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.
This picture appears to show Washington County soldiers headed off to World War I.
It was given to me by Don Hart. Don’s wife, Pamela, is the granddaughter of Ruth Foote. Ruth was the sister of Earle Foote of Huletts Landing. Taken if front of what was then the Whitehall Armory, the name; H. Sullivan is written below the man sitting in the middle.
A larger version of the picture can be seen if you click on the above image. If anyone can identify any of the other soldiers or provide more details about the photograph, I’d appreciate hearing from you.
A new premium retailer of Verizon wireless phones and services has recently opened in Whitehall. Open weekdays 10:00 am – 7:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, this new store will offer sales and service on Verizon wireless phones and sales of Time Warner cable and DirecTV.
For more visit www.awsstores.com
Recently the New York State Comptrollers office released their audit report of the Whitehall School District.
From the report:
There are two schools in operation within the District, with approximately 725 students and 190 employees. The District’s budgeted appropriations for the 2012-13 fiscal year were approximately $13.2 million, which were funded primarily with State aid, real property taxes, and grants. Payroll and employee benefits represent a significant portion of the District’s budget.
As with all school districts, payroll and fringe benefits represent a large portion of the District’s annual budget. Salaries and wages, including overtime and employee benefit costs, totaled approximately $10.6 million or 80 percent of the District’s budgeted appropriations for the 2012-13 fiscal year. The significant costs involved highlight the importance of good internal controls in this area.
We found the District established adequate internal controls over payroll. District officials implemented specific procedures to ensure that individuals were paid at their approved salaries and wages and received only the benefits to which they were entitled. We also determined that the various control procedures that the District had established over the payroll process provided adequate supervision
and oversight.
You posted a picture of Huey Belden on June 26. I was able to verify that this was the brother of my Great Grandmother; his full name being Hugh. I would be interested in any other Belden pictures that might be floating around. I am also doing my best to figure out my Belden family tree. I will be coming up to Huletts in the coming weeks to check some info at the cemetery. Anyhow, if you or any of your readers have any ideas on the topic, please let me know.
Thanks,
Louis Crisci
Editors Note: If you can help Mr. Crisci with any Belden family info, use the “Contact Us” page and drop me a note. I will pass it on to him. This is the original post he refers to.
Warren Tire Service Center is planning on opening a new branch on Route 4 in Whitehall, in a former freight station of the railroad.
Warren Tire Service Center is opening a new store in Whitehall in the next few weeks. The Whitehall store will have a multiple bay service area offering automobile maintenance including New York state inspections. They will also sell tires and provide road service to large trucks.
The store will be open from Monday thru Saturday.
It’s great to see local businesses moving into the area!
The company website is: www.warrentiresvc.com.
Wednesday – June 26, 2013
Quebecois Gormet Dinner
Social Hour: 5:30 pm
Appetizers – Beverage
Dinner: 6:00 pm
Soup
Salad
Rolls
Entree – Montreal Chicken
Vegetables
Potatoes
Dessert: Montreal Pastries
Donation: $30
Reservations Call: 499-1906 or 499-2053
or 747-3735
Yesterday’s voting for a member of the school board resulted in Dresden’s Frank Barber being elected with 137 votes.
The budget for the 2013-2014 school year passed with 137 “yes” votes and 24 “no” votes.
There were 164 total voters and 1 absentee ballot.
The vote on the school budget and the one open seat on the school board takes place from noon to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21st.
This year there is one open seat on the Board of Education. Dresden’s Frank Barber is the only candidate running for this seat. I contacted Mr. Barber and below are his answers to my questions. These questions are entirely my own and hopefully you will get a better sense of who the candidate is after reading his answers.
Could you please tell us about yourself and why you are running for the school board?
I am a life-long resident of Dresden, NY. My wife and I have two sons, both of whom attend the Whitehall High School.
I am currently employed as VP of Global Sales for Ames Goldsmith Corporation, in Glens Falls, NY. I have been with the company for more than 15 years now; on July 1st I will assume the position of President and CEO. I am running for a seat on the board mainly because I wanted to give something back to the community. In addition, I have two sons attending the district and I want to ensure that they are getting the best education possible with the financial resources that are available to the district.
Most people look back fondly on some aspects of their high-school education. Could you tell us what your favorite book from high school was? Why was it your favorite book and should it be required reading today?
It would be difficult for me to identify one favorite book, I have always enjoyed the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and I could suggest that many of his works might be a favorite. As for required reading today, I am not an educator, but his works are classics and I suspect they would be good reading in today’s classroom.
The Whitehall school district’s enrollment has declined 143 students between the 2004-2005 and the 2011-2012 school years. When should the taxpayers expect that this declining enrollment will translate into lower property taxes?
The declining enrollment at our school is of concern to me, it is not unique to the Whitehall district, but rather is indicative of a declining and aging population in our area. My concern with the decline is that this requires the fixed costs of the district to be spread across a smaller student enrollment, thereby increasing the cost per student enrolled. As for when this decline will translate to lower property taxes, I think there are variables beyond enrollment that must be taken into account before a conclusion can be drawn on lowering property taxes within the district. My wife and I own property in both Dresden and Whitehall and therefore I have a vested interest in keeping taxes in check.
The job market today is a highly competitive one. Should the school district be doing something that it is not already doing or should it be offering additional classes to see that its graduates have the skills and education necessary for success?
As I am not yet on the board I cannot knowledgeably comment on the classes offered, excepting of course those that are offered to my sons. From a parent’s perspective, I believe that they are receiving a quality education. As for additional classes, I would like to see more focus on technology and computer sciences at the high school level. Computers are such a necessary part of life today, we need to ensure that our students are receiving the appropriate instruction in this field.
I’m sure you wouldn’t be running for the school board if you didn’t care about children. After your term is concluded, what would you like to have accomplished for the residents of the district?
At the close of my term, I would like to know that I worked to keep the district’s property taxes in check, while at the same time maximizing the education that our students are receiving.
Editors Note:
I would like thank Mr. Barber for his answers to my questions..
Last night the Whitehall school board presented the 2013 -2014 school budget that will go before the voters next week. The board has adopted a total budget of $13,733,985 that calls for a 2.19 percent increase in the tax levy. The district also received $418,000 more in state aid than it did last year. This is 5.71 percent increase in state aid.
The total budget for the current school year (2012-2013) is $13,205,125. If you include the increases in state aid and the tax levy, spending will increase $528,860 between this year and next.
If you take the total proposed 2013-2014 budget and divide it by the last publicly available enrollment numbers from the prior year (742 total students), the Whitehall school district is spending over $18,500 per student.
Residents of the district can vote on the budget, Tuesday, May 21st.
I recently learned that the new hours for the now privately run Whitehall Transfer station will be: Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – 8-4pm.
No longer will trash stickers be used, instead it’ll be “pay at the transfer station” using cash or cc.
They’re doing a sticker buyback program this week.
The State of New York recently announced an agreement to purchase two parcels in Whitehall. The Saddles, a 2,540 acre property on Lake Champlain’s South Bay, and Spruce Point, a 726 acre parcel between the Lake Champlain and Lake George basins.
Governor Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Martens recently announced the planned acquisition of 69,000 acres throughout the Adirondacks. This planned acquisition will be the largest single addition to the Adirondack Forest Preserve in more than a century. Two of the parcels to be acquired, while outside the Adirondack blue line, are in Whitehall.
The Saddles on Lake Champlain. Looking East toward Whitehall. (Photo Credit: Alan Cedarstrom. Click image to see full-scale.)
The first local parcel is referred to as the Saddles, a 2,540 acre parcel acquired by the Nature Conservancy in 2007 with the intent that it would be sold to the state. As one heads over the South Bay bridge toward Whitehall, the Saddles can be seen in the distance. The tract features cliffs and more than 2,250 feet of undeveloped shoreline on Lake Champlain’s South Bay. The land includes streams, marshes, swamps and floodplain forests that encompass the lowlands of South Bay. The tract includes areas where the Eastern timber rattlesnake and peregrine falcon reside.
The second 726 acre parcel is referred to as Spruce Point or Dolph Pond. As you leave Whitehall, heading south toward Fort Ann, you can see the ridges on top of this parcel. Presently it is under exclusive lease through September 30, 2013 but will be open to the public in October 2013. The property features interesting ridges, a variety of forest types, including Appalachian oak hickory and hemlock northern hardwood, and provides habitat for black bear, white tail deer and other wildlife.
My post would not be complete without thanking Emily DeSantis, Director of Public Information for the Dept. of Environmental Conservation who helped me compile the information for this story.
Some important dates to put on your local calendar for May regarding the school district.
Presentation of the 2013-2014 school budget.
Monday, May 13th
Large Group Instruction Room
High School
7:00 pm
Vote to adopt the 2013-2014 school budget and to elect one (1) member to a 5-year term on the school board.
Tuesday, May 21st
Large Group Instruction Room
High School
12:00 pm – 9:00 pm