OK I'm pissed, but why?

Frank Hogg 12/03/01 (DRAFT)
See UPDATE at bottom of page.

Over a year ago Joe Heath and I met with Tom Lynch (20% owner and lawyer) and Peter Harris (60% owner and manager) at Song Mountain. It was a friendly meeting where Joe and I discussed issues that concerned the lake association and the previous owners deeds. I made it a special point to Peter that the well was the overriding issue with the association. I also pointed out that it was too big, bigger than necessary to do the job and that was a problem. I next met Tom and Peter after the public hearing about giving them property tax relief through the IDA. I again made it a very powerful point about the well. I pointed out that if they installed a smaller pump they would have a much smaller NiMo bill and still do the job they needed done. I also pointed out that the well, due to it's huge size, (enough to serve 10,000 homes) was a threat to us and a smaller pump would be better in every way. Both Tom and Peter seemed to be receptive to my thoughts on this matter.

From about the middle of November I have been getting reports about activity at the well. We know all Song's activities, they live in a fishbowl and it is impossible for them to hide their activities from us. I was expecting them to follow the guidelines set out in the agreement so hard fought over with the ZBA and planning board. See below. These agreements required 9 prerequisites BEFORE the well could be used, before any testing or any other use these requirements must first be met. The only work that had been done was a trench to run power to the well and NO other requirements. I put a short note here on the site on Wednesday that it looked like the same old same old and the following day, Thursday the 29^th of November Peter Harris called me late in the afternoon. He was concerned about my comments on the site and wanted to address them. We talked for almost and hour and I again made the argument for a smaller pump, lower NiMo costs, and the other requirements that had to be met before he could use the well. I suggested that he call the well driller the next day (Friday) because he had to put in the other wells to meet the requirements and ask about swapping the huge pump for a smaller one. All during this conversation Peter had the opportunity to tell me his plans.

On Friday I got a call from one of the neighbors that NiMo was at the site installing a pole. I called NiMo and was informed that not only were they putting in the pole but also Peter Harris had demanded they work overtime on Saturday to finish up the job. Peter Harris knew this when he talked to me the previous day and he did NOT tell me his plans. He allowed me to go on and on about other options knowing full well that he was not going to entertain any of them. He deceived me, which is the same as lying as far as I'm concerned. In my view his actions indicate that he intends to operate the well without doing the provisions that would protect the lake and residents from harm. The grounds I have for this conclusion are his other actions where his word is tested. The DEC had demanded Song breech and remove the dams. This IS the only reason for the well in the first place, to provide water no longer provided by the dams. During the summer I had heard about them putting in ponds and 'catch basins' (A clever DEC friendly word for small dams) to provide water. I was happy to hear this as it indicated that they were taking our advise on this matter and using existing water coming down the mountain rather than pumping water up from the valley, a far less expensive approach. However even though they did breech the dams this spring a few weeks ago they rebuilt them without a permit from the DEC and in violation of the DEC's previous order. Also the dams are now bigger than before making them worse than before. If Peter Harris can do that why would anyone believe he would follow the decisions from the ZBA/Planning Board?

I called Supervisor John Steger and advised him that he should put a stop work order on the well. At first he refused. Barb Frier, who had been doing a tremendous amount of work researching what Song has been doing for the last year found out that Song has not ONE permit for any of the work they have been doing, not ONE! This seemed odd. Barb found one permit dated 11/10/99 to remove the lite poles from the now defunct tubing park, but it was not signed. The 'OK LSC' below the signature line is from Doug Staley. Barb called Staley and was informed that he was after Song for 3 months to go in and pay for the permit and get it signed and they would not do it. This violates one of the provisions from the ZBA. Barb also got copies of the ZBA/Planning Board documents and low and behold we find that the Special Use Permit granted by the ZBA expired SIX months ago! Even if it was still in force it was a permit for a different plan from what Song is now doing. Nobody knows what that plan is now because they aren't talking. I again called Steger and he now says that he and Doug Staley will be talking to the town's lawyer about this Monday to see what to do. I pointed out that without a permit of any kind whatsoever any work they did was illegal and a stop work order must be issued. John seemed confused by that and deferred to his lawyer. I argued that my neighbor had a stop work order issued for a garden shed and this well is certainly far bigger than a garden shed. Again John deferred to his lawyer. OK, I said, we'll see what happens Monday.

Barb Frier worked diligently to get the information we needed and she drove her white van to the town hall several times last week, over to my place and others to deliver papers. She was very visible to the town officials and Song Mountain employees. Between 11:30 PM Saturday night and 9:30 AM Sunday morning someone plastered her van with over TWO DOZEN EGGS while it was parked in her driveway! No other cars on the street were touched. This is stupid and shows the type of people we have to deal with in our efforts to protect the lake and our property. This follows other criminal vandalism on Song Lake Road including trashing mailboxes and attempts to destroy two Song Lake signs. We will demand that the Town Board pass a resolution condemning this type of action. For our part we will be keeping an eye out and God help the terrorists when we catch them.

Because of the town boards lack of support for us we have had to deal with this problem ourselves. Make no mistake about it when it comes to our lake and our homes we will always stick together and fight as one. If the town does not protect us in this matter then we will be forced to protect ourselves. We are neutral about Song Mountain's existence. They don't pay any taxes but they do provide a few jobs to some locals. However if the town forces us we will prevent Song Mountain from destroying our lake, our property or our water. If that means they go out of business then you can blame the town. We will not give up everything we have worked for all our lives just to line the pockets of you know who.

Frank Hogg
12/3/01

Link to Documents referred to in this article

Link to pictures on recent Song Mountain activities

UPDATE

12/3/01 11:45 AM

John Beaboin from NiMo called. He is the account manager for Song Mountain. He said that someone had called that saw something on the website and he wanted to clarify that Peter Harris did not make them work overtime on Saturday. They knew that Harris wanted the power hooked up soon and it was NiMo's decision to work overtime and they were not going to charge Harris extra for that. He also said that he told Harris that they would be putting the pole in during the weeks of 11/26/01 thru 12/3/01. This information from NiMo today is in conflict with information I received from lower echelon NiMo employees last Friday. I have no desire to get anyone at NiMo in trouble and I don't want to bother to try to get exactly who said what to who or when. Peter Harris told me that he gave NiMo $100,000.00 last year which is a bit more than I gave them. I suspect any attempts by me to further clarify this will be futile.

It is not a normal situation for NiMo to send workers out on a Saturday unless it is an emergency or some other special circumstance. It's just not good business. In this case the long term weather report called for above 45 degree temperatures every day so it is difficult for me to understand the need to work Saturday rather than the following Monday to install the transformers. Today (Monday) the temperature is 55 degrees, which is a bit high for snowmaking. So why the rush? Why pay overtime to do something on Saturday that could have easily waited until Monday?

Frank Hogg 12/3/01