DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS BEGIN AGAINST TL TEACHER

The Tupper Lake School Board is taking disciplinary action against a teacher who’s been on administrative leave since last fall over allegations of misconduct.

The decision came after an executive session at a February 5 school board meeting.

Superintendent Dan Bower filed four charges against an unnamed, tenured teacher and the board agreed to move the matter to disciplinary proceedings.  Specifics of the charges were not listed in the resolution approved by the board.

Bower declined to comment on the matter Tuesday and referred additional questions to attorney Dennis Curtin of Plattsburgh, who has yet to return a message left at his office.

The teacher was first placed on administrative leave in late October. 

Bower has not publicly referred to the teacher by name but has said an arrest made by State Police in January and the person on leave are connected.

47 year-old Glenn Poirier of Tupper Lake, an elementary school teacher, was arrested after an investigation of an underage drinking party at a hunting camp. He was charged with third-degree criminal nuisance.

The school board, at its February meeting, approved 15 separate motions that conclude probable cause exists and a disciplinary proceeding should be commenced.

The list of charges has been forwarded to the district employee.

The teacher can request a hearing on the charges.  If found guilty, the board could seek the maximum penalty of dismissal. 

A written statement specifying the charges and the maximum penalty being sought has also been forwarded to the state Commissioner of Education.

WORK ON NEW POWER LINE TO START IN JUNE

Construction of a new 46-kilovolt power line meant to improve the reliability of the power system in the Tri-Lakes is scheduled to begin in June.

National Grid and the New York Power Authority have been working to secure building permits and easements for the 26-mile transmission line, according to National Grid spokesman Tom Corbett. 

“Its all systems go,” he said on Tuesday. “We’ll start in June of this year with basic clearing and right of way access, go through the end of the year and hit it again in the 2008 construction season.  We’re looking to energize the line by December of 2008.”

Corbett said the new line will be built by a combination of National Grid crews and outside contractors.

The $29 million project is designed to help relieve years of power problems in the Tri-Lakes.  Tupper Lake alone has suffered 67 outages totaling more than 350 hours between 1988 and 2004.

Health and safety are the primary benefits the new transmission line will provide, Corbett said.  “It’s a reliability thing,” he said.  “We need to be able to serve the customers we already have.”

The route of the new transmission line was approved by the Adirondack Park Agency last year.

But environmentalists and some APA commissioners urged the Power Authority and National Grid to seek a state constitutional amendment that would allow the line to cross Forest Preserve land along Route 56 in St. Lawrence County rather than make a six mile detour through forest and wetlands.

Senator Betty Little is sponsoring an amendment that would give National Grid six acres of state land along Route 56.  In exchange, the state will get 10 acres owned by the utility company in St. Lawrence County.

The amendment is now making its second round through the Legislature.  It was approved in the Senate on February 14.  If adopted by the Assembly it will be placed on the statewide ballot in November.

New York Power Authority spokeswoman Connie Cullen said they’re factoring the amount of time it will take to get the constitutional amendment approved into their construction timeline.  “NYPA has maintained throughout the project that we expect the line to be completed on time and on budget,” she said.  “Working with our partner, National Grid, construction has been planned to accommodate the timing of the vote.”

Corbett, the National Grid spokesman, said they look forward to a winter where they won’t have to urge customers to reduce unnecessary electricity usage to prevent power outages. 

Tri-Lakes residents are being asked to do so both today and tomorrow from 6 a.m. to 12 noon due the extremely cold temperatures.

POWER OUTAGE AFFECTS TL AND SURROUNDING AREAS

Power was slowly being restored to Tupper Lake this morning after an outage that began around 4:30 a.m. 

The interruption was caused by a downed wire, according to a National Grid spokesman. Tupper Lake, Lake Clear, Saranac Inn and other areas were affected.

Crews had located the problem by 7 a.m. and were working on repairs.  The wire went down near Rat Pond, somewhere between the Saranac Inn Golf Course and the DEC fish hatchery.

At 8 a.m. this morning a National Grid spokesman said power was expected to be restored within two hours.  Crews already restored service to Lake Clear by that point.

But some people were still without power as of 12 noon.

Tupper Lake Village Clerk Mary Casagrain said it’s been a slow process of returning power to the community one circuit at a time.  “They’re gradually bringing them up,” she said.

Casagrain said they’re hopeful that everyone should have service restored shortly. 

Tupper Lake Electric Department Superintendent John Bouck had asked his customers to shed any electricity loads they can such as lighting, heat and hot water heaters.  “We need to reduce as much load as possible to expedite the restoration in town,” he said this morning.

Bouck also said there could be rolling blackouts as service was being restored.

Today’s outage forced the Tupper Lake Central School District to cancel all classes for the day.

The power problems come as temperatures overnight plummeted to twenty and, in some locations, more than thirty degrees below zero.  National Grid and the local utilities in Lake Placid and Tupper Lake issued a statement Tuesday urging their customers to reduce all unnecessary electricity usage from 6 a.m. till 12 noon both today and tomorrow to minimize the risk of power problems.

LP HIRES SHARED SERVICES CONSULTING FIRM

The Lake Placid Village Board has selected a consulting firm to perform a grant-funded analysis of opportunities to share services between the village and the Town of North Elba.

After an executive session Monday night, the village approved the hiring of the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester.  “They’re the ones that had the most experience in coming up with the analysis of shared services,” said Mayor Jamie Rogers.

The unanimous decision is contingent on the approval of the North Elba Town Board, which meets next week.

Eight different groups had submitted proposals. Rogers, Deputy Mayor Pat Gallagher, Town Supervisor Shirley Seney and Deputy Supervisor Jay Rand interviewed the finalists.

The Center for Governmental Research will be paid out of a $47,000 shared services grant the village and town received. 

If the town board signs off on the decision, Rogers says the first step is to have the firm meet with the village and town boards.  As many as 8-12 meetings or conference calls will follow as the process continues.

Much of the company’s work will be based on a shared services memorandum of understanding between the town and village.  They’ll be doing inventories and analyzing opportunities to merge highway departments, treasurers, and share other services.  “It should be very beneficial,” Rogers said.

The entire process will take six to eight months.  A public meeting will be held and the boards will be able to choose to implement the recommendations.

Just how much the two governments will be able to work together has been a question mark lately, following a disagreement over the hiring of additional staff for the building and planning department.

But Rogers believes cooler heads will prevail.  “It’s been very frustrating,” he said.  “But I think when every board member starts to realize the implications of the tax benefits to our residents, we have to figure out how to work together.”

In other business Monday night, the village board approved an application from Event Sound Inc. for a loan of up to $150,000 from the village’s revolving loan fund.  As a condition of the approval, the company’s business expansion must create one new job for every $25,000 of the loan.   The jobs must first be made available to persons of low-to-moderate income.

The board also held a public hearing on a local law that would prohibit any through truck traffic over 10 tons on Hillcrest Avenue, Mill Pond Drive and School Street.  “The intent of this law is to stop heavy trucks from driving through neighborhoods as bypasses,” Rogers said.

The local law was tabled until the board’s next meeting.

LP WOMAN ACCEPTS PLEA DEAL IN DRUG CASE

A Lake Placid woman pleaded guilty to felony fifth-degree attempted possession of a controlled substance Tuesday as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors in Essex County.

27 year-old Jennifer Pabins will serve six months in the Essex County Jail, five years probation and six months of home monitoring.

She told Judge Richard Meyer in Essex County Court that she tried to illegally obtain a prescription drug – a Fentanyl patch normally used for relieving severe pain.

As part of the plea deal, one count of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance will be dropped.

Pabins is scheduled to be sentenced May 1.

APA MEETS FRIDAY IN RAY BROOK

The Adirondack Park Agency will meet for one-day this week as part of their monthly scheduled meeting at their headquarters in Ray Brook.

The full agency will get together at 9 a.m. Friday to hear the Executive Director’s report.

At 9:15 a.m. the Park Policy and Planning, Local Government and Economic Affairs Committees will hear a panel discussion on energy issues and challenges facing the Adirondack Park. Panelists will include Mayor of Lake Placid Jamie Rogers, Executive Director of Community Energy Services Inc., Ann Heidenreich, Mike DiNunzio with the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and the Technical Director for BCAP/Alliance to Save Energy Mike DeWein.

The Regulatory Programs Committee will then gather at 10:45 a.m. to determine approvability for a shoreline setback variance. The applicant has proposed a single-family home along the banks of the Schroon River in the Town of Chester, Warren County.

The Local Government Services Committee will convene at 1 p.m. to discuss amendments to the Town of Day’s approved local land use law.

They’ll also give an update on Local Government Day scheduled for March 21-22. And a discussion of opportunities on workforce, community, and affordable housing projects will be held.

At 2:30 p.m. the Administration Committee will meet for review of a delegation resolution followed by the full agency coming together at 3 p.m. for committee reports and take actions if necessary.

The next agency meeting is scheduled for April 12-13 at their headquarters in Ray Brook.

POLICE AND FIRE REPORT

Saranac Lake Police charged 20 year-old Danielle M. Fletcher of Tupper Lake with second-degree harassment at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.  Police say she was arrested on a warrant for allegedly subjecting another person to unwanted physical contact during an altercation.  Fletcher was processed and released to appear in village court at a later date.

Lake Placid Police charged a Ray Brook man with driving while intoxicated, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, failure to stop at a stop sign and speed not reasonable and prudent at 3:35 a.m. March 4.  34 year-old Ricardo Montes was stopped for multiple vehicle and traffic law violations and was allegedly found to be intoxicated.  He was also allegedly found to be operating the motor vehicle on a revoked license.  Montes was remanded to the Essex County Jail in lieu of bail.

Tupper Lake firefighters were called to 17 Washington Street at 4:48 a.m. this morning.  One truck and 24 members responded to a report of a smoke condition.  They found a heater had malfunctioned, possibly due to the power outage.  A thermal imaging camera was used but no fire was found.  Firefighters returned to the fire station by 5:32 a.m.

Lake Placid firefighters responded to 44 Quail Lane, off of River Road, at 11:27 p.m. last night.  One truck and 11 members arrived on scene after receiving a report of an electrical smell.  An overloaded outlet had shorted out.  The outlet was removed and firefighters returned to the fire station by 12:06 a.m.