We need one or two good salespeople to help us grow. Must have vehicle, cell phone,
basic computer skills and access to a computer with email. Previous sales experience a plus.

Can be full-time, part-time or spare time. Potential limited only by ambition.

 Call (518) 821-6466 or email
news@columbiapaper.com
(with SALES in the subject line, please) so we can talk.

 

Enjoy!
For a Free Tour Map click here

By Karen Diperi 

 Do you have skills in letter writing or research?
The Copake Economic Advisory Board is looking for volunteers to join our Stimulus Committee to assist in identifying and applying forvailable grants and stimulus packages for our town!
 
The CEAB will be researching:

 

Water
Farming
Broadband
Solar Energy
Historic Preservation
Senior Living
Recreation
The Arts
Theater
 
Volunteering is a rewarding way to get more involved in helping your town.
 If interested please email:  ceabc@googlegroups.com
 
Please provide:
Your full name, address and phone number
A brief description of your background
Your availability (hours per week)
Any specific area of interest

Written by DIANE VALDEN    
http://www.columbiapaper.com/index.php/the-news/343-by-diane-valden
 

COPAKE--Delinquent debts are dogging Housing Resources of Columbia County, but the agency's executive director does not see that as an obstacle to going forward with the controversial housing project adjacent to the hamlet.
 
 After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, Housing Resources of Columbia County Executive Director Kevin O'Neill made an unscheduled appearance at the June 4 Planning Board meeting. Housing Resources' proposal for a 138-unit senior and mixed-income housing development, called Copake Green, was the reason for his appearance, and he told board members that his agency is now ready to pick up where it left off in December 2006.
 
  Since then, Mr. O'Neill said his agency has spent $400,000 on engineering and development, along with environmental studies at the project site, which is a 122-acre cornfield abutting the northwest section of the hamlet. The parcel is also bordered by Center Hill, Farm and Mountain View roads. 
 
  Some of those "pre-development engineering expenses" cited by Mr. O'Neill remain unpaid, along with $29,000 in delinquent water and sewer bills his organization owes the City of Hudson and an estimated $25,000 in loan payments for architectural services owed to the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA).
 
  Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera told The Columbia Paper Tuesday that he called Mr. O'Neill into his office to talk about the unpaid water and sewer bills last month after Mr. O'Neill was "fairly unresponsive" to calls from the city's billing clerk.
 
  The bills, which date from the first of the year, are for 11 different properties in the city owned by Housing Resources. Some of the properties contain 15 to 20 units, according to the mayor.
 
  "He told me it was a cash flow problem" but that he would pay up when he closed on the Hudson Homestead project, which he expected to be "any day; that was a month ago," said Mayor Scalera.
 
  The city will not treat Mr. O'Neill differently from anyone else who fails to pay his bills, said the mayor, noting that if the bills remain unpaid at the end of the year, they will be added to his tax bill, and if they still aren't paid, the properties in question can be put up for tax sales.
 
  Housing Resources "is one of the major parties delinquent" on its bills, "but not the only one," said Mr. Scalera.
 
  Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency Executive Director Peter Markou confirmed to The Columbia Paper that Housing Resources has an estimated $25,000 in loan payments overdue to that agency, money Housing Resources borrowed for architectural services.
 
  Mr. O'Neill tried, apparently unsuccessfully, to obtain a $100,000 loan from the Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) to pay off some of the creditors.
 
  Ken Flood, executive director of the CEDC, said that on November 26, 2008, the CEDC issued Housing Resources a $100,000 loan commitment to help finance the Copake housing project by paying some of the "pre-development costs." But that loan commitment is due to expire July 15, and as a contingency of that commitment, Housing Resources had to secure $218,000 from another funding source, said Mr. Flood.
 
  With July 15 fast approaching and Housing Resources unable to meet the contingency, Mr. O'Neill recently met with CEDC to ask for additional time. The board did not approve a motion to extend the deadline, according to Mr. Flood. If Housing Resources fails to close on the CEDC's loan by July 15, Mr. O'Neill will have to start the whole process over again to get the money, said Mr. Flood.
 
  Reached for comment Tuesday afternoon, Mr. O'Neill disputed the amount owed to HCDPA, saying the total was $12,000 and was for a mortgage held by the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency on a property Housing Resources purchased.
 
  He said his agency's delinquency on its water and sewer bills was due to "trouble collecting rents." Tenants are unemployed and are having "a hard time," and that means his agency is "slow in paying some bills."
 
  Mr. O'Neill said that his agency is "making progress" by selling property in Hudson, which will take care of some bills, as will an upcoming $1-million grant anticipated in connection with the Hudson Homestead project.
 
  In March 2006, Housing Resources was the subject of an unfavorable audit by NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance and training for community-based revitalization efforts, according to the organization's website: www.nw.org/network/aboutUs.
 
  The NeighborWorks audit of Housing Resources financial records found that the agency could not explain where $1.5 million in capital grants went. Housing Resources was also the victim of an employee, who embezzled $22,000 from the agency.
 
  NeighborWorks America put Housing Resources on "provisional status" at that time.
 
  The Columbia Paper could not reach NeighborWorks for comment by press time.
 
  Until a year ago, Housing Resources owed Copake about $9,000 in unpaid consultant fees. The consultants were hired by the Planning Board in the course of reviewing the Copake Green application.
 
  Mr. O'Neill said he expected to make arrangements to be back on the Planning Board's agenda by August or certainly September at the latest.

 

We hope you'll join us!
Board of Directors:
Dick Barton   Robin Bruce  Deb Cohen
Jane Peck  Phil Race  Leslie Wood Milbrey Zelley
 
Friends of Taconic State Park, PO Box 82, Copake Falls, New York12517
info@FriendsofTSP.org | coming soon: www.FriendsofTSP.org

 

Laws focused on our health are popping up all over the place these days. California is the most recent state to institute a law forcing fast food and chain restaurants to post the calories for each of their menu items to help locals eat healthier. But apparently that kind of health craze has not affected the town of Chandler, Arizona -- at least not one restaurant.
The Heart Attack Grill is a Chandler hot spot. This hospital-themed restaurant happily serves up dishes loaded with calories and fat. But they don't even hide the fact that their food is unhealthy. The burgers are named after medical procedures which you would need if you, in fact, had a heart attack -- which is quite possible if you decide to eat one.
 
The Quadruple bypass, the big daddy of all their burgers features four meat patties, weighing in around 2 lbs., and loads of cheese contains a whopping 8,000 calories. And everything -- every single dish -- is cooked in lard. The restaurant's catch phrase, "Taste Worth Dying For," has caused a stir among the health conscious but owner Jon Basso insists that he will not give in to pressure from health organizations to cut trans fat.
 
Jon Basso himself has been at the center of the controversy. Having written the The Heart Attack Grill Diet, teaching readers how to "Eat, Drink and Smoke their way to Better Health" and upsetting nursing organizations in the local area with the provocative nurse costumes worn by his female staff, Basso has made some enemies but it's definitely not hurting business.
 
He continues to draw criticism with a policy put in place by the restaurant: patrons weighing over 350 lbs. eat at The Heart Attack Grill for free. But the man and his 8,000 calorie burger aren't going anywhere and they won't change a thing.