Man that’s a lot’a water !

Is this true?

Remember the pictures of Song making snow and the caption about 2,000 gallons per minute ?

OK, So lets look at how much 2,000 gallons of water a minute(GPM) really is.

Well, (no pun intended) at 2,000GPM, in one hour (60 min.) you would use 120,000 gallons. In one 8 hour shift, snowmakers would use 960,000 gallons; just under a million gallons. Running the snow guns for 25 hours would use 3,000,000 gallons. That’s 3 million gallons.

Well, how much is 3 million gallons ?

SRBC approval is required for a 30 day average use of 100,000 gallons per day . So they think 100,000 GPD is a lot of water.

So we take 3,000,000 and divide it by 100,000. That equals 30. So in just over one day of snowmaking, Song would have used the number of gallons that triggers SRBC approval if used over an entire month!

Oh yea, and SRBC says that 22% of snowmaking water is ‘consumptively used’. That means evaporated. Wasted.

So we take 3,000,000 and multiply it by .22 (22%) and we get 660,000 gallons wasted in one day. Divide 660,000 by 30 days and we get a monthly average of 22,000 gallons per day wasted. But in only 1 day of actual snowmaking.

Heck, even the amount wasted is more than the 20,000 GPD consumptive use that triggers SRBC approval. Again, it only takes one day to waste as much water as SRBC thinks is too much to waste in a month.

Remember the old Lottery commercial from the 70’s ? ‘Man that’s a lot’a bread !’

Man that’s a lot’a water !

Now, Song has been able to do all this using just run-off water held in 2 ponds. The well is not hooked up yet. And, oh by the way, doesn't using that much run-off water require SRBC approval with or without the well?

Information pdf's.

SKI RESORT WATER USE IN THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION PROJECT REVIEW FEE SCHEDULE

Susquehanna River Basin Commission home page

Why is Peter Harris trying to shut this web site down? Is it the HUGE snow making well?

Look at the list of things (below) that we require to allow Peter Harris's to use our water, and then one can only wonder. So far, he has spent more money on lawyers trying to shut down this web site then it would have cost him to follow the rules. Why? Following the rules would mean that Peter Harris would only be able to use the amount of water the law allows. Not following the rules would allow Peter Harris to use as much water as he wanted, when he wanted, without consideration of anyone else. But is this what Peter Harris wants to do? Let's look at what he has done in the past about following rules, and see if that gives us any indication of what he might do in the future.

Building permits: In the three years Peter Harris has owned Song Mountain Resort he has never willingly gotten a building permit, not one! He was forced to get a permit for a $10,000 building that was constructed on top of the hill for ski racing, but only after a complaint was made by me. And then that permit, that only cost $45, was for a $2000 building. We have no information if a certificate of occupancy was issued for the building. Peter Harris built other things, including a pump house visible from the road that does not have a permit either.

In a flyer sent out by Peter Harris last fall he stated that, "Song Mountain has invested over $1,000,000 in the last three years in snowmaking alone." There was no consultation with the planning board about this construction, no plans shown and approved, nothing! There were no building permits issued for any of this work and that deprived the town out of about $1,662.00 in fees. With no permits, no plans, and no inspections, nobody has any idea whether anything that was done, was done in a safe and proper manner. Nobody knows anything about this million dollars of construction, nobody! Except Peter Harris.

DEC: When Peter Harris first bought the resort he was ordered by the DEC to remove two dams that the DEC considered illegal and unsafe. He never removed the lower dam and fought the DEC for years until they finally changed the rules to make his illegal dam legal.

I suppose it is possible that Peter Harris can be trusted to follow the rules and do the right thing about the huge snow making well. However, his past record would not support that possibility.

From his history and from other rumblings I've been hearing I believe that Peter Harris has plans to use the well beyond what is legal and getting rid of this web site is part of that plan. He's doing this now, at the end of the ski season, because he believes that all the hubbub will be over before the beginning of the next ski season. It's an old plan that I'm all too familiar with. But it didn't work for Flying J, and it won't work for Peter Harris either.

We will fight tooth and nail to keep this web site and to prevent Peter Harris and Song Mountain Resort from over using our water until we are guaranteed that our lake, our wells and our homes are safe.

Keep in mind:

We live here, -- he doesn't!
We raise our kids here, -- he doesn't!
Our lives are invested in our homes here, -- his isn't!

We will not allow Peter Harris to take that away from us, and he should understand that losing this fight is not an option for us!

JOSEPH J. HEATH'S letter to Bernhard P. Molldrem, Jr., Esq.

JOSEPH J. HEATH
ATTORNEY AT LAW
716 EAST WASHINGTON STREET
SUITE 104
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK 13210-1502
315-475-2559
Facsimile
315-475-2465

February 16, 2004 VIA FACSIMILE and REGULAR MAIL

Bernhard P. Molldrem, Jr., Esq.
333 East Onondaga Street
Syracuse, NY 13202

RE: YOUR February 11th LETTER TO FRANK HOGG

Dear Mr. Molldrem:

Thank you for sending me a copy of your February 11th letter to Mr. Hogg. I agree that my involvement may assist in putting a quick end to this matter.

Initially, I am rejecting your arbitrarily brief time frame for the resolution of this matter; certainly no decision can or will be reached by February 17th. Your letter did not arrive in my office until the 12th and since I was engaged out of my office all day on both the 12th, and the 13th, such a short response time has left no business days in which to respond. Further, I will be out of my office from February 18th until the 25th, so this matter will take more time to resolve. I will continue to work promptly on it, but we reject any such unilaterally set dead lines.

I have been able to do some preliminary research into the Anticybersqatting Act, 15 USC § 1125 (d) and even this preliminary research reveals that your attempt to use this statute in this factual situation is without merit.

If you would be so kind as to respond to these questions, I believe we can move forward towards a resolution of this matter:

1. What facts do you claim exist to support your burden, in 15 USC § 1125 (d) (1) (A) (I), that Mr. Hogg "has a bad faith intent to profit from" the activities complained of ?

2. What facts do you claim exist to support your burden, in 15 USC §§ 1125 (d) (1) (A) (ii) and (1) (E), that Mr. Hogg has "trafficked in" a "confusingly similar mark" ?

3. What facts do you claim exist to support your burden, in 15 USC §§ 1125 (d) (1) (B) (V) that Mr. Hogg's Song Mountain News has been posted for either "commercial gain", or "with the intent to tarnish or disparage [Song's] mark, by creating a likelihood of confusion" ?

4. What steps has Song's taken to protect its mark under 15 USC §§ 1125 (d) (1) (A) ?

5. In what manner is the article complained of "derogatory"? and

6. In what manner does the article complained of "disparage the commercial good will in the Song Mountain [Ski Resort] name" ?

Further, Mr. Hogg is sincerely of the good faith belief that he has First Amendment protected right to write and post newsworthy articles about Song Mountain Ski Resort and its attempt to use its commercial snow making well. These are matters of public concern in the Town of Preble and particular to those Preble citizens who live on Song Lake, whose wells are likely to be negatively impacted by this commercial well. My initial review of the articles on the Song Mountain News page leaves me with the conclusion that all of the facts contained therein are accurate, as they apply to the past activities of Song Mountain Ski Resort and its management.

Additionally, "Song Mountain" is a geographic location, which is used much more broadly in this area to refer to the entire hill that lies to the west of Song Lake; it is used more broadly than the more limited term "Song Mountain Ski Resort". Your client's complaints might have more validity if Mr. Hogg was posting something like: Song Mountain Ski Resort News.

I look forward to your answers to the issues raised herein, so that this matter can be quickly resolved. Please advise.

Sincerely yours,

Joseph J. Heath, Esq.

JJH/pe

cc: Frank Hogg

Click for Bernhard P. Molldrem, Jr., Esq. February 11th LETTER TO FRANK HOGG

Did Peter Harris of Song Mountain Resort hire a lawyer to try to shut down my web site?

Did the lawyer know that what he referred to as Song Mountain is only a pile of dirt and rocks covered by snow and trees?

Did the lawyer know that the real name of the ski resort, as listed in the phone book is: Song Mountain Resort LLC and listed on the resorts own website as: South Slope Development Corporation DBA Song Mountain Resort? I guess I should cut that lawyer some slack because many refer to the resort by it's nick name, but lawyers usually don't use nick names in official documents or threatening letters. But that's just my experience over the years with really high end lawyers.

Did Peter Harris think that after all I've been through fighting Flying J, a multi BILLION dollar company, and WINNING, that he could have thought that I would be the slightest bit intimidated by a pompously written letter from a Syracuse lawyer?

Did Peter Harris think that I would allow him to take away my rights of free speech as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States?

Did Peter Harris ever hear the comment made by a Japanese admiral after the bombing of Pearl Harbor who said: "I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant."?

Did Peter Harris consider the consequences of doing something that would really focus my attention on him, his partners and his resorts?

Stay tuned for the answers to all of these questions and remember that everything put on this site is here for all to see forever. Not just at the end of the skiing season, forever.

Song Mountain building without permits!

Also problems with the entrance road, potential problems with the snow making well and other issues. A full report will be available soon.

ZBA VOTES SONG MOUNTAIN OUT OF BUSINESS!

Fri Nov 07, 12:27:28 AM
Well, not exactly, but the end result is the same. What they did do was vote to allow Song Mountain to use the well WITHOUT the protections we require so that our wells will not go dry. I'll bet at this point that you can't quite understand what the hell I'm talking about. Here are links to the pages from 2001 about this issue:

Song Mountain Huge Snow making well 12/3/2001: "OK I'm pissed, but why?"
Song Mountain Huge Snow making well 12/3/2001: "Song Mountain Documents 12/3/01"
Dean Smith's Planning Board FAILS to provide citizen's wells protection! 5/1/2: "OUT OF BUSINESS"

Here is the list from the above page:

The following list is what we require and demand for Song Mountain's use of our water.

1. The permit for the well should note that it is for backup purposes only.
2. Monitoring equipment available to any Preble resident or surrogate at any time during normal business hours that the mountain is open.
3. Monitoring on a daily basis when the well is in use.
4. Copy of the well's NiMo bill and all monitoring reports sent to the town hall for public view each month that the well is used. Town clerk will keep these records as part of the town's permanent records and make them available to citizens.
5. Song's potable (drinking) well pump raised as per USGS's Bill Kappel's recommendation so that Songs potable well will be the first to fail if they over use their big well. Access to the potable well at any time to verify that this has been done and has not been altered.
6. Well calibration needs to be done when water is at it's lowest. Jan/Feb.
7. All impacted wells property owners need to be notified and included in this process and records need to be shared with home owners and county health dept. for Songs drinking well
8. 90 percent recovery needs to be met between well withdrawals. We need to have an independent source watching. 90 percent from original depth line or else you have a step down effect and every time you start up you are closer to the cut off but without clear wording. Song would be just moving the 2 foot safety margin and you could draw wells down
9. We have to have the shut off process clearly defined for the big well. Currently it is not done at all. We have to define who is called. When are they called and the conditions needed and who turns it back on.
10. The monitoring has to continue for 10 years as outlined by the USGS and not just the 3 years required by the SRBC The SRBC is going to make money on this while the USGS will not. Also the USGS has a local office while the SRBC is in Pa. Bill Kappel of the USGS says we need 10 years to get a handle on the long term impact, if any. I trust the USGS far more than the SRBC.

Now it's up to Song Mountain. If they do these simple things then they can use the water. If not then we will protect our water even if that means that Song goes out of business.

PrebleNY.com DONALD C. ARMSTRONG

Read the back story about the Song Mountain well, the Cell Tower, The Knapp rezone and even today's Barden Home issue plus many others. This article will bring a new understanding to how the ugly undersides of power can be misused. A MUST read for anyone wanting to know the story behind the headlines.

The full article is now posted on it's own printer friendly page. HERE


"He's giving lawyers a bad name…" Overheard from a lawyer at a Town Board meeting.

For 5 years I've watched the Town Board and Don Armstrong. I am curious why with all the evidence presented here they keep him on. Surely they know as much, if not more about his activities than I do.

As you read this article ask yourself this question: "Why does the town board keep this guy on?"

*(Don Armstrong is the lawyer for the Preble Town Board.)

TAXES GOING UP

Wed Sep 03, 12:43:27 PM
Have you seen the plan? You know... THE PLAN! The plan where the Cortland legislators screwed us out of tax money. They started it the easy way, just told us it was going to be much worse so we would be happy when it turned out to be less. Still more than before though. Do they think we are stupid? Apparently so. It's always that way. They said last year the tax increase would be higher than the 20% it ended up being, as if they think we didn't know all along that it was going to be 20%. Same for this year. They started by floating the plan that would give the county a larger share of the sales tax and then 'compromised' by going for a smaller but still more than before share of the gold. They must think we are stupid. And they did this in an election year. Every Democrat voted for it and all but one Republican voted against it. Our John Steger voted against it. Now you know. I'll ask Betty Pitman how much of an increase we will have on our taxes and report back.

LINDA HARTSOCK AND PAUL SLOWEY OF THE BCD/IDA

Did you know that they get their money as part of the sales tax revenue? 2% of the sales tax collected goes to them for their budget. I knew this before but it was in the paper as part of the tax story and that reminded me of it. It helps to know this when you understand what the BCD/IDA does. In short they give away our property tax money in order to get the sales tax. That's what they did with Song Mountain and that's what they probably would have done with Flying J. Just so they would have a bigger budget. All that ends after this year because the officials in Cortland finally discovered it was illegal to do it. Now they will be funded directly from the legislature which 'may' mean they won't be so eager to give away our property taxes anymore. Don't count on that though. After all, they measure their success by how much of our money they give away, just like almost every other government agency. All in the name of keeping business in Cortland. As if Song Mountain could move away. Oh well, no sense in going over that again, just makes me angry.

I'm on a roll today, wonder what's next.

FALL

Wed Sep 03, 10:54:58 AM
The precision of it is amazing, as if nature followed our calendar. I've noticed that every September the weather takes a dramatic change as if by clockwork. Gone are the hot sunny days, now we have 60 degree rainy days. Amazing. I like it. It seems that as I get older I become more susceptible to bug bites, poison ivy, allergies and what not., But with the coming of fall all that goes away. Now if only we could get that first freeze that would kill all the bugs I would be in heaven, at least until the snow starts. Oh for an endless autumn or an endless spring. I could do well without the hot summer and the cold cold winter. Guess I'll have to admit it, I'm getting old. Oh well, at least I can still dream.

SONG MOUNTAIN

Future excitement will be when Song Mountain wants to play with their well again. They have set it up so they can get it running with a minimum of work. My guess is they plan to wait till the very last minute and until they actually need it and then tell the town that they just HAVE to have it or they will go out of business. They will insist that the town bypass all the requirements previously required and just let them use it. I'm sure the present town officials will let them do that which is why we are prepared to stop them. Let's face it, Song Mountain doesn't pay any taxes to speak of, they have only one employee that lives in Preble and that guy doesn't like we "Lake People" as we are called. Preble gets little if any benefit from having Song Mountain here so why not just let them go out of business. For that matter why not help them go out of business. And that my friends is what we will have to do if the above scenario takes place. Lucky for us we have the power and the will to do that. Maybe Song Mountain's silent partners will get the message and force their not so silent partner to do the right thing. If not then don't blame us for what happens. Remember all we have to do is reduce their business to the point where they don't make a profit and that, it turns out, is easy to do. Are you listening, silent partners?

WHAT'S A GOB?

Mon Jul 21, 11:24:52 PM
Who's a GOB might be a better question. Is Peter Knapp a GOB? Yep, he sure is. How about Betty Pitman, is she a GOB? Yes again. What then about John Steger who, in case you didn't know is our legislator. I like to think of him as our stealth legislator. We know he's there but you can't tell because he never does anything. And the answer is, Yes! John is a GOB.What about ex-legislator Max Stoker and his wife JP Marilyn Stoker, are they GOBs? Yes, although not as well placed in the GOB community as they once were. At this point you might be wondering what it takes to be a GOB? You have to be connected in Preble and/or Cortland. Is Don Armstrong a GOB? Don has been the town boards lawyer for a long time and has connections in Cortland. The answer is yes, Don is a GOB. There are a number of stealth GOBs around too. These are people who have power but don't show themselves. I'll be talking about them in the future but for now I've made you wait long enough. GOB stands for Good Old Boy. Simple isn't it. The GOBs run Preble and much of the time they do OK by the people. Sometimes they use their power to enrich themselves or other GOBs. Peter GOB Knapp used his power as Supervisor to enrich his GOB buddies Max and Marilyn Stoker when he looked the other way when the Song Mountain well was installed on Stokers property. This led to the sale of that property to Song. By the way the Stokers couldn't sell that land because there is a flood plane running through the middle. But Peter GOB Knapp made the difference and the GOB Stokers made the sale. The next story tells much of the rest of GOB Peters exploits. I'm tempted to talk about Don GOB Armstrong who has his fingers in up to his shoulder but I'm going to save that for later. Next time you see one of the GOBs wish them a GOB day.

DID YOU KNOW...

During Peter Knapp's tenure as Supervisor and town board member the following happened:

Billboard put up on Knapp land
Agway plant 'almost' put in on Knapp land
Cell tower put up on Knapp land
Illegal Song Mountain well put in on Marilyn Stoker land
Flying J almost put in next to Knapp land
Illegal rezone of Knapp land to bilk the state out of millions

Cost of litigation for Preble taxpayers: Tens of thousands
Cost of litigation for Knapps: NONE (Knapps lawyers fees, (Leija), were paid by taxpayers)

Income to Knapps... unknown (over $750k) but probably close to a million.
Income to Preble... NONE!

TOWN BOARD MEETING REPORT 7/14/03

Sometimes I think I'm the only one to get the joke. Perhaps it's just because I see these things from a different standpoint or perhaps it's… Oh who knows why, but there came a point at last night's meeting where I would have spit out my coffee if I were drinking some at the time. I did my best to choke back a laugh and I think it worked but it sure was funny. So, what happened you ask? Well, I'll tell you. And by the way I just love it when I'm proven right, not that I don't believe I'm right almost all the time but I just love it when people realize I am and it annoys them. I guess annoying is what the town board would think whenever they think of me but I digress… again… Ok ok here's what happened. Tom Fox resigned from the town board and the Water Protection committee right. You remember that from a few months ago. Betty Pitman, supervisor had to appoint a replacement for the Water Protection committee post. Now Betty could have picked someone from any of the 1,500 residents of Preble, heck she could have picked ME and wouldn't that have been a hoot. She didn't. She looked all over, high and low and when she looked into the barrel she saw Peter sitting on the bottom and picked him for the WTP. Yep, that's right… She picked Peter Knapp for the Water Protection Committee! If you wanted proof that the WPC was a joke you have it now. Peter Knapp was the supervisor/code enforcement officer when he told Song Mountain to put in that illegal well AND when he told Flying J to ignore the buffer zone law. It was Peter's brother who got ALL the Farmland Protection money after engineering the illegal rezone of his brother land. AND who can forget that it was Peter who signed the permit for his brothers Cell Tower. Now Peter will be on the committee that will oversee new changes to our laws that will protect our water etc. PAULEZZE you just gotta see the humor in this. Did Betty think for a split second that this joke would go unnoticed? She's not that big a fool, she must have been under pressure to do it. After all it was Betty who was most hurt when that Cell Tower went in so why would she appoint Knapp for this? The "Who's Got What On Who In Preble" book must be bigger than the Encyclopedia!

But Wait, there's more…

Dean Smith also resigned as chair of the Planning Board and HE was also on the WPC. Will he also resign from the WPC and if he does who will Betty appoint to fill his position? I don't have a clue but I doubt it will be as funny as Peter Knapp on the Water Protection Committee… I gotta admit that for me this Town Board is a gift that keeps on giving. I just gotta write a book about this, it'll make a million… But who would believe it?

In other news…

WELCOME TO PREBLE! Barden Homes came to the meeting and told us they wanted to move their Homer operation to Preble on a 25 acre hunk of land just North of Saulsbury. This is GREAT news! This is the type of company Preble should be looking for. They run a clean operation, 25 years in Homer with no complaints. They employ about 100 people, maybe more will be hired once they get under way. They plan to break ground this fall and move in next June.

http://www.bardenhomes.com
http://www.saulsburyfire.com
(Yeah, I know the links don't click, I was in a hurry, just copy the links and paste them into your browser.)

Attention Seniors

Cortland Transit runs a bus service in Cortland County. They want to get input about running a bus from Preble to the senior home in Scott on Friday's. If you are interested there is a survey at the post office you can fill out or you could call them at 607-758-3383. They also offer Dial-A-Ride service county wide which means that you can have them come to your house and take you anywhere in the county for $4. Quite a deal. For details call the above number or check their website at:

http://zeua.odyssey.net/subscribers/corttrans/

Or email at: corttrans@odyssey.net

The representative from Cortland Transit left some flyers and other stuff that is available at the town hall or post office.

ONE LAST JOKE
During the discussion about Barden Homes Don Armstrong said his office worked for Barden on occasion and he would have a conflict of interest and couldn't represent the town in this matter. The joke? This is the first time in the many times in the past when Armstrong had a conflict of interest and he offered to step aside. I'll be going into that sometime in the future but for now the joke may only be funny to me, but then again I often find hypocrisy funny.

Issue: Song Mountain Snow Making Well

"The one key point that Pat made was that if Song tried to use the well the town could and would get an injunction that would stop it quickly, in a day or two. This was discussed at length because I was concerned, as you can see by my letter below, that once the well was connected it would be used without the precautions. Pat assured all of us that Song could not use the well and that the injunction would stop it. He said that this was, in effect, a stop work order. Pat also seemed to suggest that once Song came back with their final plans the public would have a chance to look at and comment before they were put in place."

Song hasn't come back with any plan that I remember but then again my memory isn't what it used to be. I did a search on this site and nothing after the above dated article from 12/6/01! Is Song trying to pull a fast one? Yes, of course they are, this is Peter Harris after all and that is one guy I know like the back of my hand. I'll have more about him and his foibles later. For now read the above article and wonder why the town is doing nothing about it.

SONG MOUNTAIN WELL TO BE POWERED!

Fri Jun 06, 12:04:22 PM
From Supervisor Betty Pitman: She looked at the Song Mountain Resolution and there was nothing in there about hooking power up to the well. She talked to Peter Harris (partner and manager at Song Mountain) and he said he was going to install the two monitoring wells and was only hooking up power and was not going to use the well. I'm sure we can all trust Peter Harris to do exactly what he says, after all hasn't he proven his word is good in the... wait... I'm thinking of someone else... never mind.

Comment: The reason they are doing this now is to get us worked up and worn out before winter. It's June, six months from now Song will be starting their money season. That gives us more than enough time for calm and deliberate preparations to end this ongoing problem... once and for all! It's also an election year for the town board and we should put our effort into getting good people elected to prevent future problems. Let's first concentrate on the elections, they are usually in August and are called 'caucuses' and then we will have plenty of time to take care of the Song problem after that.

Hint: Put the word caucus in the search box on the left to read all about past elections/caucuses in Preble. (Also try Sort By Date once on the search page. Or just Click for caucus search results by date