Earlier this year on a Facebook page which I previously edited, I posted an entry stating my belief that the “side roads” off the Goodnow Flow Road, Cornell Road (yes, the far Western section of what most folks call “Woody’s Road” is in fact Cornell Road), and Woody’s Road were available for the use and enjoyment of all GFA Members in Good Standing possessed of a reasonably valid purpose for their use. Almost immediately, mr. fibiger, the currently sitting “president” (Stay tuned for some interesting information in other upcoming blog entries about this highly dubious claim…) of the GFA e-mailed me, stating, among other things,
“I also saw a posting that indicated that your belief that the private driveways that service more than one home, and have road names that provide 911 responders with and (sic) accurate address, are somehow available for use by all GFA members. That is not correct. Like your driveway, these “roads” are on members’ property and are not part of the road system which is the responsibility of the Goodnow Flow Association. The only roads which are open to our members are Goodnow Flow Road, Woody’s Road, Cornell Road and Beaver Bay Road.”
mr. fibiger failed to provide at the time or subsequently any justification or documentation supporting this proclamation, nor did mr. fibiger explain how any GFA Member in Good Standing could possibly access the break in the trees comically referred to as “the second boat launch” located on Muskrat Lane without being guilty of trespass, given that mr. fibiger baselessly declared Muskrat Lane to be private property. Based on mr. fibiger’s proclamation, I publicly apologized for my alleged alleged error, ceased accessing these roads, and published the information mr. fibiger had proclaimed to be factual on a Facebook page I previously edited.
I also began to research with relevant government offices the legal records regarding these GFA roads. Inasmuch as I have been on our mutually Treasured Flow since 1961 (which I believe to be much longer than mr. fibiger), and inasmuch as my belief regarding the true status of these side roads was confirmed by multiple senior GFA Members with far more experience of the Flow than either mr. fibiger or myself, I was happy to request the Essex County, NY Department of Real Property Tax Services formally inform me of the true legal status of these roads. As it turns out, according the to the Essex County, NY Department of Real Property Tax Services, these “side roads” are in fact not the private property which mr. fibiger has proclaimed them to be, and that they are instead “dedicated rights-of-way”. Again, according to the Essex County, NY Real Property Tax Service, these side roads are not included on any GFA Members’ property tax assessments (thereby making them NOT private property) precisely because they are dedicated rights-of-way. As such, those side roads which run off of public roads (i.e.: the paved peripheral portion of the GFR, Woody’s Road, and the section of Cornell Road which are now public thoroughfares maintained by the Town of Newcomb via a contract with NYS and under the terms of an easement granted to NYS by the property owner ATP to allow public access to Deer Pond and the Essex Chain Lakes) are fully and legally accessible to members of the public possessed of a reasonably valid reason for their use. Contrarily, those dedicated rights-of-way which run off the unpaved section of the GFR (and therefore are on our private leased lands) are fully legally accessible only to Members of the GFA in Good Standing possessed of a reasonably valid reason for their use, and are not legally accessible by members of the public. According to the Essex County, NY Real Property Tax Service, mr. fibiger’s previous wholly unsubstantiated proclamation that these side roads are private property turns out to be wholly incorrect. As always, if mr. fibiger or anyone else wishes to provide me with irrefutable written documentation (rather than just unsubstantiated hot air) indicating that the Essex County, NY Real Property Tax Service is mistaken, I shall naturally apologize for any inadvertent offence caused, and will happily re-visit this issue with Essex County. However, inasmuch as I put infinitely more faith in the legally substantiated determinations of the relevant legitimate countywide governing authority than I do in the baseless and unsubstantiated proclamations of mr. fibiger, I’m gonna go with what the government body which actually legally and legitimately governs us all says.
This situation does make me wonder, though:
How many other things which mr. fibiger and the currently sitting GFA board “informs” us of are actually true and based in law, and how many are just baseless nonsense?
“Because I said so!” is a very rarely necessary and almost always wholly ineffective method of parenting a child. “Because I said so!” is always an absolutely unacceptable way for “elected” servants to serve the adults who are compelled to turn over part of their hard-earned money to any governing body, and is just one of the many examples clearly indicative of mr. fibiger’s lack of fitness for office. I don’t accept “Because I said so!!”, and I don’t think I shall ever sheepishly accept “Because I said so!!” as a valid reason for anything. I hope you will not, either. I hope, like me, you will instead respectfully request documenting evidence supporting any and all random proclamations. I just hope you won’t expect any to actually be forthcoming from mr. fibiger.
We really CAN do MUCH better.
Thank you very much for your DEEPLY appreciated support in 2019, 2020, and beyond!! :-)