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Volume 181, No.11 March 16 to 22, 2011
Staghorn:
wild
Natures Chemistry thriving in Mottville CEO Matthew “Matt” Greacen and 13 employees are milling, marketing and distributing a raw, whole, super food.
Dickinson family gift 20 acres to Finger Lakes Land Trust
See the story on page 7
No zoning for trellises By Ellen Leahy On Feb. 14, while most people were concentrating on celebrating love, town officials were instead wrestling over the definition of a structure. Specifically, town codes enforcement officer Deborah Williams, Town Supervisor Terri Roney, town council and the planning board were discussing the regulation of trellises and pergolas. At the March 1 zoning board of appeals the discussion was reviewed. The topic was “What do we consider is a structure and how do we regulate it,” Williams said. “The consensus was that we weren’t going to regulate it; so it is as if it is invisible. I left the meeting thinking it wasn’t going to be regulated at all.”
ZBA attorney Scott Molnar agreed that it is more decorative and it doesn’t hold things up, so it isn’t regulated by building code. See No zoning, page 3
CALENDAR...............2 CLASSIFIEDS ......... 21 EDITORIAL ...............4 OBITUARIES............20 SCHOOL NEWS..........6 SPORTS ............... 10
Wing man
DWAYNE HOUGHTON
Press reporter Dwayne Houghton went for a ride in this town plowtruck to see just how one man operates the two plow truck.
What’s this winter snow removal been like for our road warriors? By Dwayne Houghton People who live in Skaneateles earn their summer. From mid-November to somewhere in April residents wage a personal sort of snow war
with weapons like shovels, four-wheel-drive SUVs or maybe a plane ticket south. The really big guns are the dinosaur size municipal snow plows thundering around town and country roadways in the small hours of the morning. Like man-size Tonka Trucks, menacing and threatening, but oh-so cool to any guy who had a toy one as a kid, pedestrians can’t help gawking a little when the monster trucks pass by. The heavy
steel blades curl the snow and forcefully fling it to the side. Oddly, as heavy and brutal as they appear on the outside, on the inside, driving the 400-horsepower, stick-shift beast while manipulating the winged plow is an experienced coordination of delicate feel and precision few often know. Usually, it’s a solo act. Allan Wellington, foreman of the town highway department, has been plowing his route for more
than 17 years. “I’ve lived in Skaneateles my whole life, I raised hay, straw and grain on my family’s dairy farm,” Wellington said, his eyes steady on the road, right hand constantly working the plow and wing lever controls. “I’m still a farmer, but now the crop is snow. And it’s a good crop this year.” In the 2009-2010 winter season, the department logged about 82 plow runs. This season has seen better than 162 runs. See Wing man, page 26
The Finger Lakes Land Trust announced it has received an unprecedented gift of land featuring 1,300 feet of pristine shoreline on Skaneateles Lake. The 20 acre property is located in the town of Spafford and features steeply sloping woodlands overlooking the lake as well as a significant portion of the Staghorn Cliffs – a 100 foot escarpment that is well known for its scenic character and its abundant fossils.The gift was made by Syracuse area resident David Dickinson and his children: Thomas Dickinson, Scott Dickinson, Gary Dickinson, Laura Dickinson Maguire and Hollis Dickinson Wilson. The land had been in their family for more than 50 years. The Dickinson property is located in an area known as the Skaneateles Highlands: a mosaic of forest and agricultural lands that encompass the southern half of Skaneateles Lake. The Land Trust recently completed a conservation plan for the Highlands, which identified undeveloped shoreline as the highest priority for protection. A year in the making, the Dickinson family’s donation to the Land Trust reflects their desire to keep the land in its natural condiSee Staghorn, page 16
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