News & Opinion About Huletts Landing, N.Y.
Whitehall on the evening of Saturday, January 4th.
For our friends everywhere, Hercules brought about 6 – 8 inches of snow locally, and lots of cold!
Most of Lake George froze last night and while it’s supposed to be warmer on Sunday and Monday, Tuesday will bring more cold!!
So wherever you are, stay warm and look forward to the summer of 2014.
Tonight was scheduled to be the swearing-in of the new Town Supervisor and Town Board members and the first organization meeting of the Town Board but because of the snow from Storm Hercules, the meeting scheduled for this evening has been postponed.
It has been rescheduled to the evening of Monday, January 13th, immediately before the normal monthly town meeting. The swearing-in, organizational meeting and resolutions will happen at 6:00 pm and the regular meeting of the Town Board will follow.
Here is a link to the resolutions up for vote during the organizational meeting. These were provided to me by Supervisor Gang. They are in draft form in advance of voting by the Town Council and will not be official until votes are actually made.
Debris and muddy water as seen in Lake George on July 11, 2013.
Since I’ve been writing here on the Huletts Current, I’ve gotten in the habit of recapping at the end of the year what I consider to be the top news story of Huletts Landing from the past year. For 2013, I’ve chosen the July 11th flash flood down Foster brook, caused by a mountain beaver dam rupture.
The morning of July 11th, a neighbor came over, when the fire whistle went off, and said to head to high ground. I have to admit I had never heard a comment like that before in Huletts. I headed right over to Foster Brook and snapped the picture below.
Water cascades down Foster Brook the morning of July 11th.
As I headed upstream, my first thought was; “Where is all this water coming from?” Well, we now know as I documented here.
As the day went along and the water subsided, the “best” of Huletts was on display as neighbor helped neighbor. Fire companies, county and town road crews, the Lake George Park Commission and even the media arrived.
Dresden Town Supervisor, Robert Banks, being interviewed about the flood.
So while other things happened in Huletts during the past year, I selected the July 11th Foster Brook flood as the year’s top news story, because it was one of the biggest days in Huletts Landing that I can remember in a long time. Things returned to normal pretty quickly but it was an exciting day that will be remembered for a long time by those who were there that morning.
(Click on all pictures to see full-scale.)
The local post office in many cases is the hub of rural communities and an important force in the explosion of e-commerce. What are the forces leading to their closure across the country?
The biggest proponent of downsizing buildings and slashing service is senior USPS management itself. The POStPlan introduced already has reduced retail mail service at more than 13,000 facilities and after October 2014, post offices will be re-evaluated annually to determine whether further cuts are necessary.
There are many political organizations, politicians and former members of the postal Board of Governors as well as competing delivery services that support USPS privatization and downsizing. These groups cite the USPS Office of Inspector General and the General Accounting Office to advocate downsizing postal infrastructure.
FedEx CEO Fred Smith testified before Congress that “closing down USPS … is an option that ought to be considered seriously.” However spokespeople for FedEx and UPS have said “it’s important to have a strong Postal Service.” USPS, FedEx and UPS in many instances already partner with each other in delivery services.
Pitney Bowes, a maker of postage meters and shipping software has funded a study for the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to examine the benefits of partially privatizing the postal service. The study envisions private companies taking over all postal operations except the “last mile delivery” where a letter carrier would continue mail delivery.
The proliferation of email has in many cases impacted first class mail delivery, however email pioneer Vint Cerf of Google has stated; “I am convinced that until we get to the 24th Century, we are going to need the Postal Service as somebody to provide delivery services….”
All of the above indicate that changes are probably coming to the small rural post office in the years to come.
Sources: Association of United States Postal Lessors & PostandParcel.info
At Monday’s December meeting of the Dresden town board, the 2014 town budget was finalized. The amount to be raised by taxes is only $4,470 more than 2013. This translates into an increase of 0.764% in taxes from 2013 to 2014. (Less than 1%.) The town board should be congratulated for keeping the town budget in excellent shape during these trying fiscal times.
In another bit of good news, the total debt of Sewer District #1 is now $ 47,700, down from $94,560 a year ago. 2014 will see the debt in Sewer District # 1 paid off.
The fire protection budget stays the same as it was last year.
You can see a summary of the 2014 town budget here. (Note: This is the preliminary budget report, which was adopted by the town board and is now final.)
The area of the beaver pond (that is believed to have caused the 2013 Foster Brook flood) after the dam break (LGPC-DEC-State Police Photo). (Click picture to see larger view.)
During the midst of the 2013 summer Foster Brook flood, the thought running through my mind was; “Where is all this water coming from?” There had been no rain for days and there weren’t any flood warnings in effect. The day was mildly cloudy. The flash flood came down the mountain suddenly, severely eroding the area of Foster Brook while also jumping the bank and causing damage to nearby roads and homes.
Well, thanks to Randy Rath, of the Lake George Association, here is a Google Earth map showing exactly where the water supposedly originated.
It is believed that the flood was started by a beaver dam failure constructed on the upstream pond pictured in the center of the Google map. The water held back by the dam was estimated at about 9 +acres and was all but entirely drained after the dam washed away. The resulting sediment washed down into Lake George was thus ultimately believed to have been caused by wild beavers.
What can be done to prevent this from happening again? Well according to Bob Banks, Town Supervisor of Dresden, the town does have funds available in its yearly budget for beaver dam removal. The problem was that no one knew about this area. To keep it from happening again, the area would need to be monitored to see if the area is being “dammed” again, resulting in a water buildup.
At least the question; “Where did the water come from?” may now be answered.
Mike Foster with Kathy Huntington.
I am very sorry to report that Mike Foster died on Saturday, November 30th at his home. Mike was the cousin of former Dresden Town Supervisor, Sue Foster Ives and the partner of Kathy Huntington, the Dresden historian.
On a personal note, Mike provided me with critical information and the only known photograph of his great grandfather, Willis C. Foster, who discovered the Hulett Hotel fire in 1915 and which can be found in my book, The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.
Mike was a “bear” of a man, with a heart to match, who loved talking about the history of Dresden and Huletts Landing. He will be sadly missed.
Our condolences and prayers go out to the Foster and Huntington families for their loss.
“May God support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest and peace at the last.”
I will post additional info once I hear more. (Photo provided by the Foster family.)
As we gather with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving, know that I give thanks for all the good you do in our community.
Happy Thanksgiving.
On November 15th, the Washington County Board of Supervisors narrowly adopted the 2014 budget. The vote was extremely close with 9 Supervisors with a weighted vote of 2,195 voting “Yes,” and 8 Supervisors with a weighted vote of 2,065 voting “No.”
Supervisor Banks of Dresden voted “Yes”.
The budget will raise the tax levy by 2.58 percent.
The biggest controversy saw the Supervisors vote against pay increases for themselves, thus saving $5,800 from the total budget. The tax levy will increase from $29.4 million in 2013 to $30.1 million in 2014.
The proposed budget is posted on Washington County’s website here. (The budget message on pages 1 & 2, (3 & 4 of the linked pdf) explain the 2014 budget well.) The only change to this proposed budget was that the total to be raised, and the tax levy are both $5,800 smaller due to the Supervisors not voting themselves a pay raise. The final adopted budget should be posted on the Washington County website in the next few days.
Official Final Dresden Election Results
Below are the final vote totals for all local offices including votes from absentee ballots.
| Town Supervisor | Votes | ||
| George Gang* | 140 | ||
| Robert Banks | 122 | ||
| Stiling Knight (Write-in) | 1 | ||
|
Town Board (2 winners) | |||
| Donald “Pat” Greenough* | 175 | ||
| Ed Raymond* | 143 | ||
| Carl Sobeck | 122 | ||
|
Town Justice | |||
| Jared Eggleston* | 150 | ||
| Helen Marie Sunkenberg | 100 |
*Winner
Thanks go out to all the individuals who ran.
This morning, Dresden absentee ballots were counted at the Washington County Board of Elections.
Unofficially, George Gang has been elected to a two year term.
The final vote total after all absentee votes were counted was:
| Town Supervisor | Votes | ||
| George Gang | 140 | ||
| Robert Banks | 116 |
Apples, some eaten, lie on the road behind the Post Office.
The Lake George Land Conservancy Requests Your Assistance
Read the LGLC’s most recent fundraising appeal documenting how close they are to finishing their capital campaign to pay for the Last Great Shoreline. (2 pages)
Huletts Post Office Fall Newsletter
Learn about the new lines painted in front of the Huletts Post Office (and much more).
Dresden and Putnam’s Supervisors Defend Washington County Beach
The Wash blog reports on what Washington county’s two most northern towns on Lake George are up against.
Well, here it is November 9, 2013 which is the day I celebrate the “birthday” of the Huletts Current. It has been exactly five years since my first post in 2008. The news ebbs and flows but I’ve been happy to share the “goings on” around town with you for the last five years.
So thank you for continuing to read the Huletts Current and know I appreciate sharing the “news” with you. Hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two while checking in periodically. It seems like the pictures, history, and other short items are informative also, because I get comments on those too.
As is my custom, here are the most read posts from the past year.
1.) Breaking: Mountain Dam Rupture Causes Flash Flood
2.) Arthur Borin, R.I.P.
3.) Berry/Clayton Wedding Takes Place in Huletts
4.) Kerry A. McNelis Memorial Draws Large Crowd of Family and Friends
5.) 2013 Day to Remember: Race Results
6.) Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Luke Smith
7.) Interview with Dresden’s Frank Barber, School Board Candidate
8.) Surprise Birthday Party Held for Mrs. Aiken
9.) Rare Historical Find: 1958 Video of Diane Struble Swimming Lake George
10.) Gettsyburg 1863: Washington County’s Heroic Fight
Now it’s on to year six!