FRANK HOGG

July 5, 1999                                                             VIA FACSIMILE AND EMAIL

Paula Ballaron

Susquehanna River Basin Commission

1721 North Front Street

Harrisburg, PA 17102

                  RE:        SONG MOUNTAIN WELL TEST

Dear Paula,

Hope you enjoyed your long weekend. It was great here on the lake, a bit hot but a nice breeze. We had quite a storm the night of the 3^rd. Power was out for 12 hours or so. Cleared up by mid day and we had a great 4^th.

Now down to business.

Song Mountain has had six months to comply with the local zoning issues and they have NOT done so. As a matter of fact they have done nothing. There has been nine Zoning Board of Appeals meetings and they haven’t been to one of them!

If they had gone through the proper procedure the people would have been given a voice via a public hearing. This was what was promised and agreed to by Song last year and this what we expected to happen. The agreement itself was co-authored by Songs own attorney Scott Chatfield. The proper procedure would have Song applying for a permit through the planning board with public notice and public hearings. Then if approved they could have installed the well and had the SRBC do the proposed test. However Song illegally installed the well and now is in a big urgent rush to have the SRBC test it. If you allow this test you will be rewarding Song for their illegal activities and deprive the people of Preble their right to be heard.

Last Friday (7/2/99) I talked to Ken Lynch of the DEC. He told me that the DEC required Song to sign a Consent Order about the dams and ponds or they would not be able to open this year. He told me that they had signed the order last week but he had not seen it yet and therefore it was not public. As soon as he sees it he can mail me a copy. The timing of Songs urgent request for the well test combined with the signing of this Consent Order is very curious.

Last Thursday David Delmonte (who is in overall charge of the project at Song) told me they (Song) had to have this test done because they had to tell the DEC what they were going to do about their dams and ponds by 7/15/99! Delmonte did not mention the Consent Order they signed. Remember that Ken Lynch of the DEC told me on Friday that Song HAD signed a Consent Order last week. Why does Song really want this test done so quickly? Is it something to do with what is on the Consent Order and they don’t want that information getting out before the test can be done? When we see the Consent Order what will we find? I won’t know what the Consent Decree says until Tuesday at the soonest. I think it would be in your best interest to contact Ken Lynch at the DEC and find out what this Consent Order is all about before you ok this test.

I talked to your lawyer Rich Cairo last Friday (7/2/99). He said that one of Songs Rochester lawyers, LaFarve(sp?) seemed to think that getting past Prebles zoning laws would be a ‘slam dunk’ (Cairo quotes, not LaFarve) I’ve talked to some on the ZBA and this is far from anything close to a ‘slam dunk’. There is no community support for the well and almost 100% opposition to it. We are prepared to picket, boycott, and use negative PR and anything else against Song if they pursue it. We are putting tremendous pressure on local officials who would have to approve it. No, this is definitely not a ‘slam dunk.’

Over the weekend more residents found out about the proposed well test and all are up in arms that Song is violating their word to the community. All are opposed to it. I suspect you will be hearing from some of them Tuesday.

Some of the four people who gave permission to have their well monitored may have second thoughts. You may want to contact them. They are:

Dennis Kennedy. 315-696-6519 He is trying to sell his home. If the well monitoring shows a problem then NY State law requires that he disclose that to a prospective buyer. He may back out on the grounds that what he doesn’t know he can’t disclose.

Dan Twentyman. Son of Marilyn Twentyman Stoker, owner of the lot the well is on. I guess he’ll ok it.

Wayne Drake. 315-696-8871. Out of town for the weekend.

Gregory family. 696-0052 (unlisted?) Was told the SRBC was doing the test. May not have been completely informed of the circumstances.

As you will be up here later in the week I propose that we schedule a meeting with you, the DEC, Song, and the board of our Lake association. If we are all in the same room then maybe we can clear the air.

If you are inclined to ok this test then because of the holiday weekend and many local people being out of town I request that you delay your decision for at least two weeks to allow the people a voice in this matter. As Song has signed the Consent Order with the DEC that can no longer be used by them to rush this along.

Song has had 6 months to do this properly. Their incompetence should not be grounds for bypassing your normal procedure. Or as the old saying goes… Their lack of planning is not your emergency.

I look forward to hearing good news from you.

Frank Hogg