Sad News From Mohegan Lake

Ms. Barbara Wolert, who had strong ties to the Mohegan Lake Fire Department and community passed away,  via the Daily Voice:

BRANT LAKE, N.Y. - Barbara Wolert of Brant Lake, formerly of Mohegan Lake, died March 30. She was 56.
Wolert was born Jan. 31, 1958, in Peekskill, to James and Barbara Ann Murphy. She was a life member of Lake Mohegan Fire Department.
Wolert is survived by her husband, Brian; daughter, Katherine Mary; son, Dave; parents, James and Barbara Murphy; three grandchildren; and brothers, Bob, Ken, Jim, and Tim Murphy.
Calling hours are Wednesday, April 2 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Yorktown Funeral Home. A religious service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 3 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church. Interment to follow at Amawalk Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation.

Mohegan Lake Dunkin' Donuts Robbed This Morning

I noticed the cop cars this morning and wondered what happened.  Read all about it here in the Journal News. 

I Always Feel Like, Somebody's Watchin' Me

Just kidding, I know people are watching me.  Not to many, but there are some surprises.  For example, Westport, CT wins the month with an average visit duration over 17 mins.  Do you know which one of the dots below is Westport? First person to answer correctly in the comment section below wins breakfast for two at JV Hot Bagel II on East Main. Of all the metrics you see, I'd ask that you pay particular attention to the "Avg. Visit Duration" column.

On to New York observers, of me.

So, in summary, things are happening in Mohegan Lake.  Pay attention.

[Cut to the King of Pop]

Amended Lawsuit Against My Zoning Board of Appeals

In its entirety:

AMENDED ARTICLE 78 PETITION

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER

----------------------------------------------------X

In the Matter of the Application of          :

                                                              :

EVAN DANIEL BRAY,                            :

Petitioner,                                               :

                                           :                   AMENDED VERIFIED PETITION

- against -                                               :

                                              :                            Index No. 1049/14

TOWN OF YORKTOWN                        :

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS,           :

-and-                                                      :

TOWN OF YORKTOWN                        :

PLANNING BOARD,                              :

-and-                            :

TOWN OF YORKTOWN                        :

TOWN BOARD,                            :

-and-                              :

FAITH BIBLE CHURCH,                        :

-and-                             :

HUDSON VALLEY TEACHERS            :

FEDERAL CREDIT UNION                   :                                     :

Respondents,                                         :

                                                              :

For a Judgment Pursuant to Article 78  :

of the Civil Practice Law and Rules       :

----------------------------------------------------X

To THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF N

Sad News From MLID

From Ken Belfer:

In case you didn't hear, Ken Hesse passed away at age 31.  He was a former summer employee of the Mohegan Lake Improvement District.  Viewing is Sunday 3/16 at the Joseph J Smith Funeral Home in Mahopac.  Funeral Mass is Monday 3/17 at St. Peter's Church in Danbury.  In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Wounded Warrier Project.  More information attached in the hyperlink below.  Ken

Faith Bible Church Planning Hearing Tomorrow, 3/10/14

We here at SaveMoheganLake.com would like you to know that the subject Yorktown Planning Board application that we've been following will have a public hearing held around 7ish at town hall TOMORROW.  Please don't bother to attend the hearing on 3/10/14.  If you can't watch it on TV when it airs live on the municipal channel, then DVR it.  It's gonna be a short discussion because the application has a glaring defect all of the highfalutin lawyers representing the church and the town missed (oR willfully overlooked). [editor's note: If I were the church, I would sue my design and legal team for sucking at their jobs incompetence.]

Anyhoo, it should be worthy of the space on your DVR and will likely be adjourned to a later date.  Your written and oral support of the opposition to the proposed out-sized development is on the record and to repeat it would be repetitive and redundant and repetitive.   

I'm serving my reply to the Church's attorney's merit-based response to my article 78 petition.  Can you believe that Yorktown failed to serve a timely reply and was refused by the pro se petitioner [bat-shit crazy man off the street who has no law degree but can meet a deadline?].  It was received 4 days late and about $3.50 short.  Your tax dollars at work, people.

In summary, watch the Planning Board meeting tomorrow on TV, from the comfort of your couch.  I'll take this one for the team.

UMass Men's Lacrosse Freshman Nick Mariano Named Rookie of The Week

Mohegan Lake native  Nick Mariano was named rookie of the week for his outstanding performance for Division I UMass Lacrosse.  Great work, Nick.  You make Mohegan Lake proud.  You can read all about it, here on MassLive.

(photo credit of Nick: LoHud)

MLID Meeting Thursday 1/30/13

A Message from Mohegan Lake Improvement District president, hope to see you there:

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you are surviving the cold.  Despite the cold white environs, there is a summer season approaching.  Let's get back to work to make sure we are doing whatever we can as a community to help improve the lake.  We will be meeting this Thursday January 30 at 7:30 P.M. at the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse kitchen at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond.  Among other things, we will be discussing our application to apply Alum to the lake to bind the excessive phosphorous which has been causing our algae blooms, our plan for this season's work, Lake Day 2014, and scheduling a date in February to have the Town Comptroller attend a meeting to answer questions for the Mohegan Lake park districts about Town procurement policies and procedures.  Hope to see you there!    Ken

It's On! (Again)

Today I served an article 78 petition challenging the Zoning Board's final determination.  I named The Town of Yorktown Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning Board, Town Board, Faith Bible Church, and the Hudson Valley Teachers Federal Credit Union.  FBC is on the working session agenda for Monday, January 13th, 2014.  We should get a good indication of when the public hearing will be when they put up the requisite Planning Board Application signage on the all five properties (they only have two up now--so keep an eye out).

It's weird they are still pretending it's an addition, as opposed to a new development.  But this is Yorktown and they retained a great attorney, so it seems like it's anything goes.  By the way, if you live in Yorktown and own a home, it's also a church.  The Zoning Board, for the first time ever, ruled that a "place of religious worship is a residential use."  If you want a church at your house, you can have it.  It's as of right and you don't have to make application to add that use to your house.  Set up a 501(c)(3) and you don't even have to pay taxes anymore on you house/church.  It's a windfall--for us religious types.

So in summary, stayed tuned for many more juicy details, including the petition filed today and all the exhibits.  The Sheriff should be serving the papers to all parties by Monday or Tuesday next week.

Early Christmas on Mohegan Lake

The 2014, Second Annual Mohegan Lake Ice Fishing Derby and Skating Extravaganza is upon us.  I got a few laps in with my father, who is visiting yesterday.  Remember to have some idea what you are doing, take care and use the buddy system.  Weather looks like it won't be safe for the next week, but this--as the subject alludes to--was an early Christmas present. 

Rejoice and make an offering to the gods of cold, cold weather. 

Zoning Board of Appeals Hearing 12/12/2013

It's important to note that the ZBA will likely be taking action on the Faith Bible application this week.  The application has been closed for about 3 months or so, but still no decision after two meetings.  It will be exciting to hear from former building inspector and current ZBA member, William Gregory. 

Expect a quick turnaround approved zoning variances Thursday and a Planning Board meeting on December 23rd (I know, right, shouldn't they postpone that meeting in observance of the Christmas holiday?).

One reason it is believed that the application has been closed for so long with no decision (very rare)  is the applicant's grossly deficient SEQR application; a small sampling of our objections are at the bottom of this link.

Substantive Compliance
Aldrich v. Pattison 107 AD2d 258 (2d Dept 1985)
Where the question is the adequacy or content of the environmental review conducted, rather than whether the right steps were followed, agencies need to substantially comply with both the letter and spirit of the law. Where an agency has made a reasoned decision on a thorough record, the court will not substitute its judgment, but will allow the agency to exercise some discretion. See also Jackson v. UDC 67 NY2d 400 (1986).

Mmmmmm...uncoordinated review: so meaty. It looks like we may be blessed this year to have a long and spirited Christmas Eve-Eve in front of the Planning Board.

Moose Hit on The Taconic In Fahnestock

This site has been dormant for a few months. Glad to be back. Expect lots of news on several subjects--very soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this Journal News piece on the dead moose. Photo courtesy of the NYSDEC: