New Beacon School Chief on His Way Cell Tower Proposed Off Route 9
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[FREE] Serving Philipstown and Beacon Softball Sisters Page 19 JUNE 23, 2017 161 MAIN ST., COLD SPRING, N.Y. | highlandscurrent.com New Beacon School Chief on His Way A Q&A with the 10th He next moved to Charlot- tesville, Virginia, where he superintendent in was an elementary school as many years principal while pursuing advanced degrees in educa- tion administration at the By Jeff Simms University of Virginia. Lan- atthew Landahl, dahl and his family moved hired in January to Ithaca in 2013 when he Mas superintendent was hired as the district’s of the Beacon City School chief elementary schools of- District, will assume the job ficer. In 2014 he became its on July 1. He succeeds Ann chief academic officer. Marie Quartironi, who has Following Walkley’s res- Matthew Landahl been acting as interim su- ignation, the Beacon school File photo by J. Simms perintendent since the con- board hired a search firm, tentious resignation of Bar- which created focus groups bara Walkley in January 2016. Quartironi to compile a “leadership profile” of what will return to her job as the district’s fi- the district and community were looking The Clearwater Festival on June 17 and 18 showcased many roving jugglers, including nance chief. for. Landahl beat out nearly 50 other ap- Allison McDermott. For more festival photos, see Page 15. Photo by Ross Corsair Most recently a deputy superintendent plicants. He spoke with The Current a few for the Ithaca City School District, Lan- days before he was set to move to Beacon. dahl will become the district’s 10th super- His comments have been edited for brevity. Cell Tower Proposed Off Route 9 intendent, including interims, in as many What have you been up to since Neighbors express concern Weather permitting, the four-hour test years. He will earn $190,000 annually. January? was scheduled for 8 a.m. at 2700 Route 9, located behind the Magazzino art space. Landahl, whose mother was an elemen- I have been to Beacon several times for By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong tary school teacher in Chicago, earned a school visits and to spend time with prin- Under Philipstown’s zoning code, cell tow- history degree from Grinnell College be- cipals and staff members. I’ve also been proposal to construct a 180-foot ers require a permit from the ZBA. fore teaching fourth and fifth grade in there to participate in some of the admin- cell phone tower on a hillside on Chairman Robert Dee noted such re- Baltimore as part of Teach for America. istrative hires, (Continued on Page 6) A Route 9 near Route 301 drew con- views take months. cerned neighbors to a Philipstown Zoning Homeland Towers, the firm that brought Board of Appeals on June 12 and led the the proposal to the ZBA, in 2014 proposed a board to schedule a balloon test for June tower for a site about a third of a mile away 23 to gauge the visual effect of a tower on at the Philipstown recycling center on Lane the landscape. Gate Road. After (Continued on Page 2) Sewer Dispute Leads to Lawsuit Residents want villages to own and maintain the line. They also want local agencies to change any refer- to take over pipe ences to the pipe from “private” to “public.” The villages have both asked the court By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong to dismiss the case, which Nelsonville he village that largely lacks sewers calls “frivolous.” is being sued because of one. Although Cold Spring has a sewer sys- The Village of Nelsonville is fight- tem, including a treatment plant large T enough to serve its neighbor, most Nelson- ing a lawsuit brought by six residents who demand ville residents rely on private septic sys- that it and Cold Spring tems. The Pearl Street line is an exception: take over a sewer line in- Six inches wide, it runs down Pearl, turns stalled under Pearl Street onto Pine and connects to the Cold Spring decades ago. Exactly how sewer system at Parsonage just inside the many decades ago is at village line. issue. So is whether there Not all Pearl Street residents are parties Catherine Parr, valedictorian of the Haldane Class of 2017, are one or two lines. to the suit. The six who are — Gary and Pa- received a congratulatory hand slap as the seniors made The residents sued Nel- mela Gunther, Eileen and William Kearns, their traditional march through the elementary school on sonville and Cold Spring in and Stephen Van Der Merwe and Carla June 16. (Photo by Maggie Benmour) The next day, Teresa Figueiras October in Putnam County Goldberg Van Der Merwe — allege that: greeted a well-wisher at the Haldane graduation. (Photo by Anita Supreme Court, asking a • The sewer line runs beneath a street Peltonen) For lists of local grads, see Pages 10 and 11. judge to force the villages that Nelsonville (Continued on Page 2) 2 JUNE 23, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com Cell Tower Proposed Off Route 9 (from Page 1) neighbors and others objected, the Town Board took no action. (The voluminous at- Philipstown Area Towers tachments to the ZBA agenda included a North Highlands: 3315 Albany Post Road January 2015 letter from Vincent Xavier of Homeland Towers to Supervisor Richard Cold Spring: Grey Rock Road Shea: “We will take the lack of response Cold Spring: Fahnestock from you as being one of non-interest.”) Travis Corners: 1924 Route 9 Robert Gaudioso, an attorney for the West Point: Goethals Trail new project, said the tower would primar- West Point: 700 Mills Road ily be for Verizon but could serve three Cold Spring: Vineyard Road (proposed) additional wireless companies, as well as Nelsonville: 15 Rockledge Road Putnam County emergency services and (proposed) other first responders. Based on photos submitted by Home- land Towers, the top of the tower would place the tower much farther from a A photograph from a consultant's report shows where the top of the tower would be project above the tree line on the slope neighboring home than it would actually visible above the treeline at the intersection of routes 9 and 301. above Vineyard Road. That prompted be. The tower representatives agreed to ZBA Member Vincent Cestone to say he’d consult town engineer Ron Gainer. no suitable habitat for this species was of the tower interfering with bird migra- like to see plan for “visual abatement” and The wooded site, once part of the Cyber- found within or near the project area.” At tion. He mentioned a hawk that lived near hear whether other technologies besides a chron property, is zoned office-commer- the same time, the study found the tower his house for years until someone erected tower could eliminate dead spots. cial and owned by Christopher Fadden of “may affect, but is not likely to adversely a fence that snared and killed it. “This Dee sounded skeptical of the need. CF Diversified Corp., who would lease the affect” an endangered Indiana bat and the is what goes on,” with seemingly routine “How can you prove to me there’s a lack land to Homeland Towers. threatened northern long-eared bat. Fish changes, he said. “We have to be careful to of coverage?” he asked, noting there is an- Two residents of nearby Round Hill and Wildlife cautioned that if circum- protect our environment and very careful other tower within half a mile. Road, Cali and Roger Gorevic, expressed stances warranted, it would reconsider its about what’s a priority.” Gaudioso said planners did not rely on concern for the wildlife and environment if acceptance. Dee said the ZBA would continue its de- consumer complaints about dead spots the tower is installed. Cali Gorevic said that Roger Gorevic also raised the possibility liberations at its July 10 meeting. but instead use a standard industry calcu- cell towers have been linked to forest fires. lation to determine the number of towers Roger Gorevic said he and others “are (from Page 1) needed in a given area. worried about the endangered species. Sewer Dispute Leads to Lawsuit In May, Xavier of Homeland Towers said We’re worried about turtles.” owns and maintains. The villages regard this as a pipe dream. in a letter to the ZBA that two towers in Homeland Towers was prepared for that • Cold Spring receives an unspecified tax Instead, they point to a 1956 agreement the vicinity carry Verizon but, because of objection. A study conducted for the FCC benefit from the line. between Nelsonville and Edward and the terrain, cannot provide wider coverage. and reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wild- • Both villages require homeowners to Marguerite Bodge allowing the couple to Dee noted that the lengthy application life Service found the tower would have pay for permits to connect to the line. lay a private pipe down Pearl and Pine to submitted by Homeland Towers appeared no effect on the threatened bog turtle “as • The villages both “on occasion” maintain connect with the Cold Spring sewer. (The and repair the line, as happened after a agreement described the pipe-laying as sinkhole formed in 2015 when it broke. necessary because of “an emergency situa- COLD SPRING The residents argue that the case in- tion” with sewage on the Bodge property.) Off ered at $168,500 volves a case of mistaken identity. They The villages say this is clearly the pipe assert that a homeowner installed the in question, and that the 1956 agreement pipe in the 1930s, and that nearby proper- “unequivocally states” that the residents ties tapped into it.