Tupper Lake has crafted an updated economic development strategy designed to guide the community through the year 2020.

Written by Camoin Associates, the plan envisions Tupper Lake as a center for education in environmental and natural sciences and also as a tourism destination for families, businesses and visitors.

The economic development plan was funded through a state grant obtained by the Adirondack North Country Association.

It lists the area’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as identified by the Tupper Lake Revitalization Committee, Adirondack North Country Association and others who took part in a meeting in early November.

Jon Kopp of the revitalization committee said he’s very pleased with the updated plan. “Community planning and carrying things out is a slow process,” he said. “I’ve been involved in this for ten years and it has its highs and lows.  But this is the best I’ve ever felt about a community plan and I really like the way people have embraced it.”

One of the plan’s objectives is for the town to establish a local development corporation to promote public and private investment through purchasing, selling and leasing property to facilitate redevelopment projects throughout the community.

Another key component is transforming Tupper Lake into a year round destination for tourists.  Kopp said the community needs more hotel and motel rooms and attractions to bring in visitors and keep them. “In the wintertime people don’t like to travel winter roads,” he said. “They want to be able to stay in the community and so you have to have things in the community, you have to make things look good and you have to have things for people to do.  Part of the strategy is to capture tourism and maybe a build a nine month season.”

And several projects have been identified in the plan like the Adirondack Public Observatory, which is looking to raise 80 percent or $4.5 million of its needed funds by 2012.

The strategy also includes dissolving Village of Tupper Lake government as a benchmark for the community to try and achieve.

Jim Ellis of ANCA and the revitalization group has been a proponent of village dissolution. “We feel that a lot of the economic development tools that other places use like tax forgiveness and incentives aren’t available in New York State because of the way the state is sort of set-up for business,” he said. “We’re saying that we ought to charge of what we have and what we can affect ourselves and in this case the one thing we can affect is the tax rate. That’s why I think that was a pretty strong impetus for us putting in there a consolidation or dissolution of the village.” 

Ellis also touted a section of the economic development strategy that calls for a partnership with Saranac Lake. The plan recognizes the two municipalities could work together with Tupper Lake acting as a center for education in environmental and natural sciences and Saranac Lake serving as a center for commercial biological and life sciences research.

“What we’re saying is we’d love to be able to work with them to provide the science that they may need,” said Ellis.

You can view a draft copy of the plan on the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce website - tuuperlakeinfo.com. Or a final copy is available for view at the town offices on Demars Boulevard.

-Mike Fritts

STRONG WINDS HIT THE TRI-LAKES, NORTH COUNTRY

Strong gusty winds have been keeping firefighters and utility crews around the Tri-Lakes busy today.

A Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department spokesman said firefighters were called to three reports of tree limbs falling onto power lines this morning – on McKenzie Pond Road, Maryland Avenue and on State Route 3 between Bloomingdale and Saranac Lake.  In one case a power line fell on a parked car that was unoccupied.

Another call late this morning sent Paul Smith’s Gabriels firefighters to State Route 30 near Barnum Pond for a report of power lines down and burning.

National Grid crews have been called in for assistance.

In Tupper Lake, the fire department had yet to respond to any wind-related calls but municipal electric department crews were handling several reports of trees crashing into power lines earlier today.

No major power outages were reported in the area so far.

However, other communities in the region were dealing with blackouts today, including Canton and Ogdensburg.

The Seaway International Bridge Corporation, which manages the bridge between Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, has issued several restrictions, prohibiting large vehicles and tractor trailers from crossing the bridge due to high winds.  If the wind escalates, officials said the bridge could be closed altogether.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning until 10 p.m. tonight for the St. Lawrence Valley and the Adirondacks.  Southwest winds 25 to 40 miles per hour were expected with gusts as high as 60 miles per hour possible.

The same storm moved across the state earlier in the day, felling trees and power lines and knocking out electricity to more than 125,000 homes and businesses. An empty U.S. Airways, 50-passenger jet briefly lifted off the ground at the Rochester airport, which recorded gusts of 75 mph before dawn.  No injuries were immediately reported.

-Chris Knight

N-ELBA BOARD ENCOURAGES RECYCLING  AT LANDFILL

North Elba town leaders discussed ways to promote recycling at the landfill in Lake Placid during their first regular meeting Tuesday evening.

Councilmen said they were dismayed by a recent letter to the editor in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise alleging that recyclables are being thrown out with general household waste at the town-owned landfill in Lake Placid.

They said that's not true.

With the exception of non-redemption glass, all recyclables are sold to firms that recycle the materials, said Town Councilman Jack Favro.

Miscellaneous glass jars and bottles are being crushed down and used to line one of the cells of the landfill. “Currently, there really is no market for glass,” Favro said.

The board discussed erecting signs or creating some sort of incentive for residents to separate their recyclables and bring them to the town-operated recycling center.

“It's good for the Adirondacks, good for the environment and monetarily, it's good for the town,” said Supervisor Roby Politi.

In other business, a resolution to allocate $2,000 toward the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear stalled due to lack of support by board members.

In 2006, the town contributed $8,000 to the airport but pulled its funding the following year over a dispute involving road tailings at the airport that the Town of North Elba had sought to purchase.

Also, as the airport is owned and operated by neighboring Harrietstown, there are also legal issues surrounding one town making payments to another, said Town Councilman Chuck Damp. The $2,000 payment had been made in the form of a service contract for advertising at the airport to avoid the issue.

Supervisor Politi said he wasn't aware of the history between the two town boards.

Councilman Jay Rand was one of the few voices in support of the Lake Clear airport and noted that at one time the town had contributed as much as $25,000.   “I think the airport's extremely important to the area,” he said.

Councilman Bob Miller stressed that the town should work toward a positive relationship with the airport and Harrietstown town board and that the airport is an asset. “They provide a service to North Elba residents,” he said.

Councilman Damp said he disagreed with contributing so much, noting that North Elba already owns and operates an airport of its own and Plattsburgh has recently built a brand-new international airport.  “I'm not in favor of giving them any money,” Damp said. “I don't see that airport as being the hub for the area.”

And finally, Supervisor Politi briefed the board on his first visit to Elizabethtown as an Essex County Supervisor.

Following his swearing-in, Politi was appointed to the finance, economic development and legislative committees as well as the sales tax sub-committee. The supervisor also reported that he had been appointed as the county's liaison to the state Olympic Regional Development Authority which runs the Olympic venues and Whiteface and Gore Mountain ski areas.

-Jacob Resneck

TRUDEAU RECEIVES FUNDING FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH

Saranac Lake’s Trudeau Institute has been awarded funding by Governor Eliot Spitzer for stem cell research.

The award to Trudeau, totaling more than $101,000 was included in $14.5 million Spitzer handed out this week to institutions and universities as part of the state’s new $600 million stem cell research program.  “Innovative stem cell research has the potential to yield therapies that may prevent, treat and perhaps cure many debilitating and life threatening conditions,” said Spitzer in a news release. 

“It’s going to be the start of something very productive here at the institute and in the area,” said Dr. Andrea Cooper with Trudeau Institute.

She said part of the money will be used to bring in another scientist to help conduct stem cell experiments.  Cooper said the state’s program would put New York at the forefront of stem cell research. “This technology is the wave of the future and we need to be competitive in New York State,” she said. “And I think committing monies at this stage is useful, it allows people, as we are at the institute, develop our abilities to study these cells. I think it’s crucial for the forward moving of the state in terms of biomedical research as well as stem cell research.”

While Trudeau’s primary mission is to study the body’s immunity to infectious diseases, Cooper said they’re also interested in studying asthma, aging, cancer and other areas. “All those areas can be impacted by stem cells and we would like to be able to probe what the role of stem cells is in all these areas and that’s what the grant we were awarded allows us to do.”

Cooper hopes that more funding in the future could allow Trudeau to further expand its stem cell research capacity.  “Larger funding later on would allow us to expand our interest in these cells,” she said.

If Trudeau is included in the next round of state funding, Cooper said they intend to partner with another research facility.  “What we’ve done is identified collaborators down in Rochester that are interested in working with us,” she said. “They have a greater deal of expertise and we’ll be able to really compliment each other and really develop programs which will benefit all the research in New York State.”

In the first round of funding for the state program, 25 institutions received one-year development grants to support stem cell research, or pay for research equipment, infrastructure and training.

-Mike Fritts

ADK COUNCIL ASKS GOV NOT TO STOP STATE LAND DEALS

An environmental group is urging Governor Eliot Spitzer to reject a request from two state legislators who want him to stop purchasing Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondacks because the state’s tax payments on those lands are in question because of a pending court decision.

Brian Houseal of the Adirondack Council says stopping the purchase of new Forest Preserve lands will have no impact on the Appellate Division’s decision.  “It will only punish the public by squandering opportunities for some of the most important Forest Preserve purchases in the state’s history,” he said in a news release.

In November 2007, a Supreme Court justice in Chautauqua County found that state tax payments on “reforestation lands” outside the Adirondack and Catskill parks were unfairly administered.  He voided all state tax payments to local governments, but stayed the decision until the Appellate Division rules on the state’s appeal.

In the meantime, Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, a Republican from Willsboro, and Senator Betty Little, a Republican from Queensbury, have called on Governor Spitzer to stop buying Forest Preserve lands until the court case is decided. 

Little also says a moratorium would allow the state to review the balance of Forest Preserve and privately owned land in the Adirondacks. “I don’t think it would hurt to put a moratorium on it anyway,” she said.  “I think the state ought to assess when enough is enough.”

The governor has yet to respond to the call for a moratorium.

Little has been critical of the recent land deal between the Finch Pruyn paper company and the Nature Conservancy, which acquired more than 160,000 acres of forest land.  Environmentalists are pushing for a large portion of the property to be purchased outright by the state or protected by taxpayer funded conservation easements. 

“The governor, at a breakfast we were at, was so happy about the 161,000 acres the Nature Conservancy was buying and would be available to the state,” Little said.  “I spoke up and said that’s 161,000 acres that will never have a house, a family, people participating in the local economy.  We’ve got to think about that.  Where are we headed?”

While the case is pending, Houseal wants the governor and Legislature to negotiate and draft a new law ensuring that tax payments are made on all Forest Preserve lands.  He said their legal team is reviewing whether they will seek party status in the lawsuit.

New York State pays roughly $70 million per year in Forest Preserve property taxes to Adirondack towns and counties. 

-Chris Knight

SOUTH COLTON MAN SENTENCED IN FATAL HUNTING ACCIDENT

A South Colton man was sentenced Monday to state prison time for accidentally shooting and killing his boss while the two were deer hunting together.

36 year-old Erick Gibbs shot his boss and frequent hunting companion, 55 year-old Donald Prashaw in October as they were hunting in Brasher.

Police said Gibbs shot Prashaw in the chest when he fired at what he thought was a deer.

Gibbs was sentenced Monday to three years in prison on charges of criminally negligent homicide and an unrelated charge of burglary. He pleaded guilty to both charges in November.

Judge Jerome Richards also ordered Gibbs to pay nearly $10,000 in restitution and court fees.

-Chris Knight

SPITZER PROPOSES LOAN RELIEF FOR DOCS IN ADKS

Gov. Eliot Spitzer wants to pay off the student loans of physicians who agree to serve rural and urban areas facing shortages of doctors, an administration official said Tuesday.

The program referred to internally as a Peace Corps for doctors is expected to be part of Spitzer's State of the State speech on today.

The measure, if approved and funded by the Legislature, is aimed at relieving a shortage of medical care in the North Country and the Adirondacks as well as inner cities.

“Doctors Across New York” would provide grants to repay student loans and other benefits to reach a goal of providing a family doctor for every New York household, the official said.

The program will also address the problem of medical students leaving college and training with loan debt of more than $100,000.

The official had no estimate of the cost of the program. As with most issues Spitzer is expected to address in his State of the State speech, details are expected when he releases his budget proposal to the Legislature on Jan. 22.

In the Adirondacks, there are only dozens of primary care physicians. Health care administrators have said they are having a tougher time than ever recruiting and retaining doctors — one hospital this year pleaded for new doctors through mass mailings.

The shortage is not isolated to primary care doctors and includes the full range of medical specialties from pediatricians to oncologists.

The University at Albany's Center for Health Workforce Studies reported there is roughly one doctor for every 535 residents in the counties that make up the bulk of the Adirondacks compared with one doctor for every 311 people in the state as a whole.

There was no immediate comment from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno or Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

-AP wire reports

POLICE REPORT

Lake Placid Police charged 46 year-old Albert C. Lawrence Jr. of Wilmington with petit larceny at 3:15 p.m. Monday.  Police say Lawrence allegedly stole money from another person by accessing their account with a debit card.  Lawrence was processed and released of his own recognizance to appear in Lake Placid Village Court at a later date.

Saranac Lake Police are reminding local residents to stay off the ice of any body of water.  With the unseasonably warm temperatures the area has experienced no ice should be considered safe.  The police department is asking local residents to exercise caution especially with regards to children.