Dutchess County/Putnam County AT Management Committee
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
Minutes of 170th Meeting
Tuesday, April 29, 2001 7:00 PM East Fishkill Library Cross Conference Room

Attendance: Ron Rosen, Jane Geisler, Jim Haggett, Frank Dogil, Fred Gerty, Salley Decker, Walt Daniels, Gerry Richardson, Pete Senterman, Mike Arthur, [part of the time: Louis Arocho and his father] (12).

0. The following items were circulated in the FYA ("For Your Action") collection: ATC 2002 Trails Skills Workshops brochure (people were encouraged to take one and sign up). Email from NPS indicating that the Fall 2001 Fire Ban is officially lifted (OK to remove any fire danger signs now).

The following items were circulated in the FYI ("For Your Information") collection: Poughkeepsie Journal article on DEC Enforcement activities; Urban and Community forestry council newsletter; NYC DEP Public Access Permit Application [for NYC reservoir and other lands]; YRDC newsletter, Spring 2002; Sale of property on Hosner Mountain Road, 130.51 acres and house, may be Kiyiwana Farm??; Scenic Hudson’s Community Event calendar; Bob Proudman’s letter to our monitor, Mike Puder, concerning bicycle use on the AT; Trails Council minutes from February 14^th and agenda for April 4, 2002; Request for AT info from Ireland; March 11 water testing results [all OK, RPH not tested since Sara couldn’t get the handle to work]; April 18 water testing results [all 4 OK!]; Letter from John Denkowski, AMC/NY-NoJ chapter, indicating Tom McCarthy selected as Trails Chair; NY Parks and Conservation Assn Winter 2002 newsletter; Poughkeepsie Journal article on Schaghticoke AT repair (4/28/02); Times Herald-Record article on Unionville as an AT Trail Town; ATC Mid-Atlantic crew project proposal request (was due on 4/26).

1. The minutes of the 169^th meeting, Tuesday, March 12, were approved as published.

2. Sara Ohliger’s presentation will have to be rescheduled to a later meeting—we received a message that she has just had a death in the family and couldn’t attend this meeting.

3. Other business, updates, etc:

1. Acquisitions and survey update: Since the last meeting, Ron Rosen compiled a new list of parcels we believe were not included in the latest rounds of resurveying being contracted to Hartmann by the NPS and sent the list to Chuck Blauser at the NPS lands office. We have not received a response yet.
2. DOT Project Update: Jim Haggett talked with Lisa Weiss concerning the rebuilding of the steep section of the trail at Miller Hill Road; the DOT’s contractor wanted to wait until conditions became drier; now that we are getting rain it isn’t clear how long that wait will be.
3. Water Testing and Water Project Update: Ron noted that he had just received the results of the April 18 water testing cycle completed by Sara. All four wells tested ok! The forms are in this meeting’s FYI pile. Ron had a phone conversation recently with Pam Underhill concerning the Yegella Farm well and our recommendation that the NPS keep the capped well for possible future use. Pam has decided to accept our recommendation and will exclude the well core and casing from the demolition project being developed for the Yegella farm [spring house, well house foundation, etc. will be removed]. Jim Haggett discussed the RPH well plans—he believes we are now waiting for Michele Miller to take the next step on that job. George Muller is almost certain that the well pit does have a cement bottom, which will need to be removed as part of the upgrading project for that well. The project should also include moving the privy [at least installing a pumpable holding tank].
4. Telephone Line at Dover Oak Tree update: Ron has been in contact with the Verizon people, but so far nothing actually has happening. The next step will be for Verizon to move at least three poles from the roadside to the existing power line ROW.
5. Inoculation Station site update: Walt reported that one of his maintainers in the area observed people with metal detectors at the site. Walt passed the info to Bob Gray at NPS, and it was decided Walt would install some of the AT Boundary markers. Walt has posted them. The ball is in Don’s court on getting a NPS archelogist to decide how much land is significant prior to contacting the neighboring landowners.
6. November meeting date/location: Since the library is not available April 14^th, it was decided we will move the meeting date to November 13^th and hold the meeting at the East Fishkill Library.
7. 2002-2004 Public Lands Corps (YRDC) project plans: The YRDC staff has received word that the NPS has approved the funding for the 2002 Public Lands Corps. Advertising has started for the Americorps positions, although it is not yet clear what their planned start date will be. Since our last meeting, we (and YRDC) received notice from Rita Hennessy that she would need completed proposals for 2003 and 2004 by April 15^th so that she can get them to the PLC grants office by the end of April, presumably to assist the NPS with budget planning. Ron met with Chris Marx and Fred Levine at YRDC on March 27^th to brainstorm project ideas. If not completed this year, the crew can do additional work with No Hunting sign posting and (always!) additional boundary refreshing. YRDC is also interested in ways to use one or two GPS units with the crew, such as mapping cultural resources, structures, and other items found on our Trail Inventory and preparing a first-pass of an expanded version of our Trail Assessment that would include GPS data instead of our present measurement of linear distance along the AT, which is unsatisfactory for off-trail items (and has to be changed as the trail is rerouted). They also suggested GPS measurements of boundary monuments, but we feel this is of limited value. Ron circulated a copy of the marked-up draft of their proposal which was submitted on April 15^th.
8. Mitzvah Day/Great River Sweep results and/or reschedules: Jane Geisler reported that nine people worked until noon in mud and rain at the Hiller Brook/Swamp River site. The volunteers included a group of six from Maplebrook School in Amenia who participated as part of the Scenic Hudson Great River Sweep. Statistics for the morning include 14 hours travel and 20 work hours. Walt’s project on Canopus didn’t happen (the Mitzvah Day participants contacted him that morning and they mutually decided it was too wet to proceed). The group that would have attended is willing to reschedule. Walt will follow up with one of the group’s leaders.
9. Ham antenna on Stormville Mountain: Jim Haggett reported that a Mr. Klatt, who lives at 106 Overhill Road in East Fishkill wants to build a ham antenna on the back of his property that will be about 55’ tall. Neighbors contacted ATC, and the request filtered back to us to determine our level of concern. Ron did a quick analysis using the segment map and creating a viewshed profile sketch. Since we don’t regularly see the houses on either side of Overhill Road from the AT (except perhaps in winter), we concluded that we won’t see it. Jim visited the site this afternoon, and concurs that we will not likely see the antenna. To be safe, Jim will check with the town and review the paperwork before we officially conclude that we have no AT concerns.
10. Eagle Project request—Louis Arocho: Louis and his father dropped in on the meeting to discuss the possibility of an Eagle Scout candidate project on the AT. Gerry Richardson is a friend of the family, and suggested to Louis that he might want to build one or more of our new bulletin boards. We suggested to Louis that he can apply to the NYNJTC for possible grant funding for some of the expenses, and he can probably get donations of other materials as well. Gerry, Mike Arthur, and Louis will meet separately to pick a design and determine the extent of the project for Louis’ project application. Louis plans to complete his project this summer. Ron and Walt will try to find plans for Louis; his Email address is bigloua@frontiernet.net, his father’s is lochlyir@frontiernet.net.
11. Mike Puder’s request re Hemlock Spring campsite: Mike sent an Email to Ron Rosen suggesting that we should discontinue use of the campsite, noting that through hikers can stay at Graymoor, and that the site is subject to misuse including vehicle access to the site. He suggested we could continue to note the availability of the spring. After discussion, we decided that we should keep the Hemlock spring campsite in use for a number of reasons. The road access is now gated at South Mountain Pass with a very sturdy gate to prevent vehicular access. Graymoor is nearly 4 miles away by trail, and some hikers do stay at the campsite. The spring is reliable, although at a very low flow rate. It was noted that the site once had a shelter, which has since been torn down, and does provide camping at the former shelter site as well as a few spots closer to the spring.
12. Gerry Richardson inquired on our plans to support his summer student program to be held at Van Wyck Middle School on July 29^th and August 1^st. Walt Daniels will check on the availability of the NYNJTC exhibit unit and will (pending availability) arrange for it to be used for this program. Ron noted that Sara Ohliger has agreed (in principle) to help staff the booth. The Monday (July 29^th) date overlaps the DPATMC picnic program an hour, so we would probably staff the exhibit from 3PM to about 6PM only on that day. Ron will probably assist with staff from 3-7 PM on August 1^st (Thursday).
13. Salley Decker commented on the maintainer/monitor access to Schaghticoke Mountain.
14. Jane Geisler noted there will be a Cell Tower Siting training program held on May 14^th.

4. Reports

1. Area Supervisors:
1. Jane Geisler noted there has been beaver activity in the Great Swamp area near the trail. Also, there has been ATV activity there that did some damage to the boardwalk. Pat Collella, the maintainer for the boardwalk section, replaced 11 boards in April, and ADK is paying for the lumber. Pat expects more board replacement will be needed within two years.
2. Frank Dogil reported that he has signed up a new monitor, Rich Forman. Ron has not received the paperwork yet.
3. Mike Arthur noted that on April 12 Alyssa Silberstein and five YRDC youth crew members did cleanup work at the Trail crossing of Grape Hollow road. They removed five garbage bags of litter. John Paraskeva, a neighbor of Pete Senterman, has been hired to clear part of a 30-acre site owned by Susan Kamm, to reestablish a view on part of her property. We concluded that there may be areas of concern along the boundary near the Back Court access and the boundary to the northwest of that access road, which may be mis-surveyed. The site is actually in Jim Haggett’s area (and not Mike’s). Mike thanked Gerry Richardson for arranging with the Town of Beekman to replace the road closure rocks that had been removed at the Baker property entrance; they used significantly larger rocks than the one that had been moved. Mike has received a report of a possible timber theft near the trail lands boundary south of Depot Hill road. Gerry Richardson noted a problem off Lookout Pass.
4. Jim Haggett reported there has been some vandalism at the Messerschmidt cabin – someone broke a panel in the garage door, but nothing was amiss. The panel has been patched. Jim visited the Interstate 84 rest area, and has observed no activity on a possible Cell tower installation. Jim had caught a Poughkeepsie Journal mention in the real estate section about a property that had been sold on Miller Hill Road, and thought it might be the Kiyiwana farm that is visible in the foreground from the Hosner Mountain viewpoint to the southwest. However, this may be another property further north on Hosner Mountain Road. Jim has been researching a tombstone that may be on the NPS property at Long Hill Road on the north side of the road. It appears to be in the small patch of land that is actually in Putnam County that is north of the road. While monitoring the NPS lands, he found evidence of deer baiting. It was suggested he call DEC about the problem. Also, he determined that the. Consolidated Edison access road for its powerline on Shenandoah Mountain may be on NPS land. Finally, while monitoring with George Muller, they located and removed five deer stands.
5. Walt Daniels reported he has an Eagle Scout candidate working on a project to install puncheon in the horse pasture off Route 9. The project will use Trex posts and 3" rough-sawn oak timbers being supplied by J&J Log and Lumber, and should be underway in the next three weeks. There are also two old stiles in that field that will be coming out (one is already done). Walt investigate the viewpoint at the end of the blue trail on Canada Hill, and agreed that the viewpoint needs trimming as the trees are filling in. He also has investigated reports of a new house being build near the corridor on Denning Hill; he has concluded the house and its clearing have not violated the corridor, but the house is being build near the AT property line and the trail is not too far from that side of the property. There should be no problem except during winter (leaf-off) conditions. The Mitzvah Day Canopus Hill work did not get done, and still needs doing. Walt will soon make the arrangements for the PortaPotty to be installed at Graymoor.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40PM (almost made it to 9:30!).

Submitted by Walt Daniels with post-processing by Ron Rosen.