SARATOGA
Friday, March 4, 2011
4
Lights-CameraSaratoga Springs City Council Jackson L-shaped .61 acre parcel that the At the Tuesday, March 1 meetcontinued from Page 1
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Contributing Writers Marion E. Altieri thoroughbredwriter@yahoo.com
Meghan D. Lemery meghanlemery@yahoo.com
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Jill Sweet jsweet@skidmore.edu
Kate Towne Sherwin sksherwin@hotmail.com
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doing appearances on shows, watching the Oscar sets being constructed during the week, and visiting some fun places and meeting some celebrities.” Despite being surrounded by all of Hollywood’s glitz and glamour, Murphy kept his cool on the late night talk show, correctly predicting the winners for six major categories at the Oscars. “I wasn’t nervous, except about not tripping on the steps that led to the stage,” Murphy said about his appearance on the show. “Watching the [Academy Awards] was very exciting (even though it wasn’t a great show). I was worried about Best Supporting Actress and Best Director, but when I got both of them right I knew I was home free.” Always the critic, Murphy was nevertheless impressed by actress Emily Blunt, who appeared on Jay Leno’s show alongside Jackson. “Emily Blunt is soooo nice. She really appreciated that I liked “Gnomeo & Juliet,” and we chatted during the break about her favorite movie (“Jaws”). I haven’t liked all of her movies but she is definitely now my favorite actress.” To learn more about LightsCamera-Jackson, to view his blog or read his movie reviews, please visit his website at http://lights-camerajackson.com/
ing of the Saratoga Springs City Council, a presentation on proposed 2011 water and sewer rates for 2011 was given by Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco. The public and Council were updated on various infrastructure projects within the City. The Council later unanimously adopted two percent increases in water and sewer rates. Commissioner Scirocco, in comparing the rates in the City to surrounding municipalities, noted that even with the increases the rates for these utilities in the City were “still a pretty good deal,” and cited various expense-cutting measures that were undertaken to keep the rates low. The increases are designed to build a contingency fund for emergencies, according to Commissioner Scirocco. Saratoga Hospital and Saratoga Golf and Polo unanimously received zoning amendments that would permit a land swap in which the Golf and Polo club will receive 1.5 acres from the Hospital in exchange for an
hospital will use to expand its parking. During the Mayor’s agenda, Bradley Birge delivered a Citizen Advisory Committee’s recommendations on recipients for 2011 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from the Federal Government for social service and not-for-profit organizations that benefit City low and moderate income residents. 17 organizations had applied seeking over $600,000 in grants; just under $400,000 was available this year. A public hearing on the committee’s recommendations was scheduled for March 15 at 6:50 pm. The Council voted unanimously to enter into an agreement which would provide the American Red Cross access to the indoor recreation center for use as a shelter site in the event of a disaster in the City. This agreement will entail negligible or no costs to the City. In a discussion about the closing of Borders Bookstore on Broadway, Mayor Scott Johnson noted that this was a “reflection
Petrified Sea Gardens reopen The Petrified Sea Gardens, a rare fossil formation in western Saratoga Springs, will be reopening in the spring of 2011. The living reef existed 500,000,000 years ago when
what we now know as upstate New York was a coastal area. The Sea Gardens formation has extraordinary potential for scientific study; in the past at least one trilobite fossil was found here which has been found nowhere else on Earth. The site has been closed for several years due to a storm that brought down dozens of trees and destroyed the buildings. The park will be seeking non-profit status from state and federal governments.
TODAY
of Borders’ problems nationwide” rather than one on the Saratoga Springs downtown business district. The Mayor said that he “was not sitting back” but rather was working actively with the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Business Association to have conversations with the building landlord (Myron Hunt of Buffalo) to offer whatever support they could to speed up the process of finding a replacement tenant. In a presentation on 2010 final sales tax results, Commissioner of Finance Kenneth Ivins noted that a robust November and December of 2010, in which consumers spent over $45.5 million on taxable items in the City than during the same period in 2009, enabled the City to achieve a sales tax total of $9,045,606.32. Commissioner Ivins cited hard work and marketing efforts by merchants in the City, increases in gas prices (where the City collects sales tax), and the coming of GlobalFoundries to the area as possible factors behind this increase. In the meantime, a local not-forprofit has offered to provide fiscal sponsorship so we can proceed with fundraising and applying for grants. In the future, the park will be open year-round and will be available for environmental-education programs, winter hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, fairs and special events. For more information, please call Ebie Brown at (518) 309-3157 or email walkingowl51@yahoo.com and indicate "PSG" in the subject line.