PETITION TO DESIGNATE THE DOLSONTOWN CORRIDOR A WILDLIFE PRESERVE

WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD CHAIRMAN RICHARD ORANATI, JOHN RAZZANO, JOHN NEIGER, DANIEL LONG, KENNETH KYLE, JAMES DRISCOLL, BEN DOMBAL; TOWN SUP. DENISE QUINN; SEN. MIKE MARTUCCI, COUNTY EXEC. STEVE NEUHAUS, REP. COLIN SCHMITT, MAYOR JOE DESTEFANO

UPDATES: AS OF JUNE 8TH, 2022:
1. THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ENDS JULY 13TH 2022. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR OPPOSITION AND INDIVIDUAL CONCERNS TO THE WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD VIA:

E-Mail: Planning@townofwawayanda.com
Please put " DGEIS PUBLIC COMMENT" in the subject/description!

Mail:
ATTN PLANNING BOARD
80 RIDGEBURY HILL ROAD

SLATE HILL, NY 10973

2. NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION HAS POWER IN STOPPING THIS. TELL COMMISSIONER BASIL SEGGOS TO PROTECT THIS LAND AND RESCIND ANY PERMITS GRANTED, AS WELL AS INITIATE A STATE PROTECTION OF THIS LAND.

EMAIL: Basil.Seggos@dec.ny.gov

Phone Number: 518-402-8013

*his office responded to my phone call quick, you can leave a message with them if he is out of the office.*


3. OUR PETITION IS CURRENTLY IN THE HANDS OF THE WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD AND WE WILL SUBMIT THE SIGNATURES FROM JUNE 8TH 2022 ONWARD ON JULY 13TH. SO PLEASE SIGN AND PLEASE SHARE, WE'RE STILL GOING AND TIME'S RUNNING SHORT, SO WE NEED TO BE ASSERTIVE.

4. THE CITY OF MIDDLETOWN SENT JACOB TAWIL, THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS, TO DECLARE ON RECORD THEIR OPPOSITION, BUT THEY HAD AGREEMENTS MADE ALREADY WITH THE TOWN OF WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD WHICH WERE ACKNOWLEDGED BUT NOT PUBLICLY DISCUSSED. ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN PUBLICLY CONFIRMED BY THE PLANNING BOARD THAT THE CITY OF MIDDLETOWN IS WILLING TO SELL WATER TO THE PROJECT'S APPLICANTS IF THE PROJECT IS APPROVED.

E-Mail:

mayordestefano@yahoo.com

Please type "Wawayanda DGEIS opposition" in the subject/description

Mail:

ATTN: Mayor Joe Destefano

16 James Street

Middletown, NY 10940


5. SENATOR JAMES SKOUFIS' OFFICE MADE AN APPEARANCE AND THEY ARE WATCHING CLOSELY TO THE PUBLIC'S OPINION BEFORE THEY TAKE A PUBLIC STANCE. HE HAS SOUGHT CORRESPONDENCE WITH US SINCE AND WE ARE PLANNING A MEETING.

Email: skoufis@nysenate.gov

Mail:

ATTN: Senator James Skoufis

47 Grand St

Newburgh, NY 12550


6. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME TO THE PUBLIC HEARING, YOUR VOICES WERE AND STILL ARE EXTREMELY APPRECIATED. IF THEY WEREN'T MOVED DEEPLY BY WHAT YOU ALL HAD TO SAY, WE CAN ALL AGREE THEY ARE SOULLESS PEOPLE.

7.CONTACT YOUR LOCAL, TOWN PLANNING BOARDS, ALDERMAN, LEGISLATORS, SENATORS; MIDDLETOWN, WALLKILL, MINISINK, GOSHEN, ORANGE COUNTY, NY, ASK THEM TO SUBMIT A LETTER OF OPPOSITION TO THE TO TOWN OF WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD AGAINST THE DOLSONTOWN DGEIS PROPOSAL.


*ORIGINAL LETTER: *also updated*

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On December 3rd, 2021 a 67 acre plot of land on Dolsontown Rd rang the bells of suspicion and started an investigation. Our inquires have revealed the sale of 5 parcels COMBINED accumulating to OVER 170 ACRES. We had originally thought the project to be a Marangi Garbage Station and 5 warehouses on one plot.

But the initial 67 acres alone is more like 71 and is being referred to as SIMON BUSINESS PARK, owned by Mid Dolsotown LLC, proposed to become an industrial park made up of two warehouses, one being 54,000 sq ft. and the other being 244,200 sq ft.
The remaining 103 acres is broken up into 4 parcels for 4 more warehouses and a garbage station.
The first being a 125,000 sq ft. warehouse referred to as RDM#3 or Dewpoint South, owned by Dewpoint Development LLC and GDBP 2171 (who we're looking into). It is on the right if you're going toward rt.211, directly behind the Wash Co. facility. Across the road from that is planned for a
32,000 sq.ft warehouse known as RDM#4 or Dewpoint North, owned by Dewpoint North LLC, this parcel is next to an already approved and in process of beginning construction Amazon warehouse.
Next to that, on the left if you're going toward 211 will be RDM#4 or Dolsontown East with two, 402,000 sq ft and a 61,000 sq ft. warehouses owned by Dolsontown Road East LLC. ***THIS PARCEL BORDERS FLUSH AGAINST THE HERITAGE TRAIL ***.
Finally across from that on the right is sited for the infamous Marangi Solid Waste Facility, or DOM-MAR Transfer & Recycling Station, which is owned by Dom Kam LLC, which we know includes Marangi(MAR) and we believe another agency, hence the "DOM." It has an unpublished sq footage but definite plot size of 44.3 acres of land in Orange County Agricultural District #2.

Confirmed, on record, in the applicant's DGEIS which was given to the planning board and the public, it is stated that there is 95040.4 sq ft of state and federally regulated WETLANDS to be destroyed by this project. Most of that being on Marangi's project site, not just the property, and the rest on Dewpoint North and Dewpoint South. The obvious and most crucial part of the wetlands is on the SIMON BUSINESS PARK parcel and on June 16th the NYSDEC (NYS Department of Environmental Conservation) sent a letter saying that these wetlands meet the 12.4 acre threshold to be regulated by NYS, but they are not on the regulatory map, which seems awfully suspicious to us, it is unmapped wetland that the state knows is there and which falls under NYSDEC’s jurisdiction to protect and the NYSDEC is choosing not to. The applicants say that if they put a very small buffer there will be no disturbance to these wetlands, although they are wavering back and forth directly through the land, and this is a point where two sections of meandering streams intersect.

The following numbers don't include the Marangi Garbage Transfer Station due to lack of public information and DGEIS information:

The remaining combination of sites have parking spots, a total of 585. They all have freight truck loading docks, a total of 186. They have truck trailer storage totaling 107 spaces.

This equals 41.6 acres of impervious, impermeable, surface being put on top of this wetlands and special ecological wonderlands. (AGAIN WITHOUT MARANGI's NUMBERS), well over double the amount of land that would allegedly be revegetated.

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Many locals know this area as the “Dolson Avenue side of Schutt Road.”

There are plans for a “solid waste management facility” to be built along with 4 warehouses, totaling nearly 1 million square feet in size which would decimate this land.

Listed below are our primary concerns about this project:

TRAFFIC:
This project will mean 1000+ diesel garbage trucks will be coming in and out of the site every day polluting our air and blocking local traffic.

AIR POLLUTION:
Middletown’s PM2.5 (Particulate Matter) air pollution readings are currently averaging in the 50-100 range daily which is way above the EPA standard for human health and poses a risk to those who are exposed over a 24 hour period. For residents living and working here day in and day out, this leads to long term effects such as lung diseases and various cancers. Middletown’s air quality is already suffering as a result of the CPV power plant that Wawayanda built on its borders, and we cannot allow them to pollute our air any further.

THE HERITAGE TRAIL:
The brand new and unfinished addition to the Heritage Trail runs directly along side this land. Upon completion, the total cost for this extension will amount to approximately 8.4 million dollars. This facility would create air, noise, and odor pollution and deter people from utilizing this wonderful and costly asset. ***THIS PROJECT WILL RUN FLUSH AGAINST THE TRAIL***

PROTECTED WETLANDS:
This land is a State and Federally Regulated Freshwater Wetland, and home to the endangered Indiana Bat and other rare plant and animals species. This site also contains a large portion of the Monhagen Brook, a 303D Impaired Watershed. An impaired watershed is a body of water where an “applicable water quality standard is not being attained.” These bodies of water require restoration plans in order to restore the water. Building a solid waste management facility on this land will further pollute this watershed. The Monhagen Brook not only runs into the Wallkill River, but also into the Hudson River. Thus, whatever pollution happens at this site could potentially run into and pollute these other water sources.

CLIMATE CHANGE:
Wetlands and wild land are vital to the sequestering of CO2 and one of our strongest natural fighters of climate change. We cannot afford this project as a city or a county, but we also cannot afford this project as a planet. Destroying this vital ecosystem would be irresponsible and unethical on a large scale.

ARCHEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This land is of historical and archeological significance because it aligns with the earliest indigenous migratory trails. The house at the end of Caskey Lane is one of the oldest homes in the county and its front door faces the field at the back of Caskey Lane where the old indigenous trail used to be. There are book, records and first hand accounts from the 1800s and early 1900s confirming this and we have presented these findings to the board via our local Minisink Historian.

THE ADVERSE EFFECTS TO MIDDLETOWN:
The City of Middletown was not included in the Town of Wawayanda Planning Board Minutes list of "Involved and Interested Agencies” to be notified of the project, even though Middletown residents will bear the brunt of the health, traffic, and environmental impacts. While this is not Middletown’s land, it is a SHARED BORDER, and the 33,000 residents of the City of Middletown deserve a say in this project as they will be the ones most greatly effected by it.
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Middletown, NY

To: WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD CHAIRMAN RICHARD ORANATI, JOHN RAZZANO, JOHN NEIGER, DANIEL LONG, KENNETH KYLE, JAMES DRISCOLL, BEN DOMBAL; TOWN SUP. DENISE QUINN; SEN. MIKE MARTUCCI, COUNTY EXEC. STEVE NEUHAUS, REP. COLIN SCHMITT, MAYOR JOE DESTEFANO
From: [Your Name]

To: THE TOWN OF WAWAYANDA TOWN SUPERVISOR DENISE QUINN, TOWN OF WAWAYANDA COUNSILPERSON ROSARIO LA SPINA, COUNSILPERSON RICHARD PENALUNA, COUNSILPERSON DAVID COLE, COUNSILPERSON RONALD R MYRUSKI, WAWAYANDA PLANNING BOARD CHAIRMAN RICHARD ORANATI AND OTHER MEMBERS: JOHN RAZZANO, JOHN NEIGER, DANIEL LONG, KENNETH KYLE, JAMES DRISCOLL, AND BEN DOMBAL; SENATOR MIKE MARTUCCI, COUNTY EXECUTIVE STEVE NEUHAUS, NYS REPRESENTATIVE COLIN SCHMITT, ORANGE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE CHAIR KATIE BONELLI, COUNTY LEGISLATOR MICHAEL D PADUCH, COUNTY LEGISLATOR JOEL SIERRA, COUNTY LEGISLATOR JANET SUTHERLAND, COUNTY LEGISLATOR PAUL RUSZKIEWICZ, COUNTY LEGISLATOR STEPHEN BRESCIA, COUNTY LEGISLATOR JAMES D O’DONNELL, MIDDLETOWN MAYOR JOSEPH DESTEFANO, ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD CHAIR ELAINE MCCLUNG, ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD VICE CHAIR MICHAEL SWEETON, ORANGE COUNTY PLANNING BOARD MEMBERS: JOSEPH R. JOY, TIMOTHY E. GOTTLIEB, DAVID NIEMOTKO, CLEVELAND BEST, STUART TURNER, AND ELINOR HART, NYSDEC COMMISSIONER BASIL SEGGOS,

We demand that you protect our land, air, and water and immediately rescind and revoke all permits for the Marangi Dolsontown Corridor Project.

We, as Orange County residents are aware that the people of Middletown already have access to very few untouched and wild spaces and we DO NOT WANT THIS PROJECT AT THE CITY'S DOORSTEP. Not only will 400+ diesel trucks a day block an already very heavily trafficked road, but they will increase Middletown’s air pollution, which is already at levels that are harmful to human health, causing lung diseases and various cancers.

We demand that the new Heritage trail, which is very close to this property, be protected, and not ruined by air, noise, and odor pollution from this project. This new section of the trail cost MILLIONS of dollars, and it would be a crime to ruin it by building a solid waste facility so nearby. Protecting the trail is in the interest of the city and local businesses as it brings in local tourism. Ruining this portion of the trail, and increasing local traffic, would deter people from wanting to use Middletown’s newest asset.

We demand that you also protect the wetland and the rare and endangered species who live there, such as the endangered Indiana Bat. One bat can eat between 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes and other flying pests in just one hour. If bats disappear the insect populations will boom, causing crop failure, economic damage and human illness. Wetlands and wild land are key in sequestering carbon, by drawing it down from the air and into the ground. This natural process is vital to keeping global warming below 1.5 °C and avoiding climate collapse. As of 2020, only 35% of the planet remained wilderness. Re-wilding our land needs to be a PRIORITY to mitigate and reverse climate change. Currently 4% of animals by weight on the ENTIRE PLANET are wild, as we are experiencing a 6th mass extinction caused by human activity. We are currently losing three species an hour, 150 species a day, and between 18,000 and 55,000 species a year. For these reasons, we cannot afford this project as a city, county, or planet. If you aren’t well versed in these topics, and would like to access some easily digestible information, we encourage that you watch the following documentaries on Netflix:
1.David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet
2.Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
3.Kiss The Ground

We also demand you protect and regenerate the Monhagen Brook, which is currently listed as a 303d Impaired Watershed.

We believe it is our responsibility as citizens of Middletown and Orange County to be stewards to the land and all who live in it, and that doesn’t exclude the decision makers. We believe that the value of land needs to shift from HOW MUCH WE CAN EXTRACT FROM IT to HOW MUCH CARBON IT CAN SEQUESTER, the PEACE it can bring, and what BENEFITS the land naturally has for all who live in and around it by just STAYING AS IT IS.

We propose an alternate solution for the Town and County to BUY BACK AND PROTECT this vital land, and preserve it as a Wildlife Sanctuary. Not only is it a vital wetland but it is some of the VERY LAST WILD LAND in and around the city of Middletown.

Destroying this land would be irresponsible and unethical, and would negatively effect the people of Middletown, the Town of Wawayanda, Orange County, and the planet for generations to come.

Do your job and protect your residents and the land over which you govern.

Sincerely,