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ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS/ NEW MARKET PRESS PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron

Saturday,ÊNo vemberÊ28,Ê2015

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www.SunCommunityNews.com

In FEATURES | pg. 17

Local students showcase talent Area musicians attend All State concerts

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In EVENTS | pg. 2

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Here comes Santa Sprint

In NEWS | pg. 4

No feeding wild animals

Rouses Point holiday run to take place

City of Plattsburgh updates local law

Mystery shrouds Lewis missile site

As a plan to pump toxic waste from a decommissioned Cold War site surfaces, residents are calling for answers By Pete DeMola

pete@suncommunitynews.com

LEWIS — This stretch of the Adirondack Park is a quiet place. It’s a pocket of wilderness in northern Essex County that serves as a respite of silent meditation among the pines; a place of home and community where generations have

raised their families, worked in the nearby mines and mills and practiced football in the frosty shade of the nearby mountains. It’s because of this remote location that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the federal government designated it as a nuclear missile launch site during the Cold War. The eight-acre site on Hale Hill Road, once a bulwark against nuclear armageddon, has long been praised in national media profiles as a whimsical example of atomic age chic. But those who live in its shadow are now gravely concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding a plan by its new owners to pump the water that has gathered at the bottom of the silo, treat it and discharge it into

Mighty ÊÊÊ Ê Ê Matthew

Local family stays strong as son continues battle against mito disease and CIPO

PLATTSBURGH — A two-day trip to Boston for testing turned into a 30-day trip of procedures and unexpected complications for Mighty Matthew. Matthew Cech, Plattsburgh’s 11-yearTeah old local superhero, went to Boston for Dowling testing to find out if Matthew could conWriter sume more by mouth than he does now: lollipops, popsicles and a few other items — hoping he could maybe consume baby foods and other soft foods such as squash. The testing didn’t go as good as the Cech family hoped, which led into a series of problems — one of the biggest being having emergency surgery to remove his colon and appendix. After eight sedated procedures and a few unexpected complications, Matthew returned home last Thursday. “He’s OK,” said Terry Cech, Matthew’s father. “He’s still recovering and he’s building his strength back up. “Hopefully, he will be back to where he was very soon.” >> Story Continued | pg. 11

the land that provides their drinking water. The subsequent sludge, which contains lead and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), would then be shipped off-site for disposal. Residents became aware of the project only after a county worker, through a workplace conversation, learned of a state pollutant discharge elimination system permit that was filed in September. “We’d be left completely in the dark if it wasn’t by accident finding out about this process,” said Dan Canavan, a local resident. But work had already started on the site, located about 30 miles south of Plattsburgh.

Plans to pump sludge from a former nuclear launch site in Lewis have raised questions from residents who are concerned about the possible effect on their drinking water.

>> Story Continued | pg. 10

Photo by Pete DeMola

Schuyler Falls residents to see decrease in taxes Town to see 53 percent decrease in general fund tax levy By Teah Dowling

teah@suncommunitynews.com

SCHUYLER FALLS — The Town of Schuyler Falls residents will see a decrease in taxes for 2016. The tentative spending plan features a tax-levy decrease of 53 percent for the general fund, chiefly due to landfill funds. “We’re well under the tax cap,” said Mary Sorrell, budget officer and secretary to the supervisor, referring to the statemandated 0.73 percent tax cap. The general-fund tax rate will go from 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value to 15 cents. The highway-fund tax rate will decline from $1.41 to $1.39. Under those rates, a property owner with property worth $100,000 would pay $153 per year in town general and highway taxes. The total appropriated budget is $2,566,491 with $645,305 in revenues and $809,600 in fund balance — leaving $1,111,786 to be raised by taxes.

>> Story Continued | pg. 15


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