Delaware board bristles at NYC land acquisitions

Sep. 23—Members of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors and the county attorney raised several concerns Wednesday at the board's regular meeting about the proposed expansion of the New York City Streamside Acquisition Program into Delaware County.

Thomas Snow from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Lee Alexander from the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development outlined the program during the meeting.

As part of the NYC Watershed Memorandum of Agreement passed in 1997 and the 2007 Filtration Avoidance Determination within the NYC Watershed, the DEC has direct regulatory and non-regulatory oversight of numerous programs including the DEP land acquisition program, the DEC website said.

A fact sheet provided by Snow outlined the program. It said the New York City Department of Environmental Protection had to establish a pilot riparian buffer program, later called the Streamside Acquisition Program, as part of its 2010 Water Supply Permit.

The purpose of SAP was to create a land acquisition program that targeted the most water-quality-sensitive lands including riparian parcels, wetlands and floodplains, the fact sheet said.

County Attorney Kevin Young said the county was against the land acquisition program and tried to get the city and the state to stop the SAP in 2007.

"In December 2006, the land acquisition program was expanded for 10 more years," Young said. "The DEP included $50 million for the LAP and the state department of health required the city to increase that amount to $300 million. We were vigorously opposed to this."

He said Delaware County brought an Article 78 proceeding against the state because the state didn't study how the LAP would affect the county if double the acres were owned in the watershed by New York City. It was announced at the meeting that the DEP owns 130,000 acres of land in Delaware County.

Instead of piloting the program in Delaware County, the WSP required the SAP to be piloted in the Schoharie Reservoir basin for no less than three years, the fact sheet said. The Schoharie Reservoir basin includes the towns of Windham, Jewett, Hunter, Lexington, Ashland and Prattsville in Greene County, the towns of Conesville and Gilboa in Schoharie County and the northern portion of the town of Roxbury in Delaware County, the fact sheet said.

The WSP required DEP to commit a total of $5 million toward the SAP, and the 2017 Filtration Avoidance Determination required the DEP to commit an additional $3 toward the SAP the fact sheet said. The DEP contracted with the Catskill Center to implement SAP in 2015. The center has been soliciting property owners who might want to sell their land to New York City.

Since 2015, the SAP has purchased 25 properties totaling 198 acres of land in the Schoharie Reservoir basin, the fact sheet said. The parcels average eight acres, Snow said.

"Over the past five years, we've bought less than 200 acres," Snow said. "This is not the 400 acres that was sold in Harpersfield."

Town supervisors and Young asked if the SAP was in addition to the current LAP, or if it could be in place of the current LAP. Snow said it would be both, but "New York City is ratcheting down its LAP."

Franklin Town Supervisor Jeff Taggart scoffed at that statement and asked about the opt-in municipalities may be asked to do if someone within the village or designated hamlet wants to sell their property to New York City.

"If we opt-in one person, won't we have to opt-in everybody?" he asked.

Snow said no.

Middletown Town Supervisor Carl "Pat" Davis, however, brought up the fact that a person may be willing to sell to the city rather than pay their flood insurance.

"The land acquisition program has devastated our communities," Davis said. He said New York City targeted Delaware County, which had the most open space to buy up, and the SAP would target the county further. He said about 26% of the land in the villages in his town and 44% of the land in the town would be eligible to be bought under the SAP.

"As a board we don't want more land bought up," Taggart said. He asked if the city could lease the land outside of the floodplain instead.

Andes Town Supervisor Wayland "Bud" Gladstone, who participates in the Watershed Agricultural Council's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, at his farm asked why that program couldn't be applied to the SAP.

Snow said they didn't want to target agricultural lands.

"What is the purpose of the conservation easement?" Young asked. "For all the land the city has bought the DEC places a conservation easement on the property. This prohibits any utilities being placed through the property except sewer. What happens if a municipality wants to expand their water supply? Do we have to go through eminent domain proceedings against the state so we can place a power pole?"

Snow said that hadn't been addressed, but it has happened in the past.

Snow said there is an idea for property swapping between municipalities and the city that could come up in the next rounds of negotiations of the FAD agreement.

Board Chair Tina Mole said the county sent the DEC a statement with concerns about the program and closed the discussion.

In other business, the county in a series of amendments approved:

—A $73,080.43 grant from the state to upgrade and enhance cybersecurity for the board of elections.

—The receipt of Public Health Corps Fellowship funding from the state totaling $719,282 to hire four fellows for the health department.

—A federal grant totaling $68,134.51 grant to promote and increase the COVID-19 vaccination rate in the county.

—An equipment grant totaling $7,290.08 to buy a ultra-low freezer to store the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

—Transferring $10,000 from the Itinerate Providers budget line to the Supplies Medical budget to cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccines. This was also funded by a grant.

—Accepting a $12,300 Overdose Data to Action grant to prevent overdoses in the county.

—Accepting a $5,000 Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs grant.

—Accepting a $37,847 Adult Protective Community Living Services grant on behalf of the Department of Social Services.

—Transferring $8 million from the Restrict Fund Balance to pay the bond anticipation note for the construction of the new Behavioral Health Facility in Walton.

—Scrapping four Ford Interceptor SUVs from the sheriffs department. The cars were replaced by Chevy Tahoes, Gladstone said.

—Recognizing Sept. 19-25 as Sheriffs Week in Delaware County.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.