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FWAMKLIN CLINTOW PftESS-REPUeLiCAN PLATTSBURGri, N.Y, PAGE D-l THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2,1995 fire killed Saranac ly MARY THILL 'Staff Writer HM t Clues show malfunction in living-room wall SARANAC LAKE - It appears the fire that claimed the life of a 16-year-old Saranac Lake resi- dent was caused by an electrical malfunction, in- vestigators said Wednesday. While they will never know for sure what caused Tuesday's early-morning blaze at 10 Depot St,, in- vestigators detected evidence of electrically pro- duced heat in the living-room wall, where the fire started, Saranac Lake Police Chief Kathleen-Eeer and Fire Chief Harrison Kent reported. - The fire was definitely not started by a cigarette, Kent said, as speculated at first. Arson was also ruled out. Saranac Lake Mayor Timothy Jock asked all flags jElbjiVn inside the village. b$. lowered to half- staff until sunset Friday in an expression of grief forrJPaui Schlitt, the high-school junior who died in the fire. ; Kent said there was no sign of! a smoke detector anywhere in the three-rstory building. Schlitt and his father, Rdbertj rented the top two stories from landlord Ed Dukett. Dukett jjouid not be reached for comment. However, Kent said, the fire was extremely hot and fast-moving, so firefighters may never know beyond a doubt whether a smoke detector was con- sumed by flames. The village building inspector inspects only rental units of three apartments or more. Landlords must provide smoke detectors in all rental units under the law. Paul Schlitt had been home alone in his third- floor bedroom when the fire broke out on the floor below. \He had pulled- on his dungarees but had no time to snap the snap,\ Kent said fire investigators told him. \His shirt was half on. Under those cir- cumstances, I would believe he had been sleeping (and then was overcome by smoke).\ The varnished knotty-pine paneling in the living room burned very fast, Kent said. His department fought the fire with help from three other depart- ments, using water from both a hydrant and the Saranac River. \You always hope and pray there isn't someone inside,\ he said. \It is upsetting. The boys are holding up pretty good. A couple may need a little talking to tp settle them down.\ Police Chief Peer said a multi-agency task force consisting of the Franklin County Bureau of Fire, the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control, the Saranac Lake Fire Department, the Saranac Lake Police Department and the Franklin County Cor- oner's Office investigated the death. Staff Photo/Lohr McKinstry ANTI-DRUG DAY: \Say No to Drugs\ Day was held in Ticonderoga recently for children and their parents, and kids like Chad and Ella Burke got hats and pens and refreshments at Ticonderoga Market. From left with the kids are co-sponsor Joseph Izzo, Elemen- tary School Principal Jane Plantey and High School Principal Edward Tatko. Essex County steps closer to Internet access Organizer beginning to collect service fees By LOHR McKINSTRY Staff Writer Southtnt EMM Bureau TICONDEROGA - The worldwide information network of the Internet is getting closer to . southern Essex County. After 35 people showed up at Ticonderoga High School to hear presentations from service pro- viders Cen-Com and NorthNet for a local Internet telephone number, organizer Ann Anselmo decided to start collecting subscription money. \Are there 50 people to Support this?\\ Anselmo said. \While Cen-Com normally requires 100 subscribers to implement service, iii the past they 'have taken ac- tion after receiving payment from 50 subscribers.\ Ronald Huber of Cen-Com, a commercial Internet-service pro- vider with a Lake Placid branch, said it would take 50 subscribers to have Cen-Com install a 585- exchange node. The number would allow Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Put- nam and Hague residents to con- nect to the Internet with their computers and modems without paying for a toll call. \I don't see why this area couldn't support it,\ Huber said. \Once the decision is reached; they (Cen-Com) can have it in place in two to three weeks.\ He said his Tri-Lakes node started when he had 50 subscribers; 140 users are on it • ;.,'• . • . . Staff Photo/Lohr McKinstry Southern Essex County residents interested in toll-free access to the global Internet: computer network at- tended a meeting at Ticonderoga High School recently. now. NorthNet of Canton, a non- profit educational Internet-access provider, also has a Tri-Lakes number, and Marketing Director Bridget Doyle said Ticonderoga is on the list for access. \Our next priority is to get over .to this side of our area, to give libraries (toll-free) access,\ Doyle said. \We're looking for ways. I have two different grant applications in that -would let us improve the access we offer.\ NorthNet and Cen-Com also have Plattsburgh connection numbers. Doyle said NorthNet used grant money to install the Tri-Lakes and Plattsburgh numbers. Without a grant, 100 initial subscribers would be needed for a local number. Right now, the only way to use the Internet in southern Essex County is by calling a Platt- sburgh, Albany or Saranac Lake number and paying toll charges. Anselmo said she'll keep in, touch with NorthNet to see if the grants come through and the line can be provided, but Cen-Com 'may be the quickest way to get Internet service in southern' Essex County. She's asking computer-users interested in an Internet connec- tion to send her a $20 check made out to Cen-Com, along with a disk from some other on-line service such as CompuServe or America Online. Without the disk, Cen-Com charges a $20 sign-on fee. \This will ensure security on two counts,\ she said. \First checks will be cashed by Cen- Com only when sufficient subscription warrants. Second, the community will know when the number of required subscribers have participated.\ The checks can be mailed to Anselmo in care of Ticonderoga High School, where she teaches {mathematics and computer science. She said that of the re- quired number of subscribers doesn't sign on, the checks will be returned uncashed. Huber said he would ask for permission to install the local ac- cess line at Ticonderoga High School. The high-speed, multi- user, dedicated connection, called a Tl, would also give the school a free Internet link of its own, he said. \I'd like the school to have it,\ he said. \We'd give them first crack at it.\ The Internet is a global infor- mation network that can be ac- cessed by anyone with a com- puter, modem and phone line. Everything from the Library of Congress,to the Louvre is avail- able on the Internet. . New sites and users go on every day, but the latest estimates are that the system has 5 million information sites and 43 million users. Champlain sees town tax rate dip in budget plan By STEVE MANOR Stoff Writer Narifctm Clinton IWMUI CHAMPLAIN — A conservative approach to spending this past year will result in a reduction in the town tax rate in 1996. The proposed Champlain town budget reflects a tax cut of 3 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. . The $^,511,724 budget is actually up $112,372 from the current 1995 town budget. Much of that is attributed to equipment and increased operating costs in the Highway Department. Funds of $22,200 for water service under the < flew Perry Mills Water District and $12;750 for water service under the new, Landfill Water District are reflected in the budget's spending increase. But all six off the town's water and sewer districts are self-supporting through user fees, so no tax dollars are required to support them.^ General-fund spending has decreased from $613,071 this year to $610,281 in the proposed budget. Highway Department spending rose from $525,091 in 1995 to $599,323. But the spending increase has been offset by a substantial $173,500 unexpended fund balance, mostly sales-tax revenues the town has accumulated the past year, which will be applied to 1996 expenses to keep taxes down. The amount to be raised by taxes in 1996 is $654,Z3t, $11,139 less than this'year. The tax\ rate for 1996 will be $3.69 per $1,000. A public hearing on the proposal will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, at the Champlain Town Office and Garage Gbm- Opinions mixed on DEC plan By MARY THILL Staff Writer Sara-Placid iunau LAKE PLACID - Dozens of people Wednesday defended lean-tos, group hikes, cellular phones, unleashed dogs and their favorite things about hiking in the High Peaks Wilderness. At the first of five public hearings on a draft management plan for the area surrounding New York's highest mountains, hikers applauded the state Department of Environmental Conservation for trying to pre- vent the 226,000-acre area from being trampled by too many feet. But most also found a piece of their self-interest threatened in the details: • Peggy Barney, a teacher in Lake Placid, urged the DEC to protect her ability to take classes into the woods for group hiking and camping. The plan would limit camping and day-hiking group sizes to 10, but special permits would let educational in- stitutions lead day-use groups of 30. • Breck Turner of Lake Placid said requiring dogs to be leashed would ruin hiking for his family, which has hiked thousands of steep miles in the High Peaks with its well-behaved, free- running dog. • Ed Reid of Willsboro said the three-sided log shelters called lean-tos should be treated as assets rather than discouraged. They blend in better than tents, and on rainy days, he said, there's nothing to do in a tent but \sleep read a book, make love, read a book until your eyes fall out.\ • Richard Craig of Cellular One said he doesn't agree with DEC that people who bring cellular telephones into the woods will rely on the phone more than their wits and gear. The phones will help even well-prepared hikers in dangerous situations, he said. Members of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) dominated the afternoon session of the hearing at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid. Most attacked the central tenet of the plan: limit camping by issuing a restricted number of permits, possibly with fees. Al- though the High Peaks region is vast, it harbors few suitable places for camping, according to DEC Regional Director Stuart Buchanan. The Adirondack Park's land plan defines wilderness as a place \where the earth and its community of life are untram- meled by man. . .\ But Jim Cooper of ADK said not all wilderness is equal, and it shouldn't all be managed to enhance solitude. The High Peaks has ranger cabins, dams and more than 100,000 visitors a year. \Why would droves of people come back and back to the area if their impetus is solitude?\ Coo- per asked. The environmental group, which operates a lodge and 200- car parking lot at the busiest trailhead, argues that crowding in parts of the interior could be reduced if DEC enforced parking rules on the perimeter. \Before imposing a 365-day a year camping permit, let's focus the resources on the 10-12 weekends that are high-use times,\ said Sherry Osborn of ADK. But another environmental group, the Adirondack Council, agrees with DEC that permits are the answer. \Since this plan is a fun- damental departure from many of the 'service-oriented' manage- ment policies of the past, I expect the department will be attacked by various special interest groups and individuals who deny the magnitude of the misuse and abuse problems now prevalent in the High Peaks,\ said Mike DiNunzio of the Adirondack Council. However, he opposed DEC's plan to build a 100-car parking lot on wilderness land a mile from ADK's lodge, at the en- trance to South Meadows Road. Some people questioned how the permit system would work and how permits can be recom- mended without establishing the region's carrying capacity first. \When the campsites are full, then there's obviously too many people. When there's 250 people on Mount Marcy, common sense dictates there's too many people,\ said Rich Merritt, who used to be a DEC interior caretaker. DEC should consider banning wood campfires in more than just the Marcy-Colden corridor, Mer- ritt said. Campsites there are stripped of trees for firewood. ''The environmen- tally-challenged think it's an in- alienable right to have a fire,\ he said. All input will be used in writ- ing a final plan, Buchanan said. REGIONAL ROUNDUP Lake lower locks to close temporarily -i SARANAC LAKE — The Lower Locks on Saranac Lake will be temporarily closed to boat passage Wednesday, Nov. 8, through 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, to enable the statd Department of En- vironmental Conservation to make repairs. For more information, call the Bureau of Operations in the Ray Brook Regional Office at 897-1309. plex. \This past year we have tried to be as con- servative in our spending as we could,\\ Supervisor Gerald Mayo said. \The town is growing, if we like it or not, and there's a cost attached to that growth.\ Highway Department employees will get a 5-percent pay hike, and office staff will get a 3-percent raise. The town's three justices will each get a $1,500 pay increase, boosting their salaries from $10,500 a year to $12,000 per year. No other elected or appointed town officers get raises in the proposed budget. The cost of fire protection and ambulance service in 1996 will rise, with the villages of Rouses Point and Champlain being paid $35,000 each to provide fire protection in\the township. They each got $32,000 in 1995. • f • —— Tell us about your business its an- WHf^p* ^w^»y^w^^^^»^ ^ T w I ' Ji • • ^•\ 1 ••\\•-TT... . • \ T -r - - —• —— . j^ — -- ^ - - - W^( ^r^^r^ nui4 Frogrow «iition> an inventory of economic progress made - during the pn*t ywur in th« Norths Country find a look ahead ton /, 19$&W« encourage participation from business owners in Clm* ton, EMCI and ftm^n, wm&: If *m hav* ftcWeved TOjue^ stones, introduced change*, added new product lines or services, ®^A»^^I«^%« the Program edition. Pleaae foUow the following format-. •l
