To: Pine Plains Planning Board
Re: The Proposed Durst/Carvel Project
Date: March 6, 2008
Gentlemen/Ladies –
I am a certified New York State EMT and an active member of the Milan Volunteer Rescue Squad. I would like to make it clear that I am speaking personally; that is to say, my comments do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Milan Fire-Rescue Department.
After reading the section in Chapter14 of the Durst DEIS that focuses on community services, I found the analysis decidedly inadequate. It seems that, since Pine Plains and Milan fire and emergency medical services are (for the most part) volunteer, they do not fit the usual standards of measurement. We are left, then, to believe from the analysis that there are no conclusions to be drawn and, by this continued empty line of thinking, no impacts to anticipate.
In light of this, here are some simple facts to consider vis à vis volunteer emergency services:
- Both towns have houses that number approximately 1,000 each.
- The populations of these towns – particularly in Milan – have grown dramatically in the past quarter century due, in large part, to the influx of part-time and weekend second-home owners.
- Both towns’ volunteer forces are, therefore, already strained trying to keep up with the ever-increasing number of emergency calls – many of which generated by the part-timers and weekenders who continue to increase the load but never volunteer themselves.
It is simple logic, then, to realize that the addition of 1,000 new homes in Pine Plains and Milan – particularly if they attract the golf-resort-vacation-set against which they are targeted – will only continue to strain an already strained system.
In sum, then, I believe that despite the lack of “usual” measurements and standards, one of two obvious scenarios will result from the proposed Durst Development project regarding emergency services:
Scenario 1: The Development will get a free ride, with the second-home owners relying on the continued services of volunteer efforts but contributing no manpower.
Or Scenario 2: Already strained volunteer services will collapse under the load, thereby necessitating paid emergency services to take their place. Taxes will grow exponentially to pay for these services and they will, of course, be borne on the shoulders of all residents.
In either scenario, small-town life, as we now know it, will cease to exist.
Respectfully submitted –
Evelyn Bartin
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