The Town of Woodstock is working with Village Apothecary to administer Covid-19 vaccines once adequate supplies are available. Access to the vaccines will be based on priority and risk factors.
“Neal Smoller from Village Apothecary has been my Dr. Fauci of Woodstock,” Supervisor Bill McKenna said. Smoller, pharmacist and proprietor of Village Apothecary, recently announced he obtained state authorization to administer Covid-19 vaccinations.
“He and I have talked about possibly utilizing the community center. That would be a great drive-in location,” McKenna said of Smoller. The two have also discussed distribution plans with Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan and deputy executive Marc Rider.
“It’s the start of the conversation,” McKenna said. “None of us know what it’s going to look like, but we are starting to engage and think about what it might look like here.”
Smoller feels confident that he could see quite a number of people in a day coming through the Community Center. McKenna said he was willing to help with town employee manpower and facilitating appointment scheduling.
“I want to give a shout-out to Bill McKenna and the Town of Woodstock. They literally said, ‘Whatever you need, we’ll help’,” said Smoller on a social-media post. “I believe, if the supply goes well, we’ll be able to host a community-wide program to help get highest-risk folks vaccinated in record time.”
Smoller said more details would come toward the end of January.
Shady dumping test results
Test results show no major well-water contamination from illegally dumped fill on a property in the Woodstock hamlet of Shady.
In January, 10 Church Road owner Vincent Conigliaro ordered fill from legally embattled Saugerties contractor Joseph Karolys. Given Karolys’ history, neighbors became concerned about the source of the fill and possible drinking water contamination. This summer, a large portion of the fill washed out after heavy rains and ended up very close to the well of a Reynolds Lane homeowner, who is just downhill from 10 Church Road.
The well water at 59 Reynolds Lane was found to have some elevated levels of heavy metal, but engineers indicated that is common when a well is drilled into bedrock, according to Town Supervisor Bill McKenna.
The point of the testing was to determine whether contaminants had leached into the drinking water at the Reynolds Lane residence. The town government and Conigliaro agree it was imperative to have the fill removed before contaminants have time to make their way off the property.
While Conigliaro has been apologetic and has expressed interest in remediation, the town is bringing charges against him and Karolys to make sure he work is done. The fill seems to contain construction debris which violates the town solid waste law.
The town building department had issued A stop-work order against Conigliaro by the town building department was lifted based on inaccurate information provided by Conigliaro.
Karolys faces numerous fines for illegally dumping and storing contaminated materials on his Saugerties properties. The latest of his woes include charges of theft, criminal mischief and motor-vehicle violations after he allegedly took off from Beaver Kill Farms in March with a truck full of stolen manure, tore up a yard, and sideswiped a vehicle as he fled police.
The town is in the process of drafting a fill law. Small contracting businesses doing minimal jobs would be exempt because a town building permit is already required. Large projects could require engineering plans and certification of the fill source. Violations would carry hefty fines.
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