TO: Batchellerville Bridge Action Committee Members
FROM: Peter VanAvery
DATE: June 4, 2004
We are continuing our high-water damage survey. Some snowbirds have not come back yet, and some property owners are waiting for estimates from contractors. We are collecting data on damage to private property (docks, ramps, stairways, boats, etc.) last spring and fall/winter. Since the state owns the shoreline, we cannot include the costs of repairing erosion damage. You will find a survey form on our web site: www.nybbac.org. We also are running blank forms in two local publications, The Sacandaga Monthly and The Sacandaga Times. Please tell your neighbors about them. The Regulating District has shown no interest in amending the reservoir's 2002 Federal license, which dictates the conditions when the Regulating District can or cannot release water. A high damage total will allow us to take our case directly to the Governor, who wields executive control over the agency, and to other elected officials.
On May 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC, ruled that the Regulating District's operation of the reservoir last fall was in compliance with the terms of the new license. This came in response to a complaint from Daniel and Dori Bailey of Hadley. As you may recall, FERC ruled on January 15 that the Regulating District's operation of the reservoir last spring also was in compliance with the terms of the license. That ruling came in response to a complaint from me. Together, these two rulings absolve the Regulating District of any blame for the excessively high water levels during the 59-day period from April to June 2003 and during the 52-day period from November 2003 to January 2004. As we have long held, the license is at fault -- not the Regulating District's interpretation of it -- and needs to be changed. The GSL Fisheries Federation, one of the 29 stakeholders that negotiated the license, had argued the reverse. Clearly, it negotiated and signed a document that it did not understand, and it was probably not alone.
Speaking of water levels, it's deja vu all over again. On May 24, after torrential rains hit the watershed, the lake's rising level passed the 768 mark, the point at which the reservoir is considered "full." On May 28, the level exceeded 771, the crest of the spillway at the dam. The Regulating District is currently releasing water at the rate of about 4,000-5,000 cubic feet per second. The level dropped back below 771 on June 1 and is currently at 770.5. Once again, wave action is chewing away the shoreline, and boaters are playing dodge ball with floating debris.
The next Regulating District board meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 15, at the Town of Colonie's Public Operations Building, 347 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham. A major agenda item will be approval of the 2004/05 budget. The freeze on access permit fees will continue for one more year. But when Fiscal Year 2005/06 comes along, watch out!
Earlier this year, Executive Director Richard Lefebvre promised access permit holders that the Regulating District's budget process would be more "transparent" -- that is, conducted without benefit of smoke and mirrors. The 2004/05 budget was introduced at the April meeting, discussed at the May meeting, and, as noted above, will be voted on at the June meeting. However, there's a catch. The budget material handed out to access permit holders in attendance at the April meeting was very detailed. Under expenses, for example, you could learn how much the Regulating District proposed to spend on legal services in its continuing battle to force downstream hydro plants to pay their fair share of the reservoir's operating and maintenance costs. But at the May meeting, that line item was lumped with other contractual services in a pie chart. You had to ask to obtain the figure.
Also at the May meeting, Executive Director Lefebvre proposed reducing the budget cycle from three years to one year. Considering the contortions the Regulating District has gone through since last Fall when an outraged public shot down its attempt to hike access permit fees by 500-1,000 percent, that's an excellent idea. Mr. Lefebvre also proposed expanding the board to seven members, up from the current five (one seat is vacant), and fill them with "experts" from such state agencies as the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Adirondack Park Agency, and the Department of Transportation. Does a public benefit corporation with a piddling annual budget of $6.1 million need seven directors? I think not. My preference is for quality -- not quantity. And as for DOT, it is infamous for its arrogance and indifference to public opinion -- two areas in which the District already excels.
Reliant Energy, Inc., of Houston has agreed to sell 71 hydroelectric facilities around upstate New York to Brascan Corp. of Toronto for $900 million. The deal, which needs to be approved by Federal regulators, includes hydro facilities at the Conklingville Dam and downstream. The facility at the dam is operated by Erie Boulevard Hydropower, a division of Reliant.