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Saturday,ÊD ecemberÊ10,Ê2016
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www.SunCommunityNews.com
In SPORTS | INSIDE
Winter sports previews
PLUS: CVAC football All-Stars, page 22
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In opinion | pg. 6
Budget season
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Officials should be commended
In ticonderoga | pg. 2
Festival guild looks ahead Seek to promote more music
Frontier Town back in the spotlight What do state and local officials have planned for the long-vacant theme park? By Pete DeMola
pete@suncommunitynews.com
NORTH HUDSON — No other structure perhaps better symbolically represents the region’s past and future than Frontier Town. The abandoned theme park was once a premier destination for both tourists and the local residents who spent years working there and continue to fondly recall its formative years. It’s now overgrown and neglected, an eyesore heralding
Exit 29 on the Adirondack Northway. The property has been the subject of hot and cold attention by Essex County lawmakers, who alternatively whiplash between activity and ennui over the former wild west theme park. Lawmakers spent months earlier this year discussing removing the buildings, which would require asbestos remediation, before ultimately shooting the idea down, citing unknown costs. Last month, the Essex County Board of Supervisors authorized an appraisal of a 85-acre stretch of the property after they said they were approached about a “project.” Details are scant, as discussion was conducted behind closed doors in an executive session. Three state Department of Conservation officials and the northern program director with the Open Space Institute engaged in a lengthy pow-wow last June.
County officials cited “legal advice” for the secrecy. The DEC has declined to confirm or deny negotiations. “The DEC has nothing to announce at this time,” a spokesman told the Sun. In 2014, the county floated the idea of letting the open market decide. But they opted against the sale of the parcel to the late Keeseville businessman whose estate continues to own the AFrame which anchors the property. Lengthy litigation followed and the county prevailed. North Hudson then wanted to buy the parcel, which they said would aid in the 40-mile DEC multi-use trail that would connect the five towns of North Hudson, Minerva, Newcomb, Indian Lake and Long Lake. But voters ultimately stymied plans by the town to purchase the property by voting against >> See FRONTIER TOWN | pg. 24
SolarÊ farmÊ nextÊ forÊ villageÊ site A Port Henry businessman has permission to build a solar array By Lohr McKinstry
lohr@suncommunitynews.com
PORT HENRY – The village of Port Henry could be getting its first solar energy farm soon. Local businessman William Bryant attended a recent Village Board session to ask for permission to put the solar array at a property he owns off Dock Lane. The parcel was previously used by Bryant as a commercial storage site, but he said the solar panels would be for his personal use. “The electricity generated there will offset what I pay at home,” he said. He said a 70-foot-by-20-foot section of the lot will be used for the solar farm. “It would feed into the National Grid line,” Bryant said. “It would be remote metered.” Bryant said the solar panels will not have motors to let them follow the sun, as some are equipped, and will instead be fixed base panels. >> See SOLAR | pg. 15
The Canadian Pacific Railway Holiday Train arrived in the North Country recently, bringing thousands of colored LED lights and donations for local food banks in Ticonderoga, Port Henry and elsewhere. See page 14 for more. Photo by Lohr McKinstry