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VILLAGE
HEARS CONCERNS ABOUT DRUGS, CRIME IN SL
The Saranac Lake Village Board
heard concerns from a local resident last night about the amount
of drugs and crime in the village.
Jeff Romano, owner of Saranac
Lanes bowling alley, told the board that he’s seen people
dealing drugs in plain sight on the street.
“It’s blatant,” he said. “What are we doing about
drugs in this town?”
Acting Police Chief Dick Depuy
said the police department is very active in preventing drug
crimes and works with other law enforcement agencies on a drug
task force. “When we have enough evidence or information we make the
arrests,” he said, asking Romano to report any illegal
activities he sees to police.
Mayor Tom Michael said village
police are more involved in battling drug crime than many other
communities. “We
work together with all the other law enforcement agencies,” he
said.
But Romano also raised
concerns about two specific incidents – the seven businesses
that were burglarized, including his, in the early morning hours
of June 25. The other incident was a June 29 brawl in front of the
bowling alley that village police couldn’t immediately respond
to because they were making another arrest.
Romano said there’s a lack
of officers on patrol on weekend nights and a lack of oversight
and management of the police department.
“You have a lot of guys that aren’t being managed
properly,” he told the board.
Depuy said they arrested one
suspect in connection with the burglaries.
But he could only be charged with possession of stolen
property.
The mayor said they can’t
have a staff of 300 police in the community.
“It’s a constant struggle to find a balance between the
size of our community and the size of the police force,” Michael
said.
As for police administration,
the mayor said they’re still talking with the Village of Lake
Placid about the concept of sharing a police chief.
Representatives of each board and each police department
will be sitting down to discuss the idea, he said.
In other business last night,
the board agreed to hire Public Sector HR Consultants for $17,100
to serve as human resources consultants to the village.
The company was one of four that submitted a proposal.
Under the one-year contract
they’ll be responsible for developing an employee performance
appraisal system, training department heads how to do appraisals,
updating the employee handbook, running workshops and being an
on-call human resources consultant.
Trustee Susan Waters said they
currently don’t have employee policies in place for issues like
sexual harassment in the workplace.
“Each one of these HR issues, we have nobody now to do
these things,” she said.
The vote to hire the company
was 3-2 with Trustees Dan Olson and John McEneany opposed.
And the board unanimously
approved an easement agreement with ALDI, allowing the village to
access the village sand pit using the back of the company’s
property on Will Rogers Drive.
The agreement will also allow the village to harvest sand
in the hillside between the two properties.
The decision came with two
conditions from Trustee John McEneany – that they notify Saranac
Village at Will Rogers of the decision and hold a public hearing
before any sand is harvested from that section of the esker.
VOTERS
TO DECIDE FATE OF TLHS ROOF REPAIR PROJECT
Voters in the Tupper Lake
School District are going to the polls today to decide the fate of
a roof repair proposition.
If the measure’s approved,
the district would be allowed to borrow up to $349,000 to repair
and replace the roof over the gymnasium and locker rooms at the
Middle/High School.
The proposition would increase
the tax rate by one cent per thousand dollars of assessed property
value over the life of the bond.
Superintendent Dan Bower said
the roof is in excess of 20 years old.
Two years ago, a section of the roof peeled off and had to
be patched up. “That
work has held up well but its time to have this done,” said
Bower.
He said the district hopes the
project will cost less than the $349,000 figure. The total expense of the work will be reduced by using
$70,000 in EXCEL aid from the state.
The project has already
received approval from the State Education Department.
If its approved by the voters
today, Bower says they plan to seek bids from contractors.
They’re hoping the work could be completed by the end of
August, before students return to school.
The voting takes place at the
Middle/High School from 12-8 p.m. today.
TL
SCHOOL BOARD DENIES LAND REQUEST FOR TLVFD
The Tupper Lake School Board
denied a request from the Tupper Lake Village Board last night for
donation of a piece of school owned land for a new fire hall.
But school officials stressed
the decision doesn’t mean the property won’t someday be able
to be used by the firefighters.
The Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire
Department had been seeking the parcel of land, located adjacent
to the school owned civic center on Santa Clara Avenue. The
village had delivered a letter to the school board formerly
requesting the property as a donation.
School Superintendent Dan
Bower reported last night that he and Business Manager Garry
Lanthier recently met with village officials. Bower said he was
not inclined to grant the request for the property, “because for
our own future potential needs for it.”
“But what I would like to
ask the board’s support for is continued dialogue in potential
for the development of what may be a multiple use facility,” he
said.
Bower recommended exploring
the possibility of constructing a building that could accommodate
a bus garage, fire station, and police station. And Bower said
Town Supervisor Roger Amell should be involved in the next round
of talks to see if the town has any space needs. “We want to
invite them just in case there is any need there,” he said.
“We’re not saying totally
no, what we’re saying is we want more discussion,” said board
Vice-President Pat Facteau.
Board President Michael
Dechene said there was state grant funding available to build a
multi-use facility. “I bet you the monies would be easier to
come by,” he said.
At the school board’s
meeting in May acting superintendent Mike Hunsinger provided a
rendering designed by the district’s architects of a possible
joint fire hall and bus garage.
Last night Bower recommended
each of the respective board’s draft a list of possible space
needs and pass along those findings to the district architect and
see what they come up with.
In other news, the school
board held their organizational meeting in preparation of the
upcoming school year. A
long list of policies and procedures was adopted.
The board voted to have Michael Dechene remain in the
president’s seat while Pat Facteau will continue as
vice-president of the board.
SURVEYS
AVAILABLE FOR TOWN, VILLAGE PLANNING
The Comprehensive Planning
Committee for the Village of Saranac Lake and Town of Harrietstown
is encouraging all Saranac Lake and Harrietstown residents to
complete a short survey that will be used in planning the future
of the town and village.
The survey was released at the
public meeting two weeks ago, and there are two more weeks for
residents to complete the survey. It will be collected
through July 21.
The survey is available online
and in a paper format.
The paper surveys are
available in the recently-mailed water bills, in a recent edition
of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, and at community locations
including the Village office, the Chamber of Commerce, Nori's, E
& M Market, and the Adult Center.
The online version of the
survey is available by going to www.saranaclake.com and then
clicking on Town & Village - Comprehensive Planning.
GILLIBRAND
RETURNS FROM MIDDLE EAST VISIT
US Representative Kirsten
Gillibrand returned from her first visit to the war-torn Middle
East over the weekend after experiencing the dangers of the region
first-hand.
Gillibrand says while she was
visiting with Ambassador Ryan Crocker at the US Embassy in
Baghdad, two rockets were fired at the grounds.
Although the Democrat from
Greenport was in a safe location and in no immediate danger, the
experience shook her.
Throughout the weeklong visit,
the congresswoman sported full body armor, including a vest and
helmet, in 120-degree heat.
As a member of the House Armed
Services Committee, Gillibrand told the Albany Times Union that
she needed to be there in order to make informed decisions about
how to best support the troops.
On May 24th, Gillibrand was 1
of 280 members of the House -- and the only congressional delegate
from New York -- who voted to approve more than $95 billion for
the military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gillibrand still says she
supports setting a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq.
“The current policy is not
the right one, it has to be broader than just a military strategy
and needs to include a sense of urgency so that the Iraqi people
know it's time for them to defend their own country,” Gillibrand
told the Times Union.
ACT
MERGES WITH CRARY FOUNDATION
Adirondack Community Trust and
the Bruce L. Crary Foundation have established a partnership
designed to create increased efficiency in administration and
investments management between the organizations.
The merger creates a $22
million investment pool.
Adirondack Community Trust
attracts and manages endowment funds established by families,
individuals, non-profit organizations and businesses to enhance
the quality of life in the region.
Income from the funds supports a wide range of needs in the
form of grants based on the intent of the donors.
From its Lake Placid offices,
the group manages 90 funds for donors including 20 scholarship
funds and 50 funds for nonprofit agencies.
It has distributed more than $6 million in grants and
scholarships since its inception in 1997.
The Bruce Crary Foundation has
been awarding college scholarships to students across the North
Country for more than 35 years.
The foundation was established through the estate of Bruce
Crary, a Westport resident. To
date it has helped 6000 people pay for their higher education with
grants totaling almost $7 million.
On July 1, the Crary
Foundation became a supporting organization of Adirondack
Community Trust. With
the transition, Crary changes over from a private foundation in
order to share the benefits of a public charity.
By supporting the charitable
purposes of Adirondack Community Trust, Crary is exempt from
certain taxes and will enable its donors to be eligible for
greater deductions.
Arthur Savage, vice-president
of the Crary Foundation, called it an important move for both
organizations. “Crary
will continue doing the same as we always have, providing
assistance to those students who show special promise and true
financial need,” he said.
The foundation will continue
to be based in Elizabethtown with its existing staff.
Meredith Prime, chair of
Adirondack Community Trust’s board of trustees, said both
organizations will benefit from the new relationship.
“Bringing the Crary Foundation under the umbrella of ACT
will strengthen both philanthropic organizations,” she said.
For more information on the
Crary Foundation contact 873-6496.
For more information on the
Adirondack Community Trust call 523-9904.
POLICE
REPORT
Tupper Lake-based State Police
arrested a 16 year-old male from Tupper Lake on a charge of
driving while intoxicated Monday night.
Police say they pulled over a vehicle on Stetson Road in
the Town of Tupper Lake for tailgating around 11:30 p.m.
Troopers found the teenager was allegedly intoxicated and
driving out of class on a junior license.
He was processed and released to a third party to appear in
town court July 25.
Tupper Lake Village Police
charged 25 year-old Jennifer L. Mullikin of Tupper Lake with
second-degree harassment at 10:35 a.m. Monday.
Police say the charge stems from comments she made to
another person on Park Street on June 13.
Mullikin was issued a criminal summons to appear in village
court at a later date.
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