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The other day, the JN reported the efforts of a family
to establish bull-riding in Patterson, NY. Today, an
eloquent letter to the editor appeared from Alan Teck.
I have appended the letter and my comment to the
letter. If you live in Putnam County and
equally share my dismay and disgust that such an event
is even being contemplated by one individual in Putnam
County, you can lend your voice at the Town of
Patterson meeting, Thursday, May 1st, Town Hall, Front
St. (at the end of Rte 311, thru the town, right before
the train tracks and to the left) at 7:30PM. I will
send a confirming e-mail to apprise you of any meeting
changes.
Sincerely,
Ann
Let's show our solidarity with those who cannot speak
for themselves.
Bull-riding shows involve cruelty
• April 25, 2008
I read with great sadness (Tuesday story) that a family
in Patterson is requesting approval to start a rodeo
where "bulls one day could buck and twist."
Cattle by nature are the most mellow and easy-going of
animals. They do not usually become riled unless a great
deal of pain has been systematically applied to get them
upset. In rodeos, with events like bull-riding, people
see what appear to be vicious, mean and ornery animals.
They rarely know the extreme measures taken to agitate
these animals.
To achieve the fury, people fit the bull with a
"flanking strap." This causes him immense pain, from
which he does everything in his power to gain release.
He doesn't buck because he is naturally wild and
furious, but because an excruciatingly painful strap has
been cinched tightly in the areas of his genitals and
intestines. Sometimes a nail, tack or piece of barbed
wire has been placed under the strap to further
infuriate him. And just before the animal is let out of
the chute, an electric prod, known as the "hot shot" is
applied to his rectum - all to provoke this gentle
animal into dashing madly into the arena to put on an
"exciting" exhibition that is really nothing but the
poor fellow's pain and panic.
I respectfully suggest that the Planning Board of
Patterson consider these facts before they vote to
become part of a process that will inflict more pain in
a world that many find already too painful.
Alan Teck
White Plains
Appended Comment
Why do we have different standards of treatment for
different animals? Why can't we have the standard of
humane treatment for all? Would we permit our dogs and
cats to undergo such torment so that we can get our
jollies? Absolutely not. There are laws and
organizations and thank God public condemnation for such
activity. Fines, imprisonment and even an examination by
a psychiatrist would be the consequence. Yet, here we
have a family, no less, advancing such an activity for
games and profit. We have come a long way in terms of
humane treatment of animals but this goes to show how
much further we have to go.
Great Swamp gets $1 million grant
Article Last Updated: 04/12/2008 04:58:28 AM EDT
The Great Swamp -- a remarkable, 6,000-acre
wetland that lies along the New York-Connecticut
border -- will get a $1 million grant to help
preserve the land that surrounds it.
"That will be very nice," Jim Utter, of Friends
of the Great Swamp, or FrOGS, the advocacy group
set up to protect the wetland, said Thursday.
The money is federal funding given to the
Highland Coalition, a group dedicated to
preserving open space along the Appalachian
Mountain range in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New
York and Connecticut.
The U.S. Congress had voted to send the region
$10 million a year for 10 years. The actual
funding level, so far, has been much lower -- $2
million in 2007 and $1.75 million in 2008.
In the first year, the coalition split the money
four ways, with each state getting $500,000.
For 2008, the coalition instead tried to fund
possible projects based on need and
environmental value. Jon Meade, the coalition's
executive director, said Wednesday the group
decided to give the largest share of the money
to the Great Swamp.
"It's been a priority for a long time," he said.
"It speaks to the degree to which Great Swamp
counts," said Theodore Eisenman, chairman of the
New York Highlands Committee. "It's not just in
New York. It's for the four states."
The swamp is a red maple wetland that runs for
20 miles between Dover, N.Y., and Southeast,
N.Y. It lies on the border between New York and
Connecticut, with the western edge of Sherman
and New Fairfield part of its 63,000-acre
watershed.
Like a swath of bayou country in the Northeast,
the swamp is a horizontal landscape of dense
trees and water -- the east branch of the Croton
River runs through the southern half of the
wetland, while the water from the northern half
feeds into the Ten Mile River, a tributary of
the Housatonic.
It provides great habitat for wildlife, with
about 90 species of birds nesting there and
another 95 species found flying through. The
National Audubon Society has named it an
Important Bird Area. It's also home to a great
variety of plants and animals, including nine
rare species.
It's a beautiful place for paddlers to spend a
few hours in a canoe or kayak.
And the Croton River feeds into the reservoir
system that supplies fresh drinking water to New
York City, making the swamp an important
supplier of potable water. And like all
wetlands, it acts as a giant sponge, absorbing
water and controlling flooding after a heavy
rain.
About 90 percent of the watershed is privately
owned. FrOGS has fought hard, with limited
resources, to control development on the land
and preserve Great Swamp's water quality.
Utter said the money, if and when it arrives,
will be combined with state funds for land
preservation. But he acknowledged that given the
vagaries of congressional and state funding,
nothing is guaranteed.
"This is the only project in the state that's
qualified for Highlands funding," he said.
"We're hoping it goes through. But because money
has been authorized by Congress doesn't mean it
will be released. You get money when you see the
actual check."
February 24, 2008
Good morning all - question: Does
County Executive Bondi read the newspapers? Horses for
Patterson, but not a horse for Tilly Foster. So go
figure.
Sincerely,
Ann
Patterson quarry
owner plans equestrian center nearby
By
Michael Risinit
The Journal News • February 24, 2008
PATTERSON - The owner of a controversial quarry wants to
build an equestrian center on land his company owns next
to the quarry.
The town Planning Board is reviewing the project, which
would sit on 42 acres spreading north from Route 311 and
be mostly surrounded by the quarry, the cemetery behind
Patterson Presbyterian Church and the Patterson Little
League ball fields on Maple Avenue.
The proposed commercial center would stable about 20
horses, taking advantage of Putnam County's growing
horse population. Access would be through a vacant
parcel fronting Route 311.
Victor Scaperotti, 62, who lives on Route 311 next to
the access point, said the project "doesn't really
bother" him. But for Elizabeth Brill, who has spent her
entire life on Maple Avenue, the endeavor isn't
welcomed. She said she doesn't want to "smell the
horses."
"I'm not happy with it. I'm already bothered with the
shaking and blasting from the quarry," Brill, 49, said.
The quarry is owned and operated by White Plains-based
Peckham Industries. For decades, the company has blasted
limestone from the ground and crushed it for various
construction purposes. Through the years, the company
and the town have argued about the quarry's size and the
blasting.
Neighbors and town officials have blamed the work for
damaging residents' foundations and lowering well levels
- contentions the company's president has dismissed.
"This was an opportunity to put some vacant land into a
use that was compatible with our other operations in
Patterson," John Peckham said last week, adding that he
and some of his children ride horses.
Peckham in 2002 had proposed about 42,000 square feet of
office and retail space on the property. That project
never progressed very far, town planner Rich Williams
said.
Current plans call for a barn of almost 7,000 square
feet, a 20,000-square-foot indoor riding ring, two
outdoor rings, and paddock and pasture areas.
The Patterson zoning board granted the project a
special-use permit in October because the property is
zoned primarily for residential use.
"I really can't say when it will be ready. We still have
many approvals pending," Peckham said. "But I'd like to
think that the fall might be a possibility."
When completed, the center could make use of the area's
burgeoning number of horses. Recently released results
from a state horse census show Putnam's population of
equines jumped from 1,100 to 1,800 between 2000 and
2005. Equine operations in southeastern New York also
climbed, from 4,700 to 5,600, in that period.
David Frost, who runs Cascade Farm in town and is an
elder with the Presbyterian Church, said he hadn't heard
anything official about the project.
"I'm into agriculture, horticulture anyway. At least
it's kind of similar. I'm not opposed to it," Frost
said.
The center's parking lot is to be mostly gravel, a
system might be installed to collect and reuse rainwater
running off the buildings' roofs, and manure would be
hauled away in large waste receptacles.
The Planning Board will continue its review at its March
6 meeting, which starts at 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall, and
could schedule a public hearing on the project in April.
Reach Michael Risinit at
mrisinit@lohud.com or 845-228-2274.
February 11, 2008
Patterson wants Army to deliver
on promised money
By
Michael Risinit
The Journal News • February 11, 2008
PATTERSON - The Army Corps of Engineers has told
Patterson officials to forget about a promised $400,000
grant for construction costs related to its new sewage
treatment plant.
Patterson recently finished work on the plant, which
should be up and running by the middle of the month.
The Corps of Engineers maintains it can't
reimburse the town for work already completed and it
wasn't able to sign a contract with Patterson to
disburse the money during the construction because it
didn't have enough to do so. The situation has town
officials asking their congressman for help.
"There is no provision for retroactive payments. The
authorization that Congress passed ... does not allow
for retroactive payments," said Douglas Leite, a Corps
of Engineers project manager who initially worked with
Patterson.
Patterson officials learned in 2001 that the Corps of
Engineers had approved $400,000 for the new plant. Over
the years, Patterson Supervisor Michael Griffin said,
the town kept the agency informed about design changes
and other issues delaying construction. He said the town
pressed the Corps of Engineers for a contract once plans
were completed in 2006 so it could receive the money.
With contractors in place and prices escalating, Griffin
said, he had no choice but to commence construction
toward the end of 2006 - Corps of Engineers' funding or
not.
Now, he said, he's astounded that the federal agency is
reneging on its promise. That move leaves him searching
for other grants or borrowing the missing funds.
"To me, the whole thing's outrageous that they won't
hold up their end of the bargain," Griffin said.
Rifat Salim, who is currently handling the project for
the Corps of Engineers, contacted the town last month
about executing the funding agreement but was told all
the work was done.
"We could not execute an agreement (earlier) because
funds were not available. At the same time, it's not our
fault either," said Salim, adding the Corps of Engineers
had $100,000 available last year for the entire program
under which Patterson was awarded money.
The town has since written to Rep. John Hall, D-Dover
Plains, about the situation. A Hall spokeswoman said he
was looking to see if other funding was available.
"Unfortunately, this is another example of how the
previous Congress failed to deliver. While the Patterson
project was certified and the town of Patterson and the
Army Corps were both prepared to move forward, previous
Congresses never provided sufficient funds for it, and
the original source of funding is now no longer an
option," spokeswoman Meaghan Smith said.
Reach Michael Risinit at
mrisinit@lohud.com or 845-228-2274.
January 4, 2008
Patterson Moving to
Ridgefield?
Hi all - just sharing my post on
Lohud/forum attached to the Risinit article of yesterday
- Patterson Crossing Plans Move Ahead. Not my usual
style but the posters made me do it.
Sincerely,
Ann
Well not so fast but what is also being considered is
another shopping center diagonally across the street
(Rte 311) from Patterson Crossing called Star Plaza -
35,000 on 4 acres. And come now you shopping junkies,
Camarda still owns 100 acres just west of the Star
Plaza.
Oh boy and you will still be shopping in Danbury,
Jefferson Valley, White Plains, etc. Who wants a gown
from COSTCO? Kohls, Marshalls, Dress Barn not your
style? They're just a little over a mile away and you
can't still find shopping even with your GPS. But
Camarda found you - as they say there is a sucker born
every minute.
January 2, 2008
A New Year's
Resolution - Empathy
A new dawn and it is 2008 and I
hope we all will have a more peaceful New Year than the
last.
Several issues have arisen during the holidays, I felt
needed commenting. I have written a letter to the Editor
which is attached below. Two lake communities are united
- Putnam Lake and Lake Carmel - united by official and
corporate indifference to the impact of projects
targeting their communities, all in the name of progress
or is it profits. A cell tower is needed but is it
needed on the shores of a lake.
Yet these two communities which have so much in common
are divided - divided over the need for and impact of
Patterson Crossing. What is missing? Empathy - the
ability to identify with another. Some Putnam Lake
residents who live several miles away do not empathize
with the plight of Lake Carmel residents, yet they are
bonded by concerns for their lake, their quality of life
and possible health threats to themselves.
And it is not only in this instance. The most egregious
example of the lack of empathy is Carmel. Official and
resident indifference - lack of empathy - have sentenced
a resident and several residents to a year-long hell of
blasting, dirt and noise and the near destruction of an
historic home.
It has been said that what really differentiates us from
other species is our ability to empathize. It is my New
Year's Resolution
Sincerely,
Ann
www.putopenspaces.com
2. Where's concern for other lake residents?
I applaud the residents of Patterson in upholding the
value of stewardship of their town's natural landscape
and quality of life. For the second time in less than
two years, public-spirited Patterson residents have
banded together; first in successfully urging the
adoption of a town ordinance that would restrict the
housing of kennels in residential areas, and now the
instillation of a cell tower possibly imperilling
health, and certainly marring the natural beauty and
landscape of their prized Putnam Lake.
I therefore find it ironic and incomprehensible that
these same Patterson residents would be so lacking in
empathy for the residents of Lake Carmel in Kent who
similarly have a bond to their lake, their quality of
life, and wish to preserve it against the intrusion not
of a cell tower but of a 400,000 square foot mega "Big
Box" retail complex spanning the border between
Patterson and Carmel and impinging on their backyards
-Patterson Crossing.
As one resident said,
"If you're going to pick a site for a cell tower in a
community, the shores of the community would be the last
place you pick." Likewise, if you are going to site a
mega retail complex, the backyards of residents should
be the last place you pick. |
