Mat 28 - June 3, 2015

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Your Award-Winning News Source for the Upper Delaware River Valley Region Since 1975

Vol. 41 No. 22

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MAY 28 - JUNE 6, 2015

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www.riverreporter.com

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$1.50

Court overturns Cochecton voter ruling Co-op owners had right to vote By FRITZ MAYER

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LBANY, NY — The New York State Appellate Court has overturned a Supreme Court order and handed a victory to a group of second homeowners in Lake Huntington, saying that they did have a right to vote in the election in November 2013. The election resulted in a win for councilperson Ed Grund, who won the ballot by eight votes. Sixteen votes from the second homeowners were unopened because of the earlier ruling. Those votes will likely now be counted, and the result could mean that Dr. Paul Salzburg, who ran against Grund, will become the new councilperson. In its opinion and order, handed down on May 21, the court wrote that the fact that the homes in the co-op were closed during the winter did not make them ineligible to serve as residences as related to voting. The court wrote, “While the water supply is shut off until the resumption of operations the following year, the homes remain accessible year-round. All of the Lake Huntington voters own or occupy another residence outside of Sullivan County, yet they each return to their Lake Huntington homes every year for extended stays from the spring through the fall.” Gary Maas, supervisor of the Town of Cochecton, who challenged the voters, said he was disappointed in the opinion, and he specifically questioned how a property without year-round water could be considered a fixed, permanent address. In explaining why the co-op owners should be allowed to vote, the court further wrote, “Each pays his or her propor-

tionate share of local property and school taxes, as well as water and sewer fees. While none of the Lake Huntington voters has ever obtained employment within the town, enrolled children in the town’s schools or utilized their Lake Huntington address on his or her driver’s license, vehicle registrations or tax returns, and all were previously registered to vote outside of Sullivan County, the evidence presented at the hearing makes clear that ‘their ties to [the town] were not a sham for voting purposes, but genuine, longterm contacts created out of a true desire to become part of the [Lake Huntington] community.’” In the initial trial in December 2013, Judge Stephan Schick said to the lawyer representing the co-op owners that he was concerned that they were “manipulating the system.” He said, “I’m concerned that this argument gives them more rights than other citizens have.” In this case, at least one of the voters in question had decided to change his voting residence from his home outside of the area to the co-op in Cochecton because he wanted to vote for the candidate who would oppose hydraulic fracturing. But the appellate court wrote, “The fact that one’s position on a specific political issue may serve as a motivating factor to register to vote in a place where he or she has established a bona fide residence does not render such residence a ‘sham.’” Further, the court wrote, “On these facts, and absent an indication in the record that any of the Lake Huntington voters have attempted to ‘create an address solely for the purpose of circumventing Continued on page 3

CURRENTS: NACL

FOOD: Get your licks in

Celebrates 15

DIY ice cream

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TRR photo by Jonathan Fox

Mysteryland welcome back anytime

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ETHEL WOODS, NY — As far as the supervisor of the Town of Bethel is concerned, the Mysteryland Music Festival and its fans are welcome back to Bethel every year. Dan Sturm said the number of people camping at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts facility had increased this year over last, and this was confirmed by a spokesperson from Mysteryland who said that camping sold out at 10,000 campers, up 35% over last year. Betty Kang, director of public relations for Mysteryland USA wrote, “Overall attendance for the weekend

was 50,000.” Business in Bethel and the surrounding county were positively affected. Sturm said any business along the Route 17B corridor felt the positive impact over the Memorial Day Weekend, and the boost in spending spread to such places as Floyd and Bobo’s Bakery and Snack Palace in Liberty. There were fewer complaints about noise than last year. Sturm said last year he received 12 written complaints about the noise at the event; this year that number was down to three. For more on Mysteryland turn to pages 7 and 20.

SPANNING 2 STATES, 4 COUNTIES, AND A RIVER THAT UNITES US

The River Reporter


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