Background: On Monday, June 25, the Hurley town board voted to withdraw from the Catskill Scenic Byway project. The project, a collaborative effort between the towns of Hurley, Olive, Shandaken, Middletown and Andes, as well as the villages of Fleischmanns and Margaretville, is seeking to have a stretch of Route 28 designated by federal and state agencies as a scenic byway.
In several other towns involved in the project, local officials have recently expressed reluctance about giving the project a green light to move forward, fearing that it could interfere with town home rule. Proponents and state officials say that apart from some restrictions on road signage -- which already apply within Catskill Park, an area that spans most of the proposed byway region -- a scenic byway designation would have no effect on town home rule.
Earlier this year, Olive resident Glenda McGee, a vocal opponent of the byway project, sent a letter to households in the town of Olive. In it, McGee claims that the byway's adoption would lay the groundwork for massive urbanization of the town, the creation of public housing projects, the confiscation of private property, and the loss of town control over local zoning to New York City.
Letter writer Melinda McKnight was appointed by the Hurley board to represent the town on the Central Catskills Collaborative, the group that is spearheading the scenic byway project. --Ed.
To the editor,
The Town Board of the Town of Hurley voted to withdraw from the scenic byway project based on misinformation purposefully spread - like manure on fields - by John Gill in order to further his own best interest. Mr. Gill erroneously reported that the byway project will bring an end to "home rule." He repeated the irrational arguments of Olive resident Glenda McGee. Ms. McGee stated at a recent byway meeting that "John Gill pledged to obstruct the scenic byway project and that it will never pass" in Hurley.
The truth is that the Scenic Byway Program is part of NYS Department of Transportation and that there is no threat whatsoever to home rule. It certainly seems the Town Board is pleased with the vacant buildings, the Thruway-like signs pointing to Woodstock and the lack of community along the Route 28 corridor or, perhaps, they just don't care what it looks like. The members of the Town Board clearly have no interest in looking out for the best interest of their constituents.
The Hurley Town Board voted three years ago to become a part of the Central Catskills Collaborative. During the last three years, no member of the Town Board attended any meetings of the Collaborative - save for the last meeting attended by the newest town board member who had no firsthand knowledge of the project until this point. The Town of Hurley recently lost out on thousands of dollars of grant funding and the opportunity to beautify the Route 28 corridor - all in direct contradiction to what was stated by both Mr. Gill and Mr. Dittus at the meeting. They also wasted the time, money and effort expended by the volunteers who worked on the project.
The Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the Town Board in 2006, states that it will : "Promote Economic Development in order to ensure and encourage future business development that is in keeping with the character of the respective neighborhoods and the town. Foster commercial development in those few areas already designated for that purpose. Encourage reuse of the vacant light industrial sites." On Monday evening, they in effect decided against economic development along the Route 28 corridor.
This appears to be a pattern for the Hurley Town Board.
Recently, the Town of Hurley's Conservation Advisory Council wrote an Open Space Plan based on the recommendation in the Comprehensive Plan. Instead of hiring an expensive firm, the CAC used the expertise of their own members to draft a professional plan. The volunteers devoted countless hours and resources to writing and editing the plan and held the requisite public meetings. They saved the Town of Hurley thousands of dollars in consultant's fees and what is the thanks they receive? The same obstruction now encountered by the scenic byway project. In fact, under present leadership (if, in fact, we can call it leadership) that plan will never be passed. It seems as though, to volunteer on a committee in the Town of Hurley is to waste one's time.
This behavior represents all that is wrong with this country: that the few shall decide what will happen to the many. That those who will be least affected get to make decisions for those who will be directly affected. It is time to hold our leaders to account and demand the Honesty, Integrity and Truthfulness that we all deserve as their constituents. I will make sure that voters in Hurley are well-informed for the next local election.
Melinda Terpening McKnight
