The minutes from the May 2017 Dresden Town Board meeting were recently approved and have been posted on the town’s website.
The June minutes will not be approved until July and so on.
January Dresden Town Board Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the January 2017 Dresden Town Board meetings were recently approved and have been posted on the town’s website. This meeting set the salaries for town officials and which members of the Town Board would serve on which committees.
Additionally a Public Notice setting the standard work day for certain town employees was also posted.
The February minutes will not be approved until March and so on.
Bits of Everything
NewYorkUpstate.com has an update on the boat crash on Lake George that killed a young girl last summer.
The NY State Comptroller’s Office recently released a report showing sales tax collections have been down in Washington County.
The Lake Placid News reports on the old Frontier Town.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) Officially Sworn In
Rep. Elise Stefanik being sworn in by Speaker Paul Ryan. (Click image to see full-scale.)
Tuesday, January 3, 2017, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) was officially sworn in to represent New York’s 21st district in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 115th Congress.
Link: Washington County Adopts 2017 Budget
Washington County supervisors adopted next year’s budget with a 1.76 percent tax increase. Read about it in the Post Star.
Link: Battle of Fort Ann Explained
Bits of Everything
Former Board Member Rejected by Voters Appointed to Whitehall School Board
How a Rembrandt Ended Up in Glens Falls
From North Country Public Radio
Painters Headed to Ticonderoga
New Area Code in Eastern Upstate New York Announced
Telephone, Cell Phone Customers To Use 838 Area Code Starting in 3rd Quarter 2017
The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced that a new area code number has been assigned for eastern upstate New York. The new 838 area code will provide additional much-needed phone numbers for residents and businesses in the existing 518 area code region. The new area code will be activated by the third quarter of 2017.
The new area code will be overlaid on the existing 518 calling area, which will result in mandatory 10-digit dialing since two area codes will serve the same calling area. Regions served by multiple areas codes must employ 10-digit dialing as required by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate. It is important to note that all existing telephone users in the region will retain their current phone numbers, including the 518 area code.
Throughout the implementation, the Commission will be conducting outreach to the public to ensure that customers are aware of the area code change and its implementation milestones. The geographic area associated with the new 838 area code is located in all or part of 17 counties: Albany, Clinton, Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren and Washington.
Excepted from the Dept of Public Service Press Release found here.
Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District Explained
As everyone knows, Washington county is a large county with much of its total acreage dedicated to farming and dairy production. I like to occasionally spotlight things going on in the county that might be of interest. Today, I wanted to explain what the Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) does.
The Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) is a unique unit of local government that was founded in 1945. Their mission is to assist agricultural producers, rural landowners and municipalities with the management, conservation and best use of our natural resources. In plain terminology – they protect the County’s soil and water resources while maintaining the viability of agriculture as a preferred land use.
In that regard, I subscribe to their newsletter which spotlights what they do in the county. Recently, they published an article which focused on their work at a nearby farm which I found interesting and which the SWCD gave me permission to reprint here. Red Top farm is located in Granville, NY.
Ag Non-Point Source Grant – Round 20 – Red Top Farm
By Ben Luskin, Natural Resource Technician
Last Autumn Red Top Dairy completed a bedded pack waste storage and transfer system. All of the farm’s heifers were moved into the system where manure and feed nutrients are contained and controlled. The engineered system was put into place with the help of the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) because the heifers were being fed on concrete pads with no curbing or roof structures to control clean or dirty runoff. The 340 Animal Units were allowed free access to the entire stream corridors in the pastures; polluting the watercourse, eroding stream banks, and denuding vegetation. The feeding areas in both locations were upslope from Class C(T) trout tributaries to the Mettawee River.
This Spring the heifer facilities, Diplock and Red’s House, where the livestock were previously housed were remediated. Concentrated manure from the feeding and loafing areas was scraped up and spread on farm fields that needed the nutrients. All of the headlocks and concrete infrastructure used for feeding at the Red’s House facility was removed and disposed of. The equipment crossing at Diplock’s was renovated by installing an adequate culvert, cleaning out sediment deposition at the inlet, and constructing large headwalls at the inlet and outlet. Both sites were graded and shaped to stable more attractive slopes which involved trucking in additional clean fill when on site material was not available. Farm equipment was used to prepare a good seed bed before Car-O-Vail came to broadcast the seed. The farm ensured seed to soil contact by cultipacking the acreage. Areas along the stream that were hard to access with equipment were hand seeded by the SWCD. For now, both facilities will remain vacant but the farm looks forward to working with the SWCD to develop grazing plans on each site that will supply vegetation to a suitable amount of heifers, while protecting the areas natural resources.
Diplock Before
Diplock After
Red’s House Before
Red’s House After
Click all images to see full-scale.
Administrators Note: Many thanks to the Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District for their permission to reprint their article and pictures here.
LGLC Protects Wetlands in Putnam to Protect Lake George
Map of Bridge the Nose Initiative (Click image to see larger view.)
The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has acquired 65 acres in the Town of Putnam from Thomas and Christine Bain. The land contains important wetlands and includes a significant part of the Sucker Brook marsh, which drains directly into Lake George at Glenburnie.
The acquisition also protects a large area of rare northern white cedar swamp. This habitat type is threatened State-wide by development, habitat alteration, and recreational overuse, as well as invasive species, such as purple loosestrife and reedgrass.
“Sucker Brook and its marsh have been a part of my family for five generations,” said Thomas Bain. “Purchased by my Great Grandfather around 1945 it has been enjoyed by generations of the Bain Family down through my children. The serenity and quiet beauty of that location is treasured by myself and my extended family. I can recall hiking through the marsh in the middle of winter as a boy and being amazed by the stark contrast of the rich jet black mud bottom of Sucker Brook to the surrounding bright white snow.”
“Knowing that it is protected,” Bain continued, “and in turn offers a small portion of protection to Lake George into which it runs, gives me great satisfaction. My family and I enjoy our visits to Putnam and always stop and take in the grand views of Lake George from Gull Bay or Glen Bernie. Keeping the lake in a pristine condition is essential to maintaining that beauty. The Lake George Land Conservancy has allowed us to contribute to maintaining that legacy for many generations to come.”
Photo of Lake George, South from Record Hill/Anthony’s Nose © Carl Heilman, II (Click image to see larger view.)
“The Bains have been respectful caretakers of this land for generations and understand its important connection to protecting the lake,” said LGLC Executive Director Jamie Brown. “We are extremely grateful to them for their conservation ethic and for working with us on this important protection project. This really is a clear example of working with a landowner who understands how important the land is what we are talking about when we say protecting the land to protect the lake.”
The acquisition is part of the LGLC’s Bridge the Nose Initiative, which will allow the LGLC to complete its ten-year effort to conserve the 2,000-acre Sucker Brook complex in order to protect the water quality of Lake George, connect existing lands protected by the LGLC and New York State for recreation and wildlife, and conserve the region’s rare northern white cedar swamp ecosystem.
Sucker Brook is one of Lake George’s ten largest tributaries, which means that the water flowing through it may significantly impact the lake’s water quality. Its protection by the LGLC provides a safeguard against excess storm water, erosion of the stream corridor, and nutrient loading from neighboring sources of fertilizers and road salt, further protecting the lake’s water quality.
This most recent acquisition is adjacent to the LGLC’s Gull Bay and Last Great Shoreline Preserves, filling in a gap between the properties. The LGLC expects to extend the preserves’ trail systems to include a strategically placed boardwalk along or through the northern white cedar swamp with wildlife viewing platforms.
Catholic Bishop to Visit Huletts Landing August 13th
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Albany, Edward B. Scharfenberger, D.D., will visit Huletts Landing, Saturday August 13th.
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Albany, Edward B. Scharfenberger, D.D., will visit Huletts Landing this Saturday, August 13th, to dedicate the new altar installed recently in the Chapel of the Assumption.
The Bishop will celebrate Mass in the Chapel of the Assumption at 6:00 pm and will be joining parishioners afterwards for a reception at the Huletts Landing Property Owners Civic Association’s pavilion.
(Note: this is not the Washington County Park pavilion. The reception will be at the Huletts Landing Property Owners Civic Association’s pavilion .)
Parishioners from Huletts Landing, Whitehall and Fort Ann are invited to attend and it is suggested that attendees bring their own lawn chairs.
Crosses Placed at Route 22 Fatal Crash Scene
Crosses have been placed in remembrance of the victims at the location of Friday’s fatal crash on Route 22. (Click for full-scale.)
Updated: Fatalities in Car Crash on Route 22
Sunday Morning – July 17th
The Post Star has complete coverage here, including the names of the victims and what is believed to have happened.
Update 7:55 pm
Because of the fatality, an accident reconstruction investigation is taking place. State Route 22 will be closed for a few more hours. Pike Brook road is being used as a detour.
Update 7:30 pm
Route 22 may be closed for another couple of hours. I’m hearing it may not reopen until close to 10:00 pm.
There has been a bad accident on Route 22, near Blue Goose Road. Two cars were involved. One fatality has been reported. There is a helicopter on the scene now. Cars are being diverted up and around Pike Brook Road. One car was burned. The other car flipped over. The entire scene is closed right now. (More as this develops.)
Work Progresses on 6B Bridge
The final segment of the new deck was lifted into place on the new 6B bridge on Tuesday. (Click image to see full-scale.)
Washington county is making a concentrated effort to have the new 6B bridge completed soon. Yesterday, the final segment of the new deck was lifted into place. If you have not been to Huletts in awhile, please proceed with caution as your approach the bottom of the mountain. Work is progressing this week.