Sheldon Lublin had dreamed of retiring to his rustic cabin on twenty bucolic acres in Napanoch ever since he bought it as a summer home in 1969. The property, with a pond, stunning views as far as Massachusetts, and a resident blue heron, was once part of Yama Farms.

When high rents forced Lublin out of his Greenwich Village office earlier this year, the 81-year old psychotherapist decided it was time to relax.

“I bought the place for seclusion, privacy, security, peace and beauty. Now that's all threatened. It's been one disaster after another,” says Lublin.

On April 15 of this year, Lublin's only access road was washed out by the storm that hit the area. Next, his cabin was broken into and personal items and World War II mementos were stolen, including a pair of a German general's field glasses.

Then, two trespassing teenagers on white and blue ATVs who have eluded police have torn up his land all summer long. They have also trespassed on neighboring property and have been seen illegally riding up and down Irish Cape Road. (This reporter has witnessed the two males on several occasions, and on Friday, August 31 at approximately 7:45 p.m., was nearly run over by them, as they drove directly at me on their ATVs on Sheldon Lublin's property.)

The latest blow came in late July. Lublin had just had his washed out access road repaired, at a cost of thousands of dollars, when a representative of Central Hudson Gas and Electric Company asked him for access to his property, so that two 70-year old electrical poles could be replaced.

Lublin agreed verbally, believing the job was not going to destroy any of his property.

“I was never told specifically what they were going to do, just that they were going to replace the poles,” says Lublin. “They didn't tell me they were going up to the top of the hill above my cabin, or that they needed to put in a new access road.”

During the first two weeks in August, Thyro, sub-contractors for Central Hudson, began bringing in heavy equipment. Sometime after August 13, while Lublin was in New York City, three large 200-series excavators and a compression tank gained access to his property via Nappy Mobile Homes in Napanoch.

“There was some minor damage to one of our lawns when they came through,” says Michael Coombs, manager of Nappy Mobile Homes, “but I spoke to them and they promised to take care of it.”

The excavators proceeded to forge a wide dirt road out of what had been a small footpath, ripping up approximately one mile of vegetation and soil, plowing over, filling in and covering up newly dug water diversion trenches, dislodging and throwing boulders, and knocking down and uprooting about one hundred trees and scarring a number of others.

The week of August 13, Lublin was in New York City and began to reconsider giving Central Hudson access to his Napanoch property.

When Lublin returned to his Napanoch property, he was shocked at what he calls a “savage slaughter.”

“Some of these trees may be one hundred years old. This land has historic significance, with the last standing Yama farm outbuilding,” explains Lublin.

Denise Doring VanBuren, Vice President for Public Affairs and Energy Efficiency CH Energy Group, Inc. says, “We were replacing nearly 70-year-old structures, part of our WH1 and WH2 transmission lines that provide electricity to the customers of Ellenville, and we received permission from Mr. Lublin to access our 'right of way' through his property. In order to get the necessary heavy equipment on to our 'right of way', we needed to clear trees and create a road or pathway. Mr. Lublin has indicated to us that he would like to keep the road/pathway cleared in order to keep access to this rugged portion of his property. We are working with him now to stabilize the soil, ensure erosion control, and re-seed where appropriate in order to restore the property to his satisfaction.”

Dave Cobb, a supervisor at Central-Hudson, visited the property and promised to ensure the rehabilitation of the damaged area to Lublin's satisfaction. Contractors have begun the slow, tedious process of restoration - bringing in a dump truck of shale, laying beds of straw, planting grass and spreading what appear to be non-native wildflowers seeds.

Lublin says everyone at Central Hudson has been nice to him but he wants more done. “They turned a tiny footpath into a major dirt road,” he complains, worrying that a good rain might create a mudslide damaging or destroying his cabin below. “Plus, it is impossible to replace those magnificent trees.”

According to Guy Buttari, an excavation contractor who Lublin asked to assess the property damage, the ledge is stable and in no danger of sliding, but he said, “It's a big job to level that road, with a very expensive amount of fill.”

Restoration of Lublin's property continues to date.

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