SL WATER SYSTEM LEAKS THOUSANDS OF GALLONS A DAY

The Village of Saranac Lake water system is leaking tens of thousands of gallons of water a day.

That’s the initial report from New York Leak Detection, which was hired last month to perform a leak detection survey of the water system.

Village Manager Marty Murphy says he was told the village is losing a minimum of 100,000 gallons or more from at least a dozen leaks.

Public Works Superintendent Robert Martin said the estimate was closer to 200,000 gallons a day from 14 different locations around the village.

“That’s just an estimate,” Martin said.  “We’ll know more once we start digging and repairing what we find.”

If the higher amount is accurate, it would mean the village is losing roughly 20 percent of the 950,000 gallons of water it uses on an average day.

Murphy cautioned that they won’t know exact figures until New York Leak Detection submits a final report.

He says the village will be repairing the leaks as soon as possible.  “We’re going to address the ones we can, as soon as we can,” he said.  “We expect to correct all of them in a reasonable amount of time.”

Concerns that a large amount of water may be leaking from the water system surfaced after the village issued requests for proposals to study whether to build a water filtration plant or find a new source of groundwater.

“All the firms questioned our consumption,” Murphy said.  “They said for this many users we’re consuming a lot more water than average.”

In order to determine the size of the water filtration plant that’s needed or how large the groundwater source has to be, the village needs to know its true level of consumption.  “You don’t want to be going through the expense of filtering water and losing it in your system,” Murphy said.

Repairing the water leaks may also reduce the burden on the village sewer treatment plant, as village officials suspect some of the lost water ends up in the sewer system. 

The village manager said they haven’t determined whether the water system repairs will be done in-house by village public works crews or an outside contractor.  “It will depend on the true number of breaks, the size of the lines we’re dealing with and the work schedule of our crews,” he said.  “The goal is to get these leaks repaired as soon as possible.”

Robert Martin says his DPW workers are already planning to handle the repairs.  They’ll be working on a sizeable leak on Olive Street today.  “We’re going to try to take two or three each week,” he said.

A final report from Jamesville NY-based New York Leak Detection, which cost the village $7900, could be completed before the end of the week.  The company uses audio analysis to do its work – using the pitch of sounds they pick up underground to estimate the volume of water being lost.

-Chris Knight

LP SCHOOL BUDGET APPROVED, PUBLIC HEARING SET

Lake Placid Central School District board members have approved a four percent spending increase for next year's budget.

Following a public hearing, the budget will go before district voters next month.

In total, the $15.2 million budget for the 2008-09 school year would see the tax levy rise by about $467,000 to a grand total of almost $12.3 million to be raised by taxes.

New properties have added about $50 million to the tax rolls districtwide which Superintendent Ernie Stretton said will help offset property owners' tax bills.

There was minimal discussion on the budget itself at Monday's meeting. Board member Bob Miller said that next year the district needs to be more aggressive in its contract negotiations over how much employees contribute to their insurance plans.

“We need to get in control of that and the only way we can do that is through health care negotiations,” Miller said.

The board has set two 7 p.m. public hearings in which the public may address the board over the proposed budget in advance of the election. The first hearing will be held in Lake Placid on May 6; the second is scheduled in Wilmington on May 12.

In other business, the board also approved its BOCES budget. The district contracts with the regional BOCES in Malone to provide vocational and technology education. The board unanimously approved its contribution – about $643,000 – as well as signing off on BOCES districtwide administrative budget, about $1.4 million, which is shared by school districts within Franklin, Essex and Hamilton counties.

The ballot on May 20 will also include school board elections. Board members Pat Grant, Dan Nardiello – who serves as president – and Phil Baumbach are all running unopposed for another three-year term. Write-in candidates are allowed.

District voters will also be asked to approve the leasing of a 54-passenger school bus for $19,000 a year for up to five years.

-Jacob Resneck

LAKE CLEAR COMMITTEE TO MEET WITH SCHOOL OFFICIALS

Work is continuing for a ten-person committee studying the potential closing of Lake Clear Elementary School with a series of meetings set in the coming weeks.

Saranac Lake School Board member Debra Lennon, who chairs the committee, told the board Monday night that the group is meeting next week with Facilities Director Lee Daunais to go over the costs associated with maintenance and upkeep of the Lake Clear building.  They’ve already submitted a long list of questions for Daunais to answer, she said.

Two weeks later the group will meet with Keith White, the district’s transportation supervisor, to discuss bussing issues associated with the school.

Lennon said they’re not rushing through the process and will finish up when they feel like all the questions have been answered. 

She’s confident the committee will be able to reach a consensus on the fate of the school.  “We’re hoping to take all the emotion out, look at the facts, talk about it logically and come up with a goal that will help the district as a whole,” she said.  “We will have a recommendation, one way or the other.”

In addition to Lennon, the committee includes two other board members – Darren Dalton and Tracey Schrader – along with Superintendent Gerry Goldman and a half-dozen district residents and taxpayers: John Vinograd, Tom Tucker, James Carpenter, Annette Schuyer, Katie Fisher and Paul Woodruff. 

Carpenter, who’s been a strong advocate for keeping Lake Clear open, said he believes the group will be able to agree on a recommendation to the school board.  “We’re going to look at everything.  Everybody’s on the same page.  We’re open-minded about everything.  Absolutely, I think we’ll come to a consensus.  I don’t see why we wouldn’t.”

An outside consulting firm that reviewed the district’s operations had recommended closing Lake Clear due to declining student enrollment. 

Carpenter said he would accept closing the school if the enrollment numbers are projected to be “drastically low” over a period of at least three to four years.

He noted that a similar discussion about closing Lake Clear due to declining enrollment took place in the 1970’s.  But the population later increased and the school kept operating.

Lennon said the Lake Clear School Study Committee will likely be meeting through the summer. 

Among other business at its meeting last night, the school board approved the $26 million budget that will go before the voters on May 20.  The budget, which will also be subject to a public hearing on May 13, includes a tax levy increase just under three percent. 

And Superintendent Goldman announced that instead of a four day weekend around the Memorial Day holiday, students will only have a three day weekend.

Goldman said school will now be in session on Friday May 23 because the district used four snow days this year.  The contract with the Teacher’s Association is for 181 days and the district was on pace for 180 days without any changes to the calendar, creating the need for one more day of classes.

After conversations with the teacher’s union, Goldman said they agreed to work on May 23.  The only other option, he said, would have been adding a day onto the end of the school year on Monday, June 30.

-Chris Knight

MANY WILDFIRES REPORTED; H-TOWN ISSUES BURN BAN

A small brush fire broke out under the Cloudsplitter Gondola at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center on Saturday – one of several wildfires reported across the region in recent days.

ORDA spokesman Sandy Caligiore said staff noticed smoldering brush under the gondola line, near tower 21, around 1:30 p.m.

Crews responded with canisters of water and extinguished the small blaze before it could spread, Caligiore said. 

The gondola was shut down for about 10 minutes as staff handled the incident.

Caligiore was unsure what caused the blaze, but staff speculated that a passenger in the gondola may have flicked a cigarette butt out the window.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says the recent warm, dry weather has resulted in significant wildfire activity. 

Since April 15, Region 5 Forest Rangers have fought, or assisted local fire departments with twelve wildfires that consumed more than 104 acres in the eight county region.

Seven of the fires burned more than 90 acres in Washington and Saratoga Counties.  The largest was a 55 acre fire in the Town of Hebron, Washington County.  Four other fires in these two counties ranged in size from 8 to 12 acres. 

Two wildfires were reported in Fulton County, two in Essex County and one in Clinton County.  They burned a total of 13.5 acres and ranged in size from 1/4 acre to 6 acres.

Local fire departments have also fought dozens more grass and brush fires without DEC Forest Rangers involvement. 

Forest rangers say the number of fires is not unusual for this time of year but they are significantly larger than average.  The lack of rain, high temperatures and very low relative humidity levels has allowed the fires to spread quickly.

DEC is advising people not to burn debris, the cause of most of the fires, during the current weather conditions.

The Town of Harrietstown issued a ban on open burning today due to the dry conditions.  Code Enforcement Officer Ed Randig says the ban will last until further notice.

-Chris Knight 

HELICOPTER RESCUES BROOKLYN MAN ON MT. MARCY

An injured Brooklyn man was rescued by helicopter from the High Peaks Wilderness on Sunday.

DEC spokesman David Winchell says dispatchers received a call at 5:38 a.m. reporting a hiker in distress near the summit of Mt. Marcy. 

19 year-old Edward Cai was suffering from muscle spasms in his lower back that prevented him from moving any further. 

A DEC Forest Ranger spoke directly with Cai and his party to assess the situation and explain the plans to rescue him. 

A helicopter was requested from State Police Aviation Unit.

At approximately 10 a.m., the helicopter and the forest rangers located the group on Mt. Marcy. 

A forest ranger was lowered, and packaged up Mr. Cai for removal and transport. 

He was hoisted out and taken to Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid where Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department members secured a landing zone for the helicopter.

-Chris Knight

TWO DEAD IN CAR CRASH NEAR TICONDEROGA

A second teen has died following a crash in the eastern Adirondacks that killed another 16-year-old girl and injured three others.

The Washington County Sheriff's department says 16-year-old Shannon James of Ticonderoga died after suffering massive trauma in the Monday morning crash in the town of Putnam, just across the Essex County line.

Authorities say 16-year-old Dustin St. Andrews lost control of a car, hitting guardrails and flipping several times before the car landed on its roof.

Michaella Lopes, of Enosburg Falls, Vt., died at the scene.

Putnam resident St. Andrews suffered a broken wrist and bruises, 16-year-old Bryant Austin of Ticonderoga was bruised and 17-year-old Kristopher Wilson of Putnam suffered head injuries. Hospital officials say they were treated and released.

-AP wire reports

POLICE REPORT

Lake Placid Police arrested a Lake Placid man on Monday after stopping a vehicle he was riding in for vehicle and traffic violations.  Police say 23 year-old Ramon Chavez was allegedly found in possession of a controlled substance and marijuana.  He also allegedly provided false information as to his identity when he was arrested.  Chavez was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of marijuana, obstructing governmental administration and not wearing a seat belt.  He was arraigned in Town of North Elba Court and released on $1000 bail to appear at a later date.

Tupper Lake-based State Police charged a 17 year-old male from Rouses Point with driving while intoxicated last night.  Police say he was stopped for speeding on State Route 30 northbound in the Town of Tupper Lake.  He was subsequently arrested on a charge of DWI, processed and turned over to the custody of his father to reappear in town court April 30.