Trust -and- Truth

Cant seem to find the forest through the trees these days? Here are two quick thoughts that might guide you out.

Trust?
- Your opinion

Truth?
-The Truth is out there but like so many aspects of life these days, you just have to find it!

Hey Yahoo over here!

It has been reported in the New York Post that Yahoo! is being courted by "State Officials" to open a Data Center in Western New York.

Many will recall that shortly after George Pataki became Governor there was a lot of discussion about consolidating 49 New York State managed Data Centers to the Tech City property in Ulster County's Town of Ulster. The consolidations would have saved New Yorkers tens of thousands of dollars a year. However politicians, spearheaded by then New York State Majority Leader, Joe Bruno, squashed the plan as it meant hundreds of constituent relocation's.

Why is it that Empire State Development is not pitching the glut of data center space at Tech City or in Dutchess County along the IBM corridor? Yahoo is quoted as saying they only need 150,000 square feet.

Is Bigger Better Bottle really Better?

Recently the New York State Legislature voted on a bill called the "Bigger Better Bottle" bill. Signed into law during the first week of April by Governor Paterson, provisions mandate that "unique electronic scanner bar codes for containers sold and returned in New York". This provision caught the entire business community off guard and has created a real mess in the bottling industry.

In Saratoga Springs, the Ball Metal Container Corporation manufactures approximately three billion 12 once aluminum beer and soft drink cans each year for approximately 400 different brands of beer, soda and juices. In fact, well over 300 million cans have been made this year already. Steve DiLoreto, Plant Manager at Ball states, "We build inventory all year to supply our customers through the summer". Further he states, "obviously we can't scrap all those good cans." Seventy five percent of all inventory is used in New York State alone.

Not only does Ball have to create new labeling for the 400 brands but has to get corporate approval from clients who are not even in the United States all of which takes time, energy and money. Some estimates internally state that the retooling alone will cost over $500,000. Small bottlers in New York also are affected by this as well.

"The New York bar code was added to prevent out-of-state containers from being brought into New York to claim the deposit.", said Erin Duggan a spokewoman for Governor Paterson. She added, "The Governors Staff has been meeting with distributors and the industry once they realized the magnitude of the provision and closely examining the implications of this new law."

The new law goes into effect June 1st. Clearly cans and bottles will not be ready for the fast paced summer season.

Blowing in the wind

For anyone that has stopped by to read this blog you will see that we do not post very regularly. Frankly, we post when there is news that most do not report on. At the risk of sounding repeative viva-ve a prior post "Which Way is the Wind Blowin" we felt it was important to report on a press conference that took place in Poughkeepsie on Wednesday, October 15.

A startup company AeroCity, LLC has introduced a wind power turbine for urban rooftops. The first Aerotecture wind turbine sits a top of a commercial structure in the City of Poughkeepsie and can be seen but not heard at 322 Mill Street. The beauty of the urban wind turbine is the size and the punch that it delivers in terms of kilowatts per hour for wind power generation. "The concept is that these wind turbines are small enough to be brought up in a elevator and be assembled on a roof without the need for a building permit," said Bill Jacoby, AeroCity LLC's President. The basic Aerotecture wind turbine has a rated capacity of 1.5 kilowatts per hour. What makes this product unique is that multiple units can be linked together providing even more power. Jacoby also added that while the unit atop its first building is vertical, it can also be fitted horizontally on tall buildings in cities like New York and Chicago or on bridges.

AeroCity, LLC is a participant in the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation's [HVCFI] Cleantech Acceleration Program [CAP]. HVCFI, a Lake Katrine based High Tech Incubator with a satellite office in Sullivan County, produced the event for AeroCity, LLC.

On hand to help unveal the wind turbine was Congressman John Hall and Assemblyman Joel Miller who both represent the City of Poughkeepsie. Assemblyman Kevin Cahill who represents most of Ulster County and who Chairs the Assembly Energy Committee spoke about green/clean energy highlighting the AeroCity accomplishments. An accomplished business owner and candidate for Ulster County Executive Len Bernardo was in attendence.

Les Neumann, HVFCI's Executive Director who first described the CAP program and the Incubator introduced Bill Jacoby. Later in the program Sarah Osgood, from NYSERDA, along with Assemblyman Cahill announced that AeroCity had been awarded a $1 million grant which will help fund further development and manufacturing of the product to be built in Ulster County. Demonstration model orders will be fulfilled by December 15th 2008.

For further information about AeroCity, LLC check out their web site at: http://www.aerocityinc.com or by calling Jacoby at: 518-697-0633.

Keep Belleayre Open!

2008 has been a whirl-wind year for the Belleayre Ski Center located in Highmount, NY. Belleayre is one of three state owned ski resorts here in New York, under the assipices of the Department of Environmental Conversation [DEC]. The other two resorts are located in the Adirondack mountains; Gore Mountain and Whiteface Mountain. Each of the three mountain resorts are unique unto themselves.

Belleayre, affectionately known as "New York's Winter Snow Park", has constantly come under fire by opposition groups since 1984. Since that time, a group of local business leaders and residents [both full timers and second homeowners] recognized the economic importance that Belleayre plays to the local economy. Local, in this instance, is defined as the businesses in the surrounding towns as well as Delaware and Ulster Counties. Local groups have been created to help promote Belleayre. They are; The Belleayre Conservatory and Coalition to Save Belleayre. The Belleayre Conservatory was established to provide a venue for summer programs at Belleayre. Most notably they have brought some of the best entertainment to the Catskills. This year alone they featured entertainers such as Ronan Tynan [the Irish Tenor] and Brian Wilson [from the Beach Boys]. The Coalition to Save Belleayre also presents a yearly award, "The Spirit of the Catskills" at the annual Snowball gala held at the Summit Lodge at Belleayre every January.

Opposition forces have resumed their attack on Belleayre this year through politics at the State Level. In March, long time advocate of Belleayre and local State Senator John Bonacic said he opposed proposed cuts by DEC to Belleayre. "Unit Management Plans (UMPs) are exactly that - plans. They are rarely, if ever fully implemented or fully funded in one year. The State has made the decision to be in the ski business. The State has reaffirmed that decision in 1999 and 2000. If we are going to be in the ski business, we ought to do it well. If the DEC is now claiming that we need the money in the budget to fund every element of a UMP, then that means there will be no long term planning for the growth of our parks and recreation system in the Catskills – and that is bad public policy," Bonacic said.

In June, with the help of Senator Jim Seward, who represents neighboring Greene County, home to Hunter and Windham Ski Resorts, offered a Senate bill which was presented to Legislators to create a "blue ribbon commission" that would examine all NY State owned recreational facilities. While "all" meant facilities like Bethpage Golf Course, Saratoga National Golf Course, Jones Beach, the Jones Beach Amphitheater among others, the spirit of the commission was to focus on Belleayre.

Coalition to Save Belleayre Chairman Joe Kelly reacted with increased frustration to the news that legislation forming a blue ribbon commission to study the state's participation in the recreation industry was passed by the New York State Legislature. "This legislation was pushed through by Greene County real estate interests in protectionist efforts to grab an ever greater share of the skier visits to the Catskill Region," said Kelly. "We call on Governor Paterson to veto this legislation and urge all Belleayre Mt. supporters to call and e-mail the governor on this matter." On September 5, Governor Paterson vetoed the legislation. While the bills were overwhelmingly passed by both houses, insiders have indicated that there will not be a vote to override the veto.

Unfortunately, the opposition has not stopped with the veto. Earlier fears announced by Senator Bonacic concerning DEC funding cuts occurred. In particular, this included funds used for the Belleayre Fall Festival which draws over 16,000 visitors to the mountain and for that matter the region over two days in October. Noting that the cancellation of the annual October Festival came in the same week that Governor Patterson vetoed a blue ribbon commission to study the fairness of Belleayre's operation, Kelly said that some people in his organization believe the budget cuts were related to the lobbying Greene County that was done to curtail Belleayre's operation. "We certainly hope that this is not the case. But it makes no sense to cancel one of your biggest money-making events in a single year," said Kelly. "And once you are open and operating, it makes absolutely no sense to only operate part of your capital investment," he added. "I don't know if people in state government are caving to pressure from Greene County to hold Belleayre Mt. back, but we certainly intend to look at that possibility."

While endangered, supporters of Belleayre including that of US Senator Charles Schumer have called upon State DEC leaders to restore funding. Schumer wrote, "Belleayre Mountain Ski Center is bursting with economic benefits for Ulster County and we cannot let it fall to the wayside," Schumer said. "I hope that the DEC will heed the community's call and commit to a full ski season at Belleayre so that we can keep the jobs and revenue generated by the ski mountain." Meanwhile, a local tourist attraction, the Delaware and Ulster Railroad whose yard and headquarters are located just "down the road" in Arkville offered its property for the Fall Festival. Organizers, opted to hold the event [October 11 and 12] rather than canceling it.

Belleayre Mountain is willing to work with the other ski areas in the region; Hunter, Platekill and Windham to develop a joint marketing plan. Tony Lanza, Belleayre Mountain's Superintendent has advocated for joint marketing for years. In addition to joint marketing he has proposed a joint or combination "ski ticket". This idea has grown in popularity in other states such as New Hampshire, Colorado and Utah.

The bottom line is that should Belleayre lose funding by DEC it would create a regionally significant blow to the economy which is the last thing the Hudson Valley needs right now.

Ads by Google and our presence

Thank you for visiting our blog. In order to attract readers I have subscribed to Google's Ad-words system. Ad-Word banners are placed at the top of the blog based on the content of blog postings below. Simply put I have no control over what Ad-Word banners are placed here.

I took the summer off and enjoyed the scenic Hudson Valley of New York. My, my we really do have a place that more people need to see and appreciate.

In the coming weeks I will focus the attention of this blog to tourist destinations and development projects as they present themselves. Thank again for visiting and for the emails that you have sent about our absence.

Where are we focused?

Thank you to those of you who have written about our blog.

HV Wag covers issues that span the entire Hudson Valley. In fact, the graphic map attached here does not show the counties of Delaware, Greene and Sullivan but we do cover those areas. Issues that we will seek to include but will not just be limited to are environmental, economic development and politics which you have read thus far.

If you would like to see certain issues covered leave comments here as well.

And again Thank you!

Our Fish in the Hudson

Shad is a fish that has found its home in the Hudson River for decades for spawning its eggs in the spring time. While you wont find HUGE fishing boats in the River like what are featured on the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch you will find quite a few recreational sized fishing boats with fishing poles hanging from all sides throughout the River.

The shad population has been dwindling for at least the last twenty years. The River which once had millions of shad is now so scarce that many restaurants do not even offer the fish or its roe on their menus. The Hudson River Maritime Museum, located in Kingston, no longer offers an exclusive Shad Fest in May either. Fran Dunwell, NY DEC Director of the Hudson River Estuary Program reports that older shad are not in the River as much as they used to be. Additionally, allot less baby shad are being hatched in the Hudson now than what was shown in the past and statistics continue to show the number falling.

This past Thursday Governor David Paterson, D-NY declared that New York will do its best to turn the tide in the hopes of returning the herring to a respectable population again. Paterson will direct the New York DEC to impose stricter controls at water intakes along the Hudson. This includes not only power plants but the water supply systems that span the Hudson as well. Dunwell estimates that more modern intake screens and systems could reduce fish kills by 90 percent.

Additionally, Gov. Paterson called for stricter federal rules to reduce the dieing population with commercial fishermen in the Atlantic. Dunwell said that the State will also add more inspectors to the ocean fishing fleets to see how many shad are being accidentally caught and to insure that they are set free in the ocean.

Finally, the State announced a public-private partnership, setting up a network of monitors to insure that the shad are healthy enough to breed. These seven monitoring stations along the Hudson will be located at; Castle Point on the NJ side of the River, the George Washington Bridge, Piermont Pier, Norrie Point, Tivoli Bays [North and South], and Schodak Island. The sensors will provide readings on river temperature, oxygen levels, salinity, weather, tidal changes, and various types of pollution. For more information on the monitoring system check out: http://www.hrecos.org

Which way is the wind blowin?

Sullivan County is quickly becoming the technology hub for New York State's wind generation. But it didn't just start this year. Back in 2005 Sullivan County conducted a study, through its Division of Planning, to determine if the wind currents were worthy of further development. This study essentially demonstrated the potential for wind energy in Sullivan County for three categories of wind generation; small wind, onsite generation and utility scale generation. It also provided preliminary data on the potential economic benefits the County could gain from the introduction of wind energy to the area.

Sullivan County even has a Commission monitoring and fostering the grow of this industry, The Sullivan County Energy Conversation & Generation Commission. Legislature Vice Chairman Ron Hiatt, who chairs the commission, said, "This is an exciting and viable tax alternative. We look forward to generating revenue by generating and conserving power in an earth-friendly manner, per our Charter. Ultimately, it will be a benefit available to government, schools, businesses and homes. We mean business.” A public meeting will be held on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 7pm in the Hearing Room of the County Legislature in Monticello. The topic for this meeting is scheduled to be Energy Alternatives, and will deal with topics such as co-generation, landfill gasification, and other subjects in the field of sustainable energy development that have not been covered by previous meetings.

Last week, the Sullivan County Legislature also approved a lease between Sullivan County Community College and wind power manufacturer Environmental Technologies. Environmental Technologies is slated to build a 111 foot wind turbine on the grounds of the campus. They will pay rent and provide wind power to the College. The College will also use the turbine as part of their new wind energy curriculum.

Another company quite interested in the wind pockets of Sullivan County is Empire State Wind Development. Empire is funded in part by Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex.

Officials bring home the bacon

If you follow the state capital scene, you know that this time of year is typically "bring home the bacon" time. Our State Assemblymen and Senators announce what member items they were able to secure shortly after the budget deal is announced. Member item funding are grants issued to organizations and municipalities with dollar amounts as low as $5,000 to as high as $300,000 or more. A few years ago when the budget ran late, well into the summer, then Governor George Pataki announced that there would be no member items in the agreed upon budget. Newspapers covering the larger populous like Buffalo, Albany, and Long Island often publish, in detail, what their elected officials where able to muster. The City of Albany even publishes how CBG [community block grant] federal money is spent.

Yet in the Hudson Valley, our elected officials seem to parse out the bacon slowly. Opting rather for targeted press releases later in the year. Some member items never get published. The organization just gets the money, quietly because it may ruffle the feathers of others. I think that FULL disclosure of member items is a must within 60 days of budget passage.

As of today, not one of our Hudson Valley delegation has published on their web site any member item money. Is it truly possible that the scenic hudson valley was left out of the member item pie this year?