I’m sure that if that definition is accepted by APA, there will be cheering, but for some, the war won’t be over until every stick of rail has been removed from the Adirondack Park.
The campaign to remove these rails has been well financed by a very determined individual. The railroad does not have the resources to mount the counter-offensive that is needed.
Who is that individual? If you do not wish to post the answer, please write me at:
I plan to write a personal letter to the Gov. on this. For whatever good it may do!
Email sent.
I would like to learn some more about this too, now that the site has finally decided to recognize me again.
PM or email me.
Appears a lot of use were ‘squeezed out’ of the forum by Kalmbach IT - AGAIN. I’d also like to know who wants the Adirondak’s as his private property.
Lee Keet is the co-founder of the Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates (ARTA) and is believed to be the primary source of money for this battle. He’s very wealthy, spends part of each year in the Saranac Lake area, and apparently doesn’t like the sound of air horns or the tourists that it brings to town.
He’s also accused of lining the pockets of a variety of local politicians to get them on board with his plan, getting them to ignore the interests of the small businesses along the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and their other constituencies.
And I really wouldn’t bother writing to the governor about this. He’s on ARTA’s side and is the individual that is currently leading the most corrupt government in the history of New York State. Heck, he even shut down his own Commission to Investigate Public Corruption when it was getting too close for comfort.
He’s on ARTA’s side as long as they keep paying more than the opposition does. And as far as I know, the Adirondack Scenic Railroad lacks a wealthy multi-millionaire willing to outbid the opposition for Cuomo’s support.
Can I quote your entire posting as an example of the reputation he is leaving behind, annonomously, of course.
I do not define myself as a member of the Dem. Party. But I do plan to include the 1955 NYTimes obit of my Dad who workd hard for the Dems.
I will simply state that if the rails are lifted, your evaluation is the one that will prvail in Israel. That I can surely effect, because it is a very very clear case of special intersts vs the common good.
If you don’t want an exact quote, I can paraphrase it.
The area does need rail service. And to define a trail as transportation is a lie. It is recreation, not transportation. There is enough lieing in politics and diplomacy withou this addition.
Sure, you can quote it.
I do wonder if some compromise is possible.
Air-onditioned coaches with sealed windows and a prohibition of discarding anything while passing throiugh the protected area might be one idea.
Special noise midigation for the locomotives and some way to avoid whistle blowing.
Furtherk is there a possiblity of a shipper that woiuld make use of freight service?
I have been in the area and seen their trains, and I don’t think a “quiet Zone” would be practical, as most of the crossings are unprotected or don’t have gates. Sadly, I can’t think of a shipper, in Saranac Lake you can see the remains of old spurs to local industries.
About the only outgoing industry in the Adirondacks is forest products - and I’m not sure there’s enough business there for any significant traffic.
Incoming would chiefly be consumer goods, and then mostly fuel. Again, I suspect there’s no one commodity that would warrant car load service, much less train load.
And I’m sure that shipping hazmat through the forest would encounter enormous opposition.
So I should not mention the possibility of freight service in my letter to the Gov.?
But here is a question: Which group is more likely to leave litter behind or do other damage to the environment: A group of passengers in an air-conditined train withdoors closed and fixed windows (retention johns of course) or the same number walking on a trail?
To which one might add: which group is more likely to damage or vandalize adjacent property, including theft or ‘offenses to the person’?
If I were doing this, I would likely ensure that the Governor make ARTA (or whatever consortium of agencies including snowmobilers ‘administers’ the prospective trail) fully financially responsible for all actions arising out of the trail’s construction, maintenance, operation or promotion. That certainly seems fair to me, considering that the vast majority of New York State taxpayers derive little if any positive benefit from this particular trail segment (an argument that has been, as I recall, repeatedly raised by the anti-railroad side).
I don’t think the cost issues have been made entirely clear to the Governor’s staff, particularly the claim repeatedly asserted by ARTA that ‘the scrap will pay for much of the trail conversion’. I think it should be formalized that ARTA, and perhaps Lee Keet in particular with an enforceable PG, should be wholly responsible for the trail conversion cost above and beyond what they have forecast, and that they should be wholly responsible for negotiating the removal and conversion of railroad material and conveying the full value to the State as part of the trail construction process. That would quickly establish who is lying and who might have other agendas, I think.
I wouldn’t mention freight service at all. Completely aside from the lack of prospective customers, it has all the drawbacks of current passenger operations and few, if any, of the actual advantages. At the anticipated scale, I’d suspect there are few if any actual env
Not Good News… Friday Dec 14
“On Friday, the agency board voted to change its land use master plan to allow, but not require, the removal of rails along part of a 119-mile, state-owned rail line between Utica and Lake Placid.”
The following is from the above linked site by Miningman.
FTL:“…This is a fix that remedies an error, and is good news that is long overdue,” said Lee Keet, treasurer of the Adirondack Rail Trail Advocates, a not-for-profit advocacy group that backs the trail plan.
Keet said the APA move allows the state Environmental Conservation and Transportation departments to resubmit an already-approved plan to remove some tracks for the recreational trail.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said the APA action will allow his agency "to improve and enhance these critical travel corridors to accommodate and support increased recreational use that
Here is the letter, planjed on mailing this afternoon:
דוד לויד בן יעקב יהודה קלפר, ישיבת בית אורות, שמואל בן עדיה1, הר הזיתים, ירושלים 97400
David Lloyd ben Yaacov Yehuda Klepper, Yeshivat Beit Orot, Shmuel ben Adiya 1, Mt. of Olives, Jerusalem 97400, Israel
Email: daveklepper@yahoo.com
10 Tevet 5758, 18 December 2018 > 9 9 I > 18.12.18, י’ טבת, תשע"ט
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo. Governor
Blue pencil - ARTA vs AETA in your last full paragraph.
Otherwise, it looks good.
You might consider some research into the problems the Appalachin Trail is encountering and project them onto this proposed trail as well.
Wonderful letter David, my compliments!
One thing I’d add if I were you is a mention on the acoustical and electrical engineering business you had. Governor Cuomo may have heard of it and it just may trigger a memory of you. Couldn’t hurt.
I do not wish to appear to expect to derive any economic gain thourgh my letter.
It was sent, with the one Dislexic spelling error, and now it is your turn to send letters, possibly also to newspapers, with your own ideas included.
[quote user=“samfp1943”]
Miningman
Not Good News… Friday Dec 14
“On Friday, the agency board voted to change its land use master plan to allow, but not require, the removal of rails along part of a 119-mile, state-owned rail line between Utica and Lake Placid.”
The following is from the above linked site by Miningman.
FTL:“…This is a fix that remedies an error, and is good news that is long overdue,” said Lee Keet, treasurer of the Adirondack Rail Trail Advocates, a not-for-profit advocacy group that backs the trail plan.
Keet said the APA move allows the state Environmental Conservation and Transportation departments to resubmit an already-approved plan