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Southern Ulster Times , Wednesday , May 2 , 2018
Bonacic will not seek re-election
State Senator John C . Bonacic , whose public service career has spanned four decades , announced last week that he will not seek re-election in November .
“ I have decided that I will not seek re-election to the New York State Senate ,” said Bonacic ( R-C- New Hampton ). “ Next to being called Pat ’ s husband and Melissa and Scott ’ s father and a grandfather to three more , serving in the State Senate has been the honor of my life . The twenty years I have spent in the Senate have been rewarding both personally and professionally , despite the frustrations that all of us experience in any career . Twenty
Bonacic got torn down and rebuilt .”
Brooks said when the planning board was first reviewing the Tremont Hall proposal , he repeatedly challenged the claims from Jackman and his professionals that they were going to reuse a majority of the structure . After the Planning Board approved the project in August 2017 Jackman flipped the property and sold it to Keith Liebolt , who instead of reusing the building , has constructed a new 20-unit residential apartment complex .
Brooks said although he was absent for the final vote on this project , he would have voted yes , “ which was a real turnaround for me and a lot of it had to do with Dave ’ s [ Building Department Director Dave Barton ] discussion of how the original code section was decided upon . One other board member seemed to also be familiar with it and said the intention really was to reuse either the building or the site . ( It ) didn ’ t really make it into the language of the code that well , but I was persuaded eventually that that was the intention .” Board member Fred Pizzuto commented that none of this language made it into the law .
Brooks said about 17 buildings that are now on the adaptive reuse list are not historical but are simply nonconforming buildings that the town has been trying to encourage the property owners , “ to make them better .” He said the Babe ’ s Garage project is the “ poster child for making it better even though it really didn ’ t use any [ of the ] noticeable existing building and its bigger than the other [ original ] building was but its nicer than it was .”
Brooks said the Planning Board had several options concerning Adaptive Reuse , starting with the issuance of a moratorium on development under this section of the code .
“ The County Planning Board is likely to issue a negative view on it because they don ’ t like moratoriums as well as portions of Orange and Ulster , including the Town of Wallkill in Orange , and the Ulster County Towns of Shawangunk and Gardiner . A New York City native , he was raised in Hell ’ s Kitchen , attended Iona College on a basketball scholarship and later graduated from Fordham Law School . Upon graduation from Fordham , Bonacic and his family moved to Orange County where he served as an Assistant District Attorney and on the Town of Mount Hope Planning Board . He later served in the Orange County Legislature ( 1973 - 1989 ), where he was Majority Leader and Chairman . He served in the New York State Assembly from 1990 - 1998 , and was elected to the State Senate in 1998 . Among his major accomplishments , Bonacic cited his efforts to keep Ellenville Hospital open , working to develop the relationship between Catskill Regional and Orange Regional Hospital and working with Gov . Andrew Cuomo to bring casino gaming to the Catskills . He also chaired the Senate Housing Committee , and secured funding for the development of the New York Main Street Program .
“ I end , though , where I started ,” he said . “ At home tonight with my bride of more than 51 years , grateful to the people across Delaware , Greene , Sullivan , Ulster , and of course Orange Counties , for the chance to serve , and looking forward to life ’ s next chapter . Thank you .” years , though , is enough , and I look forward to spending quality time with my bride , Pat , and my children and grandchildren . They have collectively been my rock and my inspiration . Having served in elected office , as a County Legislator , as Chairman of the Orange County Legislature , as an Assemblyman , and now in the Senate for more than four decades , I know that public service is a great privilege . I am a lucky person .”
Bonacic ’ s 42nd district includes all of Sullivan County ,
Lloyd set to scrap adaptive reuse law
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because its like kicking the can down the road . They would rather municipalities deal with the issue instead ,” he said .
The planning board could also amend this section of the code as they have done in a draft version .
Brooks said the third option ,” would be to repeal the existing one and after its repealed we can start thinking about what should the new one be .”
Dave Barton agreed with the Planning Board that the present Adaptive Reuse section in the town code should be “ scrapped completely so we have time to rethink this .” He suggested offering some incentive to owners of distressed properties or to developers , otherwise the buildings are , “ going to sit there and rot into the earth .”
Board member Scott McCarthy advocated for allowing the Planning Board to offer some flexibility to owners who wish to develop their distressed property . “ That ’ s an incentive in itself ,” he said .
Brooks said McCarthy , “ touched a hot button for some people who think that allowing the board flexibility is a terrible idea .” McCarthy responded , “ You have to be creative to a certain point but not yet throw everything out with it , so you do have neighbors and that ’ s where your public meetings come in and people talk about what is going to go there . If its not so invasive and we say they are going to be allowed them to do one thing , we ’ ve got to stick to our guns and make sure that ’ s what they ’ re doing so in the end , like Tremont , we don ’ t have people coming in after the fact saying now they ’ ve ripped the roof off , that ’ s not what we were told they were going to do . So now we ’ ve created the em-battlement among ourselves , that ’ s not what we want to do .”
The planning board indicated that after the Town Board abolishes the current Adaptive Reuse law they will begin developing new code provisions and plans for dealing with the distressed properties on their targeted list .
Police Blotter
Town of Lloyd
Keith E . Wegener , 41 , of Clintondale , was arrested May 1 and charged with felony Driving While Intoxicated , Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 3rd degree , Reckless Driving and numerous vehicle and traffic violations after the vehicle he was operating was involved in a one car motor vehicle accident on Rte . 44 / 55 in Highland . Wegener was also wanted by the Town of Newburgh Police on a warrant for Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 3rd degree . He was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Rizzo and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $ 20,000 cash bail , or $ 40,000 insurance bond . Wegener is due back in Town Court May 3 .
Benjamin T . Cruger , 30 , of Milton , was arrested May 1 and charged with felony Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th degree . He was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Rizzo and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $ 25,000 cash bail or $ 50,000 insurance bond . Cruger is due back in Town Court May 3 .
Michael C . Steinhilber , 36 , of Walden was arrested April 24 and charged with felony Criminal Contempt 1st degree . He is accused of violating a Town of Lloyd Court Order of Protection . Steinhilber was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Rizzo , released and is due back in Town Court June 19 .
Terry R . Johnson , 29 , of Poughkeepsie , was arrested April 27 and charged with False Personation , Obstructing Governmental Administration 2nd degree and Attempted Escape 3rd degree . He was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Elia and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $ 1,000 cash or $ 5,000 insurance bond . He is due back in Town Court May 5 .
Melissa S . Johnson , 35 , of Poughkeepsie , was arrested April 26 on a bench warrant for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th degree and False Personation . She was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Elia and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $ 500 cash bail , or $ 1,500 insurance bond and is due back in Town Court May 3 .
Janette G . Vetter , 30 , of Marlboro , was arrested April 24 on a bench warrant for Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated . She was arraigned before Town of Lloyd Judge Rizzo and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on $ 1,000 cash bail , or $ 5,000 insurance bond and was due back in Town Court April 26 .
Michael S . Schloemer , 51 , of Highland , was arrested April 26 and charged with Disorderly Conduct . He was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Town Court May 17 .
Town of Plattekill
Javier Bazan , 54 , of Plattekill was arrested April 29 on charges of a DWI , a class U-Misdemeanor . Bazan was involved in a motor vehicle accident on Lewis Lane . He failed the field sobriety tests and refused to submit to chemical tests of his blood alcohol level . Bazan was arraigned by Town Justice Murphy and released on his own recognizance .