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February 13, 2010
Audit finds fault with Elizabethtown bookkeeping
Community rallies for Jeff Brown By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com
By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — The town of Elizabethtown must do a better job keeping track of its funds and fuel, a recent audit has determined. The office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released their report last week of an audit that noted significant shortfalls in the way the town maintains records of gasoline pumped from bulk storage tanks at the town highway garage and Cobble Hill Golf Course. The audit, which scrutinized records from January 2008 through April 2009, also found failure on the part of supervisor Noel Merrihew and his bookkeeper to keep accurate financial records and submit them to the town board for annual review. Cash account balance tests for December 2008 and March 2009 found “discrepancies between the bank statement and general ledger balances that could not be explained, ranging from approximately $260 to $140,260,” said the report. Additionally, four out of seven town expenditure accounts were found to be over-expended during the year by a total of $47,853. Instead of transferring money from accounts with a surplus, “town officials inappropriately transferred expenditures from over-expended accounts to accounts with appropriations remaining in order to keep expenditures in individual accounts under the budgeted figures,” the report stated. “The improper transfer of expenditures makes it difficult for town officials to prepare their budget and makes the use of the budget almost pointless,” it added. Auditors recommended that Merrihew and his bookkeeper attend training to learn how to properly use the town’s financial management software and emphasized for accurate records to be submitted regularly to the town board for review.
See BOOKS, page 5
American Legion Post 504 will host a fundraiser Feb. 20 for Jeff Brown, an Au Sable Forks native who has been diagnosed with ALS. The Au Sable Forks Fast Pitch Association and Jeff Brown’s friends from Sienna College recently coordinated efforts to send Brown to Cincinnati to attend a three game series between the Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds. Jeff has been a long time fan of the Cincinnati Reds and was treated to an on-field experience for three days courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds. L-R (Top Row): Scott Brown; Larry Bowa, 3rd Base Coach of Los Angeles Dodgers; Dusty Baker, Manager, Cincinnati Reds; (Bottom Row): Jacob Brown, Jeff Brown, and Orville “Snooky” Brown.
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See BROWN, page 5
Judge: APA must pay farm’s legal fees By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — The Adirondack Park Agency will be required to pay at least some of the legal fees incurred by an Essex farmer who prevailed against them in court last summer, a judge ruled Feb. 3. Acting Essex County State Supreme Court Judge Richard Meyer said the Lewis Family Farm, owned by Salim "Sandy" and Barbara Lewis, is entitled to counsel fees and other expenses arising from a legal battle with the agency regarding farmworker housing. Meyer ordered a hearing, scheduled for Feb. 26, to determine just how much of the $208,000 sought by the farm is entitled for recovery under the Equal Access to Justice Act, which requires government agencies to pay legal fees of a prevailing party unless they can show they were “substantially justified” in their position. According to Meyer, the APA was not “substantially justified” in its decision to assert jurisdiction over three modular homes built to house farmworkers on the 1,200-acre organic
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AU SABLE FORKS — Family and friends of one Au Sable Forks native are hoping to help him strike out a debilitating disease. Jeff Brown is an alumnus of AuSable Valley Central School where he was known as an outstanding three-sport athlete, having lettered in football, basketball and baseball. He was also a talented musician, having played drums in the AVCS Jazz Band. Son of Joan and Orville “Snooky” Brown, he now resides in New Jersey with his wife, Janet, and children Alyssa, Maya, and Evan, but his hometown is still rushing to his aid. Brown was recently diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a degenerative neurological disease that interferes with walking, speaking, and other activities of daily life. The disease has no known
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Center-Cut Pork Chops......................................................$2.29 lb. Boneless Rib Eye Steaks....................................................$5.99 lb. Babyback Pork Ribs..........................................................$3.59 lb. Boneless Beef Brisket.......................................................$2.69 lb. Cornish Game Hens (18 oz. frozen)....................................$1.99 lb. Boneless New Zealand Leg of Lamb (3 lb. avg. frozen)........$5.39 lb.
farm on the outskirts of Whallonsburg. “In arriving at its administrative determination, now annulled, the APA went beyond the statutory language of its own definitions,” Meyer stated, echoing his November 2008 decision in favor of the farm, which was later unanimously affirmed by a mid-level appeals court. Meyer also said the APA went beyond their authority in an effort to “assert jurisdiction, impose a $50,000 civil penalty, and, incredibly, require Lewis Family Farm to waive ‘the right to challenge Agency jurisdiction and the review clocks otherwise applicable.’” Much of the APA’s argument for justification hinged on the August 2007 decision of Acting Essex County Supreme Court Justice Kevin K. Ryan, who was first to hear the dispute between the APA and Lewis Family Farm and affirmed the APA’s authority to issue a determination. Meyer said Ryan’s decision did not grant the APA jurisdiction over the houses them- Sandy Lewis, co-owner of Lewis Family Farm, adselves, but simply said the matter was “not ripe dresses the Essex County Board of supervisors
See LEWIS, page 5 Jan. 4.
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