Stockade FC’s Marco Kloster tries to maneuver through Boston City players Michael Rincon and Ronaldo Vieira during a 2017 match. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

U.S. Soccer this week announced the first-round pairings for the 105th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, with Kingston Stockade FC set to hit the road when it battles the Long Island Rough Riders Soccer Club of the Premier Development League (PDL) on Wednesday, May 9.

Stockade is among 52 open-division teams in the Open Cup, just 19 of which are from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). All open-division teams will play in the tournament’s opening round on the same day. Open Cup rules prohibit teams from the same qualifying pool matching up against one another, so the Rough Riders are something of a mystery. In 2017, the team finished second in the PDL’s Northeast Division with an 8-2-4 record. In the playoffs, Long Island beat the New York Red Bulls U23 team 4-1 and the Myrtle Beach Mutiny 2-0 before seeing their season end 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw against eventual league champs the Charlotte Eagles on Sunday, July 23. 

Stockade FC will face off against Long Island at John Burns Park in Massapequa Park on May 9 at 7 p.m.

“Traveling to Long Island will be a tough test for us in our first-ever U.S. Open Cup appearance, but our coaches and players have already been hard at work getting ready for the new season,” said Stockade FC Chairman Dennis Crowley this week. “Between our on-the-field preparations, and what will hopefully be some solid traveling support, we think we will put forth an effort that will make the Hudson Valley proud on May 9.”

Crowley added that the team was looking to put together a Trailways bus trip for fans to join the team at John Burns Park for the game.

Kingston earned its bid into the national tournament on the merits of their 2017 sophomore season, their first under Head Coach David Lindholm, which saw the semi-pro side excite local fans on their way to an Atlantic Conference White-winning 8-5-1 record. The club, a popular choice among pundits for months to make the Open Cup, had an opportunity to punch their ticket last year, but their season-ending 6-3 loss to Clarkstown SC in the Northeast Region semis in late July left them having to wait until late March to find out whether they’d made the cut.

Should Stockade advance, the second round is scheduled for May 16, the third May 23, and the fourth June 6. After that comes the round of 16 in late June, the quarterfinals in mid-July, the semifinals in early August, and the finals scheduled for Sept. 26. When Stockade insiders announced their 2018 tryouts, they talked about the upcoming season and how the schedule was beneficial because it allowed players to build energy between games. Now, at least as long as they stay alive in the Open Cup, the team is going to be very busy. Kingston’s regular season begins with a visit to Dietz Stadium from the Rhode Island Reds on Saturday, May 12.

(photo by Kathy Cassens)

After opening its season with a loss, the Saugerties High School varsity boys lacrosse team has won two in a row and is looking ready to take on the world.

On Tuesday, April 10, the Sawyers traveled to non-league opponent Amsterdam, blowing out their host in a 14-6 result. Saugerties was led offensively by the trio of Tavin Rell (5 goals, 3 assists), Robbie Martin (4 goals, 3 assists) and Caleb Edwards (4 goals, assist). Alfredo Martinez (goal) and Christian DeAngelis-Martin (assist) also contributed in the lopsided win.

Tyler Swanson made seven saves for the Sawyers to preserve the win.

Swanson was even more of a factor one day earlier when Saugerties visited Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association opponent Cornwall, coming away with a tight 8-7 victory. Swanson turned away 17 shots in the game, ensuring his teammates’ offensive output held up.

Rell (three goals), Edwards (two goals, assist) and Martin (two goals) again led the Sawyers on offense, with Sean McGirr (goal) and Torrey Michaels (assist) also pitching in.

It was an important start to the week for Saugerties, who after losing their opener at home saw a visit from Minisink Valley planned for Friday, April 6 canceled due to a snowstorm.

“This is a hard working and resilient group of boys,” said Saugerties head coach Robert Slate. “Offensively we have plenty of firepower at attack and midfield. Defensively we are young but quickly developing a good sense of unit play and clearing tactics. We expect this team to develop nicely during the course of the season.”

The Sawyers opened their 2018 campaign by hosting non-league opponent Monroe-Woodbury on Wednesday, April 4, a game which they lost 19-10. Danny Fitzpatrick did the most damage for the Crusaders, scoring eight goals and assisting on three others. Tim Philbin and Owen Neubauer each scored three in the visiting side’s win.

But it wasn’t all bad for the Sawyers, who despite being overrun on the defensive end managed a more than respectable output on offense. Saugerties was led by Martin’s four-goal, four-assist performance, with Edwards (three goals, assist), Rell (two goals, two assists), Cameron Davis (goal) and Michaels (assist) factoring in.

Tyler Swanson recorded 15 saves in the loss, while Chris Swanson earned two.

After three games, a few leaders appear to be emerging for the Sawyers. Seniors Martin (10 goals, seven assists), Rell (10 goals, five assists) and Edwards (9 goals, three assists), a junior, are routinely leading the offense, giving opponents no single player to focus their efforts on.

Edwards is also the team’s ground balls leader after three games, with a staggering 20, while juniors Dylan Smith and Conner Staby have 13 apiece. Rell (12) and fellow senior Cameron Kohout (12) are also picking up plenty of ground balls, as is McGirr (10), a junior.

The Sawyers will stay on the road for their next two games, including visits to Millbrook on Thursday, April 12, followed by a trip to league rival New Paltz on Monday, April 16. They’re not due to play again at Saugerties High until Wednesday, April 18 when they host non-conference opponent Schenectady.

Joe “Base” Quirk and family.

Joe “Base” Quirk, a name synonymous with local sports, will be inducted into the Saugerties Sports Hall of Fame this weekend. Quirk earned his way in not only because of his own playing days but also because of his dedication to Saugerties sports ever since. 

Born in Cold Spring, Quirk came to Saugerties with his family a few years later and soon immersed himself in the time-honored community sports tradition. Quirk played in Saugerties Little League from 1974 to 1978, Biddy League basketball from 1976 to 1979, and Kingston Pop Warner football from 1978 to 1980. He was also involved in Saugerties Athletic Association junior league basketball from 1980 to 1984 while also competing in sports at Saugerties High. 

Quirk earned his nickname in junior high school. It wasn’t related to baseball, but basketball. He was first called “Basic” by friend John Naccarato in junior high because of his basic jump shot. The monicker stuck, and was eventually shortened to “Base,” a name by which he’s still known. 

In high school, Quirk continued playing sports, serving as the center of the varsity football team from 1981 until he graduated in 1985. From 1982 to 1985 he was a hurdler on the track and field team.

After high school, Quirk volunteered as a coach in the SAA biddy basketball league alongside Naccarato and Greg Vail, helping an expansion team become league champs in 1988. Quirk moved on to coach in junior league basketball in 1989, also becoming involved with Saugerties Babe Ruth as a coaching assistant, and then on the league’s board as equipment manager, a position created for him. Quirk later started the Babe Ruth 13-year-old prep league, helping young athletes make the transition between Little League and Babe Ruth. The prep league operated between 1994 and 2012. 

Quirk continued rising through the ranks of local recreational sports, serving as Babe Ruth league vice-president from 1994 to 2002, also acting as Babe Ruth Eastern New York State assistant district commissioner from 1994 to 2011, moving up to commissioner in 2012, and then becoming the assistant state commissioner of the Eastern New York District. In 2016, he became the Saugerties Babe Ruth president. He’s also been a member of the town recreation board for over 20 years. 

As a member of the staff of the Saugerties Stallions of the Perfect Game Collegiate League, Quirk recruits college baseball players to spend their summer playing on the same field he grew up himself. And the Quirks have served as a host family for a Stallions player since the team’s inception. 

Quirk has also stayed connected to football, co-founding the Saugerties Youth Football League and serving as its vice-president in 2006 and 2007. He was also an assistant coach for the SHS varsity football team between 2006 and 2012. 

Quirk and his wife Alice have two daughters, Lorna and McKena, both of whom are active in local sports, like the Saugerties Little League girls softball program, as well as gymnastics. 

Even in his professional life as a steel worker in the New York City Local 580 Union Iron Workers, Quirk has tapped into sports. In addition to work on skyscrapers and subway stations, he’s done steelwork during the erection of Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, both of which opened in 2009. And he was also part of the recent refurbishment of Madison Square Garden. 

Rob Elmendorf Jr. could not be reached by the Saugerties Times prior to the ceremony, but he is active in SAA softball, posting a 9-2 record and striking out 19 on the mound in the 2017 C Division season as a member of a team sponsored by Sue’s Restaurant and Rip’s Auto. He’s also active in Columbia Mixed League bowling, posting a 791 series at Saugerties Bowlers Club last December, building momentum with 246-266-279 games.

Liz Praetorius was among the first wave of girls at Saugerties High School to have the chance to compete in three different sports: volleyball, basketball and softball. Praetorius excelled in all three, but her posthumous induction into the Saugerties Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018 this month is about much more.

“We take it for granted today, but she was really the first generation of girls to play three sports,” said Liz’s brother Roger, himself a member of the Hall of Fame. “She was a single gal, career gal, but volleyball was her passion.”

The passage of Title IX in 1972 gave high school girls opportunities to compete on par with the boys, and within three decades the numbers skyrocketed from nearly 300,000 to ten times as many. Praetorius, born in 1965, was an early convert to sports, playing first base for the Elkies in the fledgling Saugerties Little League softball program at the age of ten. With four older brothers, Liz Praetorius had a lot to look up to and to live up to.

“She always wanted to compete,” said Roger Praetorius. “She wanted to be a better student, a better athlete than the boys.”

Roger Praetorius would go on to play football at Syracuse University. He remembered his sister coming to games and making an impression on his college teammates. “I was playing in Syracuse, and she’d be up there with my mother,” he said. “Friends of mine remember meeting her at seven, eight years old.”

Player, coach and administrator

Liz Praetorius was a three-year starter under Hall of Fame varsity volleyball coach Andrea “Miss U” Ungvarsky, earning all-league honors as a hitter in her senior season, a year that marked a decade of volleyball at Saugerties High.

Praetorius was also a three-year starter for the girls’ varsity basketball team, a low-post threat as a center-forward. In 1983, the Lady Sawyers went 12-7 overall, and 10-6 in league play, a remarkable turnaround after a 1-15 campaign just one year earlier.

Praetorius also started three years on varsity softball, where she played first base on two league championship teams. The team’s best season during her time on the Sawyers was in 1982, when it went 18-3 overall and 14-1 in league play, winning the program’s first-ever Mid-Hudson Athletic League title against Rondout Valley.

Praetorius continued her volleyball career at SUNY Albany, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in business. She later earned her master’s degree in public administration with a focus on finance at Rockefeller College at SUNY Albany.

After college, Praetorius’s association with volleyball continued. She was a player and coach with USA Volleyball between 1993 and 2003. She also served as its secretary from 1994 to 1999 and its vice president from 1999 to 2001.

She picked up coaching again at SUNY Maritime, where she took over a women’s team that had gone 0-21 in 2009. She helped steer the team to six wins in her first season at the helm.

A lot of giving back

Praetorius was also chief operating officer and vice-president for finance and administration at SUNY Maritime, where she served from 2010 to 2014. She was director for finance and administration at the University at Albany’s Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government for nearly two decades, and after her time at SUNY Maritime was the vice-president for finance and administration at SUNY Fredonia. She was also on the board of directors for the Albany YMCA from 1994 to 2004, including five years as its finance chair.

Praetorius, who passed away on February 4, 2016, will be honored by family and friends at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, April 14.

“In her adult life there was a lot of coaching and giving back to students, and I think she’d be proud,” said Roger Praetorius. “And I would hope that she’d be proud of the women that are in the Hall of Fame already. I’m not saying she’s a hero. I’m saying she’d be happy that for her generation and those that followed, they had opportunities that girls didn’t before.”

Liz Praetorius’s  senior quote in the 1983 Saugerties High School yearbook read, “When special friends part for new horizons, the understanding and memories shared between you will last forever.”

The 54th annual Saugerties Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony and dinner will be held on Saturday, April 14 at Diamond Mills, with doors opening at 5 p.m., and a cocktail and meet-and-greet hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The ceremony will begin immediately after. Tickets, which include some drinks and dinner, are $30 and can be reserved by e-mailing Mike Hasenbalg or calling 914-388-2348.

Action from last weekend’s tryouts (photo by Terri McAleer)

Though the Dietz Stadium pitch wasn’t quite as cold as the single-digit temperatures reached during last year’s session, Kingston Stockade FC held open tryouts on Saturday, and the weather was extremely chilly.

“We expected to have to all pitch in and shovel, but there was no snow at all,” said Stockade Chairman Dennis Crowley, who like everyone else in the Hudson Valley spent the previous day marveling at yet another furious flurry past the official end of what has felt like a very long winter. “But remember, it’s about three times as warm this year as it was last year. Last year it was about 9 degrees.”

Even so, around 70 players turned up, most of them dressed in many more layers than they’ll be should they have shown enough mettle to make the cut for a season that officially gets underway in a month. The hopefuls represented fewer than half of those who applied in this year’s streamlined open call; 2017 saw so many people turn up that club officials were overwhelmed. This year, all applications were reviewed for both quality and proximity before anyone was asked to actually show up, which gave the coaching staff a better chance of seeing what some players were capable of.

“What I liked was that we had a full crowd and that everybody worked really hard and gave everything that they had,” said head coach David Lindholm.

Though the ball felt like it was made of ice, players bounded up and down the pitch, a few of them perhaps overwhelmed by the rigors of the tryouts: One unnamed hopeful hugged a large trash can at the sideline in the middle of his scrimmage, throwing up for around five minutes before asking back in. The chances that he — or anyone — will make the squad this season are very slim.

“We’re in a nice position of having most of the team back from last year,” said Lindholm. “Pretty much everybody that contributed and stayed with us the whole year last year is coming back, and we’ve got some new additions from local colleges [seen during a pair of closed tryouts last month]. So we weren’t looking for critical mass, we were just looking to see if there was a special player or two. And I think what we found instead were some guys that maybe later in the season, maybe even early in the season can help us out with numbers in training and get some experience, and we can see them in a different setting.”

Crowley said the percentage of players who were invited back after last year’s open tryouts was in the low single digits, and with much of the 2017 roster intact, the numbers will be even fewer this year. But that doesn’t stop them from trying.

“There’s a couple of guys who have been here two, three years in a row, which is great,” Crowley said. “A big part of this for people is seeing where they stack up. Are they as good as some of the other players? Are they good enough to get a call back? And I think that motivates people.”

Rees Kalthoff is a 26-year old from Newark, N.J. who played soccer in college and is still active in intramural leagues closer to home. He made the trip up the Thruway for the same reason most of the hopefuls traveled from wherever they’re from: Because they love soccer and love what they’ve heard about Stockade FC.

“I figured I’d come here and see what was up,” said Kalthoff. “It was a fun tryout. A lot of feet flying everywhere, not enough time on the ball. But you know, that’s football.”

Kalthoff said he hopes he made enough of an impression that he’ll be called back to train with the team.

“If not, I’ll come back next tryout,” he said. “[Soccer] is a big part of my life. I’m not going to stop playing.”

Wickson Joseph, a sophomore for Hudson Valley Community College, is a Haiti native and friend of Stockade forward Matel Anasta. Joseph has been to a few Stockade games at Dietz Stadium and loves the atmosphere, even though he’s not sure he was physically ready to make the cut this season.

“Even if I don’t get a call back or anything I’ll come back next year,” he said. “And hopefully I’ll be in way, way better shape. I’ve been lazy lately.”

Like Kalthoff, Joseph said he loves soccer too much to consider not trying out again or playing the game. “Growing up where I did in Haiti, you come home from school, get your homework done, and go play soccer with your friends,” he said.

One player on Saturday may still be experiencing that very scenario. Though he looked like he belonged on the pitch against much older guys, Colin Murray is a 15-year old sophomore from Rhinebeck High School. Lindholm said Murray had made a good impression.

“There was a high school sophomore out here who we liked and want to see more of,” he said. “And that’s really exciting to think about, the next generation of the team. What’s the team going to look like in two, three, five, eight years? You think about [celebrated American teenager] Christian Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund [a team in Germany’s top league, the Bundesliga]; he was 15 and his dad’s driving him to practice there. We might have somebody like that who can really help. [Murray] didn’t look young when he was playing, but then you stand next to him, and wow, ‘You’re much better than I was.’ It’s encouraging and exciting to see that.”

Few of the players who turned up on Saturday morning will get a call to come work with the first unit, and even fewer might get into a Stockade game this season. But with the team looking to build not only for the present, but also the future, club officials were pleased with what they saw on the frosty Dietz grounds.

Meanwhile, the returning players and new invitees are already deep into training, a good sign that they’ll be prepared for their important Open Cup debut on Wednesday, May 9, when they travel to John Burns Park in Massapequa Park to take on the Long Island Rough Riders Soccer Club of the Premier Development League (PDL), which will be followed just days later when they host the Rhode Island Reds at Dietz Stadium on Saturday, May 12, the official start of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) season.

Local fans will get their first look at this year’s Stockade FC during a pair of preseason friendlies:  Kingston travels to Marist College to take on the Red Foxes men’s soccer team on Friday, April 27, followed by a visit to Dietz from Newtown Pride FC on Saturday, May 5.

“I’m really excited,” said Lindholm. “The guys that are coming back from last year didn’t take it easy in the off-season. They came back fit, they’re strong, they’ve been working really hard with [fitness coach] John Nunez. And that’s exciting just to know that they’re not resting on their laurels. We won our conference, but there were only six teams in our conference and we want to win bigger things. We’ve got the Open Cup, and we’ve got another chance in the NPSL to make an impression.”

The Saugerties school board this week declined to adopt a $63,964,998 budget for the 2018-19 school year. The decision not to adopt was primarily because trustees wanted more time to have their questions answered.

School officials believe the budget will be adopted unchanged during a special meeting next Wednesday, April 18. That meeting will also see the vote on the annual Boces budget and election of members to the county cooperative.

School officials said the budget was balanced in part by tapping into reserves and fund balance and laying off three part-time teachers. The spending plan comes with a 2.53 percent tax levy increase, the maximum possible without having to resort to approval from a supermajority of 60 percent or greater at the polls.

The proposed budget rose at roughly the same pace as the tax levy, a 2.534 percent increase, or more than a million and a half dollars over the 2017-18 budget.

According to business manager Lissa Jilek, the budget plan was difficult to craft for a variety of reasons, including one of the lowest state-aid increases in Ulster County for Saugerties. “We only received $178,643 increase in state aid,” said Jilek. “That was a net of 0.79 percent increase.”

Jilek said she wasn’t necessarily surprised. “I’ve had many folks come to me and say, ‘Well, how come other school districts got more?’” she said. “If you look at the individual aid categories for other (districts) it all relates to building aid. And it’s because they’re doing building projects, so they’re going to get more building aid.”

The district had hoped for a bigger jump after lawmakers added school money to the governor’s budget, as they almost always do. In Cuomo’s plan, Saugerties would have received an increase of just $72,942. But even though the district received more than double that amount in the state budget that was finalized late last month, it wasn’t enough to overcome some significant gaps in the budget.

“We have obviously struggled,” said Jilek. “We’ve struggled because of the limited amount of state aid, and we’ve struggled because of rising health insurance costs.”

In addition to the loss of three part-time teaching positions, Jilek said a retiring social-studies teacher will be replaced next year.

“We do have a balanced budget,” Jilek said. “We have balanced this budget by looking at those folks who are retiring and not replacing one position. We have had several other retirements, and we are replacing them, obviously, at a much lower cost, so we have savings there.”

Jilek noted that the budget maintains all current programs, giving students consistency from year to year. “We’re looking at alternatives regarding instruction, how to provide the same programs,” she said. “We’re not cutting any programs, but just tightening up services. We’re still going to have summer school, we’re still going to offer pre-K because that’s a grant. So no programs changed and nothing has decreased.”

Other cost-saving options are being explored. “We are looking at some services we purchase through Boces,” Jilek said. “We’re looking at perhaps bringing those services back in house. And I can’t discuss that further because it’s a personnel issue. But we’re looking at how we purchase services and if we can do better ourselves.”

The budget proposal includes a boost from an employee-benefits reserve account. “That reserve exists specifically to pay those contractual benefits when folks retire,” Jilek explained. “We have $504,000 in that account. We’re going to decrease it by $75,000, and we’re going to apply that to our revenues. So that’s a good thing. We’re using it for its intended purpose.”

The district would also tap further into its fund balance than it did for the 2017-18 budget should the 2018-19 spending plan pass. “We have to apply more fund balance, so we’re going from $785,222, which was the applied fund balance in the current 17-18 budget, to a proposed amount of $1,150,804, which is a dollar increase of $365,582.”

The district tax cap was set at a 2.53 percent increase by the state for the 2018-19 school year, which would be an increase of almost a million dollars for a total levy of $38.7 million.

The 2018-19 budget proposal will go before district voters on Tuesday, May 15. Three school-board members will be chosen. Ending their current three-year terms are board president Robert Thomann, vice-president James Mooney and trustee Mike Maclary. Petitions for school-board hopefuls must be submitted to district headquarters by next Monday afternoon, April 16.

The district will hold a special budget hearing on Tuesday, May 8.

The Kingston City School District will ask voters next month for approval to spend up to $16 million on capital projects at M. Clifford Miller Middle School and both John F. Kennedy and Harry L. Edson elementary schools. The money would come from a combination of capital reserves and state building aid. School officials stressed that the project would come at no additional cost to local taxpayers.

“That’s very important,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino this week. “It’s that penny wise, pound foolish thing. If we put this money in now, we won’t have to put huge money in down the road.”

At April 4’s school board meeting, Padalino ran through the work that would be done at each building, much of which he admitted wasn’t “too exciting.” This week, he echoed the sentiment, but stressed the need was there.

“I always say it’s not the exciting stuff,” Padalino said. “We’re not building any new gyms, which people like to see. We’re just making sure that we keep our buildings safe, healthy, warm, and that our electrical systems are working right, our emergency systems are working right, and that we’re ADA compliant. That we get rid of asbestos where we can.”

At Edson, the district sees the need for selective site improvements, including concrete walkways and paving, window replacements, and mechanical upgrades.

JFK is also in need of site improvements, school officials believe, including walkway, asphalt and masonry repairs. Windows and main entrance upgrades are also in the plan, as are selective mechanical upgrades, emergency lighting, and a new elevator to meet ADA compliance.

Miller shares the same general need for site improvements, window replacement and emergency lighting, Padalino said. They also need to replace old electric panel boards. There are also plans for much needed work in the auditorium, said the superintendent.

“That is the only exciting thing we’re doing,” he said. “The auditorium was built with the building. We have seats that have broken that we’ve taken out. The picture shows a row of seats, and there’s one that’s clearly missing. It was broken and we had to take it out. We don’t replace them because they don’t make those chairs anymore. And if you look closely at the carpet runner, it’s being held to the floor with red duct tape.”

Padalino explained that there’s a lot more to the auditorium work than just upgrading everything.

“And of course one of the other things that prohibits people from doing some of that spot maintenance is when you pull up those chairs, you disturb the tile, and the tile from that era is all asbestos,” he said. “It’s not just as easy as pull up a chair and put in a new chair. It’s pull up a chair, pull up the tiles, abate the tiles, create a safe environment, put down non-asbestos flooring, and then put the chairs in.”

It’s not a new method

Padalino pointed to more modestly priced capital projects in the past few years that were funded similarly, including roof and ceiling replacement at the three schools that would see up to $16 million in renovations should the public approve the plan. Other schools also had different work being done, and Padalino said he understands that there’s the appearance that the KCSD is constantly being renovated and repaired.

“There’s a lot of work being done in the district,” Padalino said. “We did this three years ago: We did about $25,000 worth of work, the new roof on Miller, we put in new sidewalks and a parking lot at Chambers [Elementary], we put in a new heating system in JFK and Edson. We did it then the same way, using capital reserve and state aid, so it didn’t raise taxes. But people see, especially if they look at the high school, that we’re renovating Meagher, and we’re going to raise their taxes. But we’re not. It’s kind of a win-win.”

Padalino said he hoped the public would see the value of moving forward on the work now.

“At the heart of this is to not end up where were in deferred maintenance mode, where all of a sudden you have an emergency because you haven’t done your regular maintenance,” Padalino said. “When you have a 30-year roof and it’s been 50 years and you’re spending your time and money patching it, you really should put on a new 30-year roof. Those are the kinds of things that in the not-so-distant past, that’s how schools operate. This is really keeping our heating systems upgraded; keeping our roofs tight; our windows that are original, making them 21st century energy efficient, not falling out, and opening and closing safely.”

The superintendent said he brought a “renew and refresh” outlook to the district five years ago, including hiring Tom Clapper as the director of buildings and grounds and increasing that department’s budget by around 25 percent to allow for continued maintenance, projects which can be completed thanks to capital reserve and state building aid, which usually covers around two-thirds of the cost of eligible facilities projects.

“Having a capital reserve allows us to have money sitting there so we can A: In an emergency, we can pull from it, and B: When we have projects like this we can then combine money that’s in our reserve with state aid and get those things done,” Padalino said. “So we don’t have leaky roofs, poor electrical service into some of the classrooms, and have a properly working heating system.”

Buildings update

With regard to other facilities projects, Padalino said the sale of the Cioni Building and transformation of the former Frank L. Meagher Elementary School into a new district headquarters and pre-kindergarten hub are moving forward.

Last July, the board approved selling its current administrative headquarters to 61 Crown Street LLC, which is led by New York City-based developer Neil Bender and filed a bid as BRE Properties. The $4.25 million bid, with an eye on turning the property into a boutique hotel and spa, came during an open bidding session on the highly coveted property in booming Uptown Kingston. The next highest bid was for $1.8 million.

Earlier this year, trustees voted unanimously to drop to sale price from $4.25 million to around $3.47 million following an environmental review done by the purchaser, which was down to a variety of structural reasons. This week, Padalino said the contract of sale on Cioni was settled and that a closing date in early May could be possible.

Meanwhile, the district received the first review of architectural plans for Meagher from the State Education Department, giving school officials hope that they’ll be able to break ground on the project this summer and make the move from Cioni by September 2019. The cost of renovating Meagher has been estimated at $4.23 million, with any work dedicated to classroom or other academic space eligible for state aid.

Padalino also said that work on the $137.5 million Second Century plan at Kingston High School is still coming in ahead of schedule and on budget.

“We’re finishing up the work that’s being done at Salzmann [Building], and both the new academic wings are in full function,” Padalino said. “I’m being told they’re going to hand [Salzmann] over to us in July, which is phenomenal. It’s about a month earlier than we thought. And then we’ll start the work in Main. We’re really pleased with the progress, and our construction management team is really on top of everything.”

Padalino said the relative ease with which the Second Century project is proceeding is partly due to the attention paid by the school board.

“We’ve got a lot of work going on in a lot of the buildings, but we’re doing it efficiently,” he said. “The school board has been good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and their property. It’s been a really smart way for us to attack this and not leave things until there’s an emergency.”

File photo by Nicole Terpening

Kingston Stockade FC semi-pro soccer returns to Dietz Stadium early next month, but the team will see its first unofficial action of the 2018 season this Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. when they head to Poughkeepsie to take on the NCAA Division I Marist Red Foxes men’s soccer team.

Some of the Marist players in Saturday’s friendly will switch sides in May when their school year is through, including returning players Bruce Jeter and David Nkansah-Siriboe, a pair of forwards who made contributions to Kingston during the team’s successful 2017 campaign. Two current Marist players who are new to Stockade this year are midfielder Juan Parada and midfielder-forward Justin Jaime. Two Marist alums are already familiar faces to the Stockade faithful: Defender Matel Anasta and goalkeeper Steve Skonieczny once played in the red and white.

Of the 39 players who made Stockade FC’s 2018 roster, 22 are returnees and 17 are newcomers. Veterans include fan favorites Michael Creswick and Pedro Espindola up front and two-time captain and defensive stalwart Jamal Lis-Simmons, who at 36 is the team’s elder statesman. Other returnees include forwards Mike Corbi and Eric Fortier; midfielders Victor Guirma, Marco Kloster, Matt Koziol, Mikey Lanzetta, Ross Macklin and Josh Maley; and defenders Phil Barrett, Joe Bogart, Kevin Davis, Juan Gatti, Tom Steigerwald and Scott Zobre. Joining Sknoieczny in goal is returning keeper T.J. Zehner.

Rookie Kingston players with no link to Marist include forward Owen Fingar; midfielders Reid Conde, Hugo Guerra, Christian Henry, Gino Rossi, Jed Sass and Nick Shenberger. Three new goalkeepers also joined the ranks, including Svyatoslav Kozak, Andreas Queen and Lucas Valillo.

Of the 19 active college players on the roster, seven are graduating seniors and will be joining the team immediately, while the remaining 11 will be eligible to begin play for Kingston in May. The average age of players on the team this season is 23, with the median age 22. Three players are still in their teens, including 19-year old Nkansah-Siriboe, and both Guerra and Jaime, who are each just 18.

Kingston will play one more exhibition on Saturday, May 5 at 6 p.m. when they host Newtown Pride FC at Dietz Stadium. Four days later they’ll hit the road for the 105th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup when they battle the Long Island Rough Riders Soccer Club of the Premier Development League (PDL) on Wednesday, May 9. Kingston Club Chairman Dennis Crowley said a bus to the game for Stockade supporters is in the works.

Stockade is among 52 open-division teams in the Open Cup, just 19 of which are from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). All open division teams will play in the tournament’s opening round on the same day. Kingston earned its bid into the national tournament on the merits of their 2017 sophomore season, their first under Head Coach David Lindholm, which saw the semi-pro side excite local fans on their way to an Atlantic Conference White-winning 8-5-1 record.

Kingston’s regular NPSL season begins on Saturday, May 12 at 6 p.m. when they host the Rhode Island Reds.

(Photo by Dion Ogust)

The Saugerties school board last week adopted a nearly $64-million budget for the 2018-19 school year, a plan which school officials said was balanced in part by tapping into reserves. The spending plan comes with a 2.53 percent tax levy increase, the maximum possible without having to resort to approval from a supermajority of 60 percent or greater at the polls. 

Trustees adopted the spending plan during a special meeting on Wednesday, April 18, eight days after they delayed the vote to allow for more time to review. Three part-time teaching positions set to be eliminated in the district’s original proposal were reinstated. The rest of the spending plan remained largely unchanged. 

“I think it provides the needed services for students to get a quality education while it keeps us under the tax cap,” said school board president Robert Thomann. “I think it’s something that everyone can live with.” Spending in the proposed budget rose at roughly the same pace as the tax levy, a 2.534 percent increase, or $1,580,966 over the 2017-18 budget. 

According to business manager Lissa Jilek, the budget plan was difficult to craft for a variety of reasons, including one of the lowest state-aid increases in Ulster County. “We only received $178,643 increase in state aid,” said Jilek in mid-April. “That was a net of 0.79 percent increase.”

“We have obviously struggled,” said Jilek. “We’ve struggled because of the limited amount of state aid, and we’ve struggled because of rising health insurance costs.”

Though trustees opted to retain the three part-time teachers, a retiring social-studies teacher will not be replaced at the end of the current school year. “We do have a balanced budget,” Jilek said. “We have balanced this budget by looking at those folks who are retiring and not replacing one position. We have had several other retirements, and we are replacing them, obviously, at a much lower cost, so we have savings there.”

While the cost of Ulster BOCES fell 5.3 percent overall to $5.3 million in the 2018-19 spending plan, the district’s share of  administrative costs rose to $836,471, an increase of around $185,000. Jilek explained that the increase came from a court decision that required post-retirement benefits for BOCES to be shared by all participating districts. 

In addition to savings from teachers who are retiring, the budget proposal includes a boost from an employee benefits reserve account. “That reserve exists specifically to pay those contractual benefits when folks retire,” Jilek explained. “We have $504,000 in that account, we’re going to decrease it by $75,000, and we’re going to apply that to our revenues. So that’s a good thing. We’re using it for its intended purpose.”

The district would also tap further into its fund balance than it did for the 2017-18 budget should the 2018-19 spending plan pass. “We have to apply more fund balance, so we’re going from $785,222, which was the applied fund balance in the current 17-18 budget, to a proposed amount of $1,150,804, which is a dollar increase of $365,582.”

Which leaves the local property tax levy. The district tax cap allows a 2.53 percent increase for the 2018-19 school year, an increase of $956,610 for a total levy of $38,728,466. 

The 2018-19 budget proposal will go before district voters on Tuesday, May 15, along with the election of school board members. Thomann, vice-president James Mooney and trustee Mike Maclary are unopposed.

Thomann was unsure whether the lack of opposition might indicate the public’s confidence in the current board. “That would be speculation on my part,” he said. “I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s either that or nobody really wants to do it and they realize how much work it takes. It’s probably somewhere in between, you know?”

Thomann said he decided to run for reelection because he felt there was still work to be done. “I guess my goal eventually is to feel everything is okay and I don’t have to run,” he said. “But I was encouraged to run by fellow board members and family. I’m not satisfied with the graduation rate, both for regular ed kids and kids with disabilities. I’d like to see that improve a little bit more before I venture off the board.”

Would Thomann like to remain board president for the 2018-19 school year? “I think that’s up to the will of the board,” he answered. “It’s certainly a lot of additional work, and thank God I’m semi-retired so I can be there for some of that. If the board wants to look at someone else, feel free.”

The district will hold a special budget hearing on Tuesday, May 8, the same evening as its regular meeting.

Ethan Pietrzak (photo by Josh Arsenault)

The Saugerties High School varsity boys’ and girls’ track and field teams have raced out of the starters’ blocks this season, holding their own at Kingston High School’s 13th annual Tiger Relays over the weekend, followed by a clean sweep over visiting non-league opponent Spackenkill on Tuesday afternoon. 

On the girls’ side, the Sawyers overwhelmed Spackenkill 112-23, with Mikaylin Williams (100, 11.7), Molly Daggett (200, 29.3), Renee Baldwin (400, 65.2 and 800, 2:57), Chloe Hanson (3000, 12.30), Hilary Mulford (100 hurdles, 18.6), Erin Dudzic (high jump, 4-8), Lexi McCabe (shot put, 30-5 and discus, 84-2) and Sugar Hart (pole vault, 6-6) all placing first. The team’s 1,600 (4:38) and 3,200 (12:40.3) relay teams also excelled. 

The boys also won, but by a slimmer margin, outpacing Spackenkill 81-59. Christian Schlosser (110 hurdles, 18.9), Matt Morgan (400 hurdles, 64.6), Joe Hartrum (shot put, 34-1.25), Albert Nova (discus, 113-10) and Jeremy Cornelison (pole vault, 8-0) kept the Sawyers ahead of a Spackenkill team that was quicker in the sprints. Saugerties also turned in a stellar showing in the 1600 relay (3:48). 

Sawyer girls’ coach Ted Suttmeier said he has a simple approach to identifying individual goals and helping his athletes achieve them. 

“After their first competition, I have the team write down their individual goals,” said Suttmeier. “In doing that, it helps us help them to both focus on their training and allows us to put them in competitions to best achieve their goals. It is not uncommon for an athlete to include a group or relay goal. As for the team goal as a coach, we work with the athletes we have and if we can get them to achieve their best and at times stretch themselves the team results will follow. We are in a very competitive league and section, so they will have plenty of opportunities to compete against others both whether they are experienced and novice competitors.” 

Suttmeier said the Sawyers were really hitting their stride. 

“At this point of the season we see the most progress,” he said. “If they have been working and stayed healthy, this is the time of year when distances increase and times go down. Many of the team has met goals they set earlier in the year and others are working hard to achieve their goals. We are getting into the championship meets now and we look forward to having them peak in their events.”

Sawyer boys’ coach Stephen Buonfiglio said that the team’s season was designed to get the most out of May. “Our teams have done well of late,” he said. “Much improvement and some nice performances against quality competition. We stress that the early meets are really glorified practices as we look to have our best times and distances at the end of the season.”

That momentum yielded results at the Tiger Relays held at Dietz Stadium last Saturday, April 28. Sawyer athletes fared well in a crowded field of 19 high schools, with some significantly larger than Saugerties High. 

Hanson’s second-place finish in the 1,500 (4:57.66) was the best individual performance at the varsity level, while Dudzic excelled in the high jump, winning the frosh/soph competition.

On the boys’ side, Morgan took top honors in the frosh/soph steeple, while Josh Arsenault (5th, javelin, 111-8), Nick Smith (7th, high jump, 5-6), Nova (7th, discus, 112-11) and Felix Gieler (8th, javelin, 105-0) all performed well. The spring medley relay team of Ethan Pietrzak, Dan MacIsaac, Evan Sullivan and Morgan placed second as well. 

Next up for the Sawyers is a visit from league opponent Red Hook next Tuesday, May 8, with Mid-Hudson Athletic League and Section IX meets scheduled for later in the month. Suttmeier said the Sawyers will fare well as long as they’re committed to putting in the work. 

“There are always challenges with training versus overtraining as well as avoiding injuries,” the coach said. “We all want to compete well in May with the league meet on the 19th followed by the Section IX meet …. We always stress commitment as those who work see the most improvement.  Many events are very technical and take a lot of repetition in training and hours of work. It’s been a great group to work with this year, and they have been very supportive of each other and have put in some good workouts.”

In action from last season, Stockade FC’s Marco Kloster tries to maneuver through Boston City players Michael Rincon and Ronaldo Vieira. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

Kingston Stockade FC’s third season in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is just around the corner, with the first official game taking place when the Rhode Island Reds visit Dietz Stadium on Saturday, May 12. But first, a friendly followed by a trip to Long Island for the club’s first-ever appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Though its connection to local soccer fans runs deep, Stockade FC is still a relatively new team, which means the “most important game in club history” can sometimes change from week to week. Such is the case with Kingston, who finished last season atop the Atlantic Conference White with an 8-5-1 record and has played at least 10 different “most important games” since their very first in 2016. But they’ve got another coming up quickly when they hit the road for the 105th edition of the annual Open Cup when they battle the Long Island Rough Riders Soccer Club of the Premier Development League (PDL) on Wednesday, May 9.

Stockade is among 52 open division teams in the Open Cup, just 19 of which are from the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). All open division teams will play in the tournament’s opening round on the same day. Kingston earned its bid into the national tournament on the merits of their 2017 sophomore season, their first under head coach David Lindholm.

“It’s such a big game that we would love to have more preparation for it, but there’s not much we can do about it,” said Lindholm, who just this week saw the club’s 11 college players become eligible to officially join the team. “But that’s true of our opponents too. It’s the first game of the season for them as well, and it’s like playing in bad weather: Everybody’s dealing with it, and it’s about who can deal with it better.”

But before the club’s Open Cup debut, Stockade will host Newtown Pride FC of the Connecticut Soccer League (CSL) in the first annual Kingston Community Cup, which will serve as a fundraiser for gun violence-prevention non-profit Sandy Hook Promise.

“It’s a good cause,” said Stockade Club Chairman Dennis Crowley. “We thought if we’re going to do this every year, and we should, let’s put a name on it. And maybe in the future it involves more than two teams.”

Though technically an exhibition match, fans should expect a mid-season atmosphere as Kingston continues working out the kinks before the Open Cup.

“[Newtown Pride FC] have qualified for the Open Cup before,” said Crowley. “This is not a game to snooze on. These guys are really skilled. So it will be a good warmup for us with some of the college guys. This will be the first time we’re in a competitive environment [with the full squad]. And we need a pretty aggressive warmup before we get into this Open Cup match on the 9th. It kind of accidentally turned out to be really well timed.”

Interesting match in Poughkeepsie

Stockade’s first pre-season friendly saw them fall 4-3 at Marist on Friday, April 27, a surreal affair which saw Red Foxes goals scored by David Nkansah-Siriboe and Juan Parada, both of whom are part of Kingston’s 2018 roster.

The two teams traded goals until the 79th minute when Marist’s Samad Bounthong put the home side up for good off a free kick.

Kingston’s goals came from Matt Koziol, who converted a penalty kick at the 17-minute mark; and Scott Zobre, who hit the back of the net just before the half. Stockade’s other goal came 63 minutes in when the defense misplayed the ball following a Michael Creswick cross, resulting in an own goal.

Defender Jamal Lis-Simmons, one of a handful of Stockade players who has been with the club since the very beginning, said the result was less important than what it meant to the team to just get out and play.

“We can get a lot out of training sessions, but we get a whole lot out of being on the field 11-v.-11, a quality opponent,” he said. “From the team’s perspective it was good to be out on the field in a competitive environment, and I think for the coaching staff it was good to see different guys in different positions. Things are moving in the right direction. We’re all real competitive. We wanted to get the best out of each other, and David [Nkansah-Siriboe] was fortunate to get a goal. I’m sure we’ll hear about that this week in training.”

Asked if he felt encouraged by what he saw from Stockade’s Marist-affiliated players, Lindholm said it hadn’t even occurred to him.

“It’s hard for me to focus on both teams,” he said. “I was focused on our defensive miscues and some of the lack of organization we had on that side of the ball. I think I take a lot of responsibility for that because we haven’t been able to work on it too much. So I sort of missed out on that sort of optimism. But I’ll get that when those guys join us in training.”

Still, Lindholm said, after a long, cold winter, the buzz is beginning to build.

“There’s a lot to like,” he said. “We have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and a lot of excitement and enthusiasm about playing for the club. We have people who love being out there and love being part of the organization, and to be able to bring people into that environment is really positive for us … It’s so exciting. It’s one thing to sort of know that it’s about to happen, but you play a friendly and remember that this is a really special thing that we’re all part of and soon we’ll be in front of our fans playing games that matter a great deal to us and to them, and that’s really exciting.”

They can’t wait

Lis-Simmons said he was keen on the 2018 version of Stockade FC, which sees 17 newcomers join 22 veterans, including himself, Creswick, Zobre, Koziol, Matel Anasta, Pedro Espindola, Eric Fortier, and goalkeeper Steve Skonieczny.

“We’re going to have a deeper and more talented team this year, which I think everybody is excited about,” said Lis-Simmons. “And really, the new piece to any year is getting those new guys acclimated to the team and build that chemistry with the group. The guys are really excited. We’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for a while.”

Lis-Simmons has served as Stockade FC’s team captain since the beginning, and while no announcement has been made about the streak staying alive, Lindholm said the choice was obvious.

“I haven’t formalized it or said anything to the team about it, but Jamal really is the captain of the group no matter what,” he said. “Just the way that he carries himself and the experience that he has and the care and passion that he has for the club and what we’re trying to do makes him the captain. I don’t really have to name him the captain: He just is the captain.”

From an organizational perspective, Crowley said that aside from experience allowing them to streamline some of their operations, not much has changed. Sure, there are flashy new kits and some new sponsors as well, but what they’re mostly focusing on is building from their already solid foundation.

“First season was, ‘Hey, let’s see what happens,’” Crowley said. “Second season we won the conference championship. Even when I went and played pickup in Marbletown people were buzzing about our playing in the Open Cup. There’s a buzz around people that follow the sport, and that’s different this year. And it’ll be interesting to see if that translates into more people coming out? Does that translate into the early games having higher attendance? What’s happened is we’re slowly building attendance through the season. I expect to see the crowds grow a bit. Last year our thing was, ‘Gosh, I hope we break 1,000 fans.’ And I think the goal this year is to see if we can do 1,500 during a regular season game.”

One sponsor that hasn’t changed is Trailways, which is offering special Stockade Fan Bus trips to select away games, beginning with the Open Cup match on May 9. For more information, visit trailwaysny.com.

Whether they’re playing on the road or in the friendly — and loud — confines of Dietz Stadium, Lis-Simmons said Stockade FC is grateful to its fans.

“We feel extremely lucky as an organization to have the support that we’ve had within the community and the Hudson Valley,” he said. “So we’re going to continue to do our best to represent them and work hard for them and continue trying to put Kingston and the Hudson Valley on the map.”

All regular season Stockade FC home games take place on Saturdays, and all begin at 6 p.m. The schedule is as follows: Rhode Island Reds (May 12), New York Athletic Club (June 2), Seacoast Mariners (June 9), Elm City Express (June 16), Boston City FC (June 30). Friendlies are scheduled for Saturday, May 5 at 6 p.m., and Sunday, June 24 at 6 p.m.

Kingston’s regular season road schedule includes games at Greater Lowell (Saturday, May 19), Hartford City (Saturday, May 26), TSF FC (Wednesday, May 30), Brooklyn Italians (Saturday, June 23), and the New York Cosmos B (Saturday, July 7). 

Saugerties High School last month inducted 47 students into the National Honor Society (NHS), an annual rite of passage for students who combine academic excellence with community service. “If a group of people can come together, it can represent the entire community in a positive light,” said SHS senior and National Honor Society president Tanesia White. “That’s what the National Honor Society is all about.” 

The National Honor Society was founded in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals as a means of encouraging civic engagement in students. 

To be eligible for consideration into the community service-based national organization, students in the eleventh or twelfth grade must maintain a grade point average of at least 90 percent. Those students list activities in and out of school and add an advisor recommendation. While academics are graded between two and four points, everything else is ranked on a scale of zero to four. An average of all categories must be at least 2.25 points before a student is inducted. 

SHS calculus and pre-calculus teacher Debra Cacchillo has been faculty advisor to the school’s National Honor Society for 34 years. While some of the group’s goals may change from year to year, others have seemingly been a staple of the community organization for years. “I let some of the students lead me,” said Cacchillo. “Julie Raleigh, she and her mom helped us collect for the women’s shelter, hats, gloves, scarves and socks. And we again collected for the Saugerties Food Pantry.”

The school’s NHS adopts at least one family during Christmas. This past December it raised funds so that a family with six children could have winter clothing and something special like a toy for the kids. 

“Christmas is a really important time, and it’s unfortunate that some people don’t get to celebrate it like other people might based on their level of wages,” said Tanesia White. “That was my proudest moment, helping a family celebrate Christmas. It was nice to give back to the community that way.” 

Families in need are identified and can be contacted by the school nurse’s office. “They make the initial contact with the family and make sure it’s something they’re open to, and they get the kids sizes and something they wanted,” said Cacchillo. The initiative is not just for the holiday season. “Any time anybody needs something, the nurse’s office knows they can come to us.”

The Saugerties chapter of the NHS holds two fundraisers each year, selling citrus fruit in the fall and discount cards in the spring. Similar in design to credit cards, said Cacchillo, the discount cards give the bearer discounts at local shops like Love Bites, Slices, Inquiring Minds Bookstore, and Main Street Restaurant. “Local businesses have been very generous,” said Cacchillo. 

The 2018 induction ceremony held this year on April 19 included a ceremonial candle-lighting and the election of officers. In addition to White, this year’s officers include vice-president Nicholas Hummer, secretary Zuzanna Mlynarczyk and treasurer Michael Averill.

Only 47 students were inducted this year, down from 67 in 2016-17. Cacchillo said the numbers rise and fall for a variety of reasons, including years where the number of upperclassmen are fewer.

Cacchillo said their work is part of a larger commitment on the part of the students to bettering the community in which they live. “These are very well-rounded students,” said Cacchillo. Well-rounded, but also too busy for formal NHS meetings. 

“These are kids that are involved in everything, so to get them all in one spot is next to impossible,” said Cacchillo. Most of the students in the NHS come through her classroom on a given day and can discuss the group’s work then. 

Saugerties High National Honor Society take community service and their work as an organization very seriously, White said. “It means a lot to me,” she said. “Community service plays a huge role in our school, and I feel it’s good that we have members that are willing to participate in community service events. It helps the community, and as students and teenagers it’s good to do stuff for our community.”

The site of the proposed power plant

After months of often-tense public response over a proposed 20-megawatt electric-generating power plant, the Ulster Town Board last month adopted a scoping document detailing plans for an environmental review of the project.

At April 19’s town board meeting, Supervisor James Quigley III and councilmen voted unanimously to accept the scoping document for the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center, a project developed by Lincoln Park DG LLC and sponsored by GlidePath, an energy concern based in the Midwest.

The power plant would operate on a small parcel of a 121-acre site currently owned by Kingston Landing LLC off Frank Sottile Boulevard. According to the developer’s plans, a building housing the equipment would stand between 30-40 feet in height and an exhaust stack would rise above the structure. Developers were initially determined to keep the stack below the 100-foot height limit for the area; several weeks ago they said they’d scaled back the proposed height to around 80 feet and hoped to get the stack lower than the tree line along the property, which is roughly 70 feet high. The project would include a 20 MW lithium ion battery array and natural gas-powered reciprocating engine generators which would switch to onsite low-sulfur diesel stored in a tank if the gas supply is disrupted.

Some of the public issues raised during a series of GlidePath presentations and town board meetings were still at the fore prior to councilmen adopting the plan as some details in the document continued to rankle. Dan Furman, a neighbor of the proposed project site, said questions about what the plant might sound like in the middle of the night would not be adequately addressed by the testing requirements in the scoping document.

“I was up here several times over the last couple months saying I want to know what this thing sounds like at 4 a.m. on a December night with no leaves on the trees,” said Furman. “Let me ask you guys: Is that an unreasonable request? We asked for when the trees are bare and during the hours of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., meaning the overnight, and somebody, whoever wrote this final scope, did read some of the comments, because they added the word ‘evening’ in the draft scope. If you ask the lawyer when we should test in the evening, they’re going to say, ‘6 p.m. That’s the evening.’ That’s not good enough.”

Prior to adopting the environmental review plans, the board amended the section relating to testing to accommodate Furman’s concerns.

“The applicant has indicated to me that they have no problem proceeding with additional tests if they are asked for them,” said Quigley. “Give it to me in writing, I will give it to them and make a request.”

Area resident Robert Barton said the scoping document didn’t make it clear enough who put the whole thing together, asking for greater transparency as the process moves forward.

“I would like to see who wrote and generated this document,” said Barton. “I think it should be part of the document who wrote it, who it is.”

Quigley said that the document had been prepared according to state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) guidelines, adding that town officials had also reviewed the information.

“We had two independent consultants and the alternative town engineers wrote this using a standard industry template … which was what the SEQR requirements call for,” said Quigley. “It gets expanded or contracted based upon the facts and elements of the specific project. It has been expanded based upon the comments. We’ve had two consultants and the engineers go through it. I’ve gone through it twice. My comments are here.”

Laura Hartmann of the new group Town of Ulster Citizens.org said that plans for a larger 1,200-megawatt power plant in North Bergen, N.J. might render the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center unnecessary.

“I think that should be mentioned somehow to GlidePath,” said Hartmann. “If that does happen, the need for this up here is definitely reduced.”

Included in the developer’s response is identifying the benefits of the project along with whether it’s even necessary, and some critics have noted that the plant would be of more use to people downstate than in the Hudson Valley.

Other concerns the developer will need to address include the potential visual impact within the Hudson River National Landmark Historic District, along with a study of whether the project fits in with the state’s increasingly green energy plan, the potential impact on amphibians and bats and the need for precise study of the boundaries of nearby federal wetlands.

How the project would impact employment and local taxes will also have to be addressed, as will the addition of a spill prevention and emergency response plan for the diesel storage tanks and any other potentially hazardous materials kept on the site.

In a prepared statement, GlidePath Chief Development Officer Peter Rood touted the depth of the scoping document and expressed confidence that the developer will be able to address any issues in the plan.

“This is a very thorough scope that was created with input from the public and leadership by the Town of Ulster,” said Rood. “We look forward to completing the full environmental analysis of the Lincoln Park Grid Support Center, providing detailed information to the public and ensuring that the project fully complies with all legal requirements for development.”

Pedro Espindola throws in (Crispin Kott)

Kingston Stockade FC had its first ever taste of US Open Cup action on Wednesday night, falling to the Long Island Rough Riders 6-3 in double overtime on a chilly night in Massapequa Park. Kingston went up 2-0 before the Rough Riders found their rhythm in the second half.

Bruce Jeter opened the scoring for Stockade with a tap in at 11 minutes, and Michael Creswick firing a rocket through at 52 minutes. But with the team losing Pedro Espindola to a hamstring injury around 20 minutes in, the offensive rhythm was undone. Matt Koziol drilled a penalty shot deep into the second overtime, but that was the end of the line.

One might expect Stockade FC to be a bundle of nerves making their Lamar Hunt Open Cup debut, and a paperwork snafu that left a reserve off the game time roster was perhaps indicative of a pervading level of anxiety. But the team that took the pitch was anything but nervous, shaking off a pair of preseason losses to look like a team on a mission through the first half and early in the second before they began to flag. Nervous, no. But eventually gassed. Kingston goalkeeper Steve Skonieczny turned away several Long Island shots but the odds eventually caught up with him. Stockade ran out of chances, but they never ran out of spirit.

Stockade celebrates after Michael Creswick’s second half goal (Crispin Kott)

Kingston faced a litany of cheap shots, both on and off the pitch. Long Island got chippy after going down early, both in their hard tackles and unsubtle shoves and with one another, patience wearing thin as the Kingston defense proved impenetrable. But there was foul play off the field too, with no functional showers in the locker room, a clear violation of Open Cup rules.

Kingston was cheered on by a modest but vocal throng of fans in the visitor’s bleachers.

The team won’t have much time to stew over the loss, with the National Premier Soccer League season set to start at Dietz Stadium on Saturday, May 12 with a visit from the Rhode Island Reds.

(Photo by Dion Ogust)

Voters in the Saugerties school district will next Tuesday will decide the fate of a $63.978-million budget proposal for the 2018-19 school year. The spending plan comes with a 2.53 percent tax- levy increase, the maximum possible without having to resort to approval from a supermajority of 60 percent or greater at the polls. 

“I feel like I say the same things every year,” said the SCSD business manager Lissa Jilek. “It’s a fiscally sound budget. We tried to minimize any fluctuations, which most of the fluctuations we see are with benefit costs. We’re taking advantage of any retirements throughout the district and reconsidering whether we’re going to replace those positions, so we’re looking at attrition.”

Spending in the proposed budget rose at roughly the same pace as the tax levy, a 2.55 percent increase, or $1,593,900 over the 2017-18 budget. In April, Jilek said the budget plan was difficult to craft for a variety of reasons, including one of the lowest state aid increases in Ulster County.

Jilek said the district was determined to offer its students consistency in the quality of their academic offerings as the district moves through the rapidly changing 21st century. “We continue to review our programs and invest in technology,” said Jilek. “We’re definitely going to continue to invest in technology, which therefore invests in our students. We will continue with summer school, the kindergarten jumpstart program that started last year. Everything is going to be continued.”

According to Jilek, the local property tax rate is $20.74 per $1000 of assessed value. 

“I think it provides the needed services for students to get a quality education while it keeps us under the tax cap,” said board president Bob Thomann. “I think it’s something that everyone can live with.”

Nearing the end of their current three-year terms are Thomann, James Mooney and Mike Maclary, none of whom will face challengers on the ballot. 

Maclary said he’s seeking reelection because he feels the school board’s current members are a solid representation of the community with a common purpose, even when they don’t always agree about the best path to follow. “We have a good board that works together,” Maclary said. “We don’t always agree, but it’s a broad group that brings a lot to the table. We’re all interested in continuing what we were working towards.” 

Polls will be open in all four of the district’s elementary schools next Tuesday, May 15 between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Voters in the Kingston City School District on Tuesday will decide the fate of a $175,032,027 budget proposal for the 2018-19 school year that would increase the local property tax levy by 2.62 percent and increase overall spending by 3.21 percent.

The spending plan represents an increase of $5,450,486 over the current school year’s budget, but it comes with a tax levy increase nearly a full percentage point lower than the state-mandated cap of 3.56 percent.

“We are almost a percentage point below the tax levy limit without losing any of the programs or the personnel that we have in place that have helped us make the gains that we have over the past several years,” said Superintendent Paul Padalino. “Smaller class sizes K-2, the support of our embedded professional development coaches, the advanced placement courses, the college courses, athletics; we were able to keep everything that we have and still be responsible to local taxpayers.”

Padalino said that the budget proposal hits the mark on the district’s annual ideal.

“Our goal is to balance the needs of our students with our community’s values and their ability to pay,” he said. “We know we have to deliver a world-class education, but we have to be efficient and we have to be considerate of the people who pay for it.”

Most increases in the budget proposal were relatively small, including employee benefits, which rose 1.6 percent, or regular school teaching costs, up 0.6 percent. But the district is also planning to increase spending an additional $1 million on special education, an increase of around 10 percent. Back on April 4, Padalino noted that the cost increase is important in providing the best education for students with disabilities.

“When we look at what special education is costing the school district, it’s a lot,” he said. “We spend a lot of money in support of our students with disabilities, as we should. We need to make sure students are getting what they need.”

Padalino credited the school board, which adopted the budget proposal on Wednesday, April 18, as well as the district’s business office for their roles in putting the pieces together.

“They watch every nickel and they make sure that we aren’t spending money on things that aren’t having an impact on kids,” Padalino said. “Every dollar represents doing something for kids and they get that.”

Continuity is the keyword for next year’s school board as well, as the three incumbents seeking reelection — Robin Jacobowitz, James Shaughnessy and Danielle Guido — will be on the ballot unopposed on Tuesday, May 15.

Jacobowitz’s board committee involvements include the Diversity Cadre, the Teaching and Learning Committee, and the District Leadership Team.

Shaughnessy, at one time the board president, is also a member of the Ulster BOCES Board of Education. In the KCSD he serves as chair of the Audit Committee, and is a member of both the Jefferson Committee and the District Comprehensive Improvement Plan Committee.

Guido is a member of the district’s Health and Wellness Committee, the Jefferson Committee and the Legislative Action Committee.

Other ballot measures

According to Padalino, two other ballot measures are philosophically linked.

In the first, voters will be asked to approve the creation of a new capital reserve fund, in part to hold the proceeds from the sale of the Cioni Building. Using the reserve fund in the future would also require voter approval.

In the second measure, the district will ask voters for approval to spend up to $16 million on capital projects at M. Clifford Miller Middle School, and both John F. Kennedy and Harry L. Edson elementary schools. The money would come from a combination of capital reserves and state building aid, and school officials stressed that the project would come at no additional cost to local taxpayers.

“The use of the capital reserve fund sort of speaks to why people should vote for the new one,” Padalino said. “We’re able to take the money that’s in the capital reserve, kind of marry that to our state aid and do $16 million worth of work at no additional cost to the taxpayers.”

At Edson, the district sees the need for selective site improvements, including concrete walkways and paving, window replacements, and mechanical upgrades.

JFK is also in need of site improvements, school officials believe, including walkway, ashpalt and masonry repairs. Windows and main entrance upgrades are also in the plan, as are selective mechanical upgrade, emergency lighting, and the need for a new elevator to bring it into ADA compliance.

Miller shares the same general need for site improvements, window replacement and emergency lighting, Padalino said, and they also need to replace old electric panel boards. And there are also plans for much needed work in the auditorium, said the superintendent. 

“When we use our capital reserve we don’t use it for fancy things,” said Padalino. “We use it for roofs. We use it for plumbing, heating, windows, things that keep our buildings warm, safe, clean, healthy for kids.”

Dietz Stadium

And finally, voters will also be asked to authorize the district to enter into negotiations with the City of Kingston to give up their half ownership of Dietz Stadium, allowing the city to use grant funds for up to $3 million in renovations and improvements. Padalino stressed that the ballot measure is not about whether to give up the district’s rights to Dietz, but rather to negotiate with the city about them.

“It’s so important that people understand that,” Padalino said. “It’s not a done deal. We’re not asking voters to approve a deal. There is no deal. This is asking the voters to give the Board permission to negotiate a possible deal to transfer our portion of the ownership over to the city.”

Padalino added that no deal would be made that would decrease the district’s access to the facility.

“Honestly, and I’ve said this to the mayor, anything that would diminish our current use and rights at Dietz would not be OK,” Padalino said. “We wouldn’t go forward. It’s either going to be better for us or the same. It won’t be less and it won’t be worse.”

Polls will be open on Tuesday, May 15 from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. in all seven of the district’s elementary schools. For more information, including how to figure out which school you vote in, visit: www.kingstoncityschools.org/domain/676

Ulster town officials are discussing how they would handle the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency’s proposed departure from accepting single-stream recycling from municipalities, with a handful of different options on the table.

The town switched to single-stream recycling for its residents two years ago, a move that allows users to bring all their recyclables to the town’s transfer station in a single container. According to Town Supervisor James Quigley III, the town moves around 200 tons of single-stream recycling a year to the UCRRA at a cost of $20 per ton. The agency, which doesn’t have the means to separate recyclables itself, sends the material elsewhere to be processed.

UCRRA officials have already approved doubling the cost of accepting single stream recyclables to $40 on July 1, but Quigley said concerns about the cost rising to as much as $75 per ton before discontinuing single-stream recycling altogether at the beginning of 2019 could require local residents to go back to separating their recyclables.

The UCRRA currently charges the town $103 per ton for disposing non-recyclable trash, and would likely accept separated recyclables for nothing because it allows them to sell the materials on to buyers who then recycle the glass, paper or metal. Single-stream recycling too often has contaminants in it; it’s therefore more difficult to find a buyer.

Town Highway Superintendent Frank Petramale said his department is looking into other options that might allow single-stream recycling to continue, but it could prove too costly to work.

“There’s an outfit in Beacon that will accept our single-stream,” he said. “And I just heard back from an outfit in Albany that they’d be more than happy to accept our single-stream for $65 a ton. Two years ago we paid zero to get rid of it.”

Instead, Petramale said, the town may have to scrap single-stream and go back to asking residents to separate their recycling before visiting the transfer station. He added that any such decision would have enough lead time for residents to plan accordingly.

“If that does happen, I’ve already got flyers made up and ready to go so we can give hopefully like a month-and-a-half notice to the residents that do come up to the transfer station,” he said. “Right now it’s very convenient. They put everything in their blue bin, they dump it and they go. One thing it’s going to do is it’s going to take longer for you to be at the transfer station, and it’ll probably back up sometimes during the busiest hours. But we want to let you guys know that we’re doing everything possible to make the right decision for what’s best for the town, whether it’s hauling it out to another recycling facility that will accept it, whether it’s Beacon or Saugerties or Albany. We’ll have more information as it comes up.”

Petramale said he planned on attending a UCRRA public hearing on the matter scheduled for Wednesday, May 23 at 5 p.m. in county legislative chambers at the County Office Building on Fair Street in Uptown Kingston. 

Paving plans

In other highway department news, the end of a long winter means the start of paving, with Petramale’s crew starting with areas affected by 17 water breaks during the cold weather. The town has published a list of more than 20 other roads expected to see some paving over the next few months. That list is available on the town’s website.

Petramale also shared the news that the Town was being reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damage caused by Stella, a hurricane-force winter storm that hit the Hudson Valley in March 2017. The total reimbursed comes to over $62,000.

“They cover all the overtime, all the equipment, all the materials, damage,” said Petramale. “We have to have one of the trucks towed out, they covered that cost. We knew we were getting the $53,000, but the state picked up an additional 12 and a half percent.”

Petramale credited highway department secretary Paula Perpetua for her role in securing the funds.

“Filling our FEMA paperwork is a nightmare,” Petramale said. “If you fill out one thing wrong they send it back to you.”

Petramale added that the arrival of spring has brought with it an even greater amount of pep in the step of his crew than before.

“Everyone’s working hard, staying healthy,” he said. “Morale is up now the sun is out and it’s a little warmer. The guys are truly working together and the results show.” 

KCSD school officials celebrated a clean sweep on Tuesday night as their $175 million budget proposal for the 2018-19 school year and three separate propositions all met widespread approval from voters, who turned out in fewer numbers than they had one year earlier.

In unofficial results, the $175,032,027 spending plan passed by a margin of 1,523-597, with voters in all seven elementary schools approving. The budget will increase the local property tax levy by 2.62 percent and increase overall spending by 3.21 percent. The spending plan represents an increase of $5,450,486 over the current school year’s budget, but it comes with a tax levy increase nearly a full percentage point lower than the state-mandated cap of 3.56 percent.

With a spring storm hammering the Hudson Valley during the day, fewer voters turned out than they did in 2017. A total 2,120 votes were cast on Tuesday compared to 2,875 last year. Even so, the percentages were greater in favor of the budget this year, with the 2017-18 spending plan passing by a margin of 1,863-1,012.

Superintendent Paul Padalino on Tuesday night said that this year’s results are a sign that the district had effectively managed to show voters that the annual goal of striking a budgeting balance between the needs of students and the public’s values and ability to pay had been met.

“It’s a good sign that we communicate well with the public,” Padalino said, adding that keeping spending well below of the tax cap was undeniably helpful. “Unless it’s a low tax levy, we really try to not push that envelope and be conscious of what our community is willing to pay. They know we are good stewards.”

The good feelings about the budget proposal also touched the three propositions before voters.

“We’re about 72 percent passing rate [on the budget] and everything else followed suit,” said Padalino.

By a margin of 1,617-459, voters approved the creation of a new capital reserve to hold the proceeds from the forthcoming sale of the Cioni Building. Using the reserve fund in the future will also require voter approval.

Voters also okayed spending up to $16 million on capital projects at M. Clifford Miller Middle School, and both John F. Kennedy and Harry L. Edson elementary schools. The money will come from a combination of capital reserves and state building aid. That proposition passed 1,586-500.

At Edson, the district sees the need for selective site improvements, including concrete walkways and paving, window replacements, and mechanical upgrades.

JFK is also in need of site improvements, school officials believe, including walkway, ashpalt and masonry repairs. Windows and main entrance upgrades are also in the plan, are selective mechanical upgrade, emergency lighting, and the need for a new elevator to meet ADA compliance.

Miller shares the same general need for site improvements, window replacement and emergency lighting, Padalino said, and they also need to replace old electric panel boards. And there are also plans for much needed work in the auditorium, added the superintendent. 

Dietz talks can begin

A proposition authorizing the district to enter into negotiations with the City of Kingston to give up their half ownership of Dietz Stadium passed 1,673-413. Should negotiations go as planned and the city is given full ownership of the stadium, the district would still have priority access for sports and other events as it does under the current arrangement. But as sole owner, the city would be eligible for grant funds for up to $3 million in renovations and improvements.

On Tuesday night, Padalino said he expected the Dietz conversation would likely happen sooner rather than later. 

“My guess is the mayor is probably going to want to talk tomorrow,” Padalino said.

In a public Facebook post on Tuesday night, Kingston Mayor Steve Noble applauded the results in the Dietz referendum. 

“This is wonderful news,” Noble wrote. “Looking forward to working out the details with the superintendent and the board over the coming months and I am excited to improve Dietz stadium for our community to use for generations to come!”

Less surprising were the results of the school board elections, which saw three incumbents running unopposed re-elected handily. Robin Jacobowitz led with 1,614 votes, while James Shaughnessy (1,608) and Danielle Guido (1,583) also won new three-year terms.

(Photo by Dion Ogust)

Saugerties voters overwhelmingly approved a $62.4-million school budget for 2018-19 on Tuesday. The turnout was lower than usual, however. 

Whether the weather might have been a factor in the turnout is unclear. School officials were pleased that the spending plan, which comes with a 2.53 percent tax-levy increase, passed by a margin of 663-345. 

A spring storm hammered the Hudson Valley on Tuesday, leading to the power being knocked out at one of the district’s four polling places, Grant D, Morse Elementary School. A generator was used to run the voting machines in the school. 

“I’d like to thank the folks who went out yesterday,” said district business manager Lissa Jilek on Wednesday morning. “We appreciate that. And thanks to the Centerville Fire Department, because without them voting wouldn’t have been possible. People would have been voting with flashlights. Talk about a community coming together. That was awesome.”

With a total of 1008 votes cast, the budget was decided by significantly fewer people than in recent years. The 2017-18 budget saw 1600 votes cast, passing by a margin of 1104-496. And 1578 people voted in 2016, with the spending plan passing 1082-496. This year’s voting total was less than half of what it was in 2015 and in 2013.

School officials hoped that the district has earned the public’s trust. “There’s continuity in the administration, and that has allowed for consistency,” said superintendent Seth Turner. “And we’ve had a number of clean audits from a variety of different entities, be it the comptrollers’ office, internal auditors and external auditors.”

Turner said the roughly two-to-one ratio in favor of the budget has been fairly consistent over the past few years.

Jilek agreed. “I think we’re demonstrating that we have a sound budget process, a sound school district, and that we’re making sound educational and financial decisions,” she said. “I think they’re thankful that we’re trying to be conservative and always try to stay within the tax cap for the past several years.” 

Turner hoped budget passage meant the district can now get on with the process of preparing for the 2018-19 school year. “There’s a number of actions built into the budget planned for next year,” Turner said. 

Among those actions is a recent court mandate that all Boces systems share post-retirement benefits of all component school districts. The shift means in Saugerties that Boces employees working exclusively within the district are now considered Saugerties district employees. While the move resulted in a jump of Boces administrative expenses of around $185,000, the district’s overall Boces costs will be 5.3 percent lower in 2018-19.

“Believe it or not, I’m already thinking about 2019-20,” Jilek said. “I can’t wait to put all my budget data to bed, so to speak, and start on next year.”

Voters also reelected three unopposed members of the current school board. Raymond Maclary led with 767 votes, followed by James Mooney with 753, and board president Robert Thomann with 750.

Kingston City School District officials last week defended the district’s decision to issue a shelter-in-place for students as a tornado warning was issued at the end of the school day. The mid-afternoon storm that rolled through the Hudson Valley on Tuesday, May 15 created several tornadoes, including one in the Village of Saugerties, knocked out power across the county and resulted in three deaths.

At a school board meeting the following day, district Superintendent Paul Padalino said that parents who told students to ignore the safety measure from school administrators were sending a potentially dangerous message which could make things difficult during future emergency situations.

“I appeal to our parents: We have safety protocols in place for a reason, we do these drills for a reason, and they are not to keep your student away from you or just to do it,” said Padalino. “It’s because we’re worried about the safety of our students. We spent a lot of time and effort developing these procedures and making sure that our kids are safe. If we put into students’ minds the idea that, ‘You don’t have to listen to the adults in the building during an emergency,’ that is a scary situation for us. Because it could be something other than a tornado warning. It could be an active shooter. And if at that point a student has it in their mind that, ‘I don’t have to follow this plan because my mother or father says I do what they said and not what the building principal says,’ we have a tragedy. And we cannot have that.”

Padalino said the district’s shelter-in-place call came after the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Kingston and neighboring communities at around 2:50 p.m. on Tuesday, close to dismissal time for many of the district’s elementary schools.

“We were told ‘get to shelter’ right when we were about to start dismissing students,” Padalino said. “So our job at that point is to get our students to shelter.”

The superintendent added that some building principals asked waiting parents and bus drivers to seek shelter inside the schools.

The National Weather Service warning was lifted at 3:30 p.m., but school officials said issues with some how some parents responded to the district’s efforts to keep students safe lasted much longer.

“For a parent to tell their student, ‘No, don’t do what that building principal tells you to do, do what I tell you to do’ is a problem for us,” Padalino said. “In an emergency situation, we are to act as reasonable and prudent parents, and the safest places in the community in those situations are probably our school buildings.”

Trustee Kathy Collins backed the administration’s decision to issue the shelter-in-place directive, adding that she thought it was handled well in all affected buildings.

“As much of an inconvenience as it might have been, I just want to say I think it was the right call for our administration to do the shelter in place,” she said. “I’m thankful to our teachers and staff and drivers for keeping everybody safe and sound. It was a little big chaotic, but I’m just thankful that we made that call, and for everyone’s efforts.”

Padalino stressed that the decision to call for the shelter-in-place directive was not taken lightly.

“If the decision is made that we need to hold our buses, and we need to hold our students in our school buildings, that decision is made for a real reason,” he said. “I don’t do that without thinking about the fact that we have 6,000 students getting on … 135 different buses that travel all over the city … We don’t randomly call a shelter-in-place for nothing. We called that because we thought there was an imminent warning, and as you can see in several of our surrounding communities, there were, you know, serious issues.”

The shelter-in-place issue occurred on the same day that all seven elementary schools in the district served as polling stations for a number of propositions, school board elections and the fate of the district’s $175,032,027 budget proposal for the 2018-19 school year. There was some speculation that the storm led to a lower turnout at the polls, with 2,120 votes cast on Tuesday compared to 2,875 one year earlier. Still, the budget passed easily by a margin of 1,523-597.