Hurricane Irene Local Photo Compilation

We’ve taken all the photos we’ve received of Irene in our area and built this one stop post to view them all. If you have more you would like to contribute – please send them in to us at info@libertyindy.com. Make sure to tell us when and where they were taken!

Village of Liberty

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White Sulphur Springs

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Swan Lake

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Frost Valley YMCA

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Livingston Manor

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Monticello / Town of Thompson

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Jeffersonville

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Orange County

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COUNTY MANAGER FANSLAU ISSUES A STORM UPDATE ON THE POST HURRICANE IRENE IMPACTS

County Manager David Fanslau issued the following statement: “Sullivan County is in the process of cleaning up roads and bridges, and assessing damage. There are at least four bridges with potentially serious damage. There are thirteen roads with trees down, and seven with wires involved that County DPW is coordinating with NYSEG crews to address. There are three roads that just need clean-up.

There are twenty-three roads that have water damage, four of which are very serious (CR 19, Claryville; CR 55, Mountaindale; CR 153, Sundown; CR 163, Yankee Lake) , and DPW crews will be concentrating on the most serious today.

The DPW Engineering staff has four crews that are in the field this morning to evaluate damage & to prepare estimates for possible FEMA declaration.

The County’s 911 Emergency telephone system is fully restored and operational. However, we request that residents call 211 for general updates and information, and only utilize 911 for true emergency calls.

The Sullivan County Government Center is fully operational today, and all County offices are open for normal business hours.

NYSEG and Orange & Rockland utilities have crews throughout the County restoring power to those customers that are out of power. There may also be times that power is disrupted intermittently to permit repair to downed wires elsewhere.

Sullivan County officials will be remain in contact with all towns, village and fire departments during the clean up process, to ensure all damage is assessed, and that Sullivan County will be prepared to submit claims for any FEMA or SEMO aid associated with Hurricane Irene.

Finally, I want to thank all of our volunteer emergency responders that left their families over the weekend to assist those in need. And, our Division of Public Works employees responded to the needs during the State of Emergency, and I thank them as well for their professional efforts and attention to our needs.

The Neversink River continues to be under a flood warning, and there are areas that are flooded from the Neversink. Should flooding continue in Sullivan County, residents and visitors are urged to visit the County website, www.co.sullivan.ny.us, for current news and information.”

Hurricane Irene Watch – LIVE COVERAGE

Hurricane Irene is about to dump a ton of rain and tropical storm force winds on our area. I’ll be posting updated maps and projections all night – that is as long as our server remains online. It’s in the New York City area… But – Keep checking back for updates!

We’ve teamed up with the Watershed Post to provide live coverage of Irene! Follow the coverItLive session below for live updates on Irene!

11:50am 8/28/11 More Livingston Manor Flooding Pics

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9:50am 8/28/11 Manor Flooding

Pics from Livingston Manor

9:11am 8/28/11 Tropical Storm Irene

Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm

8:15am 8/28/11 Town of Callicoon Flooding

Town of Callicoon Flooding is occuring and residents should evacuate in flood prone areas.

The Town of Callicoon is advising that flooding is occuring or imminent. Resdients in low lying areas and areas prone to flooding should now evacuate their homes and seek shelter on higher ground. The fire departments ask for your cooperation to evacuate early as fire personnel will not be able to rescue residents once flooding occurs. The Jeffersonville Ambulance Building and Town of Callicoon Highway Depts are open if you need somewhere to go.

8:08am 8/28/11 Flash Flood Statement

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT

…This is an ACTUAL FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT ALERT…

Issued By: Sullivan County Emergency Management
Affected Jurisdictions: Sullivan County

Headline: Flooding is occuring in the Town of Rockland. Residents in low lying areas should evacuate now.

The Livingston Manor and Roscoe Fire Department is advising that flooding is occuring or imminent in the Town of Rockland. Resdients in low lying areas and areas prone to flooding should now evacuate their homes and seek shelter on higher ground. The fire departments ask for your cooperation to evacuate early as fire personnel will not be able to rescue residents once flooding occurs. The Roscoe School, Town Hall and Presbyterian church in Livingston Manor is open if you need a place to go.

Please act early and avoid danger.

7:59am 8/28/11 Winds Video

Winds in Liberty at 7:48

7:39am 8/28/11 Power still on in village

We still have power in the village, but the wind is really roaring in…

9:46 pm 8/27/11 Flash Flood Alert for Livingston Manor Area

The Livingston Manor Fire Department is urging residents in low lying areas and areas prone to flooding to monitor weather and stream conditions overnight as record rainfall amounts are predicted. Residents in areas prone to flooding should strongly consider relocating themselves ahead of rising waters as emergency personnel will not be able to rescue residents once the flooding conditions occur. Again, fire personnel will not be able to rescue residents once flooding occurs.

7:45 pm 8/27/11 Forecast Update

LIBERTY/SUNDAY: Windy, with a north wind between 36 and 39 mph, gusts as high as 60 mph. Rainfall amounts in excess of 4 inches possible. REMINDER – thats a CONSTANT wind at 36+ MPH

6:12 pm 8/27/11 Satellite Image

4:39 pm 8/27/11 Model Forecast

The latest model runs have the center coming right up the coast and just East of the Hudson River Valley and into CT. The center will not be that far from our area. That means that YOU CAN EXPECT HIGH WINDS FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD of time from late tonight into tomorrow afternoon!

4:24 pm 8/27/11

National Weather Service issues high wind warning for our area!!! Especially in higher terrain:

* Hazards… combination of strong winds and saturated ground will result
in downed trees and power lines.

* Winds… early Sunday morning northerly winds will increase to
35 to 40 mph with frequent gusts around 50 mph. The winds will
gradually shift to the northwest and weaken Sunday evening.

* Timing… Sunday through Sunday evening.

* Impacts… these conditions will result in downed trees with widespread
power outages and possibly property damage.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A High Wind Warning is issued when sustained winds of 40 mph are
expected for at least an hour… with frequent gusts of 50 mph or
greater. Damage to trees… power lines… and property are
possible with winds of this magnitude. Be prepared for the
possibility of trees blocking roads and widespread power outages.
At home… you should be prepared to be without power for several
days. Make sure you have adequate supplies of food and medicine.

4:22 pm 8/27/11

Well if you planned on school shopping tomorrow: The Galleria @ Crystal Run in Middletown will be closed on Sunday.

4:19 pm 8/27/11

We have waterproof video cameras and cameras ready to capture noteworthy events tomorrow during the height of the storm.

4:18 pm 8/27/11

If you didn’t know already – there is a state of emergency for Sullivan County:

Sullivan County Manager David P. Fanslau declared a state of emergency in Sullivan County effective 12:01 am, Sunday, August 28, 2011 and to continue through 5:00 pm, Monday, August 29, 2011.  A state of emergency is issued under Article 2B of New York State Executive Law.  The County of Sullivan is communicating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service to discuss the potential track of the storm.

“I have declared the state of emergency in Sullivan County to ensure the safety of the county residents,” said County Manager David P. Fanslau.  “At this time travel is not restricted but I am advising all Sullivan County residents to take precautions if traveling is absolutely necessary.”  Sullivan County’s Emergency Operation Center will be open at Noon on Sunday, August 28, 2011.  Please check the Sullivan County website www.co.sullivan.ny.us for updates and if power is lost please tune into the local radio stations for regular updates. There will also be updated information if at any time local shelters will be opened.

Residents can prepare for this or any other emergency in severe weather:

• Review their household disaster plan.  Know how to contact all family members at all times.  Identify an out-of-town friend or family member to be the “emergency family contact.”  Then make certain all family members have that number.  Designate a family emergency meeting point; some familiar location where the family can meet in the event the home is accessible.
• Have on hand a three day supply of food and water.  One gallon of water per person per day is rule plus water for personal hygiene.  Food on hand should not require refrigeration or heating.
• Prepare an emergency phone list of people and organizations that may need to be called.  Include children’s schools, doctors, child/senior care providers, and insurance agents.
• Ensure that enough non-perishable food and water supplies are on hand.  Make sure battery-operated radios and flashlights are available and have an ample supply of batteries.  Have a first aid kit available and make sure there is an ample supply of medicines on hand for those who require them.
• Pay attention to the news. Know the local radio and television stations that will provide up-to-date official information during an emergency.
• Know the hurricane/storm risks in their areas, and learn the storm surge history and area’s elevation.
• Learn their community’s warning signals and evacuation plans.
• Learn safe routes inland and local sheltering plans.
• Make arrangements on where to relocate pets during a storm because most shelters will not allow pets.
• Store important documents – insurance policies, medical records, bank account numbers, Social Security cards, etc. – in a waterproof container.  Also, have cash (in small bills), checkbook, credit and ATM cards readily available.

One of the best ways that residents can receive emergency information is from NY-ALERT, New York State’s All-hazards Alert and Notification Systems.  To subscribe for this service, visit www.nyalert.gov.  If you do not have access to the Internet, you may still sign up for NY-ALERT by calling 1-888-697-6972” said Fanslau.

For more information about this press release, please contact David Fanslau, County Manager, at 845-807-0450.

New Times for Ferndale Transfer Station

Operating hours have changed because of the new central transfer station in Monticello. Commercial haulers are not allowed at the Ferndale station anymore. Here are the revised hours:

Hours Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday 7:45 AM – 2:45 PM.
No Commercial hauler access. All Commercial haulers are to utilize the new Monticello Transfer Station
Scale closes at 2:30 PM.

For more information call the Ferndale Transfer station at 845-292-3670

2011 Town of Liberty Early Election Poll – Vote Now!

Election day is not for another 4 months but we’re getting started early. Take our 2011 Early Election Poll! We’ve created a few polls for each office that is up for grabs in Liberty this year. If there is any candidate we’ve missed feel free to say so in the comment section below! Also if there is anything you want addressed this election year please feel free to state it in the comment section below.

The candidates so far are (it’s very early, these candidates aren’t 100% official yet since the major parties won’t have their caucus for a while yet): Town Supervisor: Lynn Killian (Ind), Charlie Barbuti (D). Town Councilman: Jeremy Gorelick (D), Dean Farrand (Ind), Tom Hasbrouck (R), and Elliott Schneider. Sullivan County District 6 Legislator: Jodi Goodman (R), Cora Edwards (D).

And here are the actual polls: (Each one is a separate poll so make sure you hit vote on each!)

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Liberty Pride Beautification Project 2011

Liberty’s beautification project is well underway with its next big work day scheduled for Saturday, June 11th.

Anyone interested in participating in planting flowers in the planters along Main Street, helping to weed the roundabouts and other gardens, or just looking to find out more is invited to join us at 10 AM at LaPolt Park. Please remember to bring gloves and any other garden implements that you might have! For more information, please call 292-9797.

Liberty Pride 2011 – Kick-off meeting on Wednesday, March 16

Everybody is invited to join Liberty ALIVE, the Liberty Chamber of Commerce, the CDC and other community groups as we are getting ready to kick off the 2011 Liberty Pride activities with a public meeting on

Wednesday, March 16, at 7:00 PM upstairs in the Volunteer Ambulance Corps building at 178 Mill Street.

The purpose of the meeting is to present & discuss ideas for this year’s beautification projects and activities, specifically in preparation of the application to Sullivan Renaissance for 2011 grants. There will also be sign-up sheets for volunteers to become part of the work activities that will happen throughout the summer.

PR Courtesy of the Liberty Community Development Corporation

NY Schools Budget Crisis Hits Home

New York State is proposing a 1.5 Billion cut in school budgets. The ripple of this proposed cut is already being felt in the Liberty Central School District.

Liberty stands to lose about 1.3 Million dollars in funding. This is a large chunk of the budget and over 20 employees at the Liberty Elementary School have already been notified that they will not have a job after June 11th.

The 1.5 Billion dollar cut is part of Governor Cuomo’s proposed executive budget. The budget proposal will lead to thousands of middle-class layoffs across New York creating more unemployed and shrinking state & local tax revenue even further.

The budget does offer a proposal for rewarding educational performance:

Rewarding Education Performance. New York public schools spend more per student
than any other state – fully 71 percent above the national average – yet New York ranks
40th in graduation rates and 34th in the nation in the percentage of adults who have a
high school diploma or the equivalent. To improve performance and efficiency, Governor
Cuomo has proposed restructuring a portion of State education aid to create incentives
that reward school districts for improving student performance and implementing
management efficiency policies. These include two competitive grants: a $250 million
School District Performance Improvement Award program of grants awarded to school
districts that demonstrate significant improvements in their student performance
outcomes, and a $250 million School District Management Efficiency Award program
that awards funding to school districts that undertake long-term structural changes that
will reduce costs and improve efficiency

New York State United Teachers union (NYSUT) are running a TV campaign against the cuts:

The cuts couldn’t come at a worse time for our educational system. The United States is already dropping in educational levels compared to the world. The AFP reports:

The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

Cuts could be made in other areas of the proposed state budget to at least lessen the blow to our school systems. Bolstering the budgets to our schools is a great idea that returns measurable effects. The AFP also reports:

Boosting US scores for reading, math and science by 25 points over the next 20 years would result in a gain of 41 trillion dollars for the United States economy over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010, the OECD said.

In addition to the cuts Governor Cuomo also presented a superintendent salary cap. The cap would be reflective on the enrollment in the school district. Our State Senator John Bonacic agrees with the proposal:

We need to be realistic about the current state of our economy. Setting a salary cap based on student enrollment makes a lot of sense and is a step in the right direction. It is an ideal, fair plan to cut spending at a time where we need to be frugal. As Governor Cuomo has said, the budget plan will be one that makes difficult choices.

The budget shortfall in Liberty will result in difficult choices. What you can do is support your local teachers and support staff. Call or write letters to our local state representation on how you feel about cuts to our education system, we’ve included the contact information below.

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State Senator John Bonacic:
188 State Street Room 509 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
United States
Phone: (518) 455-3181

US Congressman Maurice Hinchey:
Office of Rep. Hinchey
2431 Rayburn H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6335
Fax: (202) 226-0774

Assemblywoman Aileen M. Gunther:
District Office
18 Anawana Lake Road
Monticello, NY 12701
845-794-5807

WSS Fire Department & Ladies Auxiliary Wins!

 Last night at the 2010 Sullivan Renaissance Beautification Awards the White Sulphur Springs Fire Department & Ladies Auxiliary won third place for their Category B project: the Firemen’s Park playground!!

The group will receive a $5,000 grant  for future improvements to the project as their reward. Category B projects are made up of multiple elements such as park enhancements.

Congratulations!

Myth-busted: Why the WSS argument is Bull.

We’ve been monitoring the comments on a few stories and there always seems to be this strange ‘White Sulphur Springs controls the vote’ mantra. It’s just not true. What does happen is that people don’t pay attention to who they are voting for (just voting party lines), or the only candidates are from White Sulphur. Neither of which are caused by some vast conspiracy by WSS to dominate the world.

Even someone said that “uhg, Sean Hanoffee is from White Sulphur” when the Councilperson-Elect actually lives in the Village of Liberty. Um, White Sulphur people are the same as people from Swan Lake, the same as from Parksville, the same as from Liberty – we are all residents of the Town of Liberty.

It doesn’t matter where the politician is from – but sadly, most have special interest.

So let’s disperse the myth through numbers – we’ll break down the registered voters by Hamlet (& village) and by Party. Then you can decide.

There are 5,946 total voters in the Town of Liberty, out of a population of 9,632 (2000 census).

Let’s start with White Sulphur:

316 Registered Voters
Major Parties:
106 Independent / Blank
107 Democrat
93 Republican

170 Female
146 Male

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Village of Liberty:
3,688 Registered Voters
Major Parties:
1,569 Democrat
1,094 Independent / Blank
887 Republican

2,016 Female
1,672 Male

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Swan Lake:
890 Registered Voters
Major Parties:
410 Democrat
234 Republican
219 Independent / Blank

468 Male
422 Female

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Parksville
574 Registered Voters
Major Parties:
257 Independent / Blank
209 Democrat
181 Republican

295 Male
279 Female

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Ferndale
478 Registered Voters
Major Parties:
171 Democrat
155 Republican
135 Independent / Blank

244 Female
234 Male

So by the numbers: White Sulphur only accounts for 5% of the total vote. While the Village accounts for a whopping 62%.

But heres the real issue – while there is about 6,000 registered voters – only about 2,500 vote in the local elections. Citizens are given the right to vote – it’s your voice – you get to decide who gets elected – but obviously people don’t take this responsibility seriously. AND YET STILL if all of White Sulphur voted for the same candidate they still would only make up 12% of the vote.

There is no ‘White Sulphur Myth’ – Begin discussion.

(And yes we couldn’t use a pic of the Real JAMIE HYNEMAN from Mythbusters)