Latest News
Auto Repair
Blinds
Building/Remodeling
Floor Refinishing
Insulation
Landscaping
Landscaping
Lightning Rods
Moving
Overhead Doors
HARLEM VALLEY — Rural post offices throughout the region are determined to help the hungry. On Saturday, May 14, mail carriers will collect nonperishable food left beside mailboxes, which they will then deliver to area food banks, all as part of the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.“Even if people only leave out one or two items, it’s helping out in a big way,” said Wassaic postal clerk Karen Ricapito. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of stuff that comes in when people do that — it really does add up and it’s for those who really need it.”In the Harlem Valley most post offices have said if postal patrons leave the food by their mailboxes, it will be collected. Wassaic, Dover, Millerton, Pine Plains and Millbrook have all specifically said they are participating, and they’re hoping those who are aware of the drive will participate, too.Dover postal clerk Holly Whaley said in the past, it’s been difficult getting the word out.“Anytime we do have it, it’s been minimal publicity,” she said. “It’s been kind of hush-hush, so it’s great if people know beforehand.“Anybody participating in the drive is wonderful,” she added. “It’s good to help out others and donate, of course.”And the food stays local. The mail carriers who collect the food deliver it to local food banks.“Our food baskets are always in need here,” said JoAnn Keeler, clerk at the Pine Plains post office, adding the food collected during the drive in her town will go to the Pine Plains Food Locker. “The need is higher probably more than ever now.”It’s the same story throughout the Harlem Valley and beyond, which is why those behind the event are hoping participation will be strong.“I’m kind of hoping people will contribute this year because so many people are out of jobs and losing their homes,” Wassaic mail carrier Lisa Dunlop said. “And some people are just too proud to ask for help, I think.”Dunlop, like all of the mail carriers who participate in Stamp Out Hunger, will deliver the items she collects to the food banks on her own time. It’s something she said she does willingly, year after year.“I do it because I know a lot of people don’t have as much as I have,” she said, adding in her district the food will go to the food pantries at Immaculate Conception Church in Amenia and the Action Center in Dover. “I have a job and a husband who has a job when there are a lot of people out there losing jobs and houses, finding it hard to feed their kids.”“It’s a lot of extra work for them,” said Ricapito, adding the carriers never complain about the hard work but rather look forward to the food drive because they know their efforts make a difference.To let people know about the drive, Dunlop made up fliers and left them with her patrons; other mail carriers did likewise. They’re hoping it works.“If people will leave food out, we’ll be happy to pick it up,” postal clerk Lori McGhee of the Millerton post office said.To donate, leave canned, bottled or dry, nonperishable food items that do not require refrigeration in bags or boxes beside your mailbox on Saturday, May 14. If it’s raining, wrap the food items in plastic bags. For more on the drive, go online to HelpStampOutHunger.com.
Related Stories
Get Local News Delivered To Your Inbox
Subscribe to receive stories reported for, by, and about our neighbors, on the issues affecting you.
By signing up you agree to our
privacy policy
.
Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.