ABOUT US
Mission Statement
Save Our Schoharie (SOS) is a volunteer group of residents and property owners concerned for the effective preservation and enhancement of Schoharie's natural environment, economic vitality, public health, and quality of life.
SOS recognizes and supports the town and village of Schoharie's comprehensive plans. These official policy documents call for revitalization of existing business and residential areas, protection of historic properties and settings, preservation of agricultural lands and economies, stewardship of natural resources, and careful design and siting of new residential and business development.
Specifically:
SOS seeks a balanced, community-driven approach to public policy, infrastructure investment and land use
decisions so that these actions may best achieve the comprehensive goals of the town and village plans. SOS believes that only through cooperative efforts to create and sustain an attractive, safe, cohesive and inviting community will Schoharie have sufficient appeal to residents and visitors to support a healthy economy and provide an adequate tax base for the schools and public services that we all desire.
SOS recognizes that the 21st century poses unprecedented challenges for older rural communities in Upstate New York, and that the threats to the character and viability of Schoharie include the significant potential for loss of agriculture, decline of Main Street business activity, stagnant tourist trade, lagging property values and growing tax rates.
SOS will assist municipal leaders in actions that reflect the balanced, comprehensive nature of the adopted plans and will support private investment that advances the collective vision for the community. SOS will also objectively articulate opposition to public or private action that is inconsistent with the collective vision or that jeopardizes its attainment.
​
​
​
Articles of Interest
SOS Officers
Chair: Robert Montione
​
Vice-chair: Bart Finegan
​
Secretary: Dawn Johnson
​
Treasurer: Peter Johnson
History
In March 2008, John Poorman, the late chairman of Save Our Schoharie, wrote an essay whose main point was that "the future of Schoharie is not inevitable, it is built."
What he meant by that is the quality of life in Schoharie five, ten or twenty years from now will be the result of individual and community actions taken in the present.
These are wise words, and they are particularly important to remember as we continue to recover from the devastation of the 2011 floods and also work to ensure that the CSP quarry does not expand and further threaten the future of our community. The two things are intimately connected.
The battle against quarry expansion has gone on now for more than ten years. That's a long time and sometimes it is difficult to recall exactly what happened, when it happened and what the current situation is. Here is a summary of events.
In January of 2005, CSP acknowledged they had applied for a permit to expand their quarrying operation across Rickard Hill Road. The company had purchased the property in December of 2000 using a straw buyer.
CSP's announcement alarmed the community because it would bring the quarry within close proximity to the County Courthouse, the Parrott House, Lasell Park and a number of other historic structures and add significantly to the noise, dirt and pollution already assailing the community.
The announcement galvanized the community. Within a matter of months, the Town Board enacted the Land Use Law (LUL), which they had been considering for a number of years. Public hearings showing that most members of the public opposed quarry expansion played a huge role in persuading the board to act. The LUL placed the quarry expansion area in an industrial zone and prohibited mining within its confines.
Simultaneously, The New York State Department of Environmental (DEC) held hearings on CSP's permit application. Within a matter of months, the DEC District Office recommended denying the permit because the "proposed mine expansion and potential impacts represent a significant adverse change in community character even after the incorporation of impact mitigation measures into the project."
Cobleskill Stone contested both actions. They instituted an Article 78 lawsuit against the Town challenging the validity of the LUL, and also contested the DEC's ruling. In regard to the latter, hearings have been held and evidence gathered, but a final decision has been deferred until other legal proceedings have been concluded.
Unfortunately, as most of us know, the Article 78 lawsuit was decided in favor of CSP. It is important to understand the exact meaning of the Court's ruling. The Court did not throw out the LUL; it found that the Town had had not filed a required environmental study -known as SEQR - on the potential impact of the LUL. You have all heard the phrase "thrown out on a technicality " - well, that is exactly what happened in this case. CSP won on a technicality, not on the merits of the issue.
The decision was handed down in May of 2014. The Schoharie Town Board immediately passed a moratorium on development to allow for the consideration and preparation of a new LUL. Public hearings on our new LUL, which also prohibits mining in the contested area, will be held in the near future.
In addition, a trial will be held in December of this year on CSP's claim that it has a "vested right" to mine. Lawyers with whom I have spoken feel there is little merit to this claim and that the case was returned to a lower court for the trial on - you guessed it - a technicality!
To return to John Poorman's point that I started with, the future is dependent on the decisions and actions that we all make in the present. While preventing CSP's expansion and the appearance of an even larger quarry looming over the Village of Schoharie will not guarantee a bright, happy and prosperous future for all of us in this part of Schoharie County, allowing it to happen will certainly condemn all of us to a rather bleak and desolate existence.
Peter J. Johnson
SOS