You can't legislate stupidity, but you can legislate stupidly. And bureaucracys try both. Let us hope that the Judge's decision rules and survives any challenges.
I look at some of these trail adovcates like some of the Nimby's and Bananas I have dealt with recently in the permiting process my boss is going thru for his new wash rack. We finally got it approved when it came out that our wash rack as it is now is in violation of the Clean Water Act yet the Idiots opposing it were more upset about the construction of the new one. Then it came out that they were also against the proposed upgrades to the city sewer and the township were I live in their Sewer upgrade. Yet they are threatening to sue my boss in court for not following the law on permitting. He has been trying for close to 10 years to get the permits needed and these people have been blocking him every single step of the way. Gotta love some people don't yah.
zardoz tree68 One of the "trail advocates" has no love for the railroad, and this dislike dates back at least to the 1980 Olympics. He has apparently said that he's spent substantial money on the effort to get the tracks lifted, and is prepared to spend whatever it takes. Of all the needy causes in this world, this egotist would do well to throw money at a more important concerns. Karma works either way....
tree68 One of the "trail advocates" has no love for the railroad, and this dislike dates back at least to the 1980 Olympics. He has apparently said that he's spent substantial money on the effort to get the tracks lifted, and is prepared to spend whatever it takes.
One of the "trail advocates" has no love for the railroad, and this dislike dates back at least to the 1980 Olympics. He has apparently said that he's spent substantial money on the effort to get the tracks lifted, and is prepared to spend whatever it takes.
Of all the needy causes in this world, this egotist would do well to throw money at a more important concerns. Karma works either way....
Well said!
Firelock76I learned a new word a few months back, read it in an outdoor recreation magazine, the word is "touron."
Hey - now I've learned a new word, too! And based on what I've read about some of the core group of "trail advocates," at least one of them would find the term useful.
Of course, these folks want everyone to think that they'll welcome all the "new" hikers, etc, so you won't see them bandying that word out locally.
They dare not say that they don't want the snowmobilers, either, because the snowmobile community hates the track structure and wants it gone so it doesn't interfere with their sport. At least I get that - except that if the tracks come up, they won't be riding on the corridor at all...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
"...a bunch of elitists who want everyone out of THEIR woods..."
Wouldn't surprise me. I learned a new word a few months back, read it in an outdoor recreation magazine, the word is "touron."
It's a combination of two words, tourist and moron, and it's a favorite word outdoor elitists use to describe anyone who comes into what they consider their own private playground. Says a lot, doesn't it?
By the way, this particular outdoor mag, a local publication, has that attitude of as far as the outdoors are concerned "the more the merrier!"
mudchickenIn the meantime, hoping here that some of the true intentions are exposed so this doesn't become a war of financial attrition with just the lawyers benefitting from the $$$ wasted.
On the plus side for the rails, apparently only two of the 37 (I think) cases he's ruled on that have been appealed to a higher court have been overturned. He's quite thorough.
Aside from the mayor of Lake Placid, who has just recently drunk the Kool-aid, I believe folks are starting to see the "trail advocates" for what they are - a bunch of elitists who simply want everyone out of their woods.
One must remember that there is a fringe "out there" of folks who would prefer that the only way to enter the Adirondack Park would be on foot. I don't think the "trail advocates" are quite that extreme, but their thought process is little different.
The "trail advocates" learned that there was more than one 600# gorilla in the room. Interesting outcome, so far. In the meantime, hoping here that some of the true intentions are exposed so this doesn't become a war of financial attrition with just the lawyers benefitting from the $$$ wasted.
The surveyor side of me still has questions.
Judge Main himself, swearing in a new judge in 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNIHMVEbOsE
His father was also a judge.
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/04/nyregion/robert-g-main-80-new-york-appellate-judge.html?mcubz=3
Ditto great news
Good Good ...nice to see rational thought still exists here and there.
tree68 http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/09/judge-sides-with-railroad-annuls-state-plan-to-replace-tracks-with-trail/ The judge in the case has ruled that the decision to lift the tracks in favor of a trail was "arbitrary and capricious." The decision will undoubtedly be appealed by the "trail advocates." And even if the "trail advocates" had won, they wouldn't have been happy - they want the entire railroad north of Thendara lifted. Whether this means there will be operations next year between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, or if the exceedingly popular rail bikes will return remains to be seen. As part of the "compromise" that brought about the decision to lift the rails the state had said they would fund rehabilitation of the tracks between Big Moose and Tupper Lake. We'll see how that goes now.
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2017/09/judge-sides-with-railroad-annuls-state-plan-to-replace-tracks-with-trail/
The judge in the case has ruled that the decision to lift the tracks in favor of a trail was "arbitrary and capricious."
The decision will undoubtedly be appealed by the "trail advocates." And even if the "trail advocates" had won, they wouldn't have been happy - they want the entire railroad north of Thendara lifted.
Whether this means there will be operations next year between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, or if the exceedingly popular rail bikes will return remains to be seen.
As part of the "compromise" that brought about the decision to lift the rails the state had said they would fund rehabilitation of the tracks between Big Moose and Tupper Lake. We'll see how that goes now.
Reading down in the article posted by Larry (tree68); I can unbderstand his feeling of 'victory' for the ASR, and the rail advocacy tangle. I was heartended by the passage[ FTA:] "...The 2016 UMP [unit management plan] is annulled and vacated, in its entirety, and in each and every part,” acting state Supreme Court Justice Judge Robert Main Jr. informed the state departments of Environmental Conservation and Transportation and the state Adirondack Park Agency.
Further from the article: "...
The order
The judge found that removing railroad infrastructure to construct a trail would effectively remove Segment 2 from Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor designation; therefore, such a use could not be allowed in a unit management plan for the travel corridor.
“The multi-recreational use trail would be just that, a recreational trail,” Judge Main wrote. “The SLMP [State Land Master Plan] expressly defines travel corridors in terms of either automobile or railroad transportation. … The Court rejects respondents’ self-serving conclusion that the 2016 UMP is consistent with the SLMP.”
The judge goes on for several pages, calling the plan “an impermissible circumvention of the APA Act” and saying the state’s rationale on this matter is “not based in reason.”
Another point of contention in the lawsuit was that the plan violates historic preservation laws since the travel corridor is on the state and national Registers of Historic Places. The state had argued in its planning process that it would honor the history of the line through a number of interpretive displays along the length of the trail. The state submitted a letter to the court saying it would work on a more comprehensive preservation plan.
But the judge tore that to pieces, calling it “irrational and nonsensical. … This lack of meaningfully addressing any mitigation or avoidance plan is fatal to the 2016 UMP..."
and then this:..However, the judge found this lack of title to the entire corridor to be another fatal blow.
“It is, thus, likewise undisputed that the 2016 UMP is based upon mistaken information, assumptions, and beliefs,” he wrote. “That such a reasonable and appropriate title review, which is basic and ordinary legal research, did not occur until after approval … is inexplicable.
“Whether the owners will enter some type of agreement, require the State of New York to exercise its eminent domain powers, or agree to some other alternative is the subject of conjecture not appropriate for this court.”
Main’s final order was that the APA, DEC and DOT develop and approve “a UMP that complies with the instant decision.” He also said these agencies “hereby are enjoined and restrained from implementing the 2016 UMP pending preparation and approval of a revised UMP that conforms with the instant decision, order and judgment.”
A DEC spokesman said the agency will put out a press release later Wednesday and declined to comment further..."
The article goes further,and contains some comments from the trail supporters that voice their support of their positions....
Fibally there was this comment in summation :"...Village Mayor Paul Maroun said passenger trains would be a good form of mass transport, connecting three major Adirondack villages to downstate and the rest of the country. He has also supported a trail beside the rails, which state agencies said would not be feasible.
“I know that in my heart I always thought the rail should keep operating because I think it’s a way of mass transportation into the heart of the Adirondacks,” Maroun said. “From being a naval officer, you don’t tear up a strategic type of transportation — in fact, in this area, one of the few strategic types of transportation into the heart of the Adirondacks..." a voice for rationality? I do wish the ASR luck and good fortune, as we await the next chpter in this tale of "...How the stomach churns, in New York State..."
Good. Best of luck on the continuing battle.
Fantastic!
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