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Happy V\v lea r LAST WEEK'S WEATHER Tues. Wed. Thurs, Frl. Sat. Sun. Mon. Hi 54 46 , 20 42 43 37 18 VOL. ltt NO. 41 Lo 26 20 5 13 34 20 13 Pep 0.14r 0 0 O.43r&sn 0.28r O.50sn l.OOsn A PARK NEWSPAPER COURIER ft FREEMAN, (USPS 135-460) POTSDAM, N.Y.-TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27i 1988 20 PAGES Have a safe and sober New Year's Eve. If you plan to drink, don't drive. 35 CENTS WSM Returns EMC Fire, Says Recycling Its Aim FACE OFF — Just days before his busiest night of the year, Santa found time to drop the puck at the pee-wee hockey game between Potsdam and Louisville Dec. 22 at Pine Street Arena. Facing off are Aaron Weegar, left, for Potsdam and Shawn Kellogg for Louisville. (Thorn Pardoe photo) \ Rumors May Help Potsdam Increase Its Visibility BY THOM PARDOE College will not close. Looking tar the silver Unlnj In.. _jniy t Inhn Marshall, who has cotfigir OF assumed the leadership role at BY BETSY BAKER .Hull ' I:,I\ I' llltllKMI.it .V.UUujc IU'JII ..tmii'M hair n.di 'Mvv tr t i ;< ulir\:i Dec 20 letter rapping In- cinerator project delays has drawn a return volley from Potsdam's Waste-Stream Management, Inc., one of the groups Fuhr criticized. Waste-Stream head Chester W. Bisnett, in a Dec. 23 letter to Fuhr, said WSM is \dismayed by your letter.\ The letter \demonstrates utter and complete ignorance as to what is really going on, especially insofar as our role in this con- troversy is concerned,\ Bisnett said. Fuhr's letter rapped WSM for what he characterized as misleading the public into thinking the firm can handle the county's trash problems without the county Solid Waste Disposal Authority (SWDA). But Bisnett countered, \You have charged WSM with using 'delay as a strategy for getting its way.' We are NOT trying to delay the incinerator or any other aspect of SWDA's program and never have. Our ONLY concern is that we be allowed to recycle, to the max- imum feasible extent, materials that we collect from our residential customers, free of unreasonable restriction and interference. We have taken legal action against SWDA and the County, and in- tervened in the DEC permitting process, only as a last resort and l£ tbtt&l]i)fc the etawH, Potsdam flclals say they can use recent coverage about possible State University of New York campus Potsdam College with the depar- ture of Tonkin for his new post in Connecticut, said that despite the .£o 4 recycle. WSM closings to their advantage by rais- dangers to an institution from un- *5*J p °J 8dam>s P r °ffle to potential substantiated closing rumors, students. Following a high level meeting last week, college officials decided that the college's deans will write to students' parents during the semester break, reassuring them about the college's status. The letters are part of a college effort to spread the good word about Potsdam to counteract rumors of closing. Departing college President Humphrey Tonkin also wrote to the campus community, discounting the closing rumors and listing Potsdam College's strengths. Potsdam College and SUNY ad- ministrators spent a good part of last week trying to lay to rest the idea that someone in Governor Mario M. Cuomo's budget office proposed closing some SUNY and City University of New York cam- puses as a way of alleviating budget pressures. According to SUNY, the state has asked for a $92 million cut in the SUNY budget. The rumors originated in a New York Times article written by Samuel Weiss, who reported in the Dec. 16 story that one of the cam- puses to be closed was Potsdam College. Potsdam College president Hum- phrey Tonkin was quick to downplay the rumor, deriding it as a trial balloon sent up by someone in Albany. Since the story broke, however, college officials have been ready and willing to speak to reporters and to emphasize that Potsdam there is also some benefit to the new exposure Potsdam College has received. \What we've got to do is take ad- vantage of the high profile offered by that individual article and em- phasize the college's position,\ ac- ting President Marshall said. Right now, Potsdam College seems to be in a good position. Along with the college's fund cam- paign, which has so far raised over $2 million of the $3 million goal with a year left in the campaign, the col- lege has also receieved a $200,000 grant from the National Endow- ment for the Humanities to set up a humanities studies program. Marshall said the college will have to pass State Department of Education accreditation this year for some of the graduate studies programs and continue the im- plementation of a new general education program, which he said has \a whole new set of re- quirements\ for students. In a letter to the college com- munity dated Dec. 19, Tonkin em- phasized some of Potsdam Col- lege's strong points: the Crane School of Music, an internationally known music school; a math education program considered one •of the best in the nation; a teacher education department that pro- duces large numbers of graduates. \The essential point is that no one in his or her right mind would think of closing Potsdam, which has been here for 172 years and has never been as strong as it is now,\ Tonkin wrote. Tonkin also said in his letter that he weott be meettng-wtta-awttor staff members on Dec. 21 to discuss Y,..,,, .. . . plans for a systematic campaign to WS s attorney appeared in restore confidence in the coflege State Supreme Court before Judge Michael Duskas last week for oral arguments In a challenge to a coun- ty law that gives SWDA authority over the county's trash. SWDA Executive Director Paul O'Connor said last week that the authority must have control over e e clg and to also get the word out about the \enormous strengths\ of the in- stitution. Getting The Word Out In an interview last Friday, Tonkin said the Wednesday meeting was significant \only in who was there.\ Tonkin said the senior staff, the school's deans and vice-presidents, went to their departments for ideas about the in- formation campaign. \That meeting was really to make plans more clear,\ Tonkin said. Although Tonkin could not be more specific about what those plans are, he did say the general idea is to reach out to students, alumni, parents and potential students and get more positive in- formation about the college going out to them. \It's mostly about getting more information out about Potsdam College,\ Tonkin said. Potsdam College relations direc- tor Helen Chappie said the college deans will write to students and parents over the holidays to reassure them of the college's status. \We felt there was a need to let them know there was still going to be a school to come back to,\ Chap- pie said, \it's largely to reassure them.\ Part of the process will be to pull together good things about the col- lege to emphasize, Chappie ex- plained. But the positive informa- tion blitz from the college is not aimed at the media, Chappie add- ed, it is directed at students and parents. Doll Winners Named Winners of the 1988 \Dolls for Children\ contest have been an- nounced by originator Sandi DiGiovanna. \All dolls were lov- ingly clothed by Potsdam senior citizens and donated to children by chairperson Betty Rowe and her Potsdam Christmas Committee,\ DiGiovanna said. Judges Margaret Choong, Bar- bara Rothermel and Radka Zuman looked at over 300 dolls before choosing the winners. They are: infant category, Dorothy Chambers; toddlers, Mar- tha Ashley; little girl, Denora Paro, boy doll, Charlotte Brown; teen doll, Dorothy Chambers; most original, Charlotte Brown. Best in show went to Dorothy Chambers for her baby girl doll. Winner in the new international doll category introduced by DiGiovanna was Charlotte Brown. The senior citizens have already begun to sew and knit clothing for Christmas 1989. To donate yarn, materials or dolls for them to work on, contact Charlotte Brown by writing to her at' Debra Drive Apts., Potsdam, 13676, or calling DiGiovanna at 265-7352. :nt- Vitst \lltUlIK V'Ktlllll III\ 'll<V Mill,' II law, O'Connor ;aid. \There Is 70,000 tons of solid waste generated in the county and the (Incinerator and recycling) programs were designed against a known quanti- ty.\ O'Connor said a successful challenge to the flow control law \could wipe out all of the structure of flow control and it may have state-wide ramifications.'' WSM has charged that the flow control law would severely restrict the firm's ability to recycle. The firm has said the present flow control law is invalid, and has asked that a new law grant WSM and other dealers in scrap an ex- emption to flow control, as it is in the public interest. SWDA denied WSM an exemp- tion under the present law. WSM's attorney, Thopmas O'Donnell, said last week that \the standard of public interest is un- balanced. SWDA was created out of a Public Authority law and has limited powers. They can regulate flow control, but that regulation is determined within public interest.\ Severe Restrictions \Your letter fails to mention that the County Flow Control Law im- poses severe limitations on recycl- ing in St. Lawrence County,\ Bisnett's letter continues. \It is against the law, for axtunpte. to recycle plastics Or mixea^iaper in St. Lawrence County, even though viable markets presently exist for these materials. It is also against the law to separate mixed commer- clal wastes or co-mingled materials into their recyclable components. Such materials recovery is routine practice throughout the solid waste industry and is a part of our daily opera- tions. Composting of source separated wet garbage is also con- trary to the County Flow Control Law. Such composting is universal- ly regarded as the preferred technology for such wastes, and it is widely known that WSM desires to develop one or more local com- posting facilities. WSM considers such restrictions on recycling to be totally without merit or justifica- tion. We also believe they are in violation with State law and policy.\ Bisnett said recently that his firm expects to have the capability to recycle plastics within the next eight months. WSM is one of the partners in the Potsdam recycling project that got underway locally earlier this month Bisnett's letter states that WSM \has used every means available to it to negotiate with SWDA over the flow control issue, outside the legal arena.\ The firm did not immediately in- itiate a legal challenge, he said, even though SWDA denied its re- quest for an integrated recycling and composting program in July 1987. In the summer and fall of 1987, WSM attempted to \convince the former Executive Director and •\\K-V: ,f ( ' IK Former Local Man Shot To Death In Plattsburgh BYDENISERAYMO PLATTSBURGH - A 45-year-old former Potsdam man was found shot to death in a city motel room Monday morning and Tennessee Sheriff's Deputies arrested a 33- year-old Tennessee man suspected of pulling the trigger^ Michael A. Sullivan was found dead at 9:30 a.m. in Room 23 of the L and M Motel on Margaret Street Monday when the chambermaid tried to enter the room to clean, police said. He was apparently shot in the side, said police, with a 20-gauge shotgun sometime Christmas mor- ning. An autopsy, performed at the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, concluded the cause of death was due to the gunshot wound. At 11 p.m. Monday, Sheriff's Deputies in Carter City, Tenn., ar- rested James D. Trlvette, of Elizabethton. Tenn., for second degree murder In connection with the Plattsburgh shooting. He is being held in county jail awaiting extradition to New York state, police said. Neighbors at the motel told police they heard a commotion where men were yelling obscenities in the hallway outside Sullivan's room about 2:30 a.m. Monday. A woman, who lives across the hall from the dead man, said she heard crashing, banging and a loud noise that could've been a gunshot about 2:30. She and her husband barricaded their door and she tried to call police. The woman said she could see the feet of the dead man laying on the floor when the door was opened. She told police she and her husband didn't know Sullivan very well, but he frequently tried to get money for cigarettes or a meal from them. \We're not sure what he was do- ing here. He was a transient,\ said Lt. Cummings. \We are still in- vestigating if and want to find out what he was doing in Plattsburgh.\ , Potsdam Village police said they' had a run-in with Sullivan about a week ago when he was reportedly drunk. He asked them to take him to the detoxification unit at the Canton-Potsdam Hospital. .ails >:II(I>.-( II ailnr.\ i 1 • IKl.Mli'rt we revised our plans and reapplled to SWDA for a scaled-down excep- tion to the flow control law. We also took our case to. the County Legislature, and suggested an amendment to the flow control law that would exempt source separated recyclable materials. The suggestion was referred to the Planning and Conservation Com- mittee. At the Committee meeting SWDA officials convinced the com- mittee to leave, the law alone, thereby preserving SWDA's preference for burning over recycl- ' ing,\ Bisnett's letter states. SWDA refuesd to act on WSM's reqwuests for exceptions to the law during the winter of 1987-88, Bisnett's letter states, \and rew- quested extensive information about our existing and planned recycling operations.\ \WSM sup- plied every bit of information SWDA ever requested,\ Bisnett said, but in March of this year, all requests for exceptions were denied. \In the next breath SWDA pass- ed a so-called generic exception to flow control, clearing the way for newspaper and other traditional recycling, but recycling materials and methods mentioned above, i.e., plastics, mixed paper, corrugated from commercial wastes, and com- posting of food and other wet ^Afl ^h^B^^^^^h w^^^^^^b ^^^B^^^^^^ft ^h^^^B^^^^Bk ^^ ^^kft^Bfl^^B^B 1 fr said, adding that his firm atempted to get SWDA to lift the ban, but SWDA refused. \Our business is comprehensive waste management, our company motto: dedicated to recycling and resource recovery. How could we operate under an umbrella of such restrictions? \ Bisnett asked. \Having exhausted our ad- ministrative remedies, on virtually the last day before our statute of limitations ran out, we initiated legal action against SWDA and the County to establish our right to recycle,\ Bisnett said. \Our deci- sion to enter the legal arena was deliberated long and hard, and had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with any strategy to delay the in- cinerator. In addition, we have repeatedly reminded SWDA of- ficials that our legal actions are continuously open to discussion. We remain ready, willing and able to attempt to reconcile our dif- ferences with the Authority and the County outside the courtroom. It is SWDA, not Waste-Stream Manage- ment, who refuses to attempt to resolve this dispute.\ Bisnett termed \ridiculous and totally without foundation\ Fuhr's statement that WSM is attempting to undermine the Authority's effec- tiveness. He said the EMC should be \praising Waste-Stream Manage- ment for leading the fight for recycling in St. Lawrence County,\ and calls the EMC's lack of objec- tivity on the issue disturbing. \If one and a half years from now, St. Lawrence County is\ forced to export its solid waste because it hasn't developed new landfill capacity and recycling systems, it won't be because of Waste-Stream Management or any of the citizens who have tried to influence the County's program. It will be because the County has lacked the foresight to fully comprehend the economic, environmental and political implications of the solid waste problem, and the imagina- tion to know what to do about it. It will also be because the County has stubbornly refused to listen to those who have figured it out,\ Bisnett's letter closes. Town Board Meets The Potsdam Town Board will hold its final meeting of 1988 at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the town of- fices, 35 Market St. / The agenda is expected to in- clude an update on the townwide property re-evaluation project. Meetings are open to the public. SANTA'S QltfT — Bartholomew Nell Cheney opens his present from Santa at toe Potsdam Nursing Home patients' party last Thursday. Helping him with his present is Ann Hewlett, a nursing home volunteer, Santa, and Joan Major, director of nurs- ing at the nursing home. (Thorn Pardoe photo) • & In The Courier DArts Page7 • Church Page 8 D Classifieds Page 18,19 DEditorials JPage4 DEvents Page 2 D Letters Page 4 •Local News Pages 1,11 DObituaries Page 8,9 •Sports Pages 16-18 •weddings Page 6
