The region's state lawmakers delivered a grim assessment of the local impacts of the state’s budget woes during a heavily attended chamber of commerce breakfast in Saranac Lake on Thursday.

With a statewide budget deficit projected at $4.4 billion, state Sen. Betty Little warned that local governments could be faced with increased financial burdens. “There are many things in this budget that cost-shift from the state to the local government,” Little said. “Where do the school districts and the county and the local governments go, but to the property tax.”

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward of Willsboro said she's working on legislation that would require the state to undertake a public benefit analysis before it purchases private land. “If there's a public benefit, if there's a campsite where no one else is providing that service and no one else can provide that service then that facility would not be lost. There never seems to be any connect with why the state purchases what they purchase.”

Fellow Republican Assemblywoman Janet Duprey of Peru said the state has too many properties – she said it owns 29 golf courses around the state – and should consider selling surplus properties to relieve shortfalls that will otherwise affect crucial services.

“We're talking about huge cuts in nursing home care that could literally close some of our nursing homes. The focus has been getting people out of nursing homes and into their own homes. That's fine too but but now they're cutting home health care. It's just a horrendous budget for health care needs.”

Sen. Little also said she's continuing to work to avert the closure of the Camp Gabriels minimum security prison. There are options for modernizing the facility that need to be examined, she said.

“We talked about having some vocational training there. With Paul Smith's College, we have the instructors for hotel oriented jobs. This facility has a lot to offer and we are just pushing and promoting it. And what I've asked (the governor is) let this community be involved.”

After the forum, Sen. Little reacted to this week's special election result in which Democratic Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine defeated Republican Assemblyman Will Barclay for a vacant Senate seat in what had been considered a safe Republican district.

The result has had implications statewide as the Republican's majority has been effectively whittled down to one vote. Sen. Little said that if Democrats have control of the governor's office and both legislative houses, there would be serious implications for rural upstate New York.

“And I hope the people of New York will begin to understand that this balance is very critical to upstate New York. This administration is so New York City-oriented, I'd hate to see the Senate become New York City-oriented. So it was disappointing.”

The legislative breakfast was sponsored by the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and hosted by North Country Community College.

-Jacob Resneck

FOURTH NURSING HOME RESIDENT ILL WITH VIRUS

The state Health Department says a fourth resident from Essex County’s nursing home in Elizabethtown is being treated in an area hospital following a deadly viral outbreak.

But Department of Health spokeswoman Claudia Hutton says the patient has been released from intensive care and appears to be recovering.

Three other residents of the Horace Nye nursing home died last week.

Hutton says state officials were informed in a timely fashion about the deaths.  She praised the staff at Horace Nye for “doing everything right to contain this outbreak.”

Researchers are still testing fecal samples taken from residents at the nursing home, hoping to identify the exact nature of the illness.  Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.

At the peak of the outbreak, more than seventy residents and staff were infected at the nursing home.

But Hutton says the viral outbreak appears to be waning, with no new cases reported in recent days.

-Chris Knight

SL BOARD NEARLY NIXES AUTO RACES ON LAKE COLBY

A lake association in the Adirondacks may seek a court injunction to stop an automobile club from holding car races on Lake Colby after the Saranac Lake Village Board last night narrowly upheld a decision allowing the event to take place.

Citing concerns about noise and environmental impacts, the Lake Colby Association had asked the village to postpone the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club races, scheduled for March 8 and 9, until the state Department of Environmental Conservation determines whether it has jurisdiction over the event.

The village board had already agreed on Monday to allow the race organizers to use village property to access the lake. 

But a motion that would have reversed that decision and effectively canceled the races failed by one vote at a special meeting last night.

Now, if DEC doesn’t act before the races take place, the Lake Colby Association’s Lee Keet said they may be forced to take legal action.  “We are now in a limbo state,” he said.  “We have to wait for the DEC and if they don’t act before the event, we have to go to court and ask for an injunction.  Our board has voted unanimously to take whatever action is necessary to prevent this from taking place on the surface of the lake.”

The Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club appeared before the village board on Monday seeking approval for a two-day race on Lake Colby featuring as many as 70 cars on a mile and a quarter long track.

Asked about potential noise and environmental impacts, club members said their “muffler rules” keep the noise down.  And they require entrants in the races to clean up any spills on the ice.

Board members like Christy Fontana seemed satisfied and gave the event a tentative approval. “When I first saw it I said ‘this is crazy,’” she said.  “But listening to these gentlemen I realized maybe this could be a boon to the economy and I was going to try it for a year.”

But several members of the Lake Colby Association showed up at a special village board meeting last night to protest the decision.  Nancy Keet is president of the group.  “We must oppose activities that are environmentally unsound or dangerous,” she said.  “Even if there are no accidents, engine failures or other major events, up to 70 automobiles racing over two days will simply put hundreds of gallons of fuel and oil onto the lake and into the lake.”

Some of those at last night’s meeting were upset with the process.  Brian Turner said he was concerned that there was no notification to shoreowners that such an event was being considered or was on the village board’s agenda.  “I felt like it was rushed without a lot of community input,” he said.

The other major issue with the event is the potential impact the races could have on patients at Adirondack Medical Center, located directly across from the lake.  Hospital spokesman Joe Riccio said they have concerns. “I think we’re concerned about what impact this would happen on the health and well-being of our patients.  With 50-60 cars speeding around on the ice of Lake Colby, there’s got to be some noise pollution from that.”

When the village granted its approval for the races on Monday, it was allowing the organizers to use the village beach to access the lake.  The question of who has jurisdiction over the lake itself has yet to be answered.

Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman David Winchell said DEC has “undertaken a review to determine if any DEC permits are needed” or if the department has jurisdiction over such an event.

The race organizers had been told that DEC has no jurisdiction.

But Lee Keet of the Lake Colby Association said they’ve been told by a former DEC official that the races may be illegal without a permit.  Given the confusion, he asked the board to postpone the event. “Not cancel, not change and not argue the merits – simply postpone the race until we know the facts,” he said.

Village officials, however, said postponing the event at this point would be effectively canceling it.

As the discussion came to a close, at least one board member’s mind had been changed.  Christy Fontana said she was having second thoughts about approving the event.  “Maybe we can say wait a minute, we feel rushed and a lot of considerations have come up,” she said. “Why don’t we wait and revisit the issue next year.”

But a motion to deny the club a park use permit failed by one vote. 

Trustees Waters and Fontana were in favor of the motion with John McEneany opposed.  Mayor Tom Michael abstained because he had missed Monday’s meeting and Trustee Dan Olson was absent, meaning the board failed to muster enough votes to cancel the races.

-Chris Knight

TL POLICE INVESTIGATE HIGH SCHOOL VANDALISM

Tupper Lake Village Police are asking for help from the public in solving a break-in at the Tupper Lake Middle-High School.

Police Sergeant Sean Stradley says the burglar or burglars gained entry to the high school and allegedly damaged a pair of vending machines in the cafeteria.  “They smashed them, breaking the glass in front,” Stradley said.

Several of the building’s fire doors were also damaged and will need to be replaced, Stradley explained.

Police say the damage took place sometime between the evening of February 13 and the morning of February 14.

The building was closed and locked at the time the criminal mischief allegedly occurred and police don’t know how the suspect or suspects got inside.  “That’s part of our continuing investigation,” Stradley said.  “We’re looking at all options into how they got into the building.”

Whoever’s responsible for the crimes could potentially face felony criminal mischief and burglary charges.

The department doesn’t have any suspects and is asking for the public’s help.  Anyone with information on the case should call or visit the police department or go to the department’s website – tupperlakePD.com.

“Hopefully we’ll start getting some information in the next couple of days,” Stradley said.

-Chris Knight

COURTS, BUSES, RENTALS TOP JOINT LP, N-ELBA MEETING

A joint-meeting of the boards from the Village of Lake Placid and the Town of North Elba ended Thursday with mutual pledges to work together in the future.

But no formal agreements on issues of mutual interest were reached, in what amounted to more of a brainstorming of issues between elected governments.

As the town and village mulled consolidating the two courts, Village Justice James Moscatello urged the boards not to cut staff. “The work hasn't gotten less – it's more involved,” the judge said. “I don't know where you can cut back on clerks and justices.”

North Elba Town Supervisor Roby Politi had mentioned the possibility of consolidating the courts in a way that could cut staff and reduce costs.

Moscatello said caseloads have been increasing as village police write between 20 and 25 tickets a day. “We have a very active police department,” he said.

Lake Placid Mayor Jamie Rogers noted that the only way the courts could be consolidated would be if the village court were dissolved. He said a consulting firm had been retained and was looking at the issue of shared services that he hoped would extend to the court system.

The town supervisor told concerned judges and members of the public that the boards were far from deciding on the issue and needed more input.

The boards also discussed ways of sharing the cost of local public transportation.  The state Department of Transportation had criticized the current situation in which the village and the state Olympic Regional Development Authority systems each run a seasonal service.

“My personal feeling is that it really should be a community-wide program,” the mayor said.

Town Councilman Jay Rand, who manages ORDA's Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, praised the transportation system.  “It's always busy,” Rand said. “It's good for employees; it's good for the public and it alleviates some of the parking problems.”

But Wayne Johnston of the Main Street merchants group interjected that the transportation is also expensive.  “You're talking about benefits but you're not talking about costs,” he said.

The boards also discussed the lack of progress of licensing vacation rentals in the community. Previous drafts had failed to progress while more houses are being converted into short-term rentals.

Town Councilman Chuck Damp criticized a previous draft that he said exempted condominiums and other multiple occupancy buildings. He said for many residents, the ability to rent their house for a couple of weeks a year is crucial for their income.

“My mother's ability to stay in her house is because she can rent it for a few months a year,” Damp said. He said license fees shouldn't be too expensive.

The initiative should be for health and safety reasons, Damp said, not to raise the overhead of vacation rentals to serve the interest of competing hotel and inn owners.

Village Trustee Paul Strack said the vacation rental issue opens a larger question over character of the community.  “A lot of us are natives who want to stay, others want to blow this place wide open as a resort,” he said.

The meeting broke up with mutual handshakes. Politi said he looked forward to more joint meetings. “I'd like to get to the point where we don't have a lot on the agenda but can just hear from the public,” he said.

-Jacob Resneck

MCCALLIG FACING ADDITIONAL FORCIBLE TOUCHING CHARGES

A former interim public defender for Franklin County is facing additional charges of forcible touching.

State Police in Malone arrested 40 year-old William McCallig on February 22 after investigating a complaint that he had inappropriately touched a female victim.  He was charged with a single misdemeanor count of forcible touching.

Since that time, State Police Investigator Peter Arcadi said Thursday that two more victims have come forward with similar allegations, leading police to charge McCallig with two additional counts of forcible touching.

Arcadi said the additional charges were “the result of further interviews and further investigation.”

He declined to provide the ages of the alleged victims other than saying they’re adult females.  He also declined to describe any relationship the alleged victims may have had with McCallig, who lives in Malone.

All three incidents allegedly occurred in a public place in the Town of Malone on Friday, February 15.

“The investigation is ongoing and we are still interviewing people,” Arcadi said.

McCallig served as the county's interim public defender last year after Mark McCormick stepped down from the position. 

He took over in June and remained on the job until November 2007 when a permanent public defender was hired.

Kate Hogan, the district attorney in Warren County, has been appointed as special prosecutor in the case against McCallig, who did not return a call for comment on Thursday. 

He was released of his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in Town of Malone Court at a later date.

-Chris Knight

SL GIRLS SKI TEAM CLAIMS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

The Saranac Lake High School Girls Alpine Ski Team claimed a state championship this week at Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington.

The girls won the title by one point over the Honeyoye Falls-Lima School District from the Rochester area, according to Linda Brosseau, whose in her first year as head coach of the high school alpine ski team. 

She spoke with Chris Knight on Thursday about the team’s accomplishments.  Click here to listen to the interview.

POLICE AND FIRE REPOR T

Tupper Lake Village Police arrested a Central Square man following a traffic stop on Pine Street at 2:20 a.m. this morning.  23 year-old Christopher W. Blind was charged with speeding, failure to keep right, aggravated driving while intoxicated and felony driving while intoxicated.  Blind was being arraigned this morning in Tupper Lake Village Court.

Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department members were called in mutual aid to a chimney fire in the Town of Keene on Thursday.  The department’s ladder truck and 17 members responded to State Route 9N at 5:51 p.m..  The ladder truck was used to access the chimney and a dry chemical agent was applied to the flue.  Firefighters returned to the fire station by 7:18 p.m.