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Saturday,ÊNo vemberÊ21,Ê2015
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www.SunCommunityNews.com
In SPORTS | pg. 14-15
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Plattsburgh High state champions
In NEWS | pg. 3
Champlain under tax cap
Hornets win Class B state championship 3-1
Taxes to increase a little for residents
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In EVENTS | pg. 8
Turkey Trot fun walk/run
Festivities to take place Thanksgiving day
Mooers Free Library sees leadership shuffle New members hope to move the library forward By Teah Dowling
teah@suncommunitynews.com
MOOERS — A pair of Mooers Free Library board members have walked away because of internal conflicts between them and the library staff. Shortly afterwards, a third left and the board was completely reshuffled. “There was a lot of conflict in our library,” said Eugene Bushey, former board president. “I had a good board, but they kept quitting one at a time because they couldn’t take it no
more.” For years, friction has undercut library operations because of salary issues, expansion plans and staff conflicts. Bushey said two workers, in which he declined to release names, did not want to work with Bernadette Buddington and Edith Morelock, the departed staffers. Once Bushey became the last board member, he also decided to leave , officially walking away Saturday, Nov. 7 — effectively leaving the library with no board. The two remaining board members are said to be planning on resigning. They did not immediately respond for comment. As soon as library staffers Jackie Madison
ShopÊ smallÊ
and Koreena VanNortwick discovered the vacancy, they began immediately looking for new members, a search that turned out successful. “Even though the board members walked away, it seems like that took the black cloud that was over us and made it go away,” Koreena said. “I have a lot of hope with this new board.” The five new board members, who were sworn in Nov. 18, are Anastacia Shuknecht, Kathy Mannix, Joyce Roberts, Nathan VanNortwick and Tim Gonyo — just enough to save the library’s fate. “The other board left the library high and dry,” Nathan said. “We formed a board that >> Story Continued | pg. 13
Town of Mooers stays underneath the tax cap
afterÊ Thanksgiving
Supervisor anticipates taxes to remain static
Small Business Saturday to take place Nov. 28 PLATTSBURGH — Small Business Saturday will take place Nov. 28 in several towns throughout the North Country. Started by the North Country Chamber of Commerce five years ago, this day encourages residents and visitors alike to Teah support these mom and pop shops locatDowling ed throughout the area. Writer “The purpose of this day is to shine a spotlight on small businesses in the community and the impact they make to their local community,” said Christy Kennedy, vice president of marketing for the North Country Chamber of Commerce. “They create jobs for us and they support local endeavors, and this is a great way to give back.” PLATTSBURGH Over 20 businesses will be participating in Small Business Saturday. “Our goal of PDA is to try to get more people to spend more time in the downtown area,” said Colin Read, president of the Plattsburgh Downtown Association and owner of The Champlain Wine Company, in a previous interview. “We hope to create more traffic for small businesses in downtown >> Story Continued | pg. 12
By Teah Dowling
teah@suncommunitynews.com
MOOERS — The Town of Mooers 2016 budget remains under tax cap for third year in a row. Supervisor Jeff Menard anticipates taxes to remain static for the town’s residents after approving the budget last week. “It was tougher to remain under the tax cap this year than it was last year,” Menard said. “We were very close.” Menard said the town is under the tcap by just a few dollars. Revenues raised slightly from last year total $804,420. The total appropriated budget is $2,130,729 — leaving $1,100,042 to be raised by taxes. Fund balance use is $226,267. BUDGET CUTS, INCREASES
The Champlain Wine Company in Plattsburgh will be offering buy one get one free wine tasting, along with 10 percent off bottled wine purchases. Photo by Alex Ayala
In order to keep the budget within the tax cap, Menard said some departments took cuts. The highway department was cut by $5,000. The Mooers fire protection was cut by $5,800. The only increase within the budget was the Champlain >> Story Continued | pg. 13