Cherry to Board: Relocate County Jail

County Treasurer and Flood Recovery Coordinator William Cherry presented multiple facets of ongoing relief efforts to the County Board of Supervisors earlier today. Among the items was a proposal to move the jail from its existing location to higher ground. The Harvey Stoddard complex remains heavily damaged and a complete solution has not been agreed upon.

On November 1 Senator Chuck Schumer visited the site and agreed with the position of elevation. Treasurer Cherry wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo's office asking for a solution. The issue revolving around the jail will be included with a set of FEMA-related issues that Cuomo's office is sending to Washington.

In his letter to the Governor, Cherry argues that replacing the jail in its current location "doesn't make sense if building a new, relocated facility is cost-effective." In his figures, $14 million would be required to fix the in situ jail and $18.7 to relocate the facility to a location out of the floodplain. He also points out that FEMA must consider the idea of rebuilding in a floodplain if "any such possibility exists."

Cherry continues that the existing site would not only be flood prone, but that emergency response could be hampered. "Every single one of those critical offices was rendered inoperable" due to Hurricane Irene.

Flood Grant Meeting Tonight

A meeting on the plans for $12 million in funding through New York State is being held tonight in Schoharie. The meeting regarding the Community Reconstruction Zones will be from 7pm-9pm in the Schoharie Town Hall. $3 million was awarded to each the Town of Esperance, Village of Esperance, Village of Middleburgh, and Village of Schoharie.

We get the following from the Schoharie Promotional Association Facebook page. (Their FB page is worth a like, by the way)

Up to $3 million is available for the Village of Schoharie to help rebuild our community, revitalize our local economy and protect us from future flooding. Come bring your ideas and concerns to add to the draft plan or just plan to attend to learn about progress so far.

Middleburgh Hosts Volunteer Day

Middleburgh had some help over the weekend as over a dozen volunteers from a SUNY Oneonta fraternity helped in several projects around town. According to the Middleburgh Community News website, this is the "third volunteer day since last year."

Volunteers at work. Credit: Middleburgh community site.

Ethington Ad Invokes Irene

In a new ad at the back of the Cobleskill paper, Sheriff candidate Todd Ethington directly invoked the flood following Hurricane Irene. Ethington's previous election material highlighted what he believed was a slow process of the Sheriff's Department moving back into the Harvey Stoddard complex.

The Deputy ran a third page ad in today's paper calling for a swift recovery for the buildings-- which he says looks like had been flooded just a month prior.

None of the candidates have made such a strong appeal on the back of the flood. Ethington has hinted to a similar line before and Sheriff Desmond's campaign does mention the hardship of dealing with the deluge but this is a significant departure-- and perhaps an escalation of the already heated race.

SALT Hiring New VISTAs

The Schoharie Area Long Term Recovery group has made another step forward, planning its second round of the VISTA program. Run in conjunction with the Americorps the VISTAs will be sent across the County to assist with flood recovery projects. The first round, which sent volunteers to every Irene-affected municipality, aided in the acquisition of volunteers and grants for each. SALT announced on their website that they are hiring for the next round.

Milone's Idea Leads to Creek Remediation Plan

June's flash flood that washed down the Main Street of Schoharie and Middleburgh sent shockwaves to the communities that are still getting back on their feet after Hurricane Irene. The flash flood may have only caused minor damage, but it did spring leaders into action. Middleburgh distributed sandbags to businesses. Schoharie reviewed its strengths and weakenesses.

And Mr. Milone had an idea.

Mr. Milone spoke with Assemblyman Peter Lopez, who had once held the seat of Supervisor. Milone made the suggestion that retaining ponds could be placed along the routes of many of the creeks of the County. This initial project was considered hyrologically unsound upon further review but provided the opening needed for more attention on the subject.

Mr. Milone's suggestion spurred Assemblyman Lopez into action. Lopez organized a meeting in June with local officials to discuss stream remediation. This grew later in the month and again in July. Mr. Lopez' working group now has support from his office, Senator Seward, and Congressman Gibson. The communities along the Valley have voiced their support.

He expanded on the idea in an August letter to the editor. "All parties involved in this effort realize that if we are to protect our residents we must address the problems that exist in our waterways by curing the problems and using methods that will lessen impacts."

The working group has expanded its set of plans to the point where a potential solution is on the table. The County Soil and Water Department has been instrumental in reviewing existing plans as well as applying for and receiving funds from the State for future remediation. Much of the work is a long way from completion but it started with an idea of Mr. Milone's.

Irene Reversed Most of County Population, Job Growth

As New York State, especially Upstate continued a slow population growth in the 2000s, Schoharie County saw some modest increases. Even as the local birth rate slowed, an influx of retirees and near-retirees more than picked up the slack.

New York State as a whole picked up 2.1% more people between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, representing a lower rate of growth than the U.S. average. Schoharie County meanwhile added a healthy 3.7%. The 2010 population increased to 32,749. Schoharie's growth far exceeded that of rural Counties surrounding it. Otsego only saw an increase of 0.9%, Delaware County dropped 0.1%, Greene County increased 2.2% and Montgomery increased 1.0%. Tiny (population) Hamilton County lost over 10% of its residents during this period.

Between 2010 and the middle of 2012, New York added an additional 1% to the population, bringing the state up to 19,570,261 people. Meanwhile, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee played havoc on the struggling people of the County. The population of the County dropped 2% to 32,099. Most of this decline came in the Village of Schoharie. Still, Esperance and Middleburgh saw a statistically significant fall in residents.

Meanwhile the demographic issues dovetailed with economic problems. By the end of 2011, Schoharie County had lost 1.9% of its total jobs as dozens of businesses closed their doors due to the recession and flooding.

Middleburgh, Schoharie See Home Values Over Pre-Flood Values, But Sales Drop

It has been a long slough for the people of the Schoharie Valley to rebuild after 2011's devastating flooding. Fears of new flooding, taxation, and property damage have all played roles in damaging the local economy. Unfortunately, much of the damage continues to haunt sectors of the County, especially for real estate.

With the real estate markets re-emerging in the surrounding Counties, Schoharie has seen much of the worst behind it, but still faces an uphill climb.

One of the issues includes home values that are rebounding, slowing sales. The average list price of a home in Cobleskill today is about $155,000, while Middleburgh clocks in at $159,000 and Schoharie a much higher $193,000. Of course in negotiation these prices will recede, but for many prospective buyers it is just too much.

Both flood damaged communities have seem collective home values re-emerge even above the summer 2011 levels.

All of these figures come from the real estate site Trulia.

Middleburgh saw prices bottom out at just $55,000 in late 2011 as a wave of foreclosures and flood-damaged properties saturated the market. As the market corrected itself and some of these parcels were sold, the price rebounded strongly. Sellers responded by placing more, largely undamaged, properties on the market-- bringing the asking price well above 2011 values.

The surge in median prices also caused a decline in sales, followed by another dip in the values. As of the last figures, the sales prices have rebounded again just as sales have slumped.
Schoharie paints a very similar picture. Supervisor Gene Milone's tax credit plan may mitigate some of this effect, although prices are still significantly below early 2011 levels.

Still, we see a decline in the sheer number of sales. Schoharie had far more individual sales than Middleburgh, especially after their median sales price dipped near $42,000.

These numbers show the sheer scale of the recovery left to go. Still, many of the houses that have changed hands have been fixed and some are back to their pre-flood condition.

MCS Nears Weight Room Rehab Completion

Middleburgh Central School has taken another step in healing the scars of Irene. In one of the most vulnerable parts of the high school the weight room underwent a large amount of damage two years ago. Now, in an announcement on its facebook page the school has closed in on finishing touches.

From the MCS Facebook page

State Offers New Irene Grants for Small Businesses

Separate from $12 Million Announced by Cuomo

New York State has announced another lifeline for businesses affected by Hurricanes Irene and Sandy and Tropical Storm Lee. For this area, it is a welcome sight for commercial interests crushed by Irene two years ago. The new program, separate from the Community Reconstruction Zones offered by Governor Cuomo in his visit to Cobleskill Tuesday, offers another option.

The New York State Small Business Storm Recovery Program is offered to all small businesses with fewer than 100 employees affected by storms Irene, Lee, or Sandy. While much of the money is expected to travel Downstate, it is available to a total of 30 counties, including Schoharie.

The grants, which could total over $50,000 per business are meant to cover losses and expenses not covered by other sources. The program also offers low-interest loans of up to $1,000,000 for other costs. The grant costs are not capped, except for 100% of loss estimates, making this potentially one of the most generous that the state has offered in two years.

This program takes place under the wide umbrella of the NY Rising series of projects. This includes the $12 million in CRZ funding announced by Cuomo.

Governor Cuomo Announces $12 Million Grants for Schoharie County

Following a previous announcement concerning the distribution of Community Reconstruction Zone grants to four Schoharie County municipalities, Governor Andrew Cuomo addressed an invitation only audience of fifty public officials, residents and local media at SUNY Cobleskill's Frisbee Hall this afternoon to further detail the program in attempt to assuage local worries over state heavy-handedness in how funds will be allocated.

The grants, which total $12 million, will be evenly distributed between the Town of Esperance and the three Villages of Esperance, Middleburgh and Schohaire, and although Governor Cuomo stated that he believes "that the people that know best are in the community," all projects submitted must be approved first by the CRZ committee.

Speaking on the value of the $3 million his Irene devastated municipality will receive, Village of Schoharie Mayor John Borst said, looking positively to the future, "We have the opportunity to empower ourselves to our own path of recovery." His sentiment was seconded by CRZ Committee Co-Chair Sarah Goodrich, who emphasized that the state government wont dictate how funds are spent and that local communities will make their own plans. 

Governor Cuomo, who was introduced by Town of Middleburgh Supervisor Jim Buzon, arrived shortly after twelve via helicopter and stayed for roughly an hour, speaking for fifteen minutes in mostly general terms concerning the CRZ grant program, which can be summed up by one specific statement that "We have funding that's available for the community."

Now comes the real work for local officials and the CRZ committee alike: decide where and how much of these funds should be directed towards what project and why. And once that process is completed, only then can the significance of these grants be truly measured by the competence displayed in utilizing these valuable funds towards our local communities. 

The Brief: Cuomo's Visit to SUNY Cobleskill

Governor Cuomo's visit to Schoharie County today came out as a bit of a surprise. The visit was announced late yesterday afternoon as Cuomo's office declared that the Governor was going to be speaking on flood issues.

A lengthier article will be available shortly, but some brief information here.

Dignitaries from the County included many elected officials, members of the Community Reconstruction Zone Committee, the Planning Department, among others. Altogether there were about 50 residents of Schoharie County represented in the lecture hall at Frisbee Hall on the SUNY Campus.

The program started at 12:06 as the interim SUNY Cobleskill President introduced State Senator Jim Seward. Seward introduced Schoharie Mayor John Borst who introduced Middleburgh Supervisor Jim Buzon who introduced Governor Cuomo. Cuomo spoke for about twenty minutes, describing his desire to keep flood determinations local. After the Governor's comments, both CRZ Committee Co-Chairs Georgia van Dyke and Sarah Goodrich spoke briefly.

More shortly, including quotes from the crowd. And remember that you read it here at the Schoharie News first. Subscribe by writing in your email in the right hand column!

Flood Insurance Information Meeting September 9th

Information for Schoharie County residents concerned about possible changes to flood insurance policies in the wake of Hurricane Irene will be available tomorrow. The meeting, held at the Schoharie Presbyterian Church at 7pm will offer questions and answers for interested parties.

SALT Holding Zumbathon Fundraiser September 14th

SALT is hoping for a big turnout next Saturday for its new fundraiser. The flood recovery group is holding a Zumbathon dancing event in Richmondville's Family Maranatha Center. There is a $10 minimum donation and half price for children or for seniors.

More information or to RSVP to the event can be found on its Facebook page here.

Donations Collected for Mohawk Valley Relief

Donations are being collected in Sharon Springs to help the victims of recent flooding in the Mohawk Valley. Remembering the emergency servicepeople and volunteers that assisted this area in 2011, Schoharie County is giving back.

Photo credit Facebook

Jefferson Beaver Dam Fails, Causing Local Flooding

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for Southern Schoharie County in the aftermath of a Jefferson beaver dam failing until four o'clock this afternoon. The emergency system just blared on local radio stations for people to steer clear of the affected areas and not to drive through the rising waters.

 

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
105 PM EDT SUN JUN 30 2013

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR BEAVERDAM DAM IN...SOUTHERN SCHOHARIE
COUNTY.

* UNTIL 400 PM EDT

* AT 102 PM EDT...THE FAILURE OF BEAVERDAM DAM WAS REPORTED BY STATE
EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. LOCATIONS IN THE WARNED AREA MAY EXPERIENCE
RAPID WATER RISES AND FLASH FLOODING RESULTING FROM THIS DAM
FAILURE. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION!

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO
AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY
DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL
ENOUGH TO SWEEP VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED
ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.

TO REPORT FLOODING...HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY
YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.

Stay tuned for updates as they come in.

 

Update (3:32 pm): The NWS is reporting that the dam was located upstream of the Stamford Reservoir and that most of the water has simply been captured downstream, with only some spillover on Route 10 in Jefferson.

 

Schoharie County Fire Departments Deploy to Herkimer County

 

From the Schoharie County Emergency Services facebook page.

 

In wake of flooding caused by the past two day's substantial rainfall, Schoharie County has deployed six Storm Emergency Fire Units to assist in flood recovery efforts in Herkimer County after the state canvassed personnel and equipment this afternoon.

 

Members of the Cobleskill, Central Bridge, Jefferson and Summit Fire Departments were deployed for as long as 72 hours to aid the Villages of Mohawk and Ilion recover after the second round of localized flash flooding in as many weeks has struck Central New York.

 

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

 

Middleburgh Flooding Caught on Tape

From the June 14th flooding. Brought to us by YouTube user cwjmopar: