Southern Ulster Times Dec. 16 2015

TIMES SOUTHERN Haab staying in Highland ULSTER Vol. 12, No 50 3 DECEMBER 16, 2015 3 ONE DOLLAR Huskies topple Millbrook Page 44 SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL Global warming? With winter weather nowhere to be found, golf courses remain open through mid-December School board extends Superintendent’s contract By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] On December 1, the Highland school board approved a three-year extension of Superintendent Deborah Haab’s contract through June 30, 2019. In 2009 Haab’s annual salary was $149,000 and in 2013 the district raised it to $155,500. In the new agreement the district set her salary for the 2015-16 school year at $165,000. Health benefits are in addition to this base figure. Moving forward, the school board will base any salary increases for the 2016-17 through 2018-19 school years on an evaluation of Haab’s performance, according to priority goals that the board will establish each year on July 1st. The contract states that the board will award salary increases of 0% to 4% based upon these annual evaluations. The percentages had previously been 2.25% for exceptional performance, 1% for proficient performance and 0% for needing improvement. The new agreement also increases Haab’s annual longevity payment to $2,000 after 5 years of service and to $5,000 after 10 years of service to the district. This is non-cumulative and is not added to the Continued on page 5 A quartet of golfers hit the Apple Greens Golf Course in Highland on Sunday during a very late fall “heat wave.” By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] Unseasonably warm temperatures in recent weeks have forestalled the closing of many golf courses across the Hudson Valley for the winter. A lack of snow and temperatures in the mid 50s and even touching into the 60s have allowed courses to remain open beyond the normal end of the playing season. Jim Delmar, Club Manager at Apple Greens Golf Course in Highland, said they normally close around Thanksgiving but were planning to close on Dec. 15. They will reopen in March 2016 “if the weather cooperates.” “It seems like every three or four years we’ve been open later…but this is one of our longer years this year,” he said. “We could probably be open another week or so but the owner [Dave Roehrs] always makes the choice to close on the 15th.” Delmar said people have been coming out to play during the week and on WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM weekends, adding that he has seen from 120 to 170 golfers on a good day playing their 27-hole course. He said these attendance figures are not too far off from the summertime when the course averages 200 players a day. Larry Furey, owner of the championship 9-hole New Paltz Golf Course, said business has been very good. “We had a fantastic November and December ourselves, especially after Continued on page 4