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January 2, 2010
A Denton Publication
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Water bill
Coupon Queen
Outdoors
The village board approves plan to install water meters.
Jill tells us why the smart couponers clip out savings judiciously.
That sweet little face will destroy everything in its path.
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Champlain bridge demolished
The storied Lake Champlain Bridge (circa 1929-2009) met its fate Monday, Dec. 28 as a total of 500 charges of explosives were ignited, causing 2.2 million pounds of steel and asphalt to plunge into the lake. Photos by Nancy Frasier
By Fred Herbst fred@denpubs.com CROWN POINT — After more than 80 years of service, the Lake Champlain Bridge has been retired. The span, which was closed Oct. 16 after structural problems were discovered, was demolished Dec. 28 to make way for a new bridge. “It was a little sad,” said Nancy
Frasier, Times of Ti photographer, who covered the demolition. “After all these years to see it come down like that was sad.” Construction of a new bridge is planned to start in the spring with completion targeted for summer 2011. A new ferry service is being readied near the former bridge in Crown Point to serve motorists while a new structure is being
Winter Carnival buttons on sale By Chris Morris denpubs@denpubs.com SARANAC LAKE — It’s a tradition synonymous with Saranac Lake winters – and it doesn’t have anything to do with registering the coldest temperatures in the continental United States. The 2010 Winter Carnival buttons are now on sale at a bevy of locations throughout Saranac Lake. Winter Carnival Committee member Barb Martin said the buttons cost three dollars apiece this year. Businesses selling buttons include: Adirondack Liquor, Ampersound, Amanda’s Motel, Blue Line, Blue Moon Cafe, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Captain Cook’s, Hyde’s Mobil and Nicen-Easy, Kinney Drugs, Lake View Deli, Post Office Pharmacy, Rite-Aid, Rice Furniture, The Waterhole #3, Duso’s Crescent Bay Marina, Ace Hardware, Adirondack Bank (both branch locations), the Saranac Lake Adult Center, Bear Essentials, Belleville & Associates, Borealis Color, Community Bank (both branch locations), Charlie’s Inn, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Fact & Fiction Bookshop, Grizle T’s, Gus’s
See BUTTONS, page 12
built. The Ticonderoga ferry is also running with the help of anti-ice measures. The Lake Champlain Bridge opened Aug. 26, 1929, with two governors — New York’s Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vermont’s John L. Weeks — leading the festivities. This week’s demolition was nearly as festive. Hundreds of people turned out in New York and Vermont to watch as the bridge
was imploded and crashed into the lake. Public viewing areas were set up at Port Henry Beach and Bulwagga Bay in New York as well as along Route 125 in Vermont. The spectacle was televised live and broadcast on the internet. It was covered by more than 100 media members. Snow and fog at the time of the demolition limited visibility to a half mile.
Sirens sounded 10, 5 and 1 minute before the demolition to warn people of the blast, but many of those watching missed the actual explosion because it happened so quickly — in about 2 seconds. Slow-motion replays of the event showed a series of 500 charges exploding along the 2,184foot bridge and its collapse. “I could see it well,” said
See DEMOLITION, page 12
Essex supervisors mull last-minute cuts Last-ditch effort to reduce department head raises fails By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — The explosives on the Champlain Bridge were not the only fireworks on display the morning of Dec. 28. The Essex County Board of Supervisors held their End of Annual meeting, which started at roughly the same time the bridge was blown apart by explosives. Four supervisors were initially absent from the meeting as they attended the bridge’s demolition, and their absence cleared the way for a last-minute effort to undo spending plans. However, that effort ultimately failed to change any prior decisions. At the heart of the debate were two resolutions establishing 2010 salaries for non-union county employees, also referred to as management-confidential. Nearly all the positions were set to receive a 4.25 percent raise, based on the percentage granted to unionized employees in their negotiations. But as St. Armand Supervisor Joyce Morency pointed out, many of the elected and appointed officials mentioned in the first resolution have salaries much higher than unionized employees. “When you take salary as large as theirs compared to some of the lower
ones, that is a fairly decent wage increase,” said Morency, suggesting the county could save money by trimming the percentage back for department heads. The same argument had been posed at previous committee meetings, but support for the full raises prevailed, led heavily by Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava.
“When you take salary as large as theirs compared to some of the lower ones, that is a fairly decent wage increase.”
— St. Armand Supervisor Joyce Morency
“His feeling and mine is, being as we have planned to put a committee in place to look at each and every department head salary, that this would suffice,” said Ticonderoga Supervisor Rob Dedrick, referring to plans to establish a three-to-five-year salary schedule for management-confidential employees. Scozzafava was absent, however, as were Cathy Moses (R-Schroon Lake), Dale French (R-Crown Point), and Robert Dobie (D-North Hudson). All had previously voted in favor of the
full raises. Their absences counted as ‘no’ votes at the End of Annual meeting. That, combined with the ‘no’ votes of Morency, Lori Lincoln-Spooner (R-Willsboro), Roby Politi (R-Lake Placid), Bill Ferebee (R-Keene), and Randy Preston (IWilmington), amounted to enough weighted vote to defeat the first resolution. “I could not support the [2010] budget because it had across-the-board 4.25 percent increases, and I cannot support this now,” said Preston. “I think 4.25 percent for anybody in this economy is wrong and that’s how I’m going to vote.” Ferebee motioned to instead increase the department head salaries by two percent, a proposal that had first been approved at a Nov. 25 budget workshop, but was not adopted as part of the 2010 budget. Politi and Morency said two percent would be more in line with raises scheduled for most town employees this year, and Ferebee said it was fair considering that county supervisors agreed to take no increase in pay. County Manager Dan Palmer said lower raises for certain county employees “just doesn’t make sense,” as non-union employees have traditionally been given the same raises as those belonging to the union. Newcomb Supervisor George Canon agreed, but was the only one to vote against the
See COUNTY, page 9