allows us to reprint it here:

“Earlier this evening, the Hudson Common Council voted overwhelmingly to accept the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS), a key component of the Hudson LWRP. There was one “No” (Chris Wagoner) and one Abstention (Ellen Thurston).

Discussion before the vote was limited to Common Council members, City Attorney Cheryl Roberts and Department of State (DOS) attorney and land use expert William Sharp. Despite this restriction, the discussion provided useful insights into waterfront zoning, one of the key components of the LWRP remaining to be reviewed and voted on. Specifically, Sharp helped clarify the distinction between non-conforming and conditional uses, key zoning concepts for effective public control of the causeway as a transportation corridor.

… I’d like to mention that Cheryl Roberts cleared up a mystery as to why the May 2011 LWRP/GEIS needed to undergo an additional four months of revisions. Roberts cited three developments:
1. The South Bay Task Force’s “Newly Discovered Information” letter to the Common Council on notable species observed in the South Bay (May 17).**
2. The proposed designation by the DOS of major portions of the South Bay as a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife habitat (June 15).
3. The paving of the causeway by O&G (June 23) and subsequent use to haul aggregate to the Holcim dock.
Roberts also reported that the error discovered by the South Bay Task Force in one of the key maps (InFoH 9/19/11) has been corrected.”

More dog barking tonight in Stuyvesant
The Stuyvesant Zoning Board meets tonight, perhaps with some resolution to the noise issue surrounding the Glencadia Dog Camp. Dog camp owner Will Pflaum predicts on his “Sunshine on the Hudson” blog that he will lose at tonight’s hearing. But his lawyers recently uncovered at least one document that supports his claim that the epic battle that has taken over the town over his dog camp is somehow about personalities or politics, rather than dog barking. “Here is what our upstanding Family man does on the side. Enclosed are pictures and facts about Will Pflaum aka Emcee Will Ep. He writes and performs all lyrics, and sells albums. For example: My Big Gun speaks of shooting the Pope. Most other songs are x-rated and the lyrics are too obscene to write down,” says the letter in Pflaum’s file. The Stuyvesant Zoning Board meets at 7:30 p.m. at Stuyvesant Town Hall, 5 Sunset Drive, Stuyvesant.

Epic fail?
Last night the Tampa Bay Rays won and the Boston Red Sox lost, USA Today reports, to almost complete one of the most shocking failures in sports history. A few weeks ago, the Red Sox were nine games ahead of the Rays for the wild card position in the American League playoffs, and now they are tied. The Rays have two games against the New York Yankees, who have long-clinched the division title and their spot in the playoffs. The Red Sox, with their 6-19 September record, have two games left with the Baltimore Orioles, who have a long history of little love for the Boston baseball team.

TUESDAY AUDIO
Click on title or PLAY CLIP to listen to audio mp3 recording.

• Occupy Wall Street News Report: 20110927 3:10
Kelly Benjamin reports for WGXC that the Occupy Wall Street protests continued in Manhattan’s financial district for the 11th straight day on Mon., Sept. 26. Things have been relatively peaceful in the occupied public square after the mass arrests and pepper sprayings that took place over the weekend. But today, the Hacktivist group “Anonymous” fanned some flames by releasing documents publicly on the internet related to the NYPD officer the group claims is responsible for the pepper-spraying of a group of protesting women on Saturday. Anonymous claims the officer seen in the widely circulated internet video is Anthony Bologna. WGXC’s Kelly Benjamin is in New York and spoke with Occupy Wall Street’s Patrick Bruner about the incident. PLAY CLIP