CAPE AIR WELCOMED TO NORTH COUNTRY

Three months after it began service at the Adirondack Regional Airport and the Plattsburgh International Airport, Cape Air was formally welcomed to the North Country on Thursday during separate ribbon cutting ceremonies at the two facilities.

Elected officials from across the Tri-Lakes were in attendance for the morning reception at the Lake Clear airport.

Cape Air President Dan Wolf said they’ve been pleased with the welcome they’ve received so far.  “We really are so thrilled to be here,” he said. “Just having gotten to know this community and you folks a little bit we know it’s a great fit and we know we’ve got a great future working with you.”

The Hyannis, Massachusetts-based airline secured a $2.8 million federal subsidy in January to serve both Saranac Lake and Plattsburgh with flights to and from Boston.    

Cape Air took over after the departure of Big Sky airlines, which stopped flying in the North Country only two months after it began service in Saranac Lake and Plattsburgh.  The company had been plagued with numerous late and cancelled flights and stranded passengers, frustrating both local officials and the flying public.

Dan Wolf of Cape Air admits that providing service to rural areas like Saranac Lake is a new venture for his company.  But he cited their 20 years of experience in the industry as evidence they’ll be able to provide a reliable service well into the future.

“We are right-sized with the type of equipment we’re using and I think we’re properly positioned as far as understanding what it means to serve a small, relatively isolated community,” he said.

Like many airlines, Cape Air is facing increased fuel costs that are making it more difficult to do business. But Wolf said their fuel expenses amount to 15 percent of their total budget, compared to 40 percent for major airlines.  “We are much less sensitive to the changes in fuel prices,” he said.

Local officials seem confident that Cape Air will make due on its promises to provide a reliable and affordable service. 

Larry Miller is the Supervisor of the Town of Harrietstown, which owns the Adirondack Regional Airport. “I’ve been on the town board since 1995,” he said.  “This is the first time I can honestly tell you we feel we have an airline here that wants to be part of the community and work with the community.  We welcome you here Dan and your crew.”

Since mid-February, Cape Air has been providing three flights a day using nine-seat Cessna 402 aircraft.  Between Saranac Lake and Boston the airline flew 165 passengers in February, 515 in March and 494 in April.   In Plattsburgh, the passenger count was 288 in February, 725 in March and 676 in April.

Cape Air will also be starting a hub in Albany within a few months that will provide service to Watertown, Ogdensburg and Massena. 

Local officials are hoping the airline will eventually expand its service from Saranac Lake and add Albany as another destination.

Andrew Bonney, Cape Air’s Vice President for Planning, said their federal subsidy is designated to be used for the Boston route.  “So we can’t use that support to serve Albany,” he said.  “If we were going to do it, we’d have to do it at risk.  We’d need to make sure there was going to be sufficient traffic and revenue to go to Albany to make that service work.  If the numbers work we’d absolutely look at it.”

Cape Air is also working to develop a code-share agreement with Jet Blue.  That means passengers would be able to buy a single ticket from Saranac Lake and Plattsburgh that would take them to a Jet Blue destination through Logan International Airport in Boston.

-Chris Knight

CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES CLOUD POWER LINE RE-ROUTE

Calling it a “dangerous precedent,” several Adirondack Park Agency commissioners raised serious questions Thursday about a plan to build part of a new electric transmission line on what is now state Forest Preserve land before a state constitutional amendment is approved.

At issue is a so-called “forbearance agreement” between the Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York Power Authority and National Grid that was reached in mid-February.

It would authorize the state to convey up to six acres of state Forest Preserve land in the Town of Colton to National Grid in exchange for approximately 10 acres of the utility company’s land in St. Lawrence County, before an amendment to Article XIV of the state constitution is approved.

The move would allow a 46 kilovolt transmission line, designed to help relieve years of power problems in the Tri-Lakes, to be built on a shorter route that parallels Route 56.  The original route approved by the APA in March 2006 takes a longer bypass around the Forest Preserve, cutting through acres of forest and wetlands.

A constitutional amendment that would authorize the land swap was approved last year by the Legislature.  But it still needs to be approved by a separately elected Legislature and then put on the statewide ballot. And that won’t be possible until at least November of 2009.

APA staff member John Quinn said the Power Authority is facing a deadline from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to finish building the transmission line by the end of this year – the reason why the “forbearance agreement” was crafted.  “There is some time constraint with moving forward on this project,” he said.

Quinn, who lives in Tupper Lake, also said there are public safety and health issues to consider.  “There have been frequent and lengthy outages,” he said.  “We hope that between the time this line is built and up that there isn’t a catastrophic loss of power and life.  This will definitely improve the area’s public health, safety and welfare by having a second feed into the Tri-Lakes.”

But several APA commissioners objected to the agreement, which they said would step on the “forever wild” clause of the state constitution. 

Commissioner Cecil Wray called it a “dangerous precedent.”  “It seems to me we just decided Article XIV was inconvenient and we were going to ignore it for a little while,” he said. 

APA Chairman Curt Stiles had similar feelings.  “My concern is this forbearance agreement does not become a precedent,” he said. 

Some of the strongest objections came from Commissioner Richard Booth, who questioned DEC’s motivations in drafting such an agreement.  “I can’t imagine what authority DEC thinks they’re exercising,” he said. 

“Article XIV doesn’t say that projects may be built even though the people of the state and the Legislature have not yet decided to amend Article XIV.  I think that going down this road is a dangerous precedent that we will rue the day.”

Asked to address some of the board’s concerns, Ken Hamm, DEC’s counsel, called the forbearance agreement a “new concept.”  But he repeated that there are public health and safety issues involved and a December 2008 deadline to finish construction of the transmission line. 

“There’s also a possibility FERC could come in and order this power line be constructed over Forest Preserve land in which case the department would lose all control over it,” he said.  “When we put all these factors together, and it appears there will be passage of the amendment, we agreed to move forward with a forbearance agreement.”

Commissioner Lani Ulrich noted that the environmental groups and state and local government leaders teamed up to get the constitutional amendment process in motion.  “I want to encourage that kind of working together,” Ulrich said.  “I don’t think it would have gotten this far if we were really out of line and messing with the state constitution.”

The agency’s Regulatory Programs Committee lacked the required “majority plus one” vote to send the project to the full agency board with a recommendation for approval.  The vote was 3-2 with Commissioners Ulrich, Lussi and Department of State Designee Rick Hoffman in favor and Commissioners Booth and Townsend opposed.  Chairman Stiles abstained.

The project will come before the full agency board today.

-Chris Knight

NORTHWAY CELL TOWER OK’D BY APA COMMITTEE

A key Adirondack Park Agency committee approved a Verizon Wireless tower Thursday that’s designed to bolster cellphone coverage along the Adirondack Northway.

It’s the fourth of a series of towers that Verizon Wireless is bringing before the park agency in a bid to provide its customers with full coverage along I-87.

APA Planner Skip Outcault told commissioners that the tower would fill a gap between two towers in the Schroon Lake area of Essex County.

“This tower would fill in the gaps between those two towers and cover the corridor beginning south of Exit 28 and extending north of Exit 29.”

Commissioners have been asked to consider approving a design mimicking a pine tree to make it less obvious. The cell tower would be visible along a fifteen hundred-foot stretch of state Route 9, a two thousand-foot stretch of The Northway and parts of the Schroon River.

Commissioner Cecil Wray expressed concern that the tower would not be “substantially invisible” as required by the APA’s own towers policy.

Outcault replied that the tower is only visible in a few places, leading APA staff to believe it would in fact be in compliance with the towers policy.

Commissioner Lani Ulrich said motorists traveling along the Northway often rely on cell phones during emergencies.  “We’re talking about public safety concerns,” she said.

The majority of the Regulatory Programs Committee voted to send the tower project to the full APA Board of Commissioners for consideration today. Commissioner Jim Townsend abstained.

-Jacob Resneck

EXPANDED, IMPROVED RECYCLING EYED IN TRI-LAKES

The North Elba Transfer Station in Lake Placid has expanded the types of materials it can recycle.

Recently, buyers have been found for fluorescent lights, television sets, computers and types of plastics and glass that previously had been difficult to recycle.

The news came at an informal meeting Thursday evening attended by about twenty community members brainstorming ways to improve recycling in the Lake Placid and Saranac Lake communities.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” said Pat Gallagher, a Lake Placid village trustee. “There are already a lot of communities that are already doing it to a high degree.”

Community members suggested the recycling center at the transfer station on Dump Road be made more user-friendly. A common complaint was that the bins are confusing and many people don’t understand the benefits of recycling. Efforts to bring public recycling bins on the main streets of Lake Placid also appear to have stalled, community members said.

Gail Brill of the Saranac Lake-based Green Circle group said her community would like to also get involved.  “One of our initiative is to get a recycling program off the ground in Saranac Lake so certainly we would be interested in whatever you guys are doing,” she said.

After the meeting, North Elba Town Councilman Jack Favro said expanding the effort across town lines will be key.

“One thing we’re trying to do with all the town areas is to get communities together and get input,” he said. “We’re going to be a lot stronger and we’re going to be able to move faster. One of the most frustrating things with government is that it moves slow. I think we have a board that wants to move very fast.”

Bob Miller, a fellow town councilman and member of the Lake Placid school board who helped organize the meeting, said he sees a lot of potential at the town-run transfer station.  “I think that we can make some really positive changes down at the landfill,” Miller said.  “The wonderful thing is that we’re starting at ground zero and we’re just going to move along and do the best that we can.”

The transfer station is currently breaking even, said Favro with the possibility of expanding its operations. Fellow councilman Chuck Damp said from the audience that the recycling center is already at about capacity and will need to expand as community involvement increases.

This evening there will be a screening of a documentary on the garbage industry. The film, called Trashed, will be shown at 7 p.m. in the Lake Placid High School Library.

-Jacob Resneck

FUGITIVE STILL SOUGHT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY

Police say a suspect in a marijuana-smuggling case remains at large, while a second suspect continues to recover from a gunshot wound to the torso at a Burlington hospital.

25 year-old Timothy J. Fleury was listed in fair condition Thursday at Fletcher Allen Medical Center.

Fleury was shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents Monday night after he allegedly tried to run them down with his all-terrain-vehicle in the Town of Constable.

A second suspect who abandoned an ATV and fled into the woods is still being sought.

State Police Captain Robert LaFountain tells the Plattsburgh Press-Republican that investigators have only talked briefly with Fleury, who has obtained an attorney.

Police recovered more than 50 pounds of marijuana in three duffle bags near where the agents tried to stop the two all terrain vehicles.

Fleury still has not been charged in connection with incident.]

-Chris Knight

NCCC TO LAUNCH ALTERNATIVE ENERGY DEGREE PROGRAM

Noble Environmental Power of Connecticut has announced it will provide a $50,000 development grant to North Country Community College to design a two-year degree and training program in Alternative Energy.

The main focus of North Country’s degree and training program, according to a news release from the college, will initially be on wind power generation to address the growing demand in Franklin County’s job market.

With an estimated 500 wind turbines to be on line over the next few years, properly trained technicians in the highly specialized field will be needed to meet the demands of the industry. 

Future expansion of the NCCC program is expected to have specific tracks in Low-End Hydro Power Generation and Solar Energy.

The Franklin County Industrial Development Agency is working with the college to turn the region into an industry leader in the area of alternative energy. Both have committed resources in an effort to provide both long- and short-term economic benefits to the county.

“We are excited to be working with Noble Power, a national leader in alternative energy,” said College President Dr. Gail Rogers Rice. “NCCC has an exceptional reputation in the development of degree and training programs that offer area residents professional education in fields that are appropriate to the area job market.”

-Chris Knight

FIRE REPORT

Lake Placid firefighters were called to 17 Country Club Lane at 6:27 p.m. Thursday night for a report of tree burning on the power lines.  Two trucks and 24 members responded.  They secured the area until the Lake Placid Municipal Electric Department could arrive, returning to the fire station by 7:08 p.m.

Lake Placid firefighters responded to a report of a fire in the brush pile at the North Elba landfill at 3:06 a.m. this morning.  One truck and five members responded and used 1000 gallons of water to put out the blaze.  They were back at the fire station by 4:24 a.m.