December 29, 2002

By Dianne Wiebe, Correspondent

Daily Freeman

79 Hurley Ave.

Kingston, N.Y. 12401

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ELLENVILLE - To hear Herta Diener tell it, a property dispute between her and the town of Wawarsing has become a full-scale feud, and Diener is tired of it.

"They think if they make my life a miserable hell, drag me through the courts, they'll win," Diener said of her decade-long struggle with Wawarsing to come to terms on the sale of the old Port Ben railroad station and surrounding 13 acres.

Town officials are equally fed up and have initiated an action to take the property by eminent domain, further infuriating Diener.

The town wants Diener's land as part of a rail trail being created along the old Delaware & Hudson Canal and the former Ontario & Western Railroad. Once complete, the bicycling and hiking trail will extend from Carbondale, Pa., to Kingston. Other segments of the trail are in Ellenville and on the property of the Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch.

The town has been interested in buying Diener's property since 1993 and planned to pay for it with a reimbursable grant of $180,000 from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said Wawarsing Supervisor Richard Craft.

Now, Craft says, the town has withdrawn its 1993 application for the funds and will have to absorb the approximately $40,000 it already has spent on the project.

"She just enjoys making life miserable for the town," Craft said of the 10-year battle with Diener. "She has used one delaying tactic after another. This has gone on through the reign of two previous supervisors."

"On a number of occasions, an agreement was reached, but when it came down to putting it in writing, Mrs. Diener's position changed," said Joseph Stoeckeler, who served as town supervisor from 1991-92 and again from 1998-99.

"Given her track record, that doesn't surprise me," Stoeckeler said of Diener's recent actions.

Of the most recent negotiations, Craft said: "A year ago, she was a willing seller. We all went out there, and she was pleased. We had a handshake deal."

But then, Craft said, Diener changed attorneys and suddenly wanted to keep the building and 1 acre of land, selling only the remaining 12 acres to the town for the trail.

"I don't see how you can take out the building and an acre of land without infringing on the area that is needed for the canal trail," Craft said.

In the meantime, Diener came to the town with complaints about neighboring properties and asked for its help in a cleanup effort. Craft said he told Diener the town could not clean up private property, but if it bought Diener's land, that area would be groomed and well-maintained by the town.

"Without owning it, we can't do a thing," Craft said.

Diener also got a new appraisal from Postupack Valuation Inc., which recommended the "highest and best use" for the railroad station to be a private residence. "The interior needs gutting and renovation," according to the appraisal firm, which estimated the station's value as a single-family residence at $48,250.

Diener, however, wants the building preserved as a train station. She has had it listed with both the state and national registers as a historic property and wants to see it restored, but she doesn't think the town would cooperate.

"I have my plans, but I'm not telling what I want to do," she said. "My suggestions (to the town) fall on deaf ears. Ellenville has gotten a grant to improve their part of the trail."

Craft said he believes the town is in a better position to restore the station and could find appropriate uses for it as a part of the linear park. But money remains an issue.

An earlier appraisal by Gordon Ross Webb of Kingston placed the value of the land at $16,200 and the "base building" at $14,400, but also added $48,000 for "additional historical value." While Diener and the town agree on the price of the land at about $2,000 per acre, Diener said Craft called Webb's $78,600 figure "out of the question."

Eminent-domain proceedings began about a year ago, which Craft said brought Diener to the table again. A new appraisal then was done -- including the station, canal and berme -- but he said Diener changed her mind again.

Diener claims she only agreed to the deal proposed a year ago -- which included the building -- because she was harassed and intimidated.

"All they want to do is get it away from me, cheap," she said.

Diener said she is aware, however, that the terms of condemnation proceedings require the buyer to pay the highest appraised price.

Diener appeared at a Town Board meeting on Dec. 19 with her attorney, James Barry, who accused the town of "attacking a widow," but he admitted Diener is a "hard bargainer and not shy."

Although Diener has said she wants the building restored as a train station, Barry said other stations along the old O&W line are privately owned and being used as residences.

After 10 years, both sides say they've had enough, but they may not be ready to give up. The town has 90 days to decide if it will proceed with its eminent-domain effort, and Diener has the same amount of time to deal with her concerns about the sale of the land and the station.

©Daily Freeman 2003

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