TOWN BOARD
STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTRY OF FRANKLIN
TOWN OF ALTAMONT
The following resolution, introduced by Councilman Greg LaFrance and seconded by Councilwoman Beth Bierwirth was considered at a Special Meeting of the Town of Altamont Town Board conducted in the Courtroom of the Town of Altamont on the 21st day of May, 2001.
PRESENT:
DEAN D. LEFEVBRE, Supervisor
BETTH BIERWORTH, Councilwoman
RICKY DATTOLA, Councilman
GREG LA FRANCE, Councilman
AMBROSE MARQUIS, Councilman
All voting affirmatively with no abstentions:
BE IT RESOLVED, by the Town Board of the Town of Altamont, Franklin County, New York (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “Town”) by the favorable vote of all of the members of the Town Board, as follows:
WHEREAS, on the thirtieth day of March, 2001 the Town did receive by Certified Mail, return receipt requested the March 28, 2001 letter of Stuart A. Buchanan, Regional Director of Region 5 of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation;
WHEREAS, said letter gave notice to the Town that the Department of Environmental Conservation (the “Department” or “DEC”) had been approached by agents of the Oval Wood Dish Corporation Liquidating Trust, (“OWD”) to purchase certain lands identified therein owned by OWD and that DEC desired to buy those lands; and
WHEREAS, the Department requested response within 90 days of receipt of said letter if the Town resolves to oppose the acquisition, and
WHEREAS, the Town has more fully acquainted itself with the matter, having had a Special Meeting at which representative(s) of DEC, OWD and the public were invited to attend to express their respective intentions and positions, and
WHEREAS, the Town has concluded as a result of its investigation that the proposed acquisition involves lands landlocked by private lands and to which public access would be possible otherwise only by way of water or through large marshes and wetlands, and
WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition involves lands totally bisected by a 400-foot wide parcel of land owned by John McCormick, comprising the private and posted access road to the McCormick Follensby Pond Camp and other associated private holdings controlled by McCormick, and
WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition if approved and consummated would invite trespass over and across the lands of shore owners located on Big Simond Pond and also across McCormick, as aforesaid, and
WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition now and for more than the past fifty years has provided a source of timber for local woodsmen for supply to local mills and consumers of firewood, alike, which has in turn supported the economy of the Town, and
WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition, if approved and consummated would block access to the adjacent lands of Read and Strange Park at its northernmost border with the property proposed to be acquired, jeopardizing the harvest of timber products on that land also, and
WHEREAS, no special or unique nor threatened or endangered plants, wildlife or ecosystems exist on the proposed acquisition according to DEC’s own analysis, and
WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition if approved and consummated would also result in the displacement of more than forty hunting camp lease members of the two local hunting and fishing club lease holders known as “Spring Hill” and “Big Simond”, with the attendant negative economic impact the loss of these outdoorsmen and women and their guest would have upon the Town, and
WHEREAS, the proposed acquisition would have further negative effects on the price and valuation of open forest lands not only within the Town, but regionally within the Adirondack Park, which negative effects has already placed an undue burden on timber companies in the retention of open space timber lands and has threatened their continued existence within the Adirondack Park, and
WHEREAS, the State of New York already owns too much land otherwise capable of economic use to supply forest products and for open space recreational uses such as biking, snowmobiling, 4-wheeling and other motorized uses which such open space recreational uses represent a beneficial economic use which would become severely restricted or prohibited all together whenever the state acquires such lands,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY
RESOLVED, that the Town does hereby oppose the subject acquisition and directs that a certified copy of this RESOLUTION be provided to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director immediately upon entry into the minutes of the records of the Town.
Dated: May 31 ,2001
Dean D. Lefebvre, Supervisor
Town of Altamont
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