Letters to the Editor - May 10

Act on the ORV petition

As I’m sure most of you know by now, community concern has given rise to a widely circulated petition in Stanford for the regulation of off-road vehicles (ORVs) i.e. all terrain vehicles (ATVs), dirt bikes and snowmobiles, etc.

Currently there are no explicit laws to protect Stanford homeowners or farmers from intrusive ORV use. This leaves local homeowners without inalienable rights to the peace, quiet and fresh air that we treasure here, nor farmers with the power to protect their farm animals, livestock or crops.

The petition that you may have signed asks your Town Board to instate an ordinance that requests the following: that there be a 500-foot distance between ORVs and your property line; that dust and fumes from exhaust not trespass a user’s property line; and that decibel levels be limited so as not to disturb adjoining homeowners.

The purpose of the petition was never to prohibit ORV use but rather to preserve the calm, neighborliness, safety and good order of our community.

This petition has now been submitted to the Town Board four separate times and each time has been unilaterally and defiantly dismissed by Councilmen Mark D’Agostino, Thomas Dewhirst and now Joseph Norton — men we Stanford residents voted into office to represent the wishes of the majority. As Stanford voters and taxpayers, surely we must now ask whether our interests are being represented by these men.

ORV use is clearly not a Democratic or Republican issue. It’s astonishing that despite 674 resident signatures and the support of 27 Stanford farms, this petition remains dead in the water.

Despite our councilmen’s repeated red-herring tactic that the Halas Lane difficulty is merely a feud between two neighbors, in fact five written complaints about this particular family’s relentless ORV use have been submitted to the Stanford town code enforcement officer. And there have been other ORV-use complaints registered all over the township from South Anson Road to Creamery Road to Shelly Hill Road to West Hunns Lake Road to Charwill Road and to Cipriano Place.

There have been signs up all over town in the war on this petition.

In what can only be described as a willful misunderstanding, this barrage has attempted to dissuade petition-signers by incorrectly referring to the petition as a “noise ordinance” and scare-mongering that “you won’t be able to use your lawn mowers.”

In fact, the ORV petition doesn’t restrict lawn mowing or chain-sawing and clearly states that “regulations will need to include exemptions and time frames for farm work, municipal use and lawn care.” (The petition also doesn’t restrict ORV use that bothers no one. If there’s no complaint, there’s no problem.)

It’s been almost a year now since this petition was first put before the Town Board. D’Agostino, Dewhirst and Norton have been intractable. In the face of the township’s continued interest in an ORV ordinance, surely these men should drop the political posturing and actually engage with the wishes of those they represent.

Michelle Mcgill
Stanfordville

Enjoyed program with  Langella

Congratulations to The Moviehouse in Millerton for its outstanding program on Saturday. The movie “Robot and Frank” was delightful and Mr. Langella’s Q&A session afterward was very interesting. I felt privileged to be in attendance. Thank you, Moviehouse.      

Charlotte Murphy
Amenia

A ‘yes’ vote is vital

I became involved with the Budget Advisory Committee at the Pine Plains Central School District and have attended most of the Board of Education meetings the last couple of months to become informed about the budget.  While the budget is not perfect, our students deserve a yes vote.

The proposed budget of $28,125,128 is a 1.89 percent increase over the current budget and comes with a 2 percent tax levy increase. The proposed budget is estimated to increase the full value tax rate by .25 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Overall, this is a sound budget. Here are a few facts that affect the budget:

The amount of state aid received by the district has been decreasing over the last several years. It is projected that 20.5 percent of the 2012-13 proposed budget will come from state aid — down from 30 percent in 2005-06. The projected state aid for 2012-13 is $1,390,259 LESS than the district received in 2009-10. How is the district supposed to make up this money with rising fuel costs and low interest rates?

Approximately 85 percent of the proposed budget is mandated or contractual and cannot be unilaterally changed by the board. Reductions in staff have occurred through retirements, avoiding layoffs. The proposed budget preserves programs and activities.  

Under the new law, two budget defeats forces a zero percent tax levy increase, which means an additional $400,000 would have to be cut from the proposed budget. Cuts would be made to staff and program, class sizes would increase, building-use fees would be imposed, restrictions would be placed on field trips, etc. All of these cuts directly affect the students.

A budget defeat does not lower the superintendent’s salary or staff salaries, cut the number of administrators, change employee benefits or pensions or close a building. A budget defeat also does not guarantee you a decrease in your taxes. Please vote yes.

It is important to continue a rotation each year buying new buses to replace older buses with high mileage. The proposition for the purchase of new buses was defeated last year making the purchase of buses in 2012-13 even more important. The three large buses and three small buses are needed to replace the oldest buses in the fleet. Please vote yes.

The Attlebury Schoolhouse on Route 82 in Stanfordville belongs to the Pine Plains Central School District. However, the district does not have the funds to maintain the building and it is in need of repairs. The Stanford Historical Society is willing to purchase the Attlebury Schoolhouse and renovate it so that it can once again be used by the students and community. Please vote yes.

Please vote on May 15. Our students and community are depending on you to vote yes!    

Karen Orton
Stanfordville

In remembrance of Harry Schroeder

The passing of one of our longtime farmer residents will be sadly and well remembered by most of us. Harry Schroeder was an active and hardworking member of our community. His interests and actions went far beyond being a very good farmer. He adapted his style of farming over the years from dairying to crop production and marketing. He and his family stayed the course with hard work and innovation.

Over the years they worked and utilized their location along the road to produce and market farm crops in an attractive and plentiful manner. In addition to his farming and marketing abilities he served as representative for our region on the county board of legislators. His belief in the development and building of the first part of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail (HVRT) from Amenia to north of Millerton was essential to the start of the Rail Trail and continuing up into Columbia County. The HVRT will always be indebted to him for this action on his part.

Harry approached every undertaking with insight and humor. He will be sorely missed.

Kent Kay
Millerton