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Pages 13-14
Page 7
October 17, 2009
E’town addresses concerns with sewage plan
Treasuring the town heritage By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com
By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — Town officials in support of a new wastewater treatment system in Elizabethtown held an informational meeting Oct. 13 to address some of the public’s top concerns. The project, which is expected to total more than $9.5 million, involves a gravity-based sewer system that would service the most dense areas of the hamlet and feed into a wastewater treatment plant along the Boquet River on Woodruff Lane. Many residents, including several members of the town’s planning board, have opposed the project, wary of a noisy, malodorous, or ugly sewage plant that could ruin property values or interfere with their well-being. Engineers involved in the sewer system’s design, together with supervisor Noel Merrihew, worked to assure the 20 residents present at the meeting that the infrastructure would be designed with those concerns in mind. Rick Straut, an engineer from Barton and Loguidice, said the state Department of Environmental Conservation has urged the town for several years to install a municipal sewer system because of repeated septic system failures and issues with waste disposal at Elizabethtown Community Hospital. “Also, this is a smart growth concept to spur economic growth within the hamlet,” he stated. Jack Dodson of Dodson and Associates, another engineering firm involved in the project, said the treatment plant will be housed in an enclosed building that will be soundproofed and equipped with odor-controlling ventilation to prevent it from being a nuisance to neighboring properties. “Architecturally, we can make this look and blend in as folks feel comfortable,” Dodson said, noting they intend to work with Historic Preservation department officials to make the building fit in with the other historic buildings nearby. The plant will employ two sequencing batch reactor tanks, which reduce bacteria and odor from developing in the wastewater as it’s treated. “The sludge that is produced there will be trucked off-site to another treatment facility in either Ticonderoga or Plattsburgh,” Straut explained. Overall, Straut said project designers were taking extra steps to ensure the treatment plant would have a negative impact. “We don’t expect it to have any kind of negative effect on property value,” he said.
See SEWER, page11
Nancy Decker looks on as Heritage House ambassadors Linda Rockefeller and Carolyn Ware help screw down the lid of the Westport time capsule. The capsule will be vacuum sealed until it is re-opened in 50 years.
WESTPORT — Residents in Westport recently paid tribute to those helping promote the town’s identity, and took some time to tuck away a slice of history. A ceremony at the Westport Heritage House Oct. 10 celebrated the success of Westport’s participation in the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial. Volunteers who were instrumental in the building’s inaugural season as a visitors’ center were honored alongside the dedication of the town’s time capsule. More than 50 volunteers were trained this summer as ambassadors to staff the new visitors’ center at the Westport Heritage House. Formerly a vacant church, the building was refurbished through a grant from Lakes to Locks Passage. The large pool of volunteers devoted shifts throughout the summer in order to keep the building open seven days a week, allowing visitors to get information about the town and enjoy historical and artistic exhibits. In addition to honoring their commitment, the ceremony also marked the sealing of the town’s time capsule, a project done in honor of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial celebration. Together with the town board and the Westport Chamber of Commerce, the town’s Quadricentennial committee implemented a $22,500 Quadricentennial grant to bring additional activities to the town’s annual Heritage Festival. Nancy Decker, a Chamber of Commerce board member, was in charge of organizing the festival, and said the Quadricentennial celebration made it particularly successful. “This year ’s Heritage Fest everyone agreed was the largest turnout by far,” she said. “This one was just far
Photo by Matt Bosley
See TIME CAPSULE, page 11
Denton Publications adds 15 newspapers Combined circulation stands at 250,000 By John Gereau johng@denpubs.com Eagle Newspapers, based in Syracuse, and Spotlight Newspapers, based in Delmar, have been purchased by Community Media Group LLC — a new company formed by Denton Publications owner Daniel E. Alexander. The new partnership draws 15 free and paid community newspapers under the Denton umbrella, bringing the local company’s total number of publications to 25 with a combined circulation of 250,000, as well as a number of niche publications and Web sites. The total number of employees will increase from 75 to 140. While the purchase will open numerous
advertising opportunities and create a network for sharing resources and improving content, Alexander stressed the papers will all retain their commitment to community journalism. “We plan to remain local, we believe in the community newspaper concept,” Alexander said. “At the same time, we recognize people do travel, and both advertisers and readers will no doubt have an interest in the areas covered by these papers.” For example, Alexander said a local event like Race the Train which took place in North Creek in September can now receive publicity in a much greater portion of New York and Vermont, through the new partnership. “Our network is far reaching,” Alexander said. “I’ve been told that our publicity of these events definitely draws participants,
which in turn brings money to our communities. This new relationship can only help with that.” The same opportunities exist for advertisers, Alexander said. Advertisers will soon have the ability to reach 250,000 homes throughout Vermont, northern and central New York, as well as the Capital District with just one buy — or they can target a single region. “The benefit over the metro dailies is we can zone for a specific region, or offer the entire area,” he said. “We see this as an opportunity for choice.” Both Eagle Newspapers and Spotlight Newspapers are strong organizations which have for years produced upscale community newspapers with numerous awards to their credit. Eagle publisher David B. Tyler Jr. and Spotlight publisher John A. McIntyre Jr.
See DENTON, page 12
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