NASON ACCEPTS PUNISHMENT, RETURNS TO SLPD FRIDAY

Saranac Lake Police Sergeant Bruce Nason will be returning to duty Friday for the first time in six months after being reinstated Monday night by the Saranac Lake Village Board.

“I’m glad that it’s over and I’d like to move forward,” Nason said Tuesday.

Nason, along with officer Casey Reardon, had been serving a suspension without pay or benefits since October for violating village policies and procedures on October 5, 2005.

The two were returning from a training session in Plattsburgh when the unmarked, village-owned vehicle Nason was driving crashed into guardrails outside the village.  Both men later admitted they had four drinks over lunch earlier in the day. 

The village ultimately filed civil charges against Nason, Reardon and Police Chief Donald Perryman Jr., suspending all three. Perryman was accused of misconduct for trying to cover up the incident and refusing to have his officers take blood alcohol tests.

He was found guilty by a hearing officer and fired by the village board in January.

Nason and Reardon were scheduled to go through a series of arbitration hearings.  But, after several days of Nason’s hearing, the village decided to accept a settlement offer, according to Mayor Tom Michael.

Based on the way the hearing was going, he said the village’s attorney, Lori Cantwell, felt there was a good chance the outcome of the proceedings could be the same as a the settlement offer. “We had to make a judgment,” Michael said.  “Do we continue to spend money and possibly end up with the same outcome.  Or do we take the offer of settlement.  We just felt it was best to take the offer of settlement and move on.”

The agreement to reinstate the officers requires Nason and Reardon to admit their actions violated village policies.  They’ll receive no pay or benefits for the six months they’ve been suspended.  And, any misconduct by the officers in the next five years will be grounds for termination.

The settlement came not long after Nason met face to face with the board, explained what happened and expressed remorse.

He said he realizes not everyone in the community may be satisfied by the outcome.  “People are entitled to their opinion and I respect that,” he said.  “But I’ve gone through the process and I have been punished.  I accepted punishment and responsibility for my actions.”

Nason said he’s ready to return to work on Friday.  “There are some hardworking, dedicated police officers in the Village of Saranac Lake,” he said.  “I’m glad to get back and work with them to make things move in a positive fashion.”

Officer Reardon, who will also return to work this week, did not immediately return a message on Tuesday.

Michael said he hopes both officers have learned a lesson. “They wronged the village and created an exceptional hardship on their fellow officers,” he said.  “They need to step up to the plate and take responsibility inside the department and make good with the community members.”

Meanwhile the village has run into a small hurdle in its attempt to possibly share administration of the police department with the Village of Lake Placid.  Michael said there’s a section of civil service law that requires the village to have its own police chief when it has more than five officers on the payroll. 

“It’s an issue that’s come up and we’ve added it to the list,” the mayor said.  “We will find ways we can work within the law to find solutions and share services to reduce the cost of operating the police department.”

TL SCHOOL BOARD OUTLINES BUDGET FIGURES

Tupper Lake School Board members continued to review the district’s tentative 2007-2008 budget at their meting Monday night.

The $15.4 million spending plan represents a more than $950,000 increase in expenditures over the current school year.  But the figure does not yet include other revenues like projected state aid.

Governor Eiliot Spitzer has proposed sending the district close to $700,000 in state aid for the next school year. And a one-time appropriation of Excel Aid from last year is expected to bring costs down as well.

Superintendent Dan Bower said it was premature to include the tentative revenue increases proposed in Spitzer’s spending plan until the state Legislature reaches a compromise on the final state budget.

Increases fueling the district’s budget are the same as in past years including a 2.08 percent increase in employee salaries and a 2.74 percent increase in employee benefits.   Additional spending brings the total increase to 6.58 percent.

Some of the needs school officials have identified include adding a school psychologist and kindergarten position, and providing more funding in the technology budget.

As a cost savings measure the district is also looking to eliminate some services received from BOCES.

The school board is considering cutting a special education program that includes two positions provided by BOCES.  Instead, they would fill those positions in-house. 

The cuts would result in a net savings to the district.  No longer funding the program will eliminate $630,000 in spending, while the district would pay approximately $350,000 to hire their own teachers. “Right now we’re moving forward as if we’re taking those programs over in the district,” said Bower.

A separate measure that will appear before voters on school budget voting day is a proposition to lease three more 60 passenger school buses.

The school board will continue their budget discussions when they meet again in April.

ORDA PLANS SHOOTING FACILITY AT SKI JUMPS

The Olympic Regional Development Authority’s plans for a biathlon shooting facility at the Mackenzie Intervale Ski Jumping Complex were outlined to the North Elba Town Board last night.

ORDA’s Bob Hammond said the goal of the seasonal biathlon target system is to provide training opportunities for athletes during the summer season.  The project will also support athletes who use the Olympic Training Center, Hammond said.

The 180 by 40 foot shooting facility is modeled after a similar targeting system used by the National Guard in Vermont.  It will be located behind the freestyle hill at the ski jump complex and surrounded by embankments on three sides.  Plans also include a baffle system to reduce the sound of the 22 caliber rifles that will be used by the athletes.

Hammond said noise analysis will be an important part of the project as they move the design process forward.

Supervisor Shirley Seney asked how close the target system will be to the nearest neighbors.  Hammond said 400 feet, although a home may have recently been built closer.

Seney also asked if the noise would startle horses across the street during the annual horse shows.  Hammond said the noise levels will fall within what’s acceptable under the rules and parameters of the Department of Environmental Conservation.  “We will stay within those parameters,” he said.  “We’ll certainly be sensitive to other activities going on.”

Tracy Lamb, associate director of the Olympic Training Center, said the project will be important for a pair of local athletes who’ve been competing on the World Cup biathlon circuit – Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid and Tim Burke of Paul Smiths.  It will allow them to train at home in the summer instead of having to travel to Europe, he said.

A public informational meeting on the project has been scheduled for April 19 at 7 p.m. in the base lodge of the ski jumping complex. 

Hammond said the target system will require an Adirondack Park Agency permit.  An application will be submitted to the agency after a consultant completes the sound analysis.

In other business, the North Elba Town Board voted 4-1 to hire the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester to conduct a grant-funded analysis of shared services opportunities between the town and village. 

Councilman Derek Doty voted against the measure, saying he wasn’t willing to spend $57,000 in taxpayer money on a study when the town and village can’t work together now.  “The study will show us we can save money by working together,” he said.  “But we aren’t doing that now.”

Supervisor Seney, however, was optimistic that the effort could lead to better cooperation.  “Hopefully we’ll see better things than what’s been happening,” she said.

SENATE RESTORES HOSPITAL, NURSING HOME FUNDING

Six million dollars in funding would be restored to six hospitals and 18 nursing homes across the North Country as part of the state Senate’s proposed additions to Governor Spitzer’s executive budget.

That’s according to state Senator Betty Little. “Our North Country hospitals and nursing homes provide important, lifesaving services,” said Little. “I want to ensure that these facilities have an opportunity to succeed and that they will be able to continue providing services that keep people well and save lives.”

The funding restored by the Senate includes $383,000 for Adirondack Medical Center, $47,000 for Alice Hyde Medical Center, $866,000 for CVPH in Plattsburgh, and $147,000 for Elizabethtown Community Hospital.

Among the area’s nursing homes, $75,000 would be restored to AMC Mercy in Tupper Lake and another $134,000 to AMC Uihlein in Lake Placid. The Franklin County-run nursing home in Malone would get $93,000 back and Horace Nye Nursing Home in Elizabethtown $163,000.

In total, the Senate’s bill would restore $544 million for Medicaid and health programs statewide, with $241 million and $230 million for hospitals and nursing homes respectively.

Among other things, the senate’s proposal would reject a tax on hospitals’ gross receipts and restore the Medicaid Trend Factor, a tool that aids health care facilities with inflationary factors like rising pharmaceutical and energy costs.

But Governor Eliot Spitzer is already scowling over the Senate’s plan. He’s said the Senate’s majority budget bill would be “ruinous” to the state.

“The Senate Majority is spending billions of dollars the state doesn’t have with complete disregard of any commitment to fiscal discipline,” said Governor Spitzer. “They removed vital health care programs and replaced them with millions in new spending on the wrong programs."

ORTLOFF PAPERS DONATED TO PLATTSBURGH STATE

Calling it a “tip of the iceberg” of the history of the region over the past two decades, former Assemblyman Chris Ortloff has donated his Assembly papers to SUNY Plattsburgh.

Ortloff has turned over to the Special Collections Unit of Feinberg Library more than 110 cubic feet of materials documenting the 20 years he represented Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence and Essex counties in the New York State Assembly and in public life.

“If it was just about me, I don't know how much value it would have,” Ortloff said.  “But, the fact that I was the representative of 130,000 people, and that my office collected significant pieces of their lives over 20 years, I believe has value and merit.”

Ortloff was elected to the New York State Assembly in February 1986 and served for 20 years until former Gov. George Pataki appointed him a commissioner on the New York State Parole Board in June 2006.

Ortloff said researchers, other historians and community members would find a wide array of information in the files once the collection is open to the public.  He said the collection included all the legislation he sponsored in the Assembly, correspondences sent to the office from constituents, annual surveys for the past 20 years, information from when he was chair of the Clinton County Republican Committee and many photographs.

Debra Kimok, Special Collections librarian at SUNY Plattsburgh, said the acquisition of the papers would be a treasure trove for historians and others. “Not only is it a rich resource for community researchers and interested parties, but also for our students,” she said.

Kimok said it would take a while to process the papers before making them available for review by the public. 

POLICE REPORT