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THIS WEEK Warrensburg ......................3-4 Bolton Landing ..................5, 7 Opinion..............................6 Girl Scouts ........................10-11 Thurman............................13 Calendar............................14 Outdoors ..........................15 Classified ..........................17
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March 13, 2010
Squeezed
Happy 100th
Girl Scouts
Some jobs and sports programs may feel the squeeze of further budge cuts.
Maddie Ross of Bolton landing turned 100 years old this week.
Our area’s girl scouts do a lot for our community, and cookies too.
Page 4
Sex offender law proposed for Lake George
County leaders eyeing new job cuts as budget process resumes By Thom Randall
Law would license, restrict motels By Thom Randall thom@denpubs.com LAKE GEORGE — The town board of Lake George is considering a law that would limit the number of sex offenders that could live at once in a motel or hotel and require the business to post a public notification that such individuals were on the premises. This law, scheduled for a public hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday March 31, would require motels and hotels hosting sex offenders to apply for and obtain a license, costing $3,000 per year, from the town government. Lake George Supervisor Frank McCoy said Monday he proposed the idea locally following the actions of the towns of Queensbury and Lake Luzerne in considering such a law, particularly after it was recently discovered that as many as 14 sex offenders were living simultaneously in the Best Inn motel on Big Boom Rd. in Queensbury. That situation prompted alarm among area officials and citizens that the traveling public should be aware of a potential threat to their security and the safety of particularly single females and children. McCoy said that was why Lake George was now considering the motel/hotel licensing law. “If Queensbury and Lake Luzerne enact strict laws, we’re going to get inundated,” he said. “I propose we enact a law also — although it may end up in court someday — because I don’t want us to be the community that houses all Warren County’s sex offenders.” He said Lake George’s proposed “sex offender” law, actually a law limiting the practices of public accommodations under state land-use laws, was patterned after Queensbury’s and Lake Luzerne’s pending ordinances, which followed the legislation passed recently by the Town of Colonie. Lake George town resident and former town board member George McGowan said the Colonie law was already under attack by
Pages 10-11
Page 7
thom@denpubs.com QUEENSBURY — The Warren County Board of Supervisors began this week to take a close look at the 2011 budget, and talk has resurfaced about cutting more jobs in the county This story was first workforce. Last year, with posted on-line at the economy falter10 a.m., March 3 on ing and superviwww.Denpubs.com sors seeking to minimize county tax increases, the county leaders eliminated about 70 jobs, all but about eight abolished by attrition or axing open positions. Now, with the budget process starting for
FIRST
ON THE NET
2011, county supervisors are again looking at workforce reduction. March 3, the supervisors examined a document detailing $5 million in projected spending increases for 2011, which will likely be reduced by a $4.1 million decrease in expenses associated with the Hudson Falls trash plant operations as they wind down with the plant’s mortgage expiring and a sale of the facility anticipated. A preliminary assessment of the county’s finances shows that without any changes, county taxpayers are likely to shoulder a 2.5 percent tax increase for 2011, a percentage the supervisors are seeking to reduce to zero. In response, the county supervisors are launching a workforce efficiency study, and will be asking department heads for a full assessment of all positions in their depart-
ments and whether the posts are mandated, and how much offsetting revenue each post produces. Johnsburg Supervisor Sterling Goodspeed suggested March 3 that $1 million to $2 million be earmarked in the 2011 budget for unanticipated reductions in state reimbursements, considering the projected $8 billion shortfall in the state budget. Such a provision in the county budget would increase that projected property tax hike up by about four more percentage points. Among the expenses estimated to drive up taxes this next year are salaries and benefits of union workers, an increase of $675,000; new public works projects, $850,000; federally-sponsored Medicaid expenses, $500,000; and a newly-mandated allowance
See CUTS, page 14
Cleaning up the debris of a fallen tree due to the recent snowstorm along a Lake George roadway March 3 are Town Highway Foreman Paul Livingston (center) and crew members Jim Behrmann, Phil Goucher, Dan Winchell, and Joel O’Dell. Photo by John Lustyik
See LAW, page 14
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