Residents from Hammond through Jefferson County have been targets for a wind power survey.

The Times first got calls about the phone survey a few weeks ago. Those who had caller identification had a number which pointed to Marketlink, Des Moines, Iowa. But Marketlink officials have no knowledge of the survey, they told me. The calls ask residents about their attitudes towards wind power development in the region, tax breaks for wind power projects, and the direction of government involvement with wind power development.

The survey didn’t ask about specific politicians or policies. I asked regional political officials, wind developers, opponents, even the New York Power Authority about the survey, all to no avail. I’m stumped – do you have any more clues that could help solve the mystery?

The annual external audit raised a few issues for the Watertown Local Development Corp., a.k.a. Trust.

Some of them are just a function of the Trust having two employees. For example, the preparation of financial statements is done by Chief Executive Officer Donald W. Rutherford and Executive Assistant and Chief Financial Officer Kim S. Taylor.

The board of directors acted Thursday morning to take Ms. Taylor off the list of check signers.

“There is little segregation of duties,” said Lori Podvin, of Paulsen and Podvin, which did the audit. “She shouldn’t be a check-signer because she prepares the financial statements.”

Trust policy requires two signatures on checks. Mr. Rutherford and one of the four officers on the board can sign the checks now.

“What about credit cards?” asked board member James P. Fayle. “The purpose of dual checks is having oversight. We’re only looking at it after the fact.”

Mr. Rutherford said, “It’s reflecting in the expense side of the monthly statement. We try to stay within the budgeted expense side.”

Other members joined Mr. Fayle in asking if two signatures were necessary.

“I’m more comfortable with having two signers,” Mr. Rutherford said. “Usually it’s with 6, 7, 15 or 20 other checks that also need signatures.”

They also must add three items to the Web site, under the Public Authorities Accountability Act, including the internal control policy, internal control assessment from 2009 and procurement policy. Two were added under a motion by the board on Thursday. The governance committee will meet to work on a procurement policy.

City Hall is beginning to feel like a pressure cooker, a culmination of substantial events that will take place in the next month that will change the shape and look of one of the city’s largest departments.

We’ll go through these events chronologically:

April 10: As announced Monday night, Chief Milton M. Sayre will hang up the white hat for good, more than eight months after he had originally planned to retire from the post. This move will leave the fire department without a chief or deputy chief meaning the city will likely need to appoint one of five battalion chiefs to lead the 80 member department.

April 19: The city manager is scheduled to release the proposed 2010-2011 budget. While revenues have dipped and expenses continue to climb, City Council members have publically questioned whether the chief and deputy chief positions should be combined. While Mr. Sayre had defended the need for both positions, he will be out of the picture during budget discussions.

April 20: The city’s Civil Service Commission is scheduled to meet. On the agenda will be the test results of the civil service exam given in January for the chief and deputy chief positions. While the commission can schedule a special meeting prior to this date, it failed to do so when meeting Tuesday (March 16). Until the commission reviews the results and completes a list for the city manager to consider, the city will need to promote someone from the department to run the show.

This is a trying time for the department’s rank-and-file who will see wholesale changes in the leadership roles, assuming there are still more than one after the budget is adopted in late June. The $7.73 million department has not had a chief and deputy chief since March of last year, and the union leader Tucker Wiley has suggested it’s been longer since a proper chief has taken the reins.

Mr. Wiley has criticized the City Manager’s office for hiring former chief Dan Gaumont, who hailed from Ipswich, Mass., and instead has pushed to have one of its own promoted to fill both positions instead of hiring someone from out of the area.

Flooded basements and severed service are nothing new for residents along Flower Avenue East. Water Superintendent Gary Pilon has included a history of water main breaks in the City Council’s agenda:

• May 2, 2003: Flower Avenue East at Nellis Street – Crew arrived at 7:45 a.m., Water Department dispatched at 8:15 a.m. Nine to 10 basements flooded due to water backing up through the floor drains. Basements pumped. Replaced 6 feet of pipe.
• Feb. 25, 2003: Break in front of 307 Flower Ave. E. reported at 4:30 p.m. Water Department arrived at 5:00 p.m. Service shut off at 7:30 p.m. No cellars reported flooded. Frost reported on the ground.
• July 23, 2004: Break in front of 361 Flower Ave. E. Leak reported at 5:00 a.m. and crew arrived 5:30 a.m. Service shut off by 5:50 a.m. Two basements had water in them that drained out when the main was shut. Pipe split 58 inches lengthwise.
• July 3, 2006: Break reported at 6 a.m. in front of 327 Flower Ave. E. Crew arrived at 6:45 a.m., and water was shut off by 7:30 a.m. Uncounted number of basements pumped by the fire department. Pipe split 6 inches lengthwise.
• The most recent incident occurred March 5 in front of 331 Flower Ave. E. The leak was first reported at 6:51 a.m. The Water Department was on the scene at 8 a.m. Service shut off by 8:15 a.m. Fire department pumped water from 19 basements. Three foot section of pipe was “blown out.” Service replaced by mid afternoon.

CAPE VINCENT – Besides the wind-related discussions last night at the Town Council meeting, several other items showed the considerable tension between those who support and oppose Supervisor Urban C. Hirschey.

One awkward conversation came over Mr. Hirschey’s decision to get a new cell phone. With town money, he bought a phone capable of handling e-mail from the official supervisor e-mail address. The phone cost $244.80 and a monthly charge of about $50 will be levied, too.

There are a few other officials who have cell phones on the town’s bill. The basic phones they use cost $14.99 or $19.99 per month, said Town Clerk Jeri Ann Mason.

“Normally, we’re charged $98 or $99,” she said.

Former Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck used one of the basic phones, she added.

“It will be an extra $600 per year for your phone,” said Councilman Donald J. Mason.

Mr. Hirschey said he was willing to do what the council wanted, including reimburse the town.

“I can pay the town $600 now and we don’t have to worry about it the rest of the year,” he said.

Councilman Marty T. Mason said that might not be legal. The council didn’t agree how to handle the cell phone last night.

But they did agree to add some financial duties to Deputy Supervisor Brooks Bragdon’s role. In January, he was appointed budget director, which isn’t covered in state municipal law, so the council agreed to just add those duties to his plate.

They include verifying fund balances monthly, preparing profit and loss reports monthly and annually and comparing revenues and expenses to the budgeted amounts.

He’ll earn the same $3,750 that was planned for him originally. That amount may be adjusted come budget time depending on the work load.

“Once you get the first year under your belt, you’ll know how much time you’ll need to do this,” Councilman Mickey Orvis said.

Mr. Bragdon said he will look for areas to save money and make the town government more efficient.

Mr. Hirschey said, “We’ve envisioned visiting other towns to develop best practices.”

OSWEGO — Oswego County legislators followed the lead of Jefferson County legislators in opposing an offshore wind possibility for eastern Lake Ontario.

Oswego County legislators voted 20-4 to support a resolution asking for the project, forwarded by the New York Power Authority, to not come to waters near Oswego County, said Shawn P. Doyle, a member of the Oswego County Board of Legislators representing Pulaski and co-chair of the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities.

The legislators met for four hours on Thursday afternoon. (To be clear - the Times wasn't there.)

NYPA has asked for developers to submit proposals for up to 166 turbines to be placed in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The proposals are due June 1.

Those who support the project from SUNY-College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Syracuse, SUNY Oswego and local labor unions spoke in favor of the project. Those who believe the project would result in poor fishing and tourism, hurting economic development, spoke against the project.

Mr. Doyle said it was a party-line vote, with the four Democrats asking to table the resolution until the project could be studied further. One Republican was absent.

“The bottom line is Oswego County and Jefferson County have done the same thing,” he said. “We've united and told the New York Power Authoirty they can go somewhere else.”

The town Planning Board will listen to a presentation by St. Lawrence Wind Farm’s consultants on its noise analysis, Hessler Associates Inc., Haymarket, Va.

The presentation will take place after its regular meeting at 7 p.m. April 14 at the Cape Vincent Recreation Park, James Street.

“We recognize potential impacts from sound emitted from the proposed project have been a primary concern of the Planning Board and the community,” wrote project manager Peter E. Zedick in a Feb. 25 letter requesting the presentation. “Assessing sound impacts from wind turbines can be a difficult task given some variability of opinion.”

Members of the Town Council, Planning Board and Wind Committee agreed on Feb. 6 that a zoning law should allow turbines to raise the ambient noise level by 8 decibels. The perception-based standard of 6 decibels above ambient has been supported by local groups who want protective zoning law and some outside experts.

Hessler conducted the noise study for the supplemental draft environmental impact statement for Acciona’s 54-turbine project. In the Acciona study, Hessler found an average of 44 decibels during the summer and 37 decibels during the winter when the wind is blowing.

The Wind Power Ethics Group paid for a separate study of noise in the area, done by Paul D. Schomer of Schomer & Associates Inc., Champaign, Ill. Mr. Schomer found the noise levels averaged at 30 decibels, with the quietest nighttime hours at 20 decibels and the entire night at 25 decibels.

City officials will continue to force the town of Watertown to divert is sewage flows from Arsenal Street to Coffeen Street, even though there are compelling arguments that this issue is solely that of the city.

City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said last week that a proposed Celtic themed bar/restaurant has already received the go-ahead from the city to open, even though there is a ban on further sewage flows being introduced to the Arsenal Street sewage main.

The city is also reviewing the sewage permit for a Japanese steakhouse. While both businesses shouldn't be as taxing to the city's infrastructure as say a hotel, restaurants certainly produce more dirty water than a typical retail store or car dealership.

The city told the town last summer that it will no longer approve permits for further development along Route 3 until the sewage is diverted off the overburdened main and on to a main beneath Coffeen Street. Since the town must apply for sewage permits from the city each time a new store opens in the municipality, the city can essentially block any development be proposed along Route 3.

The city manager said that while a choke point exists in the sewage main nearly Friendly's restaurant, the remaining section of main east of that area, however, can accept more flows.

On a side note, it's certainly inconvenient for the city that the state Department of Transportation spent in the neighborhood of $34 million to rebuild the Route 3 bridge and a roughly mile-long section of road in the town of Watertown to help direct traffic that envelops the area during business hours, especially when the state maintains Arsenal Street, from I-81 to Massey Street. Expanding that project another football field, or so, to the west would have allowed crews to fix that choke point and fix the city's sewage problems.

Town Supervisor Joel R. Bartlett, also told the council in a meeting earlier this week that the municipality has within the last year upgraded a sewage pump station along Route 3, just west of I-81. That station, he said, was a large source of groundwater infiltration that contributed to the town's flows.

With city Engineer Kurt W. Hauk in the room and offering little in the way of protest, Mr. Bartlett defended the town, saying the municipality has cut its daily sewage flow in half as a result of the project.

So where does this leave any developer proposing to build along Route 3? They're going to have to wait at least four months for the town to install a main and pump station through Salmon Run Mall's property to Coffeen Street. Any existing businesses along Route 3, you'll be getting a larger sewage bill in the decade or so. The roughly $1.4 million diversion project will be billed to property owners in Sewer District 2, which runs along Route 3 towards the town of Hounsfield.

Here are a few side notes from last night's meeting where Jefferson County legislators unanimously voted against the possibility of an offshore wind power project in waters off the county in Lake Ontario. New York Power Authority is seeking proposals from developers to site up to 500 megawatts of wind turbines in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

Public Outbursts

The crowd of about 60 people at the Jefferson County legislature meeting were mostly respectful during the hour that Richard M. Kessel, president and chief executive officer of New York Power Authority, explained the proposal for 40-166 turbines.

But they got restless when Mr. Kessel said the turbines anchored in the lakebed could serve as a positive for fishing – improving the spawning as they act as reefs. He said that's been the experience in Europe.

Legislator Barry M. Ormsby, R-Belleville, said aesthetics is an important issue for the region.

“Apart from agriculture, we survive on tourism, tourism and tourism,” he said.

Mr. Kessel responded, “This would be a huge tourist attraction.”

That ignited laughs and boos from the crowd.

After the 14-0 vote by the legislature to oppose the project, the crowd erupted in applause.

Young Opposition

Those opposing the offshore wind power proposal from the New York Power Authority included some young people.

Jacob Cornell, a seventh-grader from Sandy Creek Central School District, attended the Jefferson County legislature meeting on Tuesday night. He brought with him a petition against the possibility of turbines in eastern Lake Ontario, signed by 36, or about half, of those in his grade.

“Something inside me told me it's wrong, it's not for the environment,” he said.

What's Next

The Oswego County Board of Legislators will entertain a similar resolution during its meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday on the fourth floor of the county office building, 46 E. Bridge St., Oswego.

Unlike the past few meetings at the Jefferson County Board of Legislators, there will be no overflow on the first floor or Department of Motor Vehicles. So members of the public who want to hear Richard M. Kessel, president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority, will need to come early.

The doors to the chamber will remain open to allow for some overflow.

“It will be a little bit different this time around,” County Administrator Robert F. Hagemann III said.

Mr. Kessel will talk to the legislators about NYPA’s Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project, which could lead to up to 500 megawatts of wind turbines being built in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

In December, NYPA asked developers to submit proposals for the project by June 1. NYPA will buy the power from the turbines through a power purchase agreement. Of 10 favorable sites in Lake Ontario, one site spreads from Galloo Island north to Grenadier Island and another stretches from Galloo Island south along the eastern shore in Oswego County.

Legislators in Jefferson and Oswego counties have formed the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities to oppose the project. Both legislatures also have resolutions opposing the project up for a vote this week.

Mr. Kessel’s discussion with legislators will be at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jefferson County legislature’s chambers on the second floor of the Historic County Courthouse, 195 Arsenal St.

“There will be no presentation in the formal sense,” Mr. Hagemann said. “There will not be dialog back and forth between Mr. Kessel and the public.”

A former Lowville newspaper editor/publisher’s bid for elected office in Texas came up short last week.

As we mentioned recently on this blog, Anthony L. “Andy” Byrnes, who operated the weekly Adirondack Mountain Sun for more than 12 years before closing in December 2004 and moving south, was running for a four-year seat on the four-person Commissioner’s Court in Brewster County, West Texas.

According to story on the Big Bend Gazette’s Web site, Andy finished second in a three-way race to incumbent Kathy Killingworth. Unofficial results had the incumbent at 317 votes, followed by Andy with 162 (29.3 percent) and Bill Bourbon with 73.

Andy’s showing this time around was slightly better percentage-wise than in 2002, when he was involved in a three-way race for the 122nd Assembly District seat.

Unofficial results in that race had Assemblywoman Dierdre K. “Dede” Scozzafava with 17,343 votes, followed by Andy with 7,932 (28.6 percent) and Jefferson County Legislator Michael W. Behling, R-Adams Center, with 2,490. Mr. Behling had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava after losing a Republican primary to her, but his name remained on the ballot.

Andy did earn a moral victory in that election by garnering the most Lewis County votes.

Town of Watertown Supervisor Joel R. Bartlett is scheduled make a presentation to the Watertown City Council tonight, outlining the town’s plan to divert sewage from a main on Arsenal Street to one beneath Coffeen Street.

The city told the town last summer that it would not approve any more sewer permits for development along outer Arsenal Street until flows were diverted off of the overburdened main.

Monday night’s work session agenda also includes:

• A presentation about the city’s Local Watertown Revitalization Program draft plan.
• A proposal to increase fees for obtaining public records from the Clerk’s office.
• A proposal from a Black River man to purchase 1017 Huntington St., a vacant parcel that once housed a dilapidated apartment building until the building was razed by the city in 2003.
• A request from the North Country Goes Green Irish Parade organizers to shorten the parade route.
• And finally, an offer from FX Caprara to loan a car to the city Police Department that will be used as its DARE vehicle. Dealmaker had leased the previous DARE vehicle to the city.

Staff at the Greater Watertown – North Country Chamber of Commerce are planning for more job seekers than last year at the Job and Career Fair 2010. The fair will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St.

“We’re anticipating a larger crowd with the higher unemployment rate this year,” said Michelle A. Farrell, director of events for the chamber. “Last year, we had more than 1,300 job seekers and we’re expecting more than that this year.”

While the chamber expected fewer businesses to take part this year, about 75 businesses and educational institutions have signed on to participate, which stays on par with previous years. About 60 businesses are looking for more than 250 employees at the fair.

There have also been some late additions, including Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, the discount retailer opening in the former P&C Foods in Stateway Plaza.

CAPE VINCENT - The developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm will wait to proceed with the next step on the project until the town has passed a zoning law.

Peter E. Zedick, project developer for Acciona Wind Energy USA, told the Times earlier this week, “We’re waiting to see what happens with the town and their ordinance.”

The developer must next submit a final environmental impact statement to the Planning Board, a step near the end of the environmental review process. Acciona’s project would construct 53 turbines with a rated capacity of 79.5 megawatts in the town’s northern agricultural district.

New York Power Authority never said it would send representatives to a meeting of opponents of a possible off-shore wind project in Pulaski on Wednesday.

In a story in the Times on Saturday, James H. McGowan, a Syracuse attorney who is part of the opposition group, said NYPA had backed out of the meeting.

But NYPA staff e-mailed the Times, explaining they had never confirmed that a representative would come.

Jefferson County Legislator Barry M. Ormsby, R-Belleville, confirmed that account on Tuesday morning.

“The third or the fourth were days we were going to target,” Mr. Ormsby said.

But the meeting was to be held whether NYPA attended or not.

“We want to be fair to NYPA,” Mr. Ormsby said. “At various times, they have publicly said they are not going to place turbines where they're not wanted.”

The meeting, where the nine regional leaders organizing the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities will present opposition views to the possible off-shore development, is 7 p.m. at the H. Douglas Barclay Courthouse.

CAPE VINCENT — The developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm has released a revised list of town officials who have land contracts with the developer.

Acciona Wind Energy USA LLC, which has proposed the 53-turbine, 79.5-megawatt project, included the amount town officials or their relatives with contracts had been paid through Aug. 19, 2009.

The disclosure fulfills the requirements of the Wind Industry Ethics Code, which was introduced by state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo in July.

“What’s important to us is that the level of disclosure we’ve done as far as any potential conflict of interest is far beyond what other industries have done in New York state,” project manager Peter E. Zedick said.

“There are competing interests on every issues and we’re taking the high road in the level of disclosure we’ve given.”

Councilman Marty T. Mason has leases and power line easements from 2005 on three parcels which brought $5,000 to $20,000. Councilman Donald J. Mason has a lease for a parcel that accrued between $5,000 and $20,000 in payments for him.

Code Enforcement Officer Alan N. Wood owns multiple parcels with leases that have totaled between $5,000 and $20,000 for him and other owners. Planning Board member Karen Bourcy is related to Mr. Wood and the other owners of Wood Farm.

In Lyme, new Councilman Donald R. Bourquin has a brother with a transmission line easement, which as brought in less than $5,000.

Two members of the Board of Education at the Thousand Islands School District are also listed with relatives with leases.

Last week, the Times reported on leases disclosed by BP Alternative Energy, also in Cape Vincent. In that disclosure, BP estimated the annual lease payments to the officials or their relatives. Acciona reported what had already been paid those landowners by August 2009.

By now, you've hopefully read about the proposal by a Turin company to build a Tilted Kilt sports bar in the former Davidson Pre-Owned Auto Center on Arsenal Street.

The following is part of a letter I received from the chain’s spokesman:

The Tilted Kilt, a sports bar that pays homage to the old public houses of America, England, Scotland and Ireland. At Tilted Kilt, the entire experience follows the theme of a theatrical production. Servers are called “cast members,” wearing mini-kilts made of the Tilted Kilt's own registered tartan plaid, a starched camp shirt, sporran, stockings and flashings. When a new restaurant is hiring, the “directors” (store managers) hold a “casting call” where servers audition to be part of the “show.” They are trained to be the “star” and the act starts the minute a guests walks through the door.

The menu is a mix of traditional pub food like fish & chips and shepherds pie, but also features creations like drunken clams, meatloaf and pasta dishes. Beers from around the world are available, and as the famed Tilted Kilt slogan goes, “A Cold Beer Never Looked So Good.”

It’s not just the cast members that look good at Tilted Kilt. The architectural features at every location remind guests they are in a classy establishment. Dark mahogany wood fills the bar and the stained glass doors and wainscoting add to the charm. Combined with pool tables, dart boards and large plasma TVs, Tilted Kilt is the best place to watch sports and hang out with friends. Humorous and slightly bawdy limericks are even seen throughout the pub, creating an atmosphere that is fun and entertaining.

For female guest enjoyment, Tilted Kilt also recruits “cast members” as male bartenders who wear the Tilted Kilt uniform. All female cast members are trained to interact with women who enter the establishment – before looking at the men.

By the end of 2009, company executives expect to have 50 Tilted Kilt restaurants open across the United States. Since first starting to franchise in 2006, 100 potential Tilted Kilt franchisees were already in line to go through the qualification process, many of which were regular patrons who wanted a Tilted Kilt of their own.

A former Lowville newspaper editor/publisher and state Assembly candidate is now running for office in the most spacious county in Texas.

Anthony L. “Andy” Byrnes, who operated the weekly Adirondack Mountain Sun for more than 12 years before closing in December 2004 and moving south, is running for a seat on the four-person Commissioner’s Court in Brewster County, West Texas.

According to a recent story about Andy in the Big Bend Gazette, he is involved in a three-way Democratic primary against incumbent Kathy Killingsworth and Bill Bourbon in Precinct 2.

The story has also been reprinted in this week’s Lowville Journal and Republican by columnist John Gehrlein (who formerly wrote a column in the Mountain Sun). And, in the interest of full disclosure, I worked for said paper for nine years - beginning with its inception in October 1992 when I was essentially fresh out of college - before joining the Times staff.

Anyhow, according to the Brewster County Web site, the three other sitting commissioners are Cookie Stone, Ruben Ortega and Wacky Pallenez.

At 6,192 square miles, Brewster County is roughly the size of Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Oswego counties combined. It includes Big Bend National Park, the largest park in Texas.

However, its population of 9,331 is slightly smaller than the towns of Lowville, Croghan and New Bremen combined. The phrase “wide open spaces” comes to mind.

In 2002, Andy unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat against state Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur, for the 122nd District seat. His shoe-string campaign included television commercials shot by his wife, Rose, with their video camera.

Then, in 2004, Andy helped form the Lewis County Independence Party with current party chairman Joseph L. Baruth of Constableville.

James P. Fayle, regional director of the state’s Empire State Development Corp., will give an overview on Gov. David A. Paterson’s Small Business Initiative and the new proposed Small Business Revolving Loan Fund during an entreprenuership class Thursday evening.

The presentation will be part of the Small Business Development Center’s Entrepreneurial Training Course at Jefferson Community College, Watertown. Mr. Fayle’s presentation, which will be open to the public, will run 6 to 6:30 p.m. in Building 3-117 at JCC.

After his presentation, class will continue with Jennifer L. Huttemann-Kall from Community Bank talking about commercial banking.

CAPE VINCENT — Town officials who have signed leases with BP Wind Energy North America Inc. stand to make between $1,500 and $27,545, according to information released by BP.

The disclosure fulfills the requirements of the Wind Industry Ethics Code, which was introduced by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in July. BP has a proposal for the 140-megawatt Cape Vincent Wind Farm in the southern agricultural district of the town.

Planning Board Chairman Richard J. Edsall has a lease with BP that could be worth about $27,545 per year. His wife, Virginia, is a member of the Thousand Islands Central School District Board of Education. Her parents and brother also have leases, with a possible value of $1,500 and $16,266, respectively.

BP estimated that the lease with Councilman Marty T. Mason is worth $24,400. His parents also have a lease, with a possible value of $1,500, and his sister is Town Clerk Jeri Ann Mason.

Councilman Donald J. Mason's brother has a lease with BP, valued at $1,500.

In Lyme, new Councilman Donald R. Bourquin has two brothers with leases, with values of $8,133 and $2,633.

BP's form, available on its Web site, also includes officials from the town and village of Cape Vincent who will have no decision-making power over the project.

Congress approved a series of protections for credit card users last April that are being implemented today, Rep. Bill Owens noted in a press release.

Those protections are:

• Credit card companies are prohibited from arbitrarily increasing interest rates on existing balances.
• Companies are also forbidden to charge over-limit fees unless the cardholder elects to allow the companies to complete over-limit transactions
• Requires companies to apply payments over the minimum amount due first to the card with the highest rate of interest
• Companies are banned from charging interest on debts paid on time.
• "Gimmicks," such as setting morning times for payments or charging fees for paying by phone or Internet are banned.
• Companies that extend credit to those under 21 years of age must get the signature of a parent, guardian or someone over 21 who will take responsibility for the debt.
• Gift cards must have a 5 year life span. The practice of lowering the value of the card or charging a hidden fee for not using those cards in a reasonable period of time is eliminated.

Mr. Owens wasn't in Congress when the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act was passed, but his spokesman said Monday that the Plattsburgh Democrat would have joined all other New York congressmen in voting 'yes.' The bill passed 357-70.

Three provisions of the Act already took effect last August, including requiring credit card companies to send statements to customers 21 days before a payment due date.

Famous Labels is the newest anchor store at Salmon Run Mall.

The discount brand-name department store opened Friday in the 33,000-square-foot space by Gander Mountain and the food court.

“The location seems great as far as traffic,” said Mitchell Taylor, a regional director for the chain.

Famous Labels, Las Vegas, has 30 locations, but is adding four locations in New York, including at the Watertown mall, Syracuse, Utica and Auburn. Mr. Taylor said they continue to grow.

“It’s being in the right place at the right time,” he said. “We fill a void where needed.”

The chain specializes in buying goods at closeouts, liquidation and overstock sales, it said in a press release. Merchandise includes a full range of clothing sizes, jewelry and accessories, shoes, home goods and gifts.

Mr. Taylor said the Watertown location hired about 10 staff. The store’s telephone number is 785-3693.

NYC Fashions, an urban clothing store, also opened recently. The store is next to J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

The stores follow standard mall hours: 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

Time Warner Cable is changing the name of its news channel. News 10 Now will become Your News Now (YNN) by the end of March.

A press release from Time Warner said the same anchors, reporters, content and format will remain the same. The 24-hour news channel is available only to Time Warner customers on Channel 10 or high-definition channel 880.

The change makes sense operationally, the press release said, as many of the stories and programming the stations offer have regional or statewide interest, including the popular “Capital Tonight” political program.

“When people hear ‘YNN’ anywhere in New York, we want them to instantly recognize that it’s one of Time Warner Cable’s news channels,” said General Manager Ron Lombard.

With the ability to share timely content among six sister channels across New York over a dedicated fiber network, it’s clear that the stations should share the same brand. The new name also clears up some confusion created as News 10 Now has expanded its footprint, and the different services it provides.

Lombard said, “News 10 Now has been a great brand for us since our launch in 2003, but in a lot of ways we’ve outgrown that name. We have every confidence that our news operation will continue to build on our success, now as YNN.”

The landscape is changing at WWNY-TV 7, but the new face in the newsroom won't be unfamiliar to viewers.

John W. Moore, a guy whose voice has been broadcast over radio waves since 1980 and on television screens since 1988, had a candid sit-down with us Thursday after announcing his career move.

Mr. Moore joked that as a fresh-faced college graduate, he wanted to work as a newspaper reporter. When no jobs were available and a spot opened up in an Ogdensburg radio station, he jumped at the opportunity. The guy landed his first radio job without knowing how to turn on a microphone.

He also joked that after 30-plus years in the news business, he gets noticed from time to time in the grocery store or at the mall. The only issue is that people address him as “Jay” as in Jay Donovan, a similarly mustachioed weatherman that had most recently worked with Mr. Moore at WWTI My ABC 50.

While Mr. Moore has the experience to anchor, it sounds like he will be thrown into the rotation with the other reporters. Jeff Nelson will begin anchoring the night news once Alexandria Field leaves for Albany at the end of the month.

WWNY's vice president and general manager Cathy M. Pircsuk said she will gladly accept the institutional knowledge of the north country Mr. Moore is bringing with him. He's also one less person the staff will need to train to operate a camera.

“What we really have become is a training facility for (Syracuse University) students,” she said. “We take students out of college. It's what we do, and we generally have them for two to three years and by the time they learn how to edit, produce, shoot and in some cases anchor, they're snapped up by larger markets in short order.”

DEXTER — Lions Pride, an organization for people living within the General Brown Central School District, is encouraging district taxpayers and others in the community to show the Board of Education whether they support an individual they nicknamed “V.”

Although the name isn't mentioned on the group's Web site, some residents who attended recent Board of Education meetings with fliers representing anti-“V” signs said they are in opposition to District Superintendent Stephan J. Vigliotti Sr.

The Web site gives people the option of clicking on two links which each provide a graphic for people to print out, showing they are for or against the renewal of his contract.

A couple of anti-“V” signs were displayed outside of the General Brown room in the hallway of the Junior-Senior High School, 17643 Cemetery Rd., during Monday's 6 p.m. Board of Education meeting. Administrators and board members later removed them.

City Hall is beginning to feel like a pressure cooker, a culmination of substantial events that will take place in the next month that will change the shape and look of one of the city’s largest departments.

We’ll go through these events chronologically:

April 10: As announced Monday night, Chief Milton M. Sayre will hang up the white hat for good, more than eight months after he had originally planned to retire from the post. This move will leave the fire department without a chief or deputy chief meaning the city will likely need to appoint one of five battalion chiefs to lead the 80 member department.

April 19: The city manager is scheduled to release the proposed 2010-2011 budget. While revenues have dipped and expenses continue to climb, City Council members have publically questioned whether the chief and deputy chief positions should be combined. While Mr. Sayre had defended the need for both positions, he will be out of the picture during budget discussions.

April 20: The city’s Civil Service Commission is scheduled to meet. On the agenda will be the test results of the civil service exam given in January for the chief and deputy chief positions. While the commission can schedule a special meeting prior to this date, it failed to do so when meeting Tuesday (March 16). Until the commission reviews the results and completes a list for the city manager to consider, the city will need to promote someone from the department to run the show.

This is a trying time for the department’s rank-and-file who will see wholesale changes in the leadership roles, assuming there are still more than one after the budget is adopted in late June. The $7.73 million department has not had a chief and deputy chief since March of last year, and the union leader Tucker Wiley has suggested it’s been longer since a proper chief has taken the reins.

Mr. Wiley has criticized the City Manager’s office for hiring former chief Dan Gaumont, who hailed from Ipswich, Mass., and instead has pushed to have one of its own promoted to fill both positions instead of hiring someone from out of the area.

Flooded basements and severed service are nothing new for residents along Flower Avenue East. Water Superintendent Gary Pilon has included a history of water main breaks in the City Council’s agenda:

• May 2, 2003: Flower Avenue East at Nellis Street – Crew arrived at 7:45 a.m., Water Department dispatched at 8:15 a.m. Nine to 10 basements flooded due to water backing up through the floor drains. Basements pumped. Replaced 6 feet of pipe.
• Feb. 25, 2003: Break in front of 307 Flower Ave. E. reported at 4:30 p.m. Water Department arrived at 5:00 p.m. Service shut off at 7:30 p.m. No cellars reported flooded. Frost reported on the ground.
• July 23, 2004: Break in front of 361 Flower Ave. E. Leak reported at 5:00 a.m. and crew arrived 5:30 a.m. Service shut off by 5:50 a.m. Two basements had water in them that drained out when the main was shut. Pipe split 58 inches lengthwise.
• July 3, 2006: Break reported at 6 a.m. in front of 327 Flower Ave. E. Crew arrived at 6:45 a.m., and water was shut off by 7:30 a.m. Uncounted number of basements pumped by the fire department. Pipe split 6 inches lengthwise.
• The most recent incident occurred March 5 in front of 331 Flower Ave. E. The leak was first reported at 6:51 a.m. The Water Department was on the scene at 8 a.m. Service shut off by 8:15 a.m. Fire department pumped water from 19 basements. Three foot section of pipe was “blown out.” Service replaced by mid afternoon.

City officials will continue to force the town of Watertown to divert is sewage flows from Arsenal Street to Coffeen Street, even though there are compelling arguments that this issue is solely that of the city.

City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said last week that a proposed Celtic themed bar/restaurant has already received the go-ahead from the city to open, even though there is a ban on further sewage flows being introduced to the Arsenal Street sewage main.

The city is also reviewing the sewage permit for a Japanese steakhouse. While both businesses shouldn't be as taxing to the city's infrastructure as say a hotel, restaurants certainly produce more dirty water than a typical retail store or car dealership.

The city told the town last summer that it will no longer approve permits for further development along Route 3 until the sewage is diverted off the overburdened main and on to a main beneath Coffeen Street. Since the town must apply for sewage permits from the city each time a new store opens in the municipality, the city can essentially block any development be proposed along Route 3.

The city manager said that while a choke point exists in the sewage main nearly Friendly's restaurant, the remaining section of main east of that area, however, can accept more flows.

On a side note, it's certainly inconvenient for the city that the state Department of Transportation spent in the neighborhood of $34 million to rebuild the Route 3 bridge and a roughly mile-long section of road in the town of Watertown to help direct traffic that envelops the area during business hours, especially when the state maintains Arsenal Street, from I-81 to Massey Street. Expanding that project another football field, or so, to the west would have allowed crews to fix that choke point and fix the city's sewage problems.

Town Supervisor Joel R. Bartlett, also told the council in a meeting earlier this week that the municipality has within the last year upgraded a sewage pump station along Route 3, just west of I-81. That station, he said, was a large source of groundwater infiltration that contributed to the town's flows.

With city Engineer Kurt W. Hauk in the room and offering little in the way of protest, Mr. Bartlett defended the town, saying the municipality has cut its daily sewage flow in half as a result of the project.

So where does this leave any developer proposing to build along Route 3? They're going to have to wait at least four months for the town to install a main and pump station through Salmon Run Mall's property to Coffeen Street. Any existing businesses along Route 3, you'll be getting a larger sewage bill in the decade or so. The roughly $1.4 million diversion project will be billed to property owners in Sewer District 2, which runs along Route 3 towards the town of Hounsfield.

Town of Watertown Supervisor Joel R. Bartlett is scheduled make a presentation to the Watertown City Council tonight, outlining the town’s plan to divert sewage from a main on Arsenal Street to one beneath Coffeen Street.

The city told the town last summer that it would not approve any more sewer permits for development along outer Arsenal Street until flows were diverted off of the overburdened main.

Monday night’s work session agenda also includes:

• A presentation about the city’s Local Watertown Revitalization Program draft plan.
• A proposal to increase fees for obtaining public records from the Clerk’s office.
• A proposal from a Black River man to purchase 1017 Huntington St., a vacant parcel that once housed a dilapidated apartment building until the building was razed by the city in 2003.
• A request from the North Country Goes Green Irish Parade organizers to shorten the parade route.
• And finally, an offer from FX Caprara to loan a car to the city Police Department that will be used as its DARE vehicle. Dealmaker had leased the previous DARE vehicle to the city.

By now, you've hopefully read about the proposal by a Turin company to build a Tilted Kilt sports bar in the former Davidson Pre-Owned Auto Center on Arsenal Street.

The following is part of a letter I received from the chain’s spokesman:

The Tilted Kilt, a sports bar that pays homage to the old public houses of America, England, Scotland and Ireland. At Tilted Kilt, the entire experience follows the theme of a theatrical production. Servers are called “cast members,” wearing mini-kilts made of the Tilted Kilt's own registered tartan plaid, a starched camp shirt, sporran, stockings and flashings. When a new restaurant is hiring, the “directors” (store managers) hold a “casting call” where servers audition to be part of the “show.” They are trained to be the “star” and the act starts the minute a guests walks through the door.

The menu is a mix of traditional pub food like fish & chips and shepherds pie, but also features creations like drunken clams, meatloaf and pasta dishes. Beers from around the world are available, and as the famed Tilted Kilt slogan goes, “A Cold Beer Never Looked So Good.”

It’s not just the cast members that look good at Tilted Kilt. The architectural features at every location remind guests they are in a classy establishment. Dark mahogany wood fills the bar and the stained glass doors and wainscoting add to the charm. Combined with pool tables, dart boards and large plasma TVs, Tilted Kilt is the best place to watch sports and hang out with friends. Humorous and slightly bawdy limericks are even seen throughout the pub, creating an atmosphere that is fun and entertaining.

For female guest enjoyment, Tilted Kilt also recruits “cast members” as male bartenders who wear the Tilted Kilt uniform. All female cast members are trained to interact with women who enter the establishment – before looking at the men.

By the end of 2009, company executives expect to have 50 Tilted Kilt restaurants open across the United States. Since first starting to franchise in 2006, 100 potential Tilted Kilt franchisees were already in line to go through the qualification process, many of which were regular patrons who wanted a Tilted Kilt of their own.

The landscape is changing at WWNY-TV 7, but the new face in the newsroom won't be unfamiliar to viewers.

John W. Moore, a guy whose voice has been broadcast over radio waves since 1980 and on television screens since 1988, had a candid sit-down with us Thursday after announcing his career move.

Mr. Moore joked that as a fresh-faced college graduate, he wanted to work as a newspaper reporter. When no jobs were available and a spot opened up in an Ogdensburg radio station, he jumped at the opportunity. The guy landed his first radio job without knowing how to turn on a microphone.

He also joked that after 30-plus years in the news business, he gets noticed from time to time in the grocery store or at the mall. The only issue is that people address him as “Jay” as in Jay Donovan, a similarly mustachioed weatherman that had most recently worked with Mr. Moore at WWTI My ABC 50.

While Mr. Moore has the experience to anchor, it sounds like he will be thrown into the rotation with the other reporters. Jeff Nelson will begin anchoring the night news once Alexandria Field leaves for Albany at the end of the month.

WWNY's vice president and general manager Cathy M. Pircsuk said she will gladly accept the institutional knowledge of the north country Mr. Moore is bringing with him. He's also one less person the staff will need to train to operate a camera.

“What we really have become is a training facility for (Syracuse University) students,” she said. “We take students out of college. It's what we do, and we generally have them for two to three years and by the time they learn how to edit, produce, shoot and in some cases anchor, they're snapped up by larger markets in short order.”

What adds flavor to pork and is also used to clear road of slush and other winter detritus?

Salt, and it appears the city is spending a lot less on it this year compared to last.

Public Works Superintendent Eugene Hayes will provide the City Council with an update tonight on the city's salt usage this winter.

Here is a comparison of what the city is facing to date this winter compared to last season:

While a memo from Mr. Hayes to the City Council, included in tonight's work session agenda, doesn't specifically address the amount of salt the city has used to clear roads this winter, it does state: “To answer the questions of why we have used as much salt as we have, it is because of the number and frequency of minor/nuisance events (less than 2 inches) experienced…It requires the same amount of de-icers to address a one or two-inch snowfall as it does a 10-inch snowfall.”

When signing a contract with a salt provider, the city must also agree to purchase a minimum amount of material. In the past few years, that has equated to about 2,000 pounds of salt.

Look in the Times this week for an in-depth look at the weather and how it is affecting Public Work departments.

So what’s going on with the city’s Planning Department? Two of its four members have left since Dec. 1 and its uncertain if either of them will be replaced anytime soon.

City Manager Mary M. Corriveau certainly isn’t letting on to whether new hires are in the department’s future. The last time we spoke about the subject, she simply said that City Planner Jackie Longton’s resignation hasn’t become effective yet and until then, she won’t publically discuss the department’s future.

“Well, we have a lot of vacancies in a lot of departments,” said the city manager when asked about her plans to fill the two vacancies.

Touché Mary. But not every department has lost 50 percent of its employees in such a short timeframe.

Mrs. Corriveau did let on that she will meet with the department’s members to discuss how responsibilities will be doled out in the future.

Ms. Longton – who worked on grant applications to find funding for the city’s brownfields - announced last week that she is leaving the city to move to Washington, D.C. She said the decision is purely a career move. Her resignation is effective Friday.

In November, Christine Hoffman left to spend more time with her family. She was the city’s downtown development specialist until the position was eliminated in July 2008 and her title was changed to city planner. She was essentially fired and rehired under a new title in a pair of resolutions passed swiftly by the City Council. Her resignation was effective Nov. 30.

Left standing is City Planner Mike Lumbis and City Planning and Community Development Coordinator Ken Mix.

We’ll keep a close eye on what happens to the Planning Department in the upcoming months. Budget discussions begin this spring and with the city’s cash-strapped future, it will be interesting to see what the council decides to do with the department.

Stay tuned.

Money will be the big topic tonight during the City Council’s work session – money needed to invest in aging infrastructure, money needed to further spur proposed development and money to keep the city’s fund balance in the black for the upcoming years.

Money, it seems, is something the city will not have enough of in the upcoming five years without raising taxes substantially. That is, unless major spending cuts are made.

The City Council will discuss its five-year capital plan beginning at 7 p.m. tonight. Major projects – such as rebuilding Breen Avenue and J.B. Wise parking lot and improving sewage infrastructure along Gaffney Drive – are all expected to be on the table. If the city does not have the capital funds to invest in all of the projects, which will make the list this year and which will be delayed?

City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said she will also update the council on the research being done for the Gaffney Drive sewer upgrades. This will be the first time the council gets a look at what it will take to upgrade its underground infrastructure that will allow at least two hotels and a restaurant to be built at Gaffney and Commerce Park drives. If the city does not upgrade its Gaffney Drive pump station and install a larger sewage main along the road, the hotels are dead in the water.

The city manager released a five-year budget outlook last summer that almost exemplifies the end of the Mayan’s 2012 calendar. The budget predicts minimum tax levy increases of 8 percent for the next five years. It also essentially sacks major projects, such as building Western Boulevard, delaying them past the 2013-14 budget.

The five-year outlook estimates the city's fund balance - the account it keeps as a rainy day fund - will be depleted by 2013-14, and the city will have a $2.4 million deficit.

So the basic question lawmakers will need to ask themselves is: Where’s the money coming from?

Besides some resistance from neighbors and an admission from at least one planning board member that the use doesn’t fit area, CowlCo Alloy & Metal Recycling Inc., may have at least one other stumbling block to hurdle before it fires up the furnace for its proposed smelting operation.

If the project is financed through a bank, the lender may want to know the property at 301 Pearl St. is clean, literally.

I’m being told by a City Hall staffer that the property is on the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s brownfields list and that, generally, banks may mandate that a type-2 environmental study is done prior to financing being approved for the project.

Now digging holes around the building and parking lot wouldn’t normally be a problem, but this facility is being proposed on a 14-acre lot, some of which consists of cliffs overlooking the Black River. The site formerly housed a Black Clawson foundry. As history and proximity shows, Black Clawson has a history of not taking care of its properties. A city-owned site across the street from 301 Pearl St. is currently being cleaned by the city. That cleanup was first proposed in 1999 and is scheduled to be complete this summer. That project’s cost was in the neighborhood of $600,000.

So time, and money, will tell if this project takes off. The Planning Board recommended Tuesday that the City Council approve a special-use permit for the project. The City Council will need to schedule a public hearing at its next regular meeting, Jan. 19, and could vote in the permit as early as Feb. 1.

Residents from Hammond through Jefferson County have been targets for a wind power survey.

The Times first got calls about the phone survey a few weeks ago. Those who had caller identification had a number which pointed to Marketlink, Des Moines, Iowa. But Marketlink officials have no knowledge of the survey, they told me. The calls ask residents about their attitudes towards wind power development in the region, tax breaks for wind power projects, and the direction of government involvement with wind power development.

The survey didn’t ask about specific politicians or policies. I asked regional political officials, wind developers, opponents, even the New York Power Authority about the survey, all to no avail. I’m stumped – do you have any more clues that could help solve the mystery?

The annual external audit raised a few issues for the Watertown Local Development Corp., a.k.a. Trust.

Some of them are just a function of the Trust having two employees. For example, the preparation of financial statements is done by Chief Executive Officer Donald W. Rutherford and Executive Assistant and Chief Financial Officer Kim S. Taylor.

The board of directors acted Thursday morning to take Ms. Taylor off the list of check signers.

“There is little segregation of duties,” said Lori Podvin, of Paulsen and Podvin, which did the audit. “She shouldn’t be a check-signer because she prepares the financial statements.”

Trust policy requires two signatures on checks. Mr. Rutherford and one of the four officers on the board can sign the checks now.

“What about credit cards?” asked board member James P. Fayle. “The purpose of dual checks is having oversight. We’re only looking at it after the fact.”

Mr. Rutherford said, “It’s reflecting in the expense side of the monthly statement. We try to stay within the budgeted expense side.”

Other members joined Mr. Fayle in asking if two signatures were necessary.

“I’m more comfortable with having two signers,” Mr. Rutherford said. “Usually it’s with 6, 7, 15 or 20 other checks that also need signatures.”

They also must add three items to the Web site, under the Public Authorities Accountability Act, including the internal control policy, internal control assessment from 2009 and procurement policy. Two were added under a motion by the board on Thursday. The governance committee will meet to work on a procurement policy.

OSWEGO — Oswego County legislators followed the lead of Jefferson County legislators in opposing an offshore wind possibility for eastern Lake Ontario.

Oswego County legislators voted 20-4 to support a resolution asking for the project, forwarded by the New York Power Authority, to not come to waters near Oswego County, said Shawn P. Doyle, a member of the Oswego County Board of Legislators representing Pulaski and co-chair of the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities.

The legislators met for four hours on Thursday afternoon. (To be clear - the Times wasn't there.)

NYPA has asked for developers to submit proposals for up to 166 turbines to be placed in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. The proposals are due June 1.

Those who support the project from SUNY-College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Syracuse, SUNY Oswego and local labor unions spoke in favor of the project. Those who believe the project would result in poor fishing and tourism, hurting economic development, spoke against the project.

Mr. Doyle said it was a party-line vote, with the four Democrats asking to table the resolution until the project could be studied further. One Republican was absent.

“The bottom line is Oswego County and Jefferson County have done the same thing,” he said. “We've united and told the New York Power Authoirty they can go somewhere else.”

The town Planning Board will listen to a presentation by St. Lawrence Wind Farm’s consultants on its noise analysis, Hessler Associates Inc., Haymarket, Va.

The presentation will take place after its regular meeting at 7 p.m. April 14 at the Cape Vincent Recreation Park, James Street.

“We recognize potential impacts from sound emitted from the proposed project have been a primary concern of the Planning Board and the community,” wrote project manager Peter E. Zedick in a Feb. 25 letter requesting the presentation. “Assessing sound impacts from wind turbines can be a difficult task given some variability of opinion.”

Members of the Town Council, Planning Board and Wind Committee agreed on Feb. 6 that a zoning law should allow turbines to raise the ambient noise level by 8 decibels. The perception-based standard of 6 decibels above ambient has been supported by local groups who want protective zoning law and some outside experts.

Hessler conducted the noise study for the supplemental draft environmental impact statement for Acciona’s 54-turbine project. In the Acciona study, Hessler found an average of 44 decibels during the summer and 37 decibels during the winter when the wind is blowing.

The Wind Power Ethics Group paid for a separate study of noise in the area, done by Paul D. Schomer of Schomer & Associates Inc., Champaign, Ill. Mr. Schomer found the noise levels averaged at 30 decibels, with the quietest nighttime hours at 20 decibels and the entire night at 25 decibels.

Here are a few side notes from last night's meeting where Jefferson County legislators unanimously voted against the possibility of an offshore wind power project in waters off the county in Lake Ontario. New York Power Authority is seeking proposals from developers to site up to 500 megawatts of wind turbines in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

Public Outbursts

The crowd of about 60 people at the Jefferson County legislature meeting were mostly respectful during the hour that Richard M. Kessel, president and chief executive officer of New York Power Authority, explained the proposal for 40-166 turbines.

But they got restless when Mr. Kessel said the turbines anchored in the lakebed could serve as a positive for fishing – improving the spawning as they act as reefs. He said that's been the experience in Europe.

Legislator Barry M. Ormsby, R-Belleville, said aesthetics is an important issue for the region.

“Apart from agriculture, we survive on tourism, tourism and tourism,” he said.

Mr. Kessel responded, “This would be a huge tourist attraction.”

That ignited laughs and boos from the crowd.

After the 14-0 vote by the legislature to oppose the project, the crowd erupted in applause.

Young Opposition

Those opposing the offshore wind power proposal from the New York Power Authority included some young people.

Jacob Cornell, a seventh-grader from Sandy Creek Central School District, attended the Jefferson County legislature meeting on Tuesday night. He brought with him a petition against the possibility of turbines in eastern Lake Ontario, signed by 36, or about half, of those in his grade.

“Something inside me told me it's wrong, it's not for the environment,” he said.

What's Next

The Oswego County Board of Legislators will entertain a similar resolution during its meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday on the fourth floor of the county office building, 46 E. Bridge St., Oswego.

Unlike the past few meetings at the Jefferson County Board of Legislators, there will be no overflow on the first floor or Department of Motor Vehicles. So members of the public who want to hear Richard M. Kessel, president and chief executive officer of the New York Power Authority, will need to come early.

The doors to the chamber will remain open to allow for some overflow.

“It will be a little bit different this time around,” County Administrator Robert F. Hagemann III said.

Mr. Kessel will talk to the legislators about NYPA’s Great Lakes Offshore Wind Project, which could lead to up to 500 megawatts of wind turbines being built in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

In December, NYPA asked developers to submit proposals for the project by June 1. NYPA will buy the power from the turbines through a power purchase agreement. Of 10 favorable sites in Lake Ontario, one site spreads from Galloo Island north to Grenadier Island and another stretches from Galloo Island south along the eastern shore in Oswego County.

Legislators in Jefferson and Oswego counties have formed the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities to oppose the project. Both legislatures also have resolutions opposing the project up for a vote this week.

Mr. Kessel’s discussion with legislators will be at 7 p.m. tonight at the Jefferson County legislature’s chambers on the second floor of the Historic County Courthouse, 195 Arsenal St.

“There will be no presentation in the formal sense,” Mr. Hagemann said. “There will not be dialog back and forth between Mr. Kessel and the public.”

Staff at the Greater Watertown – North Country Chamber of Commerce are planning for more job seekers than last year at the Job and Career Fair 2010. The fair will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St.

“We’re anticipating a larger crowd with the higher unemployment rate this year,” said Michelle A. Farrell, director of events for the chamber. “Last year, we had more than 1,300 job seekers and we’re expecting more than that this year.”

While the chamber expected fewer businesses to take part this year, about 75 businesses and educational institutions have signed on to participate, which stays on par with previous years. About 60 businesses are looking for more than 250 employees at the fair.

There have also been some late additions, including Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, the discount retailer opening in the former P&C Foods in Stateway Plaza.

CAPE VINCENT - The developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm will wait to proceed with the next step on the project until the town has passed a zoning law.

Peter E. Zedick, project developer for Acciona Wind Energy USA, told the Times earlier this week, “We’re waiting to see what happens with the town and their ordinance.”

The developer must next submit a final environmental impact statement to the Planning Board, a step near the end of the environmental review process. Acciona’s project would construct 53 turbines with a rated capacity of 79.5 megawatts in the town’s northern agricultural district.

New York Power Authority never said it would send representatives to a meeting of opponents of a possible off-shore wind project in Pulaski on Wednesday.

In a story in the Times on Saturday, James H. McGowan, a Syracuse attorney who is part of the opposition group, said NYPA had backed out of the meeting.

But NYPA staff e-mailed the Times, explaining they had never confirmed that a representative would come.

Jefferson County Legislator Barry M. Ormsby, R-Belleville, confirmed that account on Tuesday morning.

“The third or the fourth were days we were going to target,” Mr. Ormsby said.

But the meeting was to be held whether NYPA attended or not.

“We want to be fair to NYPA,” Mr. Ormsby said. “At various times, they have publicly said they are not going to place turbines where they're not wanted.”

The meeting, where the nine regional leaders organizing the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities will present opposition views to the possible off-shore development, is 7 p.m. at the H. Douglas Barclay Courthouse.

CAPE VINCENT — The developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm has released a revised list of town officials who have land contracts with the developer.

Acciona Wind Energy USA LLC, which has proposed the 53-turbine, 79.5-megawatt project, included the amount town officials or their relatives with contracts had been paid through Aug. 19, 2009.

The disclosure fulfills the requirements of the Wind Industry Ethics Code, which was introduced by state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo in July.

“What’s important to us is that the level of disclosure we’ve done as far as any potential conflict of interest is far beyond what other industries have done in New York state,” project manager Peter E. Zedick said.

“There are competing interests on every issues and we’re taking the high road in the level of disclosure we’ve given.”

Councilman Marty T. Mason has leases and power line easements from 2005 on three parcels which brought $5,000 to $20,000. Councilman Donald J. Mason has a lease for a parcel that accrued between $5,000 and $20,000 in payments for him.

Code Enforcement Officer Alan N. Wood owns multiple parcels with leases that have totaled between $5,000 and $20,000 for him and other owners. Planning Board member Karen Bourcy is related to Mr. Wood and the other owners of Wood Farm.

In Lyme, new Councilman Donald R. Bourquin has a brother with a transmission line easement, which as brought in less than $5,000.

Two members of the Board of Education at the Thousand Islands School District are also listed with relatives with leases.

Last week, the Times reported on leases disclosed by BP Alternative Energy, also in Cape Vincent. In that disclosure, BP estimated the annual lease payments to the officials or their relatives. Acciona reported what had already been paid those landowners by August 2009.

North country schools would receive a combined $16.98 million less in 2010-11 than they did this academic year under Gov. David A. Paterson's proposed budget.

The average 4.5 percent cut could force boards of education to exhaust reserves or consider cuts to core programs, said Jack J. Boak Jr., superintendent of the Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

“Superintendents and school boards will likely be looking at things that aren't mandated by law: elective course offerings, athletics and musical programs,” he said. “I'm sure they'll try to preserve the core academics. But in some cases, that may not even be possible.”

Mr. Boak was also disheartened by the Mr. Paterson's plan to reduce universal pre-kindergarten program aid, to use federal stimulus funds to offset aid reductions and to eliminate funding for teacher centers, such as the Jefferson-Lewis Teacher Center.

“School districts will be very lucky if they can maintain the status quo, and that will be almost impossible for some districts,” he said.

Mr. Paterson also proposed cutting $95 million to SUNY senior colleges and an additional $57 million to the state's community colleges during the next fiscal year.

SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton officials did not have exact figures Tuesday on how the governor's proposal would impact their campuses, except to say that cuts appear to be in line with what they had anticipated.

“It's as bleak as we thought,” said Deborah L. Dudley, Potsdam's spokeswoman. College officials estimated that they will lose a little less than $1 million from the state under the governor's budget, in addition to last year's cuts. The school recently released a “worst case scenario” list of 59 full-time equivalent positions that it may have to eliminate this year, in order to make up for a $7.5 million budget shortfall.

SUNY Canton officials say that the campus is likely to lose about $450,000 from the latest cuts in state contributions, and will have about $3 million less to work with as it puts together its 2010-11 budget. The college has cut costs and dipped into savings to make up for the loss of revenue, but an increasing number of students have helped buoy the budget with extra tuition dollars.

“I don't think there's ever a good time for cuts, but we're fortunate that we've prepared for them and this does come at a time when our record enrollments will help us manage the transition,” said Randy B. Sieminski, Canton's spokesman.

There was a potential bright spot, college officials said: Mr. Paterson's proposal to allow SUNY to raise tuition without legislative approval. The reform could provide more financial flexibility, they said, and offset some of the pain from slashing budgets.

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, said she did not agree with Mr. Paterson's plan to give SUNY an “unchecked ability to increase their tuition.”

“The authority partially needs to stay with the Legislature,” she said. “I don't want to get into a situation where our average family in New York can't send their child to the college around the corner.”

Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, said he had not seen enough details on the tuition proposal to offer his opinion. But he said it was “not fair” to the students if the Legislature went five to 10 years without increasing tuition, only to increase it by upwards of 50 percent.

Both legislators cheered Mr. Paterson's proposal for a four-year moratorium on creating new unfunded mandates for local school districts.

“That was the one shining point in the governor's proposal,” said Mrs. Russell.

Mandate relief, Mr. Aubertine, would help mitigate the negative impact of any cut that is enacted when the Legislature approves the budget this spring.

“Most of the school districts were bracing for this kind of news,” said Mr. Aubertine of the proposed cuts. “But one of the reasons that I and other legislators lobbied not to have mid-year cuts was so fund balances would not be depleted this year and so that they could start at the beginning of the budget cycle.”

In total, Mr. Paterson's $134 billion proposal addresses a $7.4 billion deficit. It increases spending by 0.6 percent. The Legislature traditionally adds 1 percent to 2 percent to the state budget before enacting it.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The following is the 2010-11 school aid proposed by Gov. David A. Paterson for the 34 school districts in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties and the percentage change from this fiscal year:

Jefferson County

• Alexandria: $3,724,338, down 9.07 percent
• Belleville-Henderson: $3,428,701, down 9.47 percent
• Carthage: $28,640,773, down 4.63 percent
• General Brown: $10,689,660, down 9.53 percent
• Indian River: $38,273,780, down 0.64 percent
• LaFargeville: $1,075,669, down 2.06 percent
• Lyme: $2,557,697, down 11.39 percent
• Sackets Harbor: $2,839,469, down 10.67 percent
• South Jefferson: $17,584,243, down 8.14 percent
• Thousand Islands: $6,638,203, down 10.29 percent
• Watertown: $33,831,819, down 3.13 percent

Lewis County

• Beaver River: $8,004,251, down 3.85 percent
• Copenhagen: $5,910,917, down 3.62 percent
• Harrisville: $4,388,195, down 5.02 percent
• Lowville: $12,967,536, down 5.16 percent
• South Lewis: $12,058,123, down 5.10 percent

St. Lawrence County

• Brasher Falls: $11,474,733, down 4.78 percent
• Canton: $13,213,139, down 7.18 percent
• Clifton-Fine: $3,845,979, down 7.58 percent
• Colton-Pierrepont: $1,953,393, down 12.27 percent
• Edwards-Knox: $8,744,961, down 0.10 percent
• Gouverneur: $21,360,112, down 3.15 percent
• Hammond: $2,944,284, down 8.80 percent
• Hermon-DeKalb: $5,188,618, down 3.99 percent
• Lisbon: $6,103,509, down 4.30 percent
• Madrid-Waddington: $7,430,066, down 4.81 percent
• Massena: $21,486,940, down 3.44 percent
• Morristown: $4,578,987, down 4.41 percent
• Norwood-Norfolk: $11,450,519, down 1.59 percent
• Ogdensburg: $20,105,184, down 2.12 percent
• Heuvelton: $7,109,752, down 0.82 percent
• Parishville: $5,149,506, down 4.81 percent
• Potsdam: $11,285,981, down 9.80 percent

Local school groups have gotten together in the spirit of giving this holiday season to raise money and donate gifts to Toys for Tots for children who won't receive gifts for Christmas.

Sackets Harbor first-graders took a shopping trip to Kmart Monday where they spent the $285 they raised in a bake sale to buy gifts for kids who may not otherwise get anything for Christmas.

In spite of these efforts, there has been a marked decrease in donations to Toys for Tots since last year, Jefferson County Toys for Tots coordinator Ernest D. Ross said. At the same time, the number of Jefferson County kids Toys for Tots is collecting for this year has nearly doubled.

“Donations are way down,” Mr. Ross said. “There are places where we were collecting three overflowing donation boxes last year. This year, we're lucky if we get one from those same places.”

He is collecting toys for about 3,000 kids this year, compared to 1,784 last year.

If you want to make a monetary donation to Toys for Tots in Jefferson County, make checks payable to Toys for Tots, and send them to Mr. Ross at P.O. Box 114, Depauville, NY. 13632. If you wish to donate toys, contact Mr. Ross by e-mail at edross22000@yahoo.com to make arrangements for a toy pick up. Toys will be distributed before Christmas.

In my six weeks of reporting on education for the Times, I can say this for sure: Rachel’s Challenge has caught on like wildfire in north country schools.

I went to see Darrell Scott, the founder of Rachel’s Challenge, speak at Jefferson Community College last month. Mr. Scott is the father of Rachel Scott, who was the first student killed in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Rachel’s Challenge is a presentation based on ideals found in Miss Scott’s writings after her death. They include increasing acceptance of others and doing small acts of kindness.

I’ve gotten numerous phone calls, faxes and e-mails about schools hosting the challenge, and how great their experiences have been. Sackets Harbor Central School even modified their character education program to reflect the ideals of Rachel’s Challenge.

Some of the local school administrators I’ve talked to said they saw a change in the school halls after they’ve hosted Rachel’s Challenge — people were just being nicer to each other in the halls, cafeteria and classrooms.

So my question is, are our local schools onto something here? Should we devote more time to character and community-building activities and presentations, even if it means a little less time for instruction? Give me your thoughts.

Have an education story idea? E-mail me.

Where Jefferson Community College sees more students in a modern campus, Jefferson County legislators see a 1.5 percent increase on the property tax levy.

Looking beyond the $4 million the county already set aside and the college wants to spend on necessary maintenance, JCC’s President Carole A. McCoy showed legislators last week a plan of the top projects from JCC’s facilities master plan at the Finance and Rules Committee meeting. (The legislature approved the plan, sans figures for the county, in 2008.)

The estimates for the top projects now stand at $12.5 million for the new Collaborative Learning Center, $1.3 million for the renovation of the Dewey Library as classrooms and offices and about $4.5 million in maintenance, including central air and heating renovations in several buildings.

Finance and Rules Committee Chairman Scott A. Gray pointedly reminded fellow lawmakers Tuesday night that the first two items would total nearly $14 million. And if the county funded half of those projects, it would pay $700,000 in debt service every year, which is about 1.5 percent of the county’s property tax levy.

The quandary is that community colleges have inverse relationships with the economy as a whole, meaning when times are good for the country, students go to pricier four-year institutions. When times are tough, students – both those right out of high school and those who have left other jobs or been laid off – go to community college.

But the state and counties and other institutions that support community colleges don’t necessarily have the cash to keep pace with the growth.

The full Board of Legislators will discuss the maintenance package during its meeting Tuesday night. What should the board be willing to commit to the college for expanding its classroom space?

Tonight, Jefferson Community College, Watertown, is putting figures to capital projects that will start work according to the facilities master plan.

The County Legislature approved the updated facilities master plan in 2008 and put about $3.8 million in the budget to cover capital costs.

According to a resolution that will be considered at tonight’s finance and rules committee meeting, JCC has asked that $2.1 million go towards renovations of the McVean Student Center, $1.4 million go towards renovations of the Dewey Library Building, $238,000 for renovations of the modular building for the interim Higher Education Center and $3,859 for a storage building upgrade.

The Legislature set aside about $3.9 million in the 2008 budget – just a start on the entire $62.7 million plan. About $40 million is eligible for state and county aid.

JCC President Carole McCoy will talk about the projects at the committee meeting, 7 p.m. in the Board of Legislators’ Chambers, 195 Arsenal St.

This video is quite possibly the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen (WARNING: It’s very graphic, which is why I’m not embedding the video in the post).

It’s a very convincing reenactment of a three-car accident that was a result of a teen driving and texting on her cell phone.

The clip is from a 30-minute video being shown to teenagers in the UK.

Do you think it could ever be shown to students in the US?

I recently spent the morning at SMC with Watertown driver’s education students. Each year the students visit the hospital for the “Let’s not meet by accident” program.

They see a presentation on how “six seconds can save your life” (the six seconds it takes to type a text), tour the ambulance bay, morgue (yes, morgue!) and see a simulated trauma where one of their classmates is strapped to a gurney. See the story here.

What do you think is the most effective way to show teenagers the danger of texting, drinking or taking part in another other distracting activities while driving?

Is taking them to the morgue too far? What about this video?

-Kelly Reynolds

With State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher passing through the north country, colleges are doing their best to impress the new boss. Today, she’s visiting Jefferson Community College in Watertown before heading to SUNY Potsdam on Wednesday through her statewide 64-campus tour.

SUNY Canton President Joseph L. Kennedy wanted to show her that his college is following a new path for higher education by concentrating on practical, high-demand degree programs, online coursework and international partnerships with developing countries.

So the first thing he did was show the chancellor this commercial.

The ad is for Kaplan University, a for-profit national online college linked to the test-prep company Kaplan Inc., which is owned by the Washington Post Company. Along with another video, it has drawn controversy for its broad critique of the traditional higher education system — and its theory about the future of our country’s colleges.

Mr. Kennedy and his staffers tweaked the spot with footage from SUNY Canton when they showed it to the chancellor. The president said that the commercial might as well have been about his institution.

“The ad is very controversial. It says that we have failed the students,” Mr. Kennedy said. “The point we wish to make is we’re not a traditional university anymore. We’re a new kind of university we hope will serve the state of New York and the world well.”

Through SUNY Canton OnLine, the has been offering a growing number of courses via the Internet since 2002. The online classes have become more and more popular, as students both here and abroad use them to catch up. Here’s a story I wrote a couple months back about SUNY Canton OL:

Just to seal the deal, Mr. Kennedy gave the new chancellor a special parting “gift” Monday. He lent her an iPod Touch loaded with photos of the SUNY Canton campus, a PowerPoint presentation about the college and the commercials he discussed with her that morning.

Mr. Kennedy has heard a lot from other college administrators lately about a comment he made off-hand at a conference: “I said, ‘I’m lucky, because I’m not bound by the traditions of traditional colleges.’”

What do you think? What will the higher education system of the future look like? Are we seeing a preview today at SUNY Canton? Where does that leave public universities that focus on liberal arts, like SUNY Potsdam? What do you think will happen to private institutions, like St. Lawrence University, Canton, or Clarkson University, Potsdam?

You can send feedback to Ms. Zimpher as she crafts her strategic plan for SUNY here.

--Alex Jacobs

ajacobs@wdt.net

What’s going on with your children’s education? Why are your school taxes going up? What programs are available to your children?

I’m Kelly Reynolds, the education reporter for the Times. In the new education blog, you’ll find answers to these questions and more.

I’ll post regular updates on programming, curriculum, board meetings, school budgets and after school activities. I’ll even give you a behind-the-scenes look into what’s going on at the schools and the new stories I’m working on.

School’s out, but that doesn’t mean I’m not working hard to bring you up to date on education trends.

I’m currently working on a story about how schools are spending their stimulus money. The Secretary of Education is pushing school officials to use the money on new, innovative programming or technology.

Are north country schools following his directive?

Submit an education news tip to kreynolds@wdt.net

It's that time of year again. No, I'm not talking cider at the Burrville Mill - although I like the way you think.

It's time again for the Jefferson County Senior Health and Information Fair. This year, it will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Watertown Muncipal Arena at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds, Coffeen Street. The event is sponsored by the Watertown Daily Times, the city of Watertown and state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine.

The fair will feature more than 60 vendors, live entertainment from both Ray Sabre & the Country Stompers and a free lunch.

"This is a great opportunity for area seniors to have a good time and learn more about what's available in the community to cater to their needs,” Mr. Aubertine said in a statement. "It's a free event and I certainly hope every senior in the area takes this opportunity to stop down, have lunch with us, listen to some live music, get a free health screening, a flu shot and more."

Here's who is expected to come:

- 911ai.com

- AARP Chapter 346

- Alcohol Substance Abuse Council

- Alzheimer's Association

- American Red Cross of Northern New York

- Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa

- Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur - ask her about NY-23!

- Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Jefferson County

- Bolton's Pharmacy

- Brayton's Therapeutic Massage & Body Works

- Carthage Area Hospital

- Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired

- Clarence Henry Coach

- Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County Inc. Nutrition and Outreach program

- Consumer Credit Counseling Service of CNY

- Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County's nutrition program

- Curves for Women

- Guilfoyle Amublance Service

- Homemakers of Western NY, Caregivers

- Hospice and Hospice Foundation of Jefferson County

- Howard Orthotic & Prosthetics

- Innovative Physical Therapy Solutions

- Ives Hill Retirement Community

- Jefferson Community College - Continuing Education and Nursing divisions

- Kinney Drugs

- Lewis County Opportunities Housing Assistance Program

- Mercy of Northern NY

- National Kidney Foundation of CNY

- Natural Serenity Reiki

- Neighbors of Watertown

- New York State EPIC

- New York Statewide Senior Action Council - North Country Chapter

- North Country Library System

- Northern Lights Chiropractic and Disk Regeneration Center

- New York State Attorney General's Office

- New York State Division of Veteran Affairs

- New York State Public Service Commission

- North Country Regional Office of Gov. David A. Paterson - say hi to Steve for me!

- PathStone

- Resolution Center of Jefferson & Lewis Counties Inc.

- Samaritan Medical Center

- Sam's Club

- Social Security Administration

- STAT Communications

- The Country Manor Nurising and Rehabilitation Center

- The Mustard Seed

- Volunteer Transportation Center

- Walgreen's

- Watertown and Northern New York Area Tremor support group

- Watertown Daily Times

- Watertown Family YMCA

- Watertown Police Department

- Watertown Urban Mission

- Wellness Connection of Lewis & Jefferson - New York State Department of Health Cancer Screening Program

- WWNY-TV 7

- C Tech

- Watertown Citi Bus

- Jefferson County Office of the Aging

- Lincare

- Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine

I'd imagine these events, much like the career and business fairs, are great for collecting schwag. Has anyone gone in previous years? Which agencies were helpful? Which were not?

The topic for this blog stems from a recent minimum $285 consultation for a pediatric orthopedic surgeon for my daughter plus the cost of an x-ray, a $120 recent visit to an obstetrician/gynecologist, a $260 visit to my daughter’s pediatrician, two prescriptions each around $30 per month, among other medical needs (we won’t go into the two crowns and other dental needs).

The cost of healthcare continues to rise, and it’s not only on my mind. Healthcare reform is a hot-button topic on the national level. The plan President Barack Obama has been discussing over the past several months aims to provide “affordable healthcare for all Americans.”

The 10-year, $630 billion plan would strive to make health coverage affordable by reducing high administrative costs, unnecessary tests and services, waste and fraud. Public health measures would increase under the plan and it would reduce increasing premiums and related costs. The plan is outlined here.

Do you think a plan such as this is actually feasible? Do you have a story of a certain physician visit or hospital procedure that you really had to dig deep in your pockets for? What needs to change? How could it work? Tell us what you think the kind of healthcare the nation needs and how this reform would or wouldn’t work.

-Rebecca Madden

Wondering what’s going on will all of the building at SMC? Have you and your friends been chatting about the swine flu outbreak? Wondering how the Girl Scouts did in their cookie sales?

The health section is where you’ll find answers to these questions and much more!

Rebecca Madden covers hospitals, health-related trends like AIDS in the north country and the nursing shortage, and all of the non-profit organizations in the north country.

E-mail Rebecca a story tip at rmadden@wdt.net

A former Lowville newspaper editor/publisher’s bid for elected office in Texas came up short last week.

As we mentioned recently on this blog, Anthony L. “Andy” Byrnes, who operated the weekly Adirondack Mountain Sun for more than 12 years before closing in December 2004 and moving south, was running for a four-year seat on the four-person Commissioner’s Court in Brewster County, West Texas.

According to story on the Big Bend Gazette’s Web site, Andy finished second in a three-way race to incumbent Kathy Killingworth. Unofficial results had the incumbent at 317 votes, followed by Andy with 162 (29.3 percent) and Bill Bourbon with 73.

Andy’s showing this time around was slightly better percentage-wise than in 2002, when he was involved in a three-way race for the 122nd Assembly District seat.

Unofficial results in that race had Assemblywoman Dierdre K. “Dede” Scozzafava with 17,343 votes, followed by Andy with 7,932 (28.6 percent) and Jefferson County Legislator Michael W. Behling, R-Adams Center, with 2,490. Mr. Behling had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava after losing a Republican primary to her, but his name remained on the ballot.

Andy did earn a moral victory in that election by garnering the most Lewis County votes.

A former Lowville newspaper editor/publisher and state Assembly candidate is now running for office in the most spacious county in Texas.

Anthony L. “Andy” Byrnes, who operated the weekly Adirondack Mountain Sun for more than 12 years before closing in December 2004 and moving south, is running for a seat on the four-person Commissioner’s Court in Brewster County, West Texas.

According to a recent story about Andy in the Big Bend Gazette, he is involved in a three-way Democratic primary against incumbent Kathy Killingsworth and Bill Bourbon in Precinct 2.

The story has also been reprinted in this week’s Lowville Journal and Republican by columnist John Gehrlein (who formerly wrote a column in the Mountain Sun). And, in the interest of full disclosure, I worked for said paper for nine years - beginning with its inception in October 1992 when I was essentially fresh out of college - before joining the Times staff.

Anyhow, according to the Brewster County Web site, the three other sitting commissioners are Cookie Stone, Ruben Ortega and Wacky Pallenez.

At 6,192 square miles, Brewster County is roughly the size of Lewis, Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Oswego counties combined. It includes Big Bend National Park, the largest park in Texas.

However, its population of 9,331 is slightly smaller than the towns of Lowville, Croghan and New Bremen combined. The phrase “wide open spaces” comes to mind.

In 2002, Andy unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat against state Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur, for the 122nd District seat. His shoe-string campaign included television commercials shot by his wife, Rose, with their video camera.

Then, in 2004, Andy helped form the Lewis County Independence Party with current party chairman Joseph L. Baruth of Constableville.

After the Lewis County Legislature’s second meeting of the year, the group still doesn’t have a vice-chairman.

In fact, the matter wasn’t even brought up at Tuesday evening’s meeting.

To recap the situation, Rick Lucas, who has served as vice-chairman for the past two years, was the choice of the eight-man Republican caucus to retain that post this year.

However, at the board’s January organizational meeting, Republicans Jerry King and Charlie Fanning joined the board’s two Democrats, John Boyd and newcomer Paul Stanford, in opposition to that nomination, choosing to support Mr. King instead.

And Pat Wallace was unable to attend the meeting since he was undergoing cancer treatments in New York City.

That meant that only five legislators supported Mr. Lucas’ appointment, while six votes are needed for passage on the 10-member board.

On Tuesday, Mr. Wallace again unable to attend the meeting, and Legislator Mike Tabolt, who voted for Mr. Lucas back in January, was out recovering from recent heart surgery.

Mr. Lucas indicated today that the vice-chairman issue wasn’t brought up primarily because of the missing board members.

So, the position — which is really only needed if the chairman is unable to oversee a meeting or perform his other duties — will stay unfilled until at least the legislators’ March 3 meeting.

And, barring a change of heart, that likely will only happen if Mr. Wallace adds his vote to the Lucas side.

Of course, six legislators could also choose to get behind a third candidate, but that obviously hasn’t happened yet. Stay tuned.

The long-waged debate over opening roads to all-terrain vehicles is a little clearer now, thanks to the town of Lyonsdale.

Article 2405, Section 1 of the state Vehicle Traffic Law says municipalities may open roads to ATVs “when in the determination of the governmental agency concerned, it is otherwise impossible for ATVs to gain access to areas or trails adjacent to the highway.”

More than a decade ago, many towns decided to open all their roads to ATVs using a broad interpretation of this statute. Many of those laws are still on the books, having lasted well beyond the six-year statute of limitations to challenge them.

However, ATV detractors began to challenge some town laws in state Supreme Court, and several have been thrown out, with judges suggesting more specific justification and research into environmental impact was needed. This region has been the hotbed for such lawsuits, with Judge Demarest in St. Lawrence County and Judge McGuire in Lewis County handling the bulk of them.

Which brings us to Judge McGuire’s recently released decision to dismiss a year-old law opening 10 miles of town of Lyonsdale roads to ATVs.

The judge ruled that the town didn’t provide enough specific justification for opening each specific road nor conduct an adequate environmental review.

This decision discusses V&T law more extensively than prior ones did. It advocates a fairly strict interpretation, suggesting towns should open the minimum length of road segments needed to get from one trail area to another and mostly refrain from road-to-road connections.

On the flip side, the judge does note that there is no specific road length specified in state law and says the town could argue that an overriding safety issue (like establishing a safe stretch of road for parking) necessitates road-to-road connections, so long as it is well documented.

To review the full, 40-page decision, click here.

On a side note, Lyonsdale Town Councilwoman Nancy O’Brien-Dailey, who brought the lawsuit against the town, successfully argued her case without the services of a lawyer.

NAUMBURG — Several fundraisers — including a dinner and auction this weekend — are being planned to help fund a Lewis County mission group's relief efforts in Haiti.

A spaghetti dinner will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday in the Naumburg Mennonite Church fellowship hall on Route 410 to benefit Son Light Missions Lacolline Inc.

The food is being provided by New York City area restaurateurs, including Haitian native Demitrus Moustakes.

The cost is a donation.

An auction will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the neighboring River Valley Mennonite School, with a preview set for 9 a.m.

Anyone willing to donate items for the auction may contact auctioneer Scott D. Zehr at 222-6796 or Paul L. Mast at 378-8498.

Businesses with no product to donate may agree to match the gross proceeds from the auction or make some other cash donation, Mr. Zehr said.

There will be no administrative charges, and all proceeds will go directly to Haiti, he said.

Further details on the auction have been posted on the Auction Zip Web site.

Lighthouse Restaurant on Utica Boulevard in Lowville is hosting a spaghetti dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. Feb. 9, with all proceeds going to Son Light Missions.

The local mission group, which operates a mission compound in the Lacolline Valley, about 85 miles west of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, has been working to send tents and food to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there earlier this month.

Mark S. Purcell, owner of Purcell Construction Corp., Watertown, has volunteered to buy tents and fly them from Florida to the impoverished island nation.

A rental truck full of food and supplies was sent from the area on Saturday, and plans are to send another truckload, Mr. Zehr said.

Food items like noodles, rice and oatmeal — “stuff that doesn't weigh a lot but makes a good meal” — are good choices for shipping, as are medical supplies, cloth diapers and baby formula, he said.

Anyone seeking more information on the supply drive effort may call Melvin A. Roes at 523-0096.

Many other north country groups are holding fundraisers to benefit the relief effort in Haiti:

• Haircuts for Haiti will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday and Feb. 7 at the Arcade Barber & Beauty Shop, 1 Public Square, Watertown. All proceeds will go to Haiti relief.
• Bottles For Haiti — An account has been set up at the ARC on State Street in Ogdensburg for can and bottle returns through Feb. 7. Recyclable collection drives will be held on Saturday and Feb. 7 in the Ogdensburg area; to schedule a pickup, send an e-mail to bottlesforhaiti@hotmail.com.
• Pennies For Port-au-Prince — Pennies or other change can be dropped off at any of the four St. Lawrence County Newspapers offices or any branch of the St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union through Friday.
• The Brass Horse Grille in Hogansburg will host a benefit fish fry luncheon starting at 11 a.m. Friday. Takeout and delivery is available by calling Ronni or Jami at 1 (518) 358-3365 or 1 (518) 358-6122. It will also hold a DJ'ed dance that night from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at a cost of $3 per person or $5 per couple.  All admission proceeds and a portion of the drink sales will go to the relief effort.
• Aubuchon Hardware is collecting baby supplies to send to God's Littlest Angels, an orphanage in Haiti. Those wishing to contribute may drop off baby supplies at any Aubuchon location or elect to have $1, $5 or $10 added to their bill.

While comprehensive plans aren't typically the most sexy story topics, the final draft of Lewis County’s countywide comprehensive plan does include one proposed action step that addresses a long-standing topic of discussion in this rural area. In the plan, consultants propose the creation of a “Brain Gain Commission” to discuss ways to stem the exodus of young people from the county. Or, as the phenomenon is more commonly known, brain drain.

Local politicos have long lamented the loss of the county’s best and brightest students to more job-heavy locales, many of them also having warmer climates and lower snowfall totals.

Ned Cole from the Lewis County Industrial Development Agency, during a recent conversation, suggested that many natives move away but eventually wish to return to be closer to relatives, raise a family, etc., and that jobs must be available for those folks, in particular.

Do you think a Brain Gain Commission (presumably consisting of volunteer board members already involved with education, economic development, workforce development, etc.) would be a useful exercise?

By the way, if you’re so inclined, you can look over the draft comprehensive plan here.

- Steve Virkler

Last week, I wrote a story story on a developer’s plans to build a Tractor Supply Co. store at Number Four and Ross roads just inside Lowville’s village limits. The Lewis County and Lowville planning boards will probably review the plans toward the end of August, and the developer hopes to turn the store over the Tennessee-based company next March.

While I’ve never actually set foot in a Tractor Supply store, I happened to talk with someone yesterday who has. And it sounds like the proposed store could offer some products not found in other area shops, plus give folks a place to buy their tractor parts, horse feed, etc. during off-hours when other places may be closed.

Plus, according to the developer, it’s supposed to create 14 to 17 new jobs, and Tractor Supply tends to support the scouts and 4-H groups in the places where it locates. And I would suspect that the village, town, county and school will collect a bit more in taxes off a brand-spanking-new store than it does on a few acres of hay.

Any thoughts?

-Steve Virkler

Welcome to the inaugural Lewis County posting on the Writer's Bloc blog.

My name is Steve Virkler, been covering Lewis County in one capacity or another for the better part of two decades. Ok, it won't officially be two decades unless I make it to the fall of 2012, but who's counting?

Anyhow, I guess that makes me somewhat of an expert on county happenings.

Through this blog, I'll attempt to provide more colorful and conversational insights into some of the issues I'm writing about in the paper... and probably some that I'm not. And, while I don't plan to ruin whatever reputation of fairness and objectivity I've gained over the years by spouting my opinions all over cyberspace, I am hoping to foster some comments, opinions and even outright debates from you, the readers.

You can e-mail me at svirkler@wdt.net.

Stay tuned!

• It's a mystery
• Trust audit
• Changes afoot for city fire department
• Flowers need water - and Flower Ave. residents have had their fair share
• Growing pains
• Oswego County opposes offshore project
• More sound in the Cape
• City may be its own problem in sewer issue
• Postscripts on vote against offshore wind
• To hear Kessel, come early
• Byrnes' bid falls short in Texas
• Watertown supervisor to pitch city on sewer plan
• Crowd Expected at Wednesday Job Fair
• St. Lawrence Wind to Wait for Zoning Law
• NYPA Never Said They'd Come
• Acciona Updates Conflicts
• More on Titled Kilt
• Former Sun editor seeking Texas-sized seat
• ESD to Explain New Programs Thursday
• Wind developer reveals paydays for Cape officials
• Consumer credit card protections go into effect today
• Famous Labels occupies former Steve & Barry's site at Watertown mall
• What’s in a name?
• More on Moore's move
• With signs, General Brown group gauging support for superintendent
• Your favorite WDT content
• Rehashing sound studies
• City spending less on salt this year
• Cape officials work the weekend to hammer out wind law
• Lewis legislature still lacks second-in-command
• Jefferson legislators brace for a crowd
• Empire State Development Corp. streamlines its Web site
• Jefferson County has few corrections after Civil Service review
• Details on Ollie’s
• Lyonsdale helps clarify decade-old debate about ATV rules
• Looking to help Haiti? Here's how.
• PBS to air debate on Galloo Island PILOT
• Your favorite WDT content
• New retailer for Stateway Plaza
• Galloo’s backers are from Wall Street, not another country
• Clarifications and re-hashings
• North country schools face 4.5 percent cut from Paterson budget
• Lyme to get back to work on wind law
• Your favorite WDT content
• Better late than never
• Two more wind farms added to state's Renewable Portfolio Standard
• Your favorite WDT content
• City manager mum on plans to replace planning staff
• Money, mon, mon, money
• Smelter may have to prove old foundry site isn't contaminated
• City Council left with more questions than answers about Otsego waste
• Oswego County group links with Golden Crescent group
• Macaluso outspoken in first City Council meeting
• Watertown mayor vocal opponent of wind deal
• Otsego County's dirty water coming to Watertown Tuesday
• Busy week for Galloo Island
• The Times' top 10 stories of 2009
• The latest on Galloo Island wind project
• Toys for Tots donations are "way down," chief says
• Watertown: Trend setter in sales
• Holding Galloo ‘til after the holidays
• Golden Crescent launches Web site
• Galloo Island hearing planned
• More on those Carl's Furniture City grocery vouchers
• Wind resistance groups get an umbrella
• Friendly's gives expansion plans to City Council
• Wind developer acknowledges Cape's conflicts of interest
• Supervisor: Sacket schools will get too much money from Galloo PILOT
• Inside the IDA on the Galloo Island PILOT
• Need an incentive to go to a Watertown Wizards game?
• Amelio Sewing and Vacuum Center expanding
• Wind law further delayed
• Another club at a familiar location
• Business notes
• A yummy arrangement
• City Council will review bus fares, eatery idea turned car shop
• Galloo Island wind farm PILOT deal
• City engineers busy with 10 projects
• Watertown mall hosts nonprofits' fundraiser Sunday
• City FD light on leadership
• Grand opening and free food
• Fort Drum soldier plans roller rink in former Hacketts
• Burns and Macaluso making history with joint Council stint
• Rules for Galloo Island PILOT hearing
• 'Blight' on agenda for city planning board
• Time pressures on Galloo Island wind project
• Higher home sales reported locally
• Who needs paper? City agenda now online
• Nickel and diming?
• Is it time for more character building in north country schools?
• Moontide Arts returns
• JCIDA faces tension between money and jobs
• Galloo Island developer hurrying to take advantage of tax credits
• Full speed ahead on Galloo Island
• More incubators?
• Urban Mission, barber shop honored as best businesses
• Shining a light on Watertown's missing bulbs
• First National Beef & Brew under new management?
• See a crow? Call it in.
• Watertown only NNY city to feel brunt of Paterson's proposed cuts
• Some in Henderson don’t ♥ wind power
• Wind support gathering speed in Clayton
• City DPW ready to pick up your leaves, branches and other debris
• More from Emerge: Regional Issues
• Emerge NNY: How to start a business
• Read Orleans' recommendations for wind turbine zoning
• Fall is store-opening season
• Finding the right price for JCC upgrades
• Now the fun begins
• To loan or not to loan
• JCC capital plan taking shape
• Martial arts and Moons over My Hammy
• Watertown built it
• Wind support mounting
• Getting fit under new management
• A slew of business openings
• 3+3 adds up for bargain hunters
• Can't miss event for seniors Wednesday
• WWTI's new look
• Sandwiches over subs
• Postscript on Cash for Clunkers
• Looking for your hidden fees
• Rod Stewart tribute band will rock out at Bonnie Castle
• What's the most effective way to show teens the dangers of distracted driving?
• Thinking pink
• Bras sought at the TI Arts Center
• Will healthcare reform also reform our wallets?
• New Business Note
• Redneck Alert!
• Question: Has the city become a nicer place to live in recent years?
• Brain Gain Commission
• Who says art belongs indoors?
• Postscript on WPBS
• TI Music Festival is worth the drive across the border
• Tractor-Sized Development
• Odds and Ends
• Two concerts - Polar opposites
• SUNY Chancellor gets to see future of education at NNY colleges
• No more construction does not mean more business
• 'The Audition' plays tonight at the Roxy in Potsdam
• Health matters
• Welcome to The Bloc
• Covering Watertown like nobody else
• Livin' La Vida Lewis
• Inside education
• Open for business