KingstonCitizens.org Announces New Citizen Committees to Focus on Proposed Niagara Bottling Water Sale in Kingston, NY.

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By  Rebecca Martin

KingstonCitizens.org proudly announces it’s new Citizen Committees to focus on the Proposed Niagara Bottling Water Sale in Kingston, NY.

Residents are invited to join and are asked to be in touch with the chair of any of the committee’s of interest by Friday, October 31st. First meetings will be organized the week of November 3rd.   If you happen to miss the deadline, don’t fret!  Citizens can join at any time.  We are simply looking to get a head count prior to each committee’s first official meetings.

VISIT the KingstonCitizens.org ‘Citizen Committees’ page.  You will find it in the menu heading.  Click on ‘Proposed Niagara Water Sale’ for all committee information.

Below is our recent press release and a list of the committees for easy access.

It’s an incredible and exciting crew of citizen leaders! Join us as we broaden our abilities and thank you for your participation.

 

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Kingston, NY. –  In September, news broke that the national water bottling company Niagara is looking to build a facility in the Town of Ulster, potentially utilizing ten years of tax abatements of all taxes through the Start-Up NY program.  In addition, Niagara Bottling Company has submitted a Consolidated Funding Grant application for public money to aid in their build through the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council who endorsed the Niagara Bottling Company proposal as one of it’s “25 regional priorities for 2014”.  The decision to award CFA applicants will apparently take place after the November 4th elections.

As part of Niagara Bottling Company’s proposal is the need of up to 1.75 Million gallons of water per day (GPD) from Kingston’s municipal water source at Cooper Lake. The water is managed by the Kingston Water Department, an independent Board in the City of Kingston. Niagara Bottling Company requests that the water source be purchased to bottle and to sell inside and out of the State of New York. Niagara Bottling Company is also searching for Springs in the area to include spring water in its operation.
In addition, the facility at it’s maximum build out would run 24/7 each day with up to 260 trucks moving in and out of the facility. In their proposal, Niagara Bottling Company promises up to 40 – 120 jobs, although the type of jobs for the area necessary for the proposed plant have not yet been disclosed.
With hundreds of concerned voices over the past four weeks, KingstonCitizens.org has helped to organize the public and encourage professional dialogue between the citizens and their elected officials on their concerns. Recently, Committees have been formed on the matter to build more citizen capacity and to take advantage of the talent in the City of Kingston and neighboring communities.
The new committees include:  Communications & Outreach; Events & Activities; Economic Development;  Legal & Political and Science, Economic, Cultural & Historic.
To learn more about KingstonCitizens.org’s Committees for the Proposed Water Sale and Niagara Bottling Company and to become involved, visit www.kingstoncitizens.org
For more information, contact Rebecca Martin at rebecca@kingstoncitizens.org
KingstonCitizens.org is a community-based organization committed to improving the quality of life of Kingston residents through accountability and transparency between the people and their local government. By providing citizens with current and important information through educational forums and current communications, their work is meant to nurture citizen participation and empowerment through projects, education and fun.
The group envisions a healthy and vibrant community for all the citizens of Kingston, where every person’s voice can be heard, every citizen can actively participate, government processes and decisions are fully accessible, accountable and transparent to the public, and where all individuals are accepted and respected.
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Please choose the committee you wish to be a part of and contact the Chair to be in contact to get on their mailing list for upcoming meetings.

COMMUNICATIONS & OUTREACH
Chair:  Debra Bresnan   CONTACT:  debra@kingstoncitizens.org
Co-Chairs:  Kitty McCullough  CONTACT: kitty@kingstoncitizens.org
The Communications & Outreach Committee is charged with creating strategies for mainstream support, media coverage, public forums, canvassing, social media and in organizing the public to attend important meetings.

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES 
Chair:   Rachel Marco-Havens   CONTACT:   rachel@kingstoncitizens.org 
Co-Chair:  Elizabeth Littleton  CONTACT:  TBA  &  Karin A. Wolf  CONTACT:  TBA
The Event & Fundraising Committee is charged with creating fun and educational events and working to develop relationships with key ‘celebrity’ voices living in the Hudson Valley area.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Chair:  Kitty McCullough  CONTACT:  kitty@kingstoncitizens.org
Co-Chair:  TBA
The Economic Development Committee is charged with working to identify strategies to target business that highlights the assets in the City of Kingston and neighboring communities. The committee will also work to identify items that need to be addressed (taxes, affordable housing, etc) in order for small, medium and larger industry to come to Kingston.

LEGAL & POLITICAL
Chair:  (Acting)   Jennifer Schwartz Berky   CONTACT: jennifer@kingstoncitizens.org
Co-Chair:  TBA
The Legal & Political Committee is charged in all matters having to do with SEQR, Legal Tools, Kingston’s Charter, the Public Trust Doctrine and other items.

SCIENCE, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL & HISTORIC
Chair:  Jennifer Schwartz Berky    CONTACT:  jennifer@kingstoncitizens.org 
Co-Chair:  TBA
The Science, Economic, Cultural & Historic Committee is charged with providing research for sound science and to bring clarity to the economic, cultural and historic drawbacks or otherwise in selling Kingston’s municipal water source.

 

 

2 thoughts on “KingstonCitizens.org Announces New Citizen Committees to Focus on Proposed Niagara Bottling Water Sale in Kingston, NY.”

  1. Hello,

    I am interested and think I might be able to add value to the science, economic, cultural & historic committee. I live in woodstock & own property in kingston, so I pay for kingston water & taxes. In addition, I familiar with corporate engagement & stakeholder advocacy.

    Than you.

    Luan

    Reply

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