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FRANKLIN CLINTON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22,1995 fcAGE 15 PRESS-REPUBLICAN lawsuit threat ByLOHRMcKINSTRY Staff Writer Southern EIIM Bureau TICONDEROGA — Because a word was chang- ed, Hazel Flack says she won't sue the Town of Ticonderoga over opening a Motor Vehicles office in the Community Building. The town had intended to temporarily lease space to the Essex County Clerk's Office for the state Department of Motor Vehicles satellite office, while waiting for a public referendum to be held, but has now changed that to \license\ space. The licensing is only until Nov. 7, when Ticonderoga voters will decide whether the Motor Vehicles office should be in the Community Build- ing at all. The town had intended to lease offices for $150 a month. Flack said she didn't like the price or the location and successfully petitioned for a public referendum on the issue. When the board announced it was giving the county a temporary lease until the vote, Flack shot off a letter in which she threatened to sue the town in state Supreme Court. \As a direct result of my notice, the Town Board rushed into a special session,\ Flack said of a town meeting held Wednesday morning. \Apparently under advice from their town at- torney or realizing themselves that my contentions were absolutely correct and valid, (they) rescinded their motion to provide the DMV a temporary lease at $1 a month and in doing so, removed the need for court intervention.\ Town Attorney Gerald Lawson researched the state law that allows a municipality to license space. \She said she's satisfied with our licensing of the space,\ Ticonderoga Supervisor Michael Connery said. \Gerry wrote her a letter explaining what we did.\ \This board has again proven they will go to any lengths to circumvent rules, regulations (and) laws arid seek loopholes to laws, just to achieve what it is they want,\ Flnck said. \One thing that can be recorded about this board as they one day go down in history — they did it their way. And nine times out of 10, to the detri- ment of the Ticonderoga taxpayers in legal and other costs,\ she said. Flack said she wouldn't have started her petition at all if Connery hadn't said he was going to split town offices between the Community Building and the Heritage Museum across the street. A study by Troy architect Robert Pierpont later said all town offices can go into the Community Building. The town must soon vacate the deteriorating Ticonderoga Civic Center, and Flack said the Motor Vehicles office in the Community Building might have used space the town would need there. \The study shows it will all be in there,\ Flack said. \There would have been no need for it (the petition).\ She said it's too late to withdraw the petition, and the town has voted to hold the referendum in the Nov. 7 elections. However, Flack said she won't work, for or against the referendum outcome. \I'll just let the people decide,\ she said. \That's the way it should be.\ Connery said inost people he's talked with sup- port a Motor Vehicles office in the Community Building. \I don't think it will have any trouble passing in November,\ he said. County Clerk Joseph Provoncha is going ahead with a grand opening of the satellite office in the next few days. All equipment has been delivered and the office will be open two days a week.. School safety ' ' • • Staff Photo/Dee Brown Brian Brooks (right) and Jim Marshall of the Maione Central School District install a security fence at Flanders School in Maione. Children will enter and exit the safe area within the fence. Saranac school building plan up to voters By MARY THILL Staff Writer Sara-Placid Bureau SARANAC LAKE - Saranac Lake. School District residents will soon be asked to vote on a $7.3 million building plan. School Board members hope it's what voters have been asking for. Having rejected several more-expensive options for housing the district's growing student body, the voters have been trying to tell the School Board they can't afford those plans, according to Albert Stunzi, chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee. The committee compared the Board of Education to a family and the taxpayers to a mortgage banker. \The banker has refused the family three times; there's got to be a reason.\ The committee gave these reasons for the most-recent rejection in December: • Voters didn't like the location of the ex- pansion at the High School in town. • They didn't like the $12 million price tag. • They didn't want to close the tiny Lake Colby School. • Many considered an auditorium at the High School a frill. The committee recommended that the district renovate and add $7.3 million worth of classrooms, primarily onto outlying schools in Bloomingdale and Lake Clear. It reluctantly recommended dropping the auditorium, which would cost another $2.8 million. \We feel strongly the auditorium is a nec- essary item and would consider it again in a year,\ Stunzi said. \But we feel leaving the auditorium in puts the whole package in jeopardy. Mind you, there were 15 of us there, and nobody objected to this plan.\ After lengthy debate, the School Board voted unanimously to support the Building and Grounds Committee recommendation. However, some members were not willing to drop the auditorium so easily. \It might offend some people, but I think more learning occurs in performance than does in the classroom,\ James Hotaling said. Eileen Gerrish at first argued for trimm- ing both the classroom and auditorium plans to get the total amount on the ballot at under $10 million. In the end, board members agreed it was more important to be united on any package sent to the voters. Hotaling offered a second motion, asking for further study of the design and construc- tion of an auditorium at the High School to see if it could be done at lower cost. The board wants more information by Dec. 1. That motion passed 6 to 1, with John Cam- pion dissenting. Superintendent Paul Doyle said that if voters pass the $7.3 million proposition in April, there will be no spike in tax rates. The cost of the new additions will simply replace building bonds that the district is nearing final payment on now. More than 2,00.0 students are enrolled in the district now, about 55 more than last year at this time. Surplus funds In other business, the school district got some good news. The School Board got the rare opportunity to allocate a $882,000 surplus created by unexpected state aid and premature austeri- ty last year. The board voted to buy 26 up-to-date IBM compatible computers, software and printers at a price of $58,000. Members then voted to spend $242,000 to replace aging, underground fuel tanks in ac- cordance with environmental mandates. They put $50,000 in a fund for paying lost tax-challenge cases and put the remaining $532,000 in a reserve account. The district also received a good report from auditor Laurie Hafner of Tell- ing-Besaw-Cota of Plattsburgh and Vermont, who found the district's nutrition and special-education programs were well run. ' She recommended the district use a pur- chasing agent to segregate duties and to strengthen internal controls. 1995 Christmas stamps unveiled Saturday NORTH POLE - Postmaster General Marvin Runyon will unveil the 1995 Holiday Contem- porary stamps at Santa's Work- shop in North Pole Saturday at 11 a.m. during special ceremo- nies. He is the first Postmaster General to visit the North Coun- try since 1936 when the Lake Placid Postal branch was dedicated. The sale of commemorative stamps, First day issue cancella- tions and other commemorative items will be on sale beginning at 8 a.m. In addition to the renovated post office, two other postal ser- vice sites will be set up arid manned by Postal Service workers from the Albany area. The four stamps were designed by artists John Grossman and Laura Alders of California arid depict designs from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. They show Santa climbing down the chimney, a boy holding a jumping jack toy, a child with a small Christmas tree and Santa making a sled. These holiday stamps go on sale nation-wide Oct. 2 Scheduled to be on hand for the event are U.S. Rep. Gerald Solomon, U.S. Rep.' John McHugh, Secretary of State Alexander Treadwell, Sen. Ronald Stafford, Assemblyman Chris Ortloff and other federal and state dignitaries. Officials planning the event are expecting thousands of peo- ple to converge on the Town of Wilmington for its Whiteface Oktoberfest celebration which begins at the same time.. Because of the expected crowd sizes, the State Police, the Essex County Sheriffs Department and Office of Emergency Services are coordinating traffic and parking in the area. Parking areas at Santa's Workshop will be used by the public. Remote parking areas with shuttle bus service to the Workshop are also running on vacant land off Preston road. Traffic signs will be posted along Route 86 to help drivers find the parking areas. Local, and through traffic will be affected so drivers should ex- pect congestion arid delays. Any- one able to take alternate routes, is asked to do so. Santa's Workshop will suspend its regular park activities for the day, but the children's rides will operate. Park hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.mu Saturday. Seney, Hinds ousted from Essex party line ELIZABETHTOWN - North Elba Supervisor candidate Shirley Seney and Councilman candidate Charles Hinds have been knocked off the Democratic party line, the Essex County Board of Elections announced Thursday. The Board of Elections rejected the town Democrats' nomination of Seney and Hinds primarily because North Elba is not a caucus town, according to Adolph Diskin, a member of the Board of Elections. \You can't change from the primary method to the caucus method without notifying the county Board of Elections four months prior to doing it,\ he said. Also, Democrats closed the nominating caucus five minutes before it was advertised to begin, Diskin said. Seney and Hinds will continue to run on independent party lines. Hinds, a registered Democrat, has said he would be disap- pointed if he could not run on his own line, but Seney, a registered Republican, said she did not ask the Democrats for their support and does not consider losing their line a setback. Their names were struck from the line on a complaint by Kim- ball Daby, who is chairman of the North Elba Republican Party. REGIONAL ROUNDUP Ii; NCCC Homecoming weekend features host of events . SARANAC LAKE — North-Country Community'College will hold Homecoming Weekend Sept. 23, in Saranac Lake, hosted by the NCCC Alumni Association. The reunion will begin with a free pancake breakfast in the Saranac Lake campus Connector on Saturday, Sept. 23, 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., where participnts will receive special ID cards entitling them to discounts to area attractions throughout Essex and Franklin coun- ties. That evening there will be a chicken barbecue and a presentation of the 1995 Distinguished Alumnus and Distinguished Faculty Award. All alumni who plan to attend should call the Alumni Office at 891-2915, ext. 224. Guided tour at Camp Santanoni set on Sept. 23 NEWCOMB — On Saturday, Sept. 23, Adirondack Architectural Heritage will sponsor a guided walking tour of Camp Santanoni in the Town of Newcomb. It was established in 1892 by Albany banker Robert C. Pruyn and was acquired by the stae Department of Environmental Conservation in 1972 as an addition to the state Forest Preserve. The tour will be led by John Friauf Jr., licensed state guide, a member of AARCH's Board of Directors and a well-known interpreter of Adirondack Great Camp architecture. The round trip walk is about 9.4 miles and begins at 10 a.m. at the parking lot of the Santanoni Preserve, off Route 28N. The tour will end about 4 p.m. Suggested op- tional donation is $10 ($5 for AARCH members). Participants should bring their own lunch, wear comfortable walking shoes and dress for variable weather conditions of the Adi- rondacks. Advance registration is required by contacting AARCH at 1759 Main Street, Keeseville, N.Y. 12944 or by calling 834-9328. A limited number of seats are available in a horse-drawn wagon, for an additional $10 per person. Forums on legislature governments set ELIZABETHTOWN — The 4th Monday Forum will reconvene on Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Essex County Courthouse. The September forum will host Clinton County Administrator William Bingel and Legislator Robert Bruno to explore the legislative type of government and management from the perspectives of those who are in it. Bingel and Bruno will share insights from their experiences in con- text with the forum's purpose of providing opportunities for non- partisan discussion and information exchange without advocating a particular point of view. NCCC sponsors three fall bus tours SARANAC LAKE — Three trips, coordinated by the North Coun- try Community College Center for Lifelong Learning, are planned for the fall. The first trip, \Quebec City in the Fall,\ will be Oct. 21 to 22 for $98 per person. Reservations are due by today. The fee includes a chartered bus from Saranac Lake, motel room, walking tours and shopping 1 this Canadian city. \Museums and Malls\ is a trip to Albany Nov. 4 at $40 per person. Reservations are needed by Oct.-6. It includes chartered-bus service from Saranac Lake and Maione to shopping at Crossgates Mall and a tour of the State Capital and Museum. \New York Getaway\ is Nov. 17, 18 and 19 and will cost $210 per person. Chartered-bus service, a room in the New York City Theater District and tours of the Empire State Building and Metropolitan Museum of Art are included. To reserve a place for any of these trips, call the Center for Lifelong Learning at 891-2195. Photo Provided 1995 Holiday Contemporary Stamps PAFB memories deadline today Plattaburgh Air Fan BUM will close perauMntly 8M*. 80. The Press-Republican is inviting naden to thai* mamariMi and stones associated with the b«M and to tall how PAIBaflMfed their hv«a All submissions must be returned by todn Plsass send rwponsee to News Editor Lois Clermont, PO Bat 4ft. PlatUburgh, N Y. 12901, or by flu to (518) 561-3362, or through e-mail at PRepubOaol<ooin -p-
