News & Opinion About Huletts Landing, N.Y.
Congratulations to Codie Bascue, who piloted the top American sled to a ninth-place finish in the 4-man bobsled.
From NBC’s coverage:
Bascue led the top American sled with two solid runs on the second day of competition. Top U.S. pilot Steve Holcomb, who won gold in 2010 and double bronze in 2014, passed away in 2017, and Bascue filled in valiantly. He couldn’t put together a medal run, but still piloted his sled to a top-10 finish.
To see a highlight clip – scroll down the page here.
Update: Monday February 19, 2018
Codie presently sits in 25th place after one run of the two-man Bobsled.
Peter Ballantyne also forwarded this link to an article in Sports Illustrated about Codie.
I recently learned from Dresden Town Supervisor, Paul Ferguson, that Olympian, Codie Bascue, actually hails from Dresden. Video from ABC News 10 below:
Purpose of Audit
The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the County procured goods and services in accordance with its procurement policy and statutory requirements for the period January 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017.
Background
Washington County is located in the eastern part of New York State and has a population of approximately 63,000. The County is governed by a Board of Supervisors, which is comprised of the town supervisors from each of the County’s 17 towns. Budgeted appropriations for 2017 totaled approximately $113.4 million.
Key Findings
The County did not competitively bid six purchases and public works contracts totaling $272,115.
The County did not obtain the required number of quotes or perform competitive bidding for 16 purchases totaling $154,083 and did not seek competition for nine professional service contracts totaling $1,055,270.
Key Recommendations
Ensure that the procurement policy and competitive bidding laws are adhered to when purchasing goods or entering public works contracts.
Ensure that County officials and employees adequately document actions taken when soliciting bids and quotes and retain documentation including other local government contracts when used.
Read the entire report here, including the county’s response.
The minutes from the November 2017 Dresden Town Board meeting were recently approved and have been posted on the town’s website.
The December minutes will not be approved until January and so on.
Post Star: Washington County Supervisors Approve Budget
The Post Star reports on the 2.06% increase in next year’s county budget.
Time: 8-Year-Old Steering Car During Crash Is Seriously Injured, Police Say
Time has a sad story out of Whitehall.
Video: Local 2018 Olmypic profile – Lake Placid to Pyeongchang – Tim Burke – Biathlon athlete
Today at the Washington County Board of Elections, 20 absentee ballots were counted in the Dresden election. Below are the updated complete totals – which include the machine and absentee ballots. The town board election was decided by one vote when all was said and done.
| Town Supervisor | Votes | ||
| George Gang | 89 | ||
| Paul Ferguson* | 135* | ||
|
Town Board (2 winners) | |||
| Marc J. Brown | 118 | ||
| Donald P. Greenough* | 145 | ||
| Edwin F. Raymond* | 119 | ||
* Projected Winner
Tuesday Machine Vote Totals (Unofficial)
Absentee Ballots still to be counted.
Below are the machine vote totals from Tuesday’s election. As of Wednesday morning, 16 absentee ballots had been returned to the Board of Elections from 21 sent out – these absentee ballots are not included in the totals below. The Town Board race will be only be decided after the absentee votes are counted on Tuesday November 14th. As soon as these are counted next week, I will update the final vote count then.
| Town Supervisor | Votes | ||
| George Gang | 80 | ||
| Paul Ferguson* | 124* | ||
|
Town Board (2 winners) | |||
| Marc J. Brown | 109 | ||
| Donald P. Greenough* | 132 | ||
| Edwin F. Raymond | 106 | ||
|
Town Justice | |||
| Jared N. Eggleston (uncontested)* | 158 | ||
* Projected Winner
All those who ran for office should be commended. Contested races keep our democracy honest and dynamic.
Just a reminder that polls are open in Dresden from 6:00 am until 9:00 pm on Tuesday, November 7th at the Dresden Town Hall, located at 102 Clemons Center Road.
The local race for Dresden Town Supervisor has Paul Ferguson challenging incumbent George Gang; Jared Eggleston is running for reelection as town justice; and Marc J. Brown, Donald P. Greenough and Edwin F. Raymond are competing for two available town board seats.
There are also three statewide propositions on the ballot and the Washington County District Attorney is also running for reelection.
Today, I post a candidate interview with Paul Ferguson, Republican nominee for Dresden Town Supervisor. Below are my questions and Mr. Ferguson’s responses.
1.) Could you please tell us about yourself and why you are running for Town Supervisor?
I am a long time resident of Dresden. I have been married for over 25 years and have raised two sons here. I have worked for Washington County for the past 20 years in several levels of the highway department.
2.) Town taxes have gone up significantly in the last few years. Where do you stand on town tax increases in the future?
I do not support increasing taxes at the town or county level. In fact, the increase in taxes year after year is part of the reason I am running.
3.) The Town Supervisor sits on the Washington County Board of Supervisors. Could you name a few areas where you feel things at the county level could be improved? Will you challenge other supervisors from larger towns when you feel they are wrong?
I feel that some of the supervisors are not paying attention and are allowing our tax dollars to be wasted in some cases. Everyone at the table should educate themselves before placing a vote.
On highway level issues alone, there are many ways to save money that supervisors may not be aware of but can be made aware of. I have been with the highway department for 20 years and I have seen frivolous spending that could have been prevented.
4.) There’s a general feeling that people in Huletts Landing and Dresden have that we pay a lot in taxes but we get very little in return. Is this perception correct or incorrect?
Taxpayers pay too much for entire roads in Huletts to be ignored.
For example, this past summer, some trees were knocked down and were partly blocking county route 6 A/B in Huletts. Homeowners were forced to clean this up because the trees were unattended to by county workers for weeks. Shoulders were washed away and not fixed in a timely manner causing more damage to the road resulting in more tax dollars being wasted.
5.) What do you consider your greatest strengths?
I believe that I will bring a new voice to the Board of Supervisors. A voice that listens to the taxpayers of Dresden. I believe in honesty and taking responsibility for your actions.
Editor’s note: I would like to thank Mr. Ferguson for his responses. Interview questions and answers are published in the order in which they are received. Any bolded areas of text outside of the highlighted question were provided to me by the candidate.
Today, I post a candidate interview with George Gang, Democratic nominee for Dresden Town Supervisor. Below are my questions and Mr. Gang’s responses.
1.) Could you please tell us about yourself and why you are running for Town Supervisor?
My name is George Gang living in Dresden for 38 years. I am a Viet Nam veteran and have a Business degree (BBA) from the City University of New York and a Masters degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the State University of New York .
I am currently Supervisor of Dresden. My job experiences have included managing a not-for-profit food coop, tax preparation with H & R Block and a Senior Buyer/Purchasing Agent for a local medical device manufacturer responsible for the on-time delivery of $20 million in raw materials.
I ran for Supervisor to use my vast experiences in helping Dresden to function in the 21st century in the ways the Town interacts with the State, County and most important YOU, the citizens of Dresden. The Town has made great progress and I feel that I can continue this growth into the future.
2.) Town taxes have gone up significantly in the last few years. Where do you stand on Town tax increases in the future?
When I first became Supervisor in 2014 I found the Town to be in dire financial condition. We had been raising taxes on the average of under 1% for the previous 10-years and we had depleted any fund balances we had. Our highway vehicles were very old and repair costs were very high to keep them on the road.
During the State audit in the summer of 2016 we were told that we had to stop using fund balances and to build reserves for future emergencies and highway needs.
My overriding goal for the Town has been to put us on a strong financial footing, thus increasing taxes while also decreasing expenses, where possible.
We have improved financially but still need to build up reserves. The tax increase will be at a minimum for 2018, a little over 3%, mainly due to health care expenses and highway payroll.
3.) The Town Supervisor sits on the Washington County Board of Supervisors. Could you name a few areas where you feel things in the county level could be improved? Will you challenge other Supervisors from larger towns when you feel they are wrong?
There are 17 Supervisors on the County Board of Supervisors each thinking (wishing?) they have a ‘Superior’ mind. Sometimes it is difficult to come to a consensus on important issues thus ending in little being accomplished or postponing a final decision.
All the supervisors work well together and have the best interests of their Town and County at heart. Sometimes national or state politics temporarily gets in the way but other supervisors, including myself, will end this very quickly.
Dresden is the second smallest town in the county, by population, but has an equal vote in all of the committees. At our monthly board meeting all votes are weighted with Dresden having the second lowest weight. I am known as a centrist and I always do my best to reign in the extremes. I have never had a problem challenging other Town Supervisors when they try to pull their ‘weight’.
4.) There’s a general feeling that people in Huletts landing and Dresden have that we pay a lot in taxes but we get very little in return. Is this perception correct or incorrect?
I will not even try to change people’s perception. Some people believe that any taxes are too high. All of our taxes are based on property values.
The Town of Dresden has the second lowest tax rate in the county when including State, County and Town taxes. We flip/flop with Putnam for this honor.
The State pushes many mandates down to the County and thus to the Town. We have almost no say in this process. School taxes are set by Whitehall where their vote will always override our vote.
A large portion of our Town taxes (over 80%) goes to keep our highway department running. Besides plowing in the winter our workers have built bridges, replaced culverts and have done many other tasks that a lot of other Towns contract out at a much higher cost.
I definitely disagree that taxes are too high for the return we get.
5.) What do you consider your greatest strengths?
I am an organized person. The job of Town Supervisor has many facets with all needing to be juggled for time and energy to keep the Town moving forward.
Reports, bookkeeping, budgeting and listening, amongst many others, are very important tasks of the Supervisor on the local level.
There are numerous meetings and committees on the County level all of which are important because we eventually vote on many of the issues discussed. Often these issues directly affect the Town in either taxes or services.
I feel I am also very good at bringing people together to form consensus, whether it be internally or externally with Dresden citizens or County personnel.
We are a small town but we still need to keep our roads open, taxes low and adhere to all of the rules and regulations we are burdened with. I have proven that I am the person for the job.
Editor’s note: I would like to thank Mr. Gang for his responses. Interview questions and answers are published in the order in which they are received. Any bolded areas of text outside of the highlighted question were provided to me by the candidate.
The minutes from the September 2017 Dresden Town Board meeting were recently approved and have been posted on the town’s website.
The October minutes will not be approved until November and so on.
Election day will be November 7th this year. Over the next few weeks, the Huletts Current will spotlight some local elections as well as some ballot proposals. Today, Ballot proposal # 3 is explained.
The NY State Senate gave the required second passage to a proposed New York State Constitutional amendment to create a 250-acre Forest Preserve Health and Safety Land Account for the Adirondack and Catskill parks. It will now appear on the November 7th ballot as Proposal # 3.
New York State’s Constitution protects the State’s forest preserve as wild forest land and generally prohibits the lease, sale, exchange, or taking of any forest preserve land. The proposed amendment will create two new exceptions to this broad protection of the forest preserve to make it easier for municipalities to undertake certain health and safety projects.
First, the proposed amendment will create a land account of up to 250 acres of forest preserve land. A town, village, or county can apply to the land account if it has no viable alternative to using forest preserve land for specified health and safety purposes. These purposes are (1) to address bridge hazards or safety on specified highways; (2) to eliminate the hazards of dangerous curves and grades on specified highways; (3) to relocate, reconstruct, and maintain highways; and (4) for water wells and necessary related accessories located within 530 feet of a specified highway, where needed to meet drinking water quality standards. The State will acquire 250 acres to add to the forest preserve to replace the land placed in the health and safety land account, subject to approval by the Legislature.
Second, the proposed amendment will allow bicycle paths and types of public utility lines to be located within the widths of specified highways that cross forest preserve land. The work on the bicycle paths and utility lines must minimize the removal of trees and vegetation. The proposed amendment will allow a stabilization device (such as a guy wire) for an existing utility pole to be located near the width of a highway when necessary to ensure public health and safety and when no other viable option exists. The proposed amendment prohibits the construction of a new intrastate gas or oil pipeline that did not receive necessary state and local permits and approvals by June 1, 2016.
Washington county would be one of the counties eligible to use the Proposal 3 land bank.
A “yes” vote supporting this amendment would: create a 250-acre land bank, which would allow local governments to request state Forest Preserve land for qualifying projects in exchange for the state adding 250 new acres to the preserve; and allow bike paths, sewer lines, and utility lines within the width of highways on preserve land.
A “no” vote opposes this amendment to:
create a 250-acre state Forest Preserve land bank; and allow bike paths, sewer lines, and utility lines within the width of highways on preserve land.
The minutes from the August 2017 Dresden Town Board meeting were recently approved and have been posted on the town’s website.
The September minutes will not be approved until October and so on.