Last week,
the Woodstock Town Board voted to settle four years of tax certiorari
claims with Realtor Andrew Peck. . . Peck had challenged the town over
some 112-property assessments dating back to 1995, claiming the town
grossly over assessed his clients. After a [failed] attempt to get his
cases dismissed on procedural grounds the town settled with all 112
property owners represented by Peck. . . The cumulative reduction in
assessments to the taxpayers represented by Peck amounts to some
$1,800,000.00.
Peck says this is a vindication of his
contention that until last year's revaluation, many Woodstock properties
were over assessed. . . The fact that the town elected to settle once its
objections had been thrown out of court indicates his claims are valid.
Peck spent thousands of dollars out of pocket to
carefully document his claims over the years, only to be turned down by
the grievance board in every case. Finally, he says, he decided to save
his money and let the court decide. . . He adds that he has never lost in
court. One thing is certain: Litigating tax certiorari cases costs a lot
of money. Town Supervisor Tracy Kellogg says Woodstock has spent $15,000.
litigating Peck's cases alone. Peck has spent $15,000. to $20,000. out of
pocket in legal and appraisal fees, which he will now recoup from the
town.
Peck says he started challenging
assessments in 1986, when he bought a property in Woodstock for $20,000,
which was assessed for $71,000. After receiving little satisfaction from
the grievance board, Peck went to court; the town fought his claim for
four years. Finally, says Peck, the judge ordered both sides to hire an
appraiser and have the property appraised. Peck's appraiser came in at
$20,000; the town's appraiser came in at $21,500. A settlement quickly
followed. He currently represents clients in Woodstock, Hurley, Cairo,
Saugerties and the City of Kingston.
Peck says Woodstock's assessments are more
fair than they have been for years. Peck gives the new Woodstock assessor
Seth Plawsky credit for this, and says it's one reason he doesn't expect
to end up in court with Woodstock again. "I want the towns to put me
out of business in this niche of my business," says Peck, "And
I think they're going to do it in Woodstock."
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Let it be
known that on April 7th, Chloe D., a whimsical longtime Woodstock
resident, established the authentic Woodstock holiday: Forsythia Day.
From now on, this will be the day (on or about, give or take a week or
two) when the bright yellow sprigs pop like petalled sunshine. Chloe’s
working on developing special celebration rites, customs and traditional
foods and garments for the day. For starters, she envisions people of
both sexes wearing yellow polka dot bikinis, and waving forsythia bows,
chanting “Mellow Yellow”, followed by “Yellow is the Color of my True
Love’s Hair” and ending the day with a rousing chorus of “We All Live in
a Yellow Submarine.”
In honor of this new holiday, we asked
several locals for forsythia poetry and mythology and for their input on
the perfect protocol for Forsythia Day.
Donna, owner Glorious Health : “Plant forsythias and eat yellow- do a
spring cleansing with lemon juice.” She adds that besides being cheerful,
yellow is an intellectual color and students could benefit by painting
their study rooms yellow.
Jamie, 13, eighth-grader: “I think that all
the Woodstock families should go to the Comeau property and have a picnic
of banana smoothies and banana bread and wear forsythia sprigs in their
hair. They should play games and tell round-robin stories and the only
person who can talk will have a forsythia sprig in their hand.”
Jean, author of Woodstock Gatherings:” I’m
renting a wonderful barn for the summer and it has a waterfall and a
large rock for a table and I went up today...and it looked like the rock
and the waterfall and the bright blue chair were in a room of
sunshine--it was the bursting light from that forsythia. I sat right down
in the chair and leaning just a bit to the left, told myself one hundred
times how wonderful, this place and day...we say it every year: surely
this is the most beautiful year of the forsythia.”
Emily: singer/songwriter: There are too
many issues involved with this topic for me to talk about it. Because of
the controversial nature of forsythia it’s best for me to not comment. I
don’t want to alienate any other flowers, that would be forsythiasm”.
Fred , nurse: “Unbeknownst to Chloe, there is a historical basis, based
on an Ulster County legend for Forsythia Day. Angelique Forsythe, the
eldest daughter of the French Huguenot patentees, based in New Paltz, had
secretly conceived a passionate love for the chief of the neighboring
Esopus Indians. During a clash between the patentees and the Indians in
1699, Angelique Forsythe betrothed herself to the chief and he was
subsequently outcast. Despondent and depressed the two fled to nearby
Woodstock, and during an unexpected April ice storm fell off the
Overlook. The next day the snow melted and forsythia bloomed where they
had fallen.”
Peggy, landscape artist: “Cut some long
shoots of forsythia and walk around town with them tucked in to the back of
your belt, fanned out like a peacock tail. Give the to everyone you
meet.”
Richard, dad: “We have a big one in our front yard that swooped down so
much it created a room. You should meditate in a house of forsythia on
Forsythia Day. In fact, I’m going to do it right now as soon as I get off
the phone.”
Finally, here’s an excerpt from a
performance piece by poet Nancy Rullo:
“The snow continues to cover the forsythia branches I had intended to
pick yesterday to bring in to the house, to force their yellow to
brighten my room. Yet it feels like spring. The forsythia branches are
bent to the ground like old ladies who have lost their bone
mass...bending to the ground under the weight of the snow and the beauty
of their flowering...”
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