This
is the ultimate web page for a big issue and grassroots
group. It is a retired site with a favorable outcome.
Beginning
in 2001 and ending in November of 2004 an ambitious deep
pocketed miner happened to choose a residential area in
Saugerties to establish a bluestone mining operation to
mine for 20 years or more.
This website was used to aid opponents of the mine by
clarifying the issue, posting documents as well as late-breaking
information. This was the vehicle for most of the information
residents, public officials and, as you may discover,
even the opposition used to develop strategy.
The pages were once alive with angst of this seemingly
done deal. Like a mystery novel, the mining proponants
were using all their skills and money to get this through..
For the residents, it was a time to rush through the learning
curve of laws, politics and rumors and felt the ever-present
mining interests lurking in the shadows and patiently
waiting one wrong move, a new political or legal alliance,
or perhaps, a diminishing of interest.
But the residents spearheaded by a group named C.A.R.E.S.
( Citizens Action for the Residential Environments in
Saugerties) remained undaunted and took the fight, eventually
aligned with the town, to this favorable outcome.
As the pages reflect it wasn't easy and took a long time
and there are no guarantees that something won't return
in it's place.
But for now, this website stands as a testimonial to the
community that could... and did.
Within this site is the story and much of the information
that took down the deal.
It's yours, use it.
Good Luck!
|
As of May
2005, CARES is still functioning and can be contacted through
their website SaugertiesCares.com
|
CASE
CLOSED
Mine
owner drops suit filed against Saugerties
By
Jesse J. Smith , Freeman staff
11/23/2004
SAUGERTIES - Attorneys
for Gilbert Shott, who waged a three-year legal battle to
open a mining operation in a residential neighborhood, put
an end to the long-running dispute with town officials Monday
when they withdrew a pending lawsuit in federal court and
indicated that they would not appeal the dismissal of another
suit against the town in state Supreme Court.
"There
is no other litigation out there," said attorney John Vagianelis,
who defended the town in a series of lawsuits brought by Shott.
"This wraps up everything."
The
federal suit sought damages from the town on the grounds that
Saugerties officials initiated enforcement actions against
Shott Rock for seeking a mining permit from the state Department
of Environmental Conservation. In February, U.S. District
Court Judge Lawrence E. Kahn threw out four of five claims
in the Shott suit, allowing only the retaliation allegation
to proceed. Last month, state Supreme Court Justice Vincent
Bradley rejected arguments by Shott Rock lawyers that the
town Zoning Board of Appeals had acted improperly in ruling
that mining was not permitted on the property off of Morse
Road.
"My
sense is that because they were not successful in state court
that knocked whatever wind they had left out of their sails,"
said Vagianelis.
Monday's
action puts an end to three years of legal wrangling, including
five separate lawsuits in state and federal courts initiated
by Shott in an attempt to start mining operations which were
banned in residential districts by the town's 1989 zoning
code. Shott Rock attorneys had argued that substantial mining
activity had taken place at the site prior to 1989 and, therefore,
the operation could be grandfathered in as a pre-existing
non-conforming use.
Attorneys for Shott Rock could not be reached for comment
on Monday.
| For
the last published timeline of the persistance of the
Shott mine to get through any and all permits, laws and
resistance and the time and efforts C.A.R.E.S. and the
Town of Saugerties have invested click
here |
|
All
pages have been collected and re-assembled for this site. Although
scores of pages are lost to the ages, I feel it is important
to recreate the struggle and ultimate victory for any one fighting
the fight who arrives here.