4 • June 16, 2018 | The Times of Ti Sun
www.suncommunitynews.com
» Hobie Cont. from pg. 1 By Tim Rowland STA FF W RITER
SCHROON | Not all thrills require engines. That point will be driven home — or more accurately, sailed home — at the 3rd annual Hobie Cat regatta on Schroon Lake June 16 and 17. The regatta features Hobie Cat Fleet 204 from Oneida Lake in Cicero, N.Y., and is sponsored by the Schroon Lake Association. Association spokesman Glen Repko said he expects 20 to 40 boats will take part in the event. The brilliantly colored catamarans dart
across the water at speeds up to 25 knots. “They can fly over the water, and they are clean, fast and safe,” Repko said. The Schroon Lake Association, which acts as a steward of the 4,100-acre lake, monitors water quality and protects against invasives. The association was formed in 1911 to protest state plans that would have swallowed Schroon Lake as part of a much larger reservoir. Repko said it also tries to get the word out that there is a clean alternative to motorboats, such as the Hobie Cats. Hobie Cats are named for their creator, Hobie Alter, a product of the ’60s era Southern California beach culture, who wanted to produce a light, multi-hulled sailing vessel based on the Polynesian model.
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Repko said the craft weigh about 400 pounds, and used boats can be found for under $1,000; new, they run between $5,000 and $7,000. He said they are particularly popular with young people, who are often the children of parents who sail. Spectators who believe they might make good skippers will be able to learn more at the regatta. The best place for viewing will be at the Schroon Boathouse between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Spectators can bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the races from the grassy knoll above the lake. The course is four miles, two miles out and two back. The boats will stay on the lake for as many races as time allows. Trophies will be awarded, and skippers can earn
points toward national titles, and Repko said he expects the regatta will include a former national champion or two. “We’re all friends, and we all have a good time and look out for each other,” he said. The regatta is expected to attract sailors from across the state, as well as Canada, New Jersey, Maryland and Massachusetts. The boats can sail under the lightest of winds, so once the breeze hits 5 knots the races can commence. Occasionally the winds and waves are so severe that only the most seasoned skippers will take them on — but for them, that’s where the fun kicks in. The cats skim across the top of the waves, and when the skippers return to the dock, Repko said, they are grinning ear to ear. ■
County departments still concerned over taxi program Displeasure voiced over lack of oversight
JAIL SERVICES
Morse also said the Mental Health Department would be providing a case management worker at the Essex County Jail for one day each week. “If they need to be connected to other services the person will set up an appointment and we will make sure they make the appointment,” Morse said. The funding will come through a state grant and will only serve inmates from Essex County. Morse said she hopes to increase the service to a pair of days per week next year.
By Keith Lobdell STA FF W RITER
ELIZABETHTOWN | County agencies are wondering aloud how patients and clients can be transported following a sting that took down Medicaid-funded taxi agencies last month. “We have no clue if the new drivers the state has put in place are any different than the old drivers,” said Department of Social Services Director Mike Mascarenas. “It would be great if our drivers were preferred, but the state treats our drivers just like any other taxi service.” The fervor from the county has come since 10 medical taxi providers across the eastern Adirondacks have been implicated on federal conspiracy charges related to a sweeping Medicaid fraud scheme. Mental Health Director Terri Morse said she is concerned that while the department expands services, the people who need to use them will be left high and dry. “We will have psychiatric services at the county which we have been down on since November,” Morse said. “The Mental Health Association use to do a fair amount of transportation for patients to the services they needed. When they stopped doing that, it left a real hole for how those people were trying to get where they need to go.” In April, Morse reported 459 residents used the services provided by the mental health department. Morse said they saw a huge shift and increase in people using programs through the Medicaid taxi program and fears patient health will be impacted with the recent arrests and concerns over the program. “Mental health needs to put a satellite service in every community or we are going to have to figure out as a county how we are going to provide those transportation services to the people,” she said. “So we do have a problem in Essex County regarding this transportation and if it gets taken
SKIMMER FOUND
Essex County Mental Health Director Terri Morse talks to members of the Board of Supervisors about transportation concerns for those needing services from her department. Photo by Keith Lobdell
County Sealer Wayne Taylor talked about the discovery of a credit card skimmer on a gas pump in Keeseville recently and how he plans to keep looking for other tampering with gas pumping systems. “They found that the people who are putting these skimmers in place look for pumps that have recently been calibrated,” said Taylor. “We are going to retrace our steps to be absolutely safe.” Taylor said the County received word of a violated seal that was fixed. “It’s an annual inspection unless there is a complaint,” said Taylor on the usual procedures for inspections of the 324 gas dispensers in the county. Taylor said there has not been another skimmer found in Essex County, but a digital skimmer, which takes the message from a credit card and digitally transfers the information to a cellular device, was found in Sullivan County. “It was identical to the one I had found,” he said.
MORTGAGE TAX EXTENDED A picture of the digital skimmer found at the Keeseville Mobil by Essex County Sealer Wayne Taylor recently. Taylor said another device was recently found in Hamilton County.
Photo provided
away then we are going to be in serious trouble.” “I firmly believe that mental health for anyone who wants it is extremely important,” said board Chairman Randy Preston. “With all that is going on in this country, mental health could be the answer,”
Prior to the committee meetings, the Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to extend the mortgage tax for the county, which imposes a tax of 25-cents per $100 on each remaining major fraction thereof on principal debt incurred by a mortgage on real property situate within the county until Dec. 31, 2021. The motion extends the current mortgage tax for the county, which has to be renewed every three years, much like the sales tax and occupancy tax via home rule. “This is nothing new,” said Chesterfield Supervisor Gerald Morrow. “This is just an extension of what we already do.” ■
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