Following the parade, an awards ceremony will take place with music provided by Ratboy Jr and the Sweet Clementines.

For additional information, e-mail Eileen Hedley at ebhedley@gmail.com or call 255-6724.

The event, which was first held in 2009, is a day full of cupcakes, food, music, local vendors, wine tastings and activities for children. Previously held on Main Street in Gardiner, this year the festival moves to Wright’s Farm to allow for more cupcakes and fun. With the new location, the ability to expand the event has become possible, this year — in addition to more than 15 cupcake vendors — there will be more activities for kids, including face painting, cupcake decorating, helicopter rides, pony rides, wagon rides and an obstacle course bouncy house.

“We are thrilled to host the Gardiner Cupcake Festival and are looking forward to another great event this year,” said Tammy Wright-Boylan of Wright’s Farm. “This is not only a fun event for local residents and families, but also for those who are visiting our area. We hope to showcase all that Ulster County has to offer when it comes to sweets, wines, shopping and more.”

In addition to cupcakes from Wright’s Farms, the festival will showcase creations from Deising’s Bakery in Kingston, Sweet Maresa’s Upstate Cupcake and Moxie Cupcakes both from New Paltz, Bread Alone from Boiceville and Bettie’s Cakes from Saratoga Springs, who will be returning with its popular double-decker bus. Other food vendors include Full Moon Farms, Meadow View Farms, Pasquale Pizza, Twisted Pretzels and Aba’s Falafels. There will even be cupcake-flavored ice cream from Lazy Crazy Acres.

The event will open with music from the Ben Rounds Band, followed by IS and closing with the Dylan Emmet Band.

The event is free this year with a small donation for parking. Proceeds of this year’s event will benefit the Gardiner Fire Department and Rescue Squad. Wright’s Farm is located at 699 State Road 208 in Gardiner. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/gardinercupcakefestival.

“Why so large cost…”

– William Shakespeare, Sonnet 146

Though it’s pretty clear that capitalism is here to stay, and I know it’s better than communism, there are certain people – and I’m certainly one of them – who don’t do all that well in a capitalist economy, either as a buyer or a seller. I’m fine if the price is set at a store or something, where bargaining is not possible. I’m also fine if I’m a worker at a large organization, where what I’m paid is pretty much out of my control. It’s where individuals determine their own prices for things – especially their services – that I have problems.

For example, here’s something that happened to me many years ago. I was going to do a performance of my songs at a local venue, and I wanted to have it professionally videotaped. I asked around about who would be good, and was given a name and phone number. I had absolutely no idea what it would cost.

I called the guy and told him what I had in mind, and then asked that inevitably awkward question, “What do you charge?”

“How much are you willing to pay?” he asked in response.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I have no idea what the usual cost is for something like this.”

“Well, don’t worry about that,” he said. “I’m reasonable. What can you afford?”

“Okay,” I said, and I gave some number which seemed reasonable to me.

“What, are you kidding?!” he said, practically yelling. “I’m a professional. I have very good equipment. That’s insulting!”

Needless to say, I didn’t use his services, and wound up asking a friend to do the taping. He did it for free, and, of course, it came out terrible, certainly nothing I could use to get gigs at other venues.

I learned that the first rule of negotiating prices for services is to ask what the person charges, and focus on that; never say what you have in mind first. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily lead to a pleasant interaction either, especially if the charge is way above what you want to spend, because then you have two choices. You can be a wimp and accept whatever they say (“Oh, $10,000 for videotaping my daughter’s wedding? Of course! I assume you take credit cards.”).

Or you can bargain, although this can bring you right back to the possibility of being yelled at. “That’s a bit more than I can afford,” you might say. “Could you come down a little?” Now you are leaving the opening for the videographer to say, “Well what can you afford?” Which brings you back to the possibility of being snapped at when you come back with, “Well, how about $2,500?”

The solution to all this is to deal with people whose prices are clearly posted somewhere (perhaps on the Internet), though in this case, too, you may feel tempted to ask for a lower price, especially if you feel the person doing the work is not getting much business lately, and is, in fact, desperate. One of the joys of capitalism is that someone is always scared of running out of money, and fearful people are fun to manipulate for your own gain or savings.

All of this leads to my second rule, which is this: Forget the first rule, and deal only with major companies – you know, the ones that are destroying the world – whose prices are fixed and non-negotiable, but generally lower than all the smaller companies they are driving out of business.

Sometimes in price setting, the shoe is on the other foot. Over the years, I have often been hired to entertain, either by reading my exceptionally humorous columns or singing my even more hilarious songs. I will get an e-mail or phone call asking me if I’d provide entertainment for a luncheon or for after a dinner.

I suppose I should have price lists on my website, but I’m too old-fashioned for that, so I call back, and everything is fine until, as it inevitably must, the question of cost comes up. I feel like saying, “Couldn’t we talk about something else?” but I know I have to respond.

“Well, I typically charge — dollars,” I say.

Now, one of the two things happens. They say, “Perfect. That’s just what we were thinking,” in which case I feel, “Sh-t, I should have asked for $– more!”

Or they say, sounding rather pitiful, “Well, that’s kind of high for us.” Inevitably, this is some kind of community organization for seniors, and I feel the guilt pouring over me.

“Okay,” I say, “how about — (which is 10-20% less)?”

“Thank you,” they say. “That’s fine.”

And I get off the phone with a combination of joy over being a good person and anger at myself over a being a patsy. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and I am clearly a miniature poodle.

Although the “yes” votes outnumbered the “no” votes 1,035 to 994, it wasn’t nearly enough to reach the 60 percent majority vote that is required if a school board puts up a budget that increasing the tax levy by more than the state cap.

As for the six-person race for the three available seats on the school board, at least two members of the 60 Percenter group won handedly. Newcomer Debbie Pagano received the highest number of votes, 1,060. She was followed by newcomer Michael Bakatsias with 977 votes. A third candidate could not be declared since only one vote separated current school board President Vincent Rizzi from newcomer Michael Reid. Rizzi had 880 votes and Reid 879.

There were 14 affidavit ballots that need to be brought to the Ulster County Board of Elections to be verified, and if verified, counted to determine who will win that third slot.

Another vote that was too close to call and also separated by one vote was the proposition to purchase a large school bus and a suburban transport vehicle for $155,089. That vote, prior to the affidavits, was also separated by one – 985 people supported the proposition and 984 opposed it.

While the Board of Education will need to make a declaration on both of those votes – Rizzi or Reid, buses or no – the board needs to go back to the table and come up with a second proposed budget by June 4 so that they can hold another vote on June 19, the last date allowed by the state for a second school budget vote.

“We need to go back to the drawing board, and make some difficult decisions,” said school board President Rizzi. “Now it gets critical, because we need to come up with a budget that this community will accept or else we go to a 0 percent tax levy, which would be devastating to our schools.”

According to Superintendent Deborah Haab, if a second budget proposal fails and the budget reverts to a 0 percent increase over last year’s levy, that would result in approximately $2.5 million cut. The 2.27 budget increase over last year’s budget, approximately an $820,000 increase, allowed for several things that were on the chopping block to be put back in: like a full-day kindergarten; smaller elementary class sizes; music and art from kindergarten to 12th grade; foreign language from middle school to high school; advanced placement course; elective courses at the high school; interscholastic sports and extra-curricular clubs. These could all be in jeopardy in both the second budget proposal and even more severe cuts if the budget was voted down a second time and reverted to a 0 percent tax levy increase.

Asked why he thought the voters turned out in such numbers and in opposition to the budget, Rizzi said, “our mistake was that we allowed various groups to come in and convince this board to put up a budget that this community would be against. I think that hurt us (the incumbents) in the election (including himself, Gina Tantillo-Swanson and Heather Welch) because we allowed the community to decide if they wanted this budget and the programs it allowed to continue or not. Many voters were angry at us for allowing this to go forward.”

“The irony in this is that the 60 Percent group got their candidates elected but not the budget they wanted,” said Tantillo-Swanson, who was not re-elected. “But they certainly stirred up people so much that they came out in record numbers to vote down the budget.”

Many of those critics came out of the woodwork at May 8’s public hearing to express their discontent with the budget. With Highland’s budget now failed, it seems many others feel the same way as those who came out asking the board to rethink the 5.12 percent tax levy.

“My question is can anybody here tell me how many houses are for sale in Highland right now? Or, even more serious, how many are in the hands of the bank, are ready for foreclosure and what have you?” said Margaret Malcolm at the public hearing. “If it wasn’t for the tax – the STAR exemption – my house would have a ‘for sale’ sign on it too.”

The senior citizen’s school tax bill last year was $4,247.96.

“It’s getting to the point where it’s almost impossible, if you’re on a fixed income, to plan ahead and keep your head above water,” she said. “I am afraid I am not one of the 60 percent. And believe it or not that does not mean I am not interested in education.”

Malcolm served on the school board in the 1970s. “Times were tough. We had good times. We had bad times. Nobody ever said, ‘if you don’t pass this budget, you’re opposed to education.’ We weren’t opposed to education, and most of the time we passed budgets.”

She added: “I think this board can afford to look over this budget again and find something that’s more reasonable for the taxpayer.”

And that’s just what this board will have to do. Pagano was sworn in on Tuesday night to replace Welch and Bakatsias will be sworn in at the board’s July re-org meeting. The third candidate will be determined by the school board in the next few days.

“It is what it is,” Rizzi said. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

UPDATE: Highland school officials sifted through those affidavit ballots Wednesday afternoon. Those few voters did change the outcome of the election. It is now confirmed that school board President Rizzi lost to 60 Percenter member Mike Reid. Final count: Rizzi got 882 and Reid got 884.

Highland’s bus proposition also passed narrowly. Final count: 990 yes for the buses, 987 no.

Dominick Profaci. (Photo by Lauren Thomas)

Despite majority support at the polls, New Paltz’s school budget still failed Tuesday night – a mere 18 votes away from getting the 60 percent super majority needed to pass a budget above the state tax cap.

When it came to whether or not they supported the $50.31 million budget, 1,726 voters said they did and 1,180 said they did not. That meant only 59.39 percent of voters supported raising the tax levy by 4.4 percent next year.

“It did not pass,” Superintendent Maria Rice explained.

Voters did opt to allow the district to buy $339,000 worth of buses by a slim margin. Of those who voted Tuesday, 1,426 supported the buses and 1,373 did not.

In a crowded school board race featuring no incumbents at all, voters went this way:

- Dominick Profaci received 1,776 votes.
- Ruth Quinn received 1,641 votes.
- Brian Cournoyer received 1,497 votes.
- Tanya Marquette received 961 votes.
- Marvin Birnbaum received 575 votes.
- Julie Tresco received 568 votes.

Former school board President Don Kerr got two write-in votes.

According to Board of Education President Patrick Rausch, Profaci will be sworn in Wednesday for having been the highest vote getter. He replaces Barbara Carroll, who was an appointee serving out Kerr’s term.

Profaci said he was glad to have won the support of the public and said he thought he could get along with both Quinn and Cournoyer as board colleagues. “I think the three candidates who were chosen were excellent choices by the community,” he said.

However, both he and fellow board member-elect Cournoyer said the failure of the budget – especially by only 18 votes – made the night one of mixed emotions.

“Honestly the most important thing in this election, to me, was for the budget to pass. I’m just very upset that it went down by such a small margin,” Cournoyer said. “I’m really just very upset about the budget. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here. I know the board will have to come back with a second budget and be able to pass that one.

“It didn’t fail by a wide margin. I’d just like to state for the record that the 60 percent super majority rule is undemocratic. It allows the minority to rule, and that’s not how democracy works.”

So what happens next? Voters will have to return to the polls for Round Two in late June. As for what budget they’ll see on that ballot, that’s less clear.

“We have to regroup, and we have to decide what we’re going to do,” said Rausch, the school board president.

In preparing the $50.31 million budget with that 4.4 percent tax levy increase, the New Paltz Board of Education also came up with an alternate budget that did meet the tax cap mandate. New Paltz’s legal limit, after exemptions, is a 3.4 percent tax levy increase.

When asked if the school board would simply revert to that 3.4 percent budget – which would only need 50 percent voter approval to pass – Rausch said it wasn’t that simple. “It’s not automatic. The board would have to discuss,” he said.

Superintendent Rice will come back to the board with her recommendation. Board members would then have to decide if they’d follow or reject that advice.

For more about the fallout of the failed budget, check out next week’s edition.

Jack-in-pulpit is in the Arum family, which includes our native skunk cabbage and sweet flag, and the well-known calla lily from South Africa, all of which bear a leafy covering, called a spathe, that protects the flower parts. Jack-in-the-pulpit’s spathe is shaped like an old-fashioned preacher’s pulpit, under which the green flower spike, or spadix can be seen, if you look closely. This spadix, or “Jack,” bears the actual flowers at its base, visible if you gently open the lower part of the spathe. The flowers on any one plant are all male or all female. Female flowers look like tiny clustered green berries, while the male flowers are thread-like, and shed light-colored pollen. You may also find some small flies inside the pulpit, probably fungus flies, fooled into entering the flower by its odor, promising fungus to lay their eggs on. These flies, and other insects lured into the pulpits, carry pollen from male to female flowers.

It turns out that a Jack-in-the-pulpit plant may bear female flowers one year, and male flowers, or no flowers at all, the next. This is an energy conservation strategy: after lean years, when the underground rootstock or corm stores less food, Jack-in-the-pulpit produces male flowers, or none at all. When the corm fattens again after a good growing season, the plant can afford to bear female flowers, which ripen into bright red berries by late summer, an energy-intensive process. Thus Jack-in-the-pulpit can actually change its sex from year to year in order to adapt to local conditions!

Jack-in-the-pulpit’s starchy corm was used by native people for food, despite the presence of many sharp calcium oxalate crystals, which can apparently be dissipated by baking or long periods of drying. Hence another of the plant’s common names, Indian turnip. Eaten raw, all parts of the plant produce a burning sensation in the mouth, as its calcium oxalate crystals pierce the soft tissues of the tongue, causing it to swell so much that the victim is unable to speak for many hours. It is said that mountain folk sometimes “seasoned” food with Jack-in-the-pulpit as a practical joke, intended to silence an overly talkative person for a while. This led to another folk name for the plant, “mother-in-law root.”

Jack-in-the-pulpit makes its first appearance in the spring as a brownish or greenish-purple spear poking out of the soil. The unfurling of its three-part leaves, and spathe, from this spear is as interesting and beautiful to observe as the unscrolling of fern fiddleheads. If Jack were an actual preacher within his leafy pulpit, perhaps his sermon would speak of the unexpected miracles performed by the most common living things, and urge us to seek the extraordinary within the ordinary in nature.

Richard Parisio is a lifelong naturalist, educator and writer. He currently leads field trips for school classes at Mohonk Preserve, teaches courses about John Burroughs and conducts tours of Slabsides and the John Burroughs Sanctuary for groups and individuals by request. Rich is New York State coordinator for River of Words, a national poetry and art program on the theme of watersheds, and teaches River of Words programs for school classes, grades K-12, by request. Contact Rich (richparisio@gmail.com) with questions, comments, or suggestions for Nature at Your Doorstep.

Gardiner

A dream that began four years ago, spearheaded by Gardiner resident Nancy Cass Barrett, has now come to fruition with a fenced-in dog park located behind the Gardiner Town Hall on a quarter-acre piece of land off Route 44/55 in the hamlet. To get things rolling, Barrett — who travels with her husband and their poodle all over the country, visiting dog parks wherever they can locate them – decided to join the town’s Parks and Recreation Commission so that she could inspire the group to take on this project with her. “I made a formal presentation to the Town Board, and they approved the use of the land behind Town Hall. And from there it’s been a community-wide effort with local businesses, the Girl Scout troops, Parks and Rec Department and dog-lovers chipping in to make this happen,” she said. She was standing next to the now-fenced-in park, with an area for small dogs and another area for large and small dogs, several newly planted trees, shrubs, perennials, with Girl Scouts and their parents working on a shade pavilion and volunteers stopping by to dig holes, put in posts and do whatever was necessary to get the park ready for its opening day celebration this Saturday, May 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Once the town gave permission to utilize the land, it was the generosity of the Natural Pet Center at Ireland Corners that donated all of the fencing for the park, constructed with cedar rails and posts — “not your typical chain-link fence you’d find at most dog parks,” said Barrett. “Without the Natural Pet Center, this dog park would still be a dream.”

Barrett was quick to point out that “no taxpayers’ dollars have been used for this project…your taxes aren’t going to the dogs…Then we had the Girl Scouts [Troops 60288 and 60383) adopt the dog park for their Silver Award project, which is a big deal and an enormous undertaking. They’ve been hard at work building an arbor and planting flowers, trees and shrubs, and spent the past winter fundraising and planning the details for a fundraising dog show at the grand opening.” As Barrett spoke with the New Paltz Times, the Girl Scouts kept coming in with forsythias, shade trees and wood for the pavilion.

The dog park is perched on a gorgeous piece of land, cattycorner to the town’s baseball field. Working on some last-minute details and signage and design with Barrett was the head of Parks and Rec, Mike Gagliardi. “She’s the one who really drove this project, and look how incredible it’s turned out,” said Gagliardi, referring to Barrett. “It’s a nice addition to the community, and it’s truly the first of its kind. The park is not only for the dogs, but there are benches located outside the fence, making it a nice spot for residents to watch dogs playing, catch a baseball game while catching the skydivers gliding through the air from the nearby parachuting facility.”

There are rules that will be posted and need to be followed, including people having to clean up after their dogs, supervise their dogs at all times, claim responsibility if any sort of accident should arise and bring their own water, as the park does not yet have water running to it.

There was also river rock donated by the Parks and Rec Department that curves through the park, following a natural depression that often gets wet after a heavy rain. “This way, the dogs won’t get all muddy, and it adds a nice visual aspect as well,” said Gagliardi.

According to Barrett, hardscape landscaper Tony Osborn of Artscapes in Gardiner has offered his time and expertise with creative placement of large boulders surrounding the rim of the park. The park itself has a sculptural feel to it, and “I know the dogs will enjoy playing chase around the boulders!”

“I think this is going to be a great boon for Gardiner,” said Rich Ferrono, owner of Ultimate Gymnastics in Gardiner, who stopped by with his golden retriever Trip to help stake some pear trees. “There are so many tourists here that come to climb and visit and bring their dogs. When they discover the dog park, it’s going to bring people to downtown Gardiner. It’s also great for local residents to have a place to let their dogs run and socialize, while enjoying friends and getting to know neighbors.

“Dogs are pack animals, and in a place like Gardiner, where most people live on five acres of land, their dogs have ample space to run, but not ample opportunity to play with other dogs. Their family becomes their pack. A dog park gives dogs an opportunity to be dogs, and people the opportunity to get to know one another.”

The park will be open from dawn to dusk on an at-your-own-risk basis. There will be a message board kiosk with the park rules, the number of the local dogcatcher, animal hospital and police info, as well as any kind of animal-related postings and upcoming events, lost or found animals, etc.

For more information you can e-mail Barrett at nancy.r.cass@gmail.com, but the best way is to follow the group on Facebook by going to gardinerdogpark@facebook.

New Paltz

While For Paws of Ulster, Inc. has received New Paltz Town Board approval to utilize two acres of land out at the Field of Dreams, which they lease from the county for $1 a year, and necessary 501 (c) (3) status that the Town Board required, the group is now waiting on the town and county to amend their contract to include a dog park as part of the allowed uses at the multi-faceted park. It is also trying to raise enough funds to add the necessary infrastructure, fencing and plantings to make the group’s dog and dog-owner dream a reality.

Councilwoman Kitty Brown said that she believes that the town has done everything that it needs to in order to ensure that the dog park can move forward. In the meantime, For Paws of Ulster, Inc. is also working on a contract that would define the role of each in the management and maintenance of the park, according to Danielle Sessa Cardella, president of For Paws. “We currently have approximately $4,000 in the dog park fund. Most of that money was raised before we even had a definite parcel for the park, so we’re hoping we can really pick up the pace now that we know for sure that this is happening and where it’s happening,” she said.

As for the money still to be raised to get the dog park up and running (and the dogs running), Cardella said, “The land is still in a very natural state, with lots of young trees and brush. Since we’re still in the contract phase, we’re not entirely sure who will be responsible for the clearing and potential grading of the parcel. This would increase our estimate very substantially, if it winds up being something we have to subcontract out. We also still need to assess whether or not there are any potential donors for things like fencing. I would estimate that this will be at least a $20,000 project.”

Toward that end, For Paws is already working hard on planning fundraisers, with its first event slated for June 6 through 8 at Twisted Foods in Rosendale. “We like to partner with local business to bring small fundraisers to the community and reach an audience that might not already know about the dog park. We’ve also setup a PayPal account, so that people can donate from the comfort of their own computers. If anyone wants to send a donation, our P.O. Box is number 1074 in New Paltz, NY. Once we have some more information from the county and town, we’d really like to offer some kind of recognition for corporate and larger individual donors: something along the lines of a plaque, say, on a bench, or a board of small plaques. We already have commitments from three local businesses to sponsor a few of the amenities needed. Paws of Distinction has committed to sponsoring one of the necessary Dogipots [the actual name for the dog waste disposal systems], as has www.dogbedsdogcrates.com. And we have already received a donation from Schain and Company, CPAs for a bench in memorium of a deceased family member.”

Members of For Paws are excited and working diligently to ensure that they have a park constructed and open and ready by spring of 2013. “We don’t have an estimated groundbreaking date yet, as there are still a lot of things to work out, monies to be raised. But we would love to see a spring 2013 opening date,” she said.

For more information, just log onto www.forpawspark.com. ++

“I am asserting my first-amendment rights to help protect them for everybody,” said Human. “Use ’em or lose ’em!”

According to New Paltz mayor Jason West, “The village attorney is appealing the dismissal of the case, so it is still before the courts. The dismissal was not granted based on the merits of their arguments, but on procedural grounds because their attorney never properly served the village,” said West.

According to town supervisor Carl Zatz, a conservation easement will be purchased from Albert Hess, meaning his land can remain in farming forever, but can never become a housing development. A $225,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay half of the cost of acquiring the property’s development rights, and OSI has promised to contribute another 25 percent of the cost. The town’s Open Space Commission is leading the effort to raise the remaining funds.

The Hess farm is Gardiner’s second farmland protection project. In 2010, the town and OSI jointly purchased an easement on Marty and Thelma Kiernan’s farm on Bruynswick Road, where the Kiernans raise grass-fed beef cattle beneath the cliffs of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge. Marty became a member of the Open Space Commission in 2011, and now the Kiernans are inviting friends and neighbors to a “community farm dinner” on Saturday, June 9 at 5 p.m. to help raise funds for the Hess Farm project.

“Thanks to the generosity of so many people, our family can continue to farm the land we love, ” said Marty Kiernan. “Now we are inviting everyone to dinner to help preserve Albert Hess’s family farm.”

According to Kiernan, the June 9 dinner will feature local food and drink, including prime Kiernan Farm London broil, wines from the nearby Whitecliff Vineyards and other fresh farm bounty — all local, and most donated by Gardiner farms and orchards.

Supervisor Zatz said that the town’s Open Space Commission has been working since last autumn to raise the funds needed to complete the Hess Farm protection project. Significant foundation support has been secured and other fundraising events are being planned for the summer and autumn as well.

“The Save the Ridge and Friends of the Shawangunks organizations have already made generous contributions, as have several individual town residents and open space supporters,” said Zatz, who added that contributions from individuals interested in open space and farmland protection are always welcomed.

The suggested contribution for the Kiernan’s June 9 farm dinner is $100 per person. Checks made payable to the “Town of Gardiner Open Space Fund” should be mailed to Gardiner Town Hall, P.O. Box 1, Gardiner NY 12525. The town’s website (www.townofgardiner.org) has more information about the dinner and the Hess Farm project and secure online contributions can also be made to the Open Space Fund there, via Pay Pal.

Zatz stressed that all contributions to the town’s open space fund are tax-deductible.

Whether a resident was raised in their hometown and recalls the days of yore when Grandpa used to fetch fresh eggs from the henhouse, or is more a Sephardic Brooklynite looking for an authentic country experience, newer modalities of eating healthy and being a spendthrift are tugging at the aged threads of the antiquated zoning codes drafted before keeping chickens was country chic.

Town of Rosendale Planning Board chair Billy Liggan said that residents went to the town last year concerned about all the chickens running around, explaining that there is no number assigned to how many chickens one may keep. Liggan added that roughly a half-dozen residents came forth applying for variances after they were sited by code enforcement for having chickens in residential areas. “If a lot of people are coming for a variance, they maybe need to look at the code,” said Liggan. In Rosendale, any coop must be 100 feet from a property line. “You have to be 200 feet across, which is a big size. This is all based on the number of ratio to size to birds.” Roosters, he said, are noisy and restricted, and added that more people look on chickens kindly, than not. Contrary to popular belief that roosters are necessary for increased egg production, they are not, and are typically loud and aggressive.

Newly elected Rosendale Town Supervisor Jeannie Walsh said she has instructed code enforcement officer to hold off on big stick enforcement while the town awaits a response from their attorney, Mary Lou Christiana, who was unable to comment any further until she knew the attorney’s decisions.

What are other towns doing? Town of Saugerties residents enjoy a legal right to farm chickens kept properly 50 feet away from the property line without unduly annoying their neighbors, and village residents can also if the Village Board approves a special application. In Woodstock, 12 chickens per acre is acceptable for parcels of over one-and-a-half acres. Kingston city law dictates that farm buildings devoted to or intended for the housing of livestock, horses, rabbits, hares, guinea pigs, ducks, geese, live poultry or fowls of any kind must have a 200 foot set-back from any street or property line. Gardiner wants ten or less small animals, such as raccoons, mink, rabbits, birds, snakes, geese, ducks, chickens, monkeys, dogs, cats, etc. on two acres, with 5,000 square feet or ten percent of the lot area limit for housing, or whichever is greater.

So what’s all the poop about? Vermin, stench, noise, and unwanted predators hanging around, opponents say. Others argue it’s a necessary right to be self-sustainable.

Roughly 40 people ranging from Orange County to North of Saugerties showed up to a chicken-keeping class hosted by Audrey Reith, the equine and livestock educator from Cornell Cooperative Extension, last week to learn everything from their local zoning codes to animal husbandry, how to build a coop and more. Reith said that though some of the local laws do not necessarily reflect the shift seen in communities’ wants or needs to keep chickens, much of the stringent zoning seems to be based on a proximity to the town’s center. She said that if a resident or a group of residents would like to keep chickens, it’s best to start by contacting the building or zoning departments to find out what the town’s specific laws and procedures are. In the event that the law full-out prohibits small livestock, like the Town of Wallkill, then the resident should inquire about the procedure of applying for a variance. In some instances, she said, neighbors can unite and apply for a zoning or law change. Whichever route a person plans to pursue, she highly recommended being well-armed with a specific game plan covering all concerns to present to the zoning board. The ideal game plan, she said, includes details on manure management, such as how and where manure will be disposed or composted, how and where the hay and feed will be stored, where on the property the coop will be located to ensure it’s not bordering the neighbor’s property, predator management plan (such as fences or Have-A-Heart traps) and more. Reith suggests that if a resident is denied, yet lives in an agriculture district and feels that they should be allowed to have chickens, then they should consider approaching NY AG & Market for support. Lastly, Reith reminded anyone interested in keeping chickens to be mindful of proper hygiene and sanitation practices known as Backyard Bio-Security (which can be listed at USDA.gov), which include changing shoes and washing hands before and after visiting other’s livestock to prevent spreading disease.

James DiStasi of Highland has yearned to do chickens for a while, especially now that money is tight. “I’m not trying to ruffle any feathers,” he said (yuck-yuck). “My wife and I are on Social Security. We can our own veggies. I try to raise as much stuff as I can. Chickens are the only thing that you can make your money on — the feed is not that expensive. If people knew how long those eggs sit at Hannaford’s [grocery], they wouldn’t eat them. They sit in coolers for months. You eat a fresh egg and you know the difference.”

Unlike other Highland residents, DiStasi is not going for a variance, he’s going for a full-out code revision from twelve chickens per five acres, to five chickens or poultry on one-quarter acre (R-1/4 acre) with five feet set-backs and minimum fencing or buffers. No roosters and no chickens-on-the-loose. DiStasi lives diagonally across from the American Legion and on lower Grand Street, on a quarter-acre, with his cousin’s farm of 80 acres backing his property. DiStasi said that he wanted to raise baby chicks, but didn’t want to go against the zoning. “I wanted my kids to find out where eggs come from,” he said. “The thing is that half the kids today don’t even know where an egg comes from.” DiStasi has already begun circulating a petition, and plans to park outside Tractor Supply to get signatures. “I will let people know, and I think I will have a good turn out of people. I know that people in Highland already have chickens. This will make it easier for them.”

Carole Marie LaPorte of Clintondale started Yahoo group Hudson Valley Chickens three years ago, citing that Tractor Supply, Agway and other feed stores unload thousands of chicks every year to people who may not know how to care for them. She has set up her site as a an online community of 900 Hudson Valley chicken lovers who discuss buying, selling, trading, support, Q&A and advice on how to go about contending with local municipal laws. “You can live in the same town as people raising sheep or goats or quail but still not know, so that’s what this group is about,” she explained. LaPorte personally advises individuals to apply for variances rather than petition to change codes if you ever want to see chickens in your backyard.

For more information on your town’s small livestock and poultry codes, you can visit http://thecitychicken.com/chickenlaws.html.

New Paltz also hasn’t been immune to the pull of this backyard, egg-laying avian craze. Both the town and village governments have toyed with allowing poultry in residential areas.

A few years back, the Town of New Paltz developed a proposed law to allow people living in the R1 residential zoning to keep no more than 12 hens and only one rooster – but only on the condition that their yard was two acres or larger in size.

The law also was poised to allow people to keep goats or pygmy goats – again only if their yard was two acres or larger.

According to town councilwoman Kitty Brown, the Town Board is due to discuss the proposed chicken law again in May. After stalling out and being tabled for a few years, the chicken law has returned. The reason: Town Building Inspector Stacy Delarede recently suggested a compromise where chickens would be considered on a case-by-case basis using variances.

Over in the more densely populated village, a proposal from Village Board member Ariana Basco has brought fowl to the board table as well.

Basco said she thought people could benefit from turning an eye to the past. “I feel like we need to re-localize the way we do things,” she said.

Having chickens in the backyard could help people use less fossil fuels – since the shipping would be gone – and it could help with New Paltz’s goal to become a Transition Community. Under Basco’s proposal, roosters wouldn’t be allowed – since those early a.m. cock-a-doodle-doos would annoy neighbors.

Eggs laid by hens at home would also provide residents at least some supply of food during a disaster, like a big storm, she added.

“Ultimately, it’s going to be for our survival,” Basco said.

The New Paltz Village Board was scheduled to discuss a chicken law on May 9. ++

– with additional reporting by Mike Townshend