Friday, January 28, 2011

Single Family Homes, Senior Housing, Hotel? What's the Future of 600 Acres on the Hudson?

With the intended abandonment by Cabrini of their 600-acre West Park property on the Hudson River, the future of a huge tract of riverfront land adjacent to the Marist Bros. property and the Burroughs' Riverby house, and across from Vanderbilt, is up in the air.

The three ideas that have become public are 1. single-family housing, 2. senior housing or 3. a hotel. That's according to Supervisor Coutant's quote in the Freeman.

The Record and the Journal are also following the story, and the Watershed Post is aggregating the news.

Friday, January 14, 2011

FEMA Implements Flood Insurance Provisions

As of January 1, 2011, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)began implementing a flood insurance provision to the National FloodInsurance Program (NFIP) to help reduce the financial burden placed onproperty owners whose buildings are newly mapped into a high-riskflood area. The NFIP’s Preferred Risk Policy (PRP) offers low-costflood insurance to owners and tenants of eligible residential and non-residential buildings located in moderate- to low-risk areas.

Before 2003, more than 70 percent of the nation’s flood maps were atleast ten years old. Congress passed a law and appropriated funds in2003 directing FEMA to create the five-year Flood Map Modernizationprogram, which used more current data and the latest technology toupdate the maps. Consequently, many property owners are finding theirbuildings have been accurately mapped into higher risk areas. Agingflood control infrastructure, including levees, dams, and otherstructures have also resulted in large numbers of properties beingdesignated within Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) where they arerequired by lenders to purchase flood insurance.

For more information and links to fact sheets and answers toFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs), please see:http://www.semo.state.ny.us/programs/mitigation/federal_flood_insuran...
Rick Lord
Chief of Mitigation Programs & Agency Preservation Officer
NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services
NYS OEM Office of Emergency Management
1220 Washington Avenue Albany, NY 12226-2251
518.292.2370 landline 518.322.4983 fax 518.867.9482 cell
www.dhses.ny.gov
P Please don't print if you don't have to
New York State Warning PointNew York State Office of Emergency Management
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services24/7 Phone: (518) 292-220024/7 fax: (518) 322-498224/7 Email: ny...@dhses.ny.gov (Note New EMAIL Address)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Supporting the Removal of PCBs from the Hudson

At the December 20th meeting of the Environmental Subcommittee a resolution was brought forward supporting the continued removal of PCBs from the Hudson. Despite lobbying from GE representatives, and an early letter from the County Chairman, Clearwater spokesperson Manna Jo Greene presented information that moving forward with removal of PCBs was necessary.