Zach Hirsch in Chesterfield, NY reports that The main trail on Poke-O Moonshine Mountain in the town of Chesterfield, in the northeast corner of the Adirondacks will get a makeover this fall.

Amanda May Metzger reports that the Lake George Land Conservancy, the nonprofit land trust that purchases and preserves land, met the deadline to take the next step toward buying roughly 75 acres of the mountain known as the Pinnacle.

 Chris Knight, Senior Staff Writer says that although village officials are are open to hosting a boat washing station to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, they don’t want it along the Lake Flower shoreline.

  

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SARANAC LAKE – Village officials are open to hosting a boat washing station to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, but they don’t want it along the Lake Flower shoreline.

At a meeting Monday night, the village Board of Trustees soundly rejected a plan to put a boat wash and decontamination station on village property next to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lake Flower boat launch on River Street. Lake Flower has been picked as one of nine such decontamination sites around the Adirondack Park under a one-year, state-funded pilot program.

The station would be on the flat, grassy area where the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Ice Palace is built each winter. Under the plan submitted to the village, a boat inspector from the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute would assess boats that come through the launch. If a boat has visible aquatic plants or animals, or has come from a lake that’s known to have aquatic invasives, it would be directed to the decontamination site, where an AWI technician would wash it.

A stone driveway would be built from the boat launch, through the village’s property and exiting back out to River Street. An infiltration basin and swale would also be constructed to hold the water used to wash boats until it infiltrates back into the ground. Water for washing boats would be taken from a 550-gallon tank that would be put on the site and filled with water drawn, and filtered, from Lake Flower.

A site visit took place last week involving representatives of the village, the Watershed Institute, the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, the state Adirondack Park Agency and Department of Transportation, and the Lake George Park Commission.

Village Manager John Sweeney, who attended that site visit, said Monday he shared concerns about managing the amount of traffic that would use the site. DOT officials had similar concerns, he said.

Under the plan submitted to the village, boats would be allowed to move through the launch without inspection or decontamination if traffic at the site gets backed up.

"Overall, I still think they’re pushing forward with this site," Sweeney said.

"Do they have authority to push us?" asked Mayor Clyde Rabideau.

"No, I don’t believe so," Sweeney responded.

Sweeney said two alternative sites were considered: one in the village and another at the DEC offices in Ray Brook.

Rabideau said he wasn’t in favor of using the village’s property on Lake Flower. He said there are other sites "that make a lot more environmental sense, especially at the (DEC Second Pond) boat launch site upriver, where contamination may happen more so than it happens here at Lake Flower."

The mayor also said the Lake Flower site is a main thoroughfare and vista for Saranac Lake.

"It’s busy all through the summer. There’s a lot of traffic there," Rabideau said. "Plus, I fear that a boat decontamination site would be unsightly there. I dare say they wouldn’t get that far if they wanted to do it in Mid’s Park in Lake Placid. That would go over real big there, I’m sure.

"(The Lake Flower site) is a valuable piece of real estate in the summer, has a great vista, and there are other sites for this. I will not support it there."

Eric Holmlund, a village resident who directs the Adirondack Watershed Institute, told the board last month that Lake Flower was picked because it gets a lot of traffic, has several aquatic invasive species in it and it’s centrally located in the Tri-Lakes. If stewards at nearby launches inspect a boat and find invasives, they would refer the boat to Lake Flower for decontamination, Holmlund said.

Rabideau said Monday that backers of the proposal also want to use the Lake Flower site because it would give the program "public exposure" and "advertisement value."

"That’s nice, but why take up the best real estate in the whole village of Saranac Lake for a whole summer?" he said. "That’s not fair to the village of Saranac Lake."

Trustee Allie Pelletieri said he understands the idea that the site could be an educational tool to raise awareness about invasive species, but he said it makes more sense to do it at Second Pond.

"If you don’t clean (boats) at the state bridge, it just comes downriver to us," he said. "It seems more practical to do it upriver. We should push them in a different direction and see how we could make it work."

"I think it’s important to raise awareness about invasive species," said Trustee Barb Rice, "but that has to be balanced against a very prominent piece of property in the middle of the village. I wouldn’t want to say no completely, but if we could steer them to an alternate location, I think that would be the way to go."

Trustee Paul Van Cott, who works for the APA, didn’t participate in the discussion. Trustee Tom Catillaz was absent from Monday’s meeting.

 

 

The Editorial Staff says that The Fifth Annual Black River Watershed Conference will be held on June 3rd at the Hayloft at Moonshine Farm in Port Leyden, NY. Speakers will cover a range of topics including invasive species programs, stormwater and community resiliency, nutrient management and current and ongoing Black River Watershed projects.

 

 Cristine Meixner says that the Village of Speculator Planning Board has voted that Don Rhodes’ proposed hotel would not cause any moderate to large negativeenvironmental impacts.
It also voted May 5 to issue a conditional use permit and a land preservation overlay district permit for the project.

 

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**Please note that a paid subscription is required to view the article online. A version of the article appears below.

SPECULATOR – The Village of Speculator Planning Board has voted that Don Rhodes’ proposed hotel would not cause any moderate to large negativeenvironmental impacts.

It also voted May 5 to issue a conditional use permit and a land preservation overlay district permit for the project. Next up — hammering out a building permit.

New Planner Lisa Eckhoff wanted to know why the board was voting again. “We voted the resolution down last week,” she said.

Attorney to the Village Katie Smith, who was at the May 5 meeting but not the one the week before, said the board should have voted on the State Environmental Quality Review Short Environmental Assessment Form Part 2 – Impact Assessment before it voted on the resolution Eckhoff was referring to. “Based on the minutes only the resolution was voted on,” Smith said.

Eckhoff tried to block another vote, saying, “I don’t believe a lot has been done correctly.”

Her concerns include Smith deeming the permit applications complete rather than the land use enforcement officer. She also claimed there has not been due process and said, “I want to avoid using village money to defend the village in court.”

“It’s not my decision. I can only advise,” Smith said. “There has been due process, many meetings with public comment. The board worked with the applicant to make sure concerns were addressed.

“If the planning board were brought to court any judge would say there is a reasonable amount of information. I don’t know what you are looking for. In my opinion a court would say this application is complete.”

VOTE CHANGED

Eckhoff countered, “Code says the planning board shall hold a public hearing and after a public hearing comments need to be considered and we did not consider them.”

“They are considered as they are spoken,” Smith said. “All of these things have been discussed numerous times.”

“We didn’t discuss,” Eckhoff insisted.

“We heard, we listened, we discussed. We’ve been discussing these issues right along,” Planner John Foley said.

Planner Ann Marie Miller voted against the resolution the previous week. May 5 she voted for the negative SEQR declaration and the two permits. She explained, “This last week I have done a lot of research. I spoke to the previous LUEO [Spencer Tracy] and our attorney.

“I wanted to be sure everything proposed meets code. I have to get my confidence from them, that’s what they are paid for. It seems to me everything has been met. Everything meets code and everything has been done legally.”

The vote on the negative SEQR declaration was 4-2 with Eckhoff and Planner John Mullens voting ‘nay.’

TWO PERMITS

The resolution to approve a conditional use permit and a land preservation overlay permit was next.

Smith explained that vote “is separate from the building permit, which can include conditions to address whatever it is you are concerned about that have not yet been addressed.”

“What if this project is unsuccessful? Should we require a performance bond?” Eckhoff asked.

“The village can require a performance bond only if there is going to be installation of village infrastructure such as roads, water, and sewer lines,” Clerk Bonnie Page said. In other words, municipalities may require performance bonds only on projects in which they have a financial interest.

The vote on the two permits was 4-2 with Eckhoff and Mullens voting ‘nay.’

About 20 people were observing the meeting. There was a loud round of applause after the vote.