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Bits of Everything

A Walk Up Black Mountain in Winter

A nice piece on hiking Black Mountain in the winter with some great pics, from A Walk in the Park blog.

New Lowes Store Opens in Ticonderoga

Ticonderoga is doing the reverse of Whitehall and growing their tax base. Congratulations to Ti, for making their community better.

The store opening is good news for the community, Ticonderoga Supervisor Bob Dedrick said. “Lowe’s will increase the tax base which will help the town.”

Whitehall School District in Line for Stimulus Funds

Will this mean a reduction in taxes? Probably not with the way the school district spends money. Sadly this just puts off controlling costs for a few more years.

Change!

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Bits of Everything

See What Former Supervisor, Joe Rota, is Doing

Today’s Post Star has an interesting story about a project which former Town Supervisor, Joe Rota, is pursuing.

Can You Hear Me Now? – I’m in Lake George Village

Somehow, I missed this press release from Verizon wireless which came out about a month ago, where they announced they had completed a cell phone tower/receiver in Lake George Village. This will help with cell phone calls from the village, parts of southern Lake George, and the Northway.

Lake George Association Starts “Don’t Trash the Ice”

The Lake George Association has started a new public service campaign aimed at winter enthusiasts. The Lake George Association is the oldest environmental organization dedicated to protecting Lake George.

School Enrollment Continues to Plummet – Why No Reduction in Taxes?

The Post Star has a good article on school enrollment in the area. This sentence caught my attention: “Ticonderoga has 960 students, and 88 come from Hague. The high value of property in Hague, the result of homes on Lake George, has its residents paying for half of the school district’s $16 million budget.” Sound familiar?

Readers of the Current may not know, that during the vote about the expansion of the Whitehall school a few years ago, the Whitehall school when asked to release the number of students enrolled by town released the information by zip code. Many Dresden and Clemons residents have Whitehall zip codes. This made it impossible to figure out the number of Dresden school children as a percentage of the total. The Whitehall District knows this number but my guess is that our proportion is even worse than Hague/Ticonderga. Sadly, Hague/Ticonderoga can at least get their number. We just know this …..

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Huletts Will Be Watching The AFC Title Game

The last time we spoke to local standout, Adam Terry of the Baltimore Ravens, was before the Ravens made it to the playoffs. Since then the Ravens beat Jacksonville to secure a playoff berth and have gone on to reach the AFC title game.

Adam had a few minutes this week, so we had a chance to interview him and get caught up on the last few weeks.

The last time we spoke, the Ravens hadn’t clinched a playoff spot yet. What has it been like going from needing that win against Jacksonville to get into the playoffs to now preparing for the AFC Championship Game?

“I think we treated that game against Jacksonville just how you have to treat it now. You win, you’re in. You win, you keep moving. You lose, you go home, pack up, and everybody goes their own way until preseason conditioning and everything. It’s a tough one coming up. Pittsburgh’s a sound defense with very good pass rushers off the edge. We’ve got to keep our defense off the field.”

The offensive line hasn’t allowed a sack through the first two playoff games. How much pride and motivation do you guys take from a stat like that?

“It’s a great statistic, but there are a lot of variables that come into play – running backs, wide receivers getting open, [Quaterback] Joe [Flacco] getting rid of the ball. Whether it’s a completion or just getting rid of the ball, that helps out. It’s a good number. Going forward, we’re going to try to keep it that way.”

A lot of people from Huletts Landing and upstate NY have been following you and the Ravens. What message do you have for those people?

“It’s great. That’s where I’m from, and my wife and I will probably end up somewhere in New York between Rochester and upstate New York, Queensbury area. It’s a good feeling. You really don’t get to see it until you get to go back home and everybody congratulates you, and you get to see the support. Sometimes, you get letters and stuff here, but for the most part you really don’t realize until you get back there.”

Adam, we appreciate your time this week. We know you’re headed to Pittsburgh but we just wanted to tell you that all your fans from Huletts Landing wish you well. Thanks again.

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A Burglar Must Have Picked Their Website

According to these figures, the Whitehall School District will get about 3.00% less state aid next year.

This is a little misleading because there was an 11.00% increase in aid from 2007-2008 to 2008-2009, so the difference between the 2007-2008 year (last year) and the 2009-2010 year (next year) is still an increase of about 7.5%.

What is amazing is that even with an increase of 11.00% in state aid last year the District increased taxes.

It is interesting to note that the names of the Whitehall School Board members are no longer listed on the Whitehall School District’s website. Are they in hiding? Could it be they don’t want to hear from the taxpayers?

We’ll have more for you in the weeks ahead.

Update – January 6, 2009 – 11:05 a.m.

We just noticed that the Board of Education Members are back on the website. I may have originally missed this but it’s good to know who our board members are. Click here for the list.

Note that there are no elected members with Dresden addresses.

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School District Consolidation Recommended


The commission on Property Tax Relief released their recommendations recently and they called for mandatory consolidation of all school districts with less than 1000 students.

You can read about it here (includes a link to the full report).

These recommendations have no force of law and are simply recommendations. The State Assembly and Senate would have to pass legislation and the Governor would have to sign it.

The problem is that most teacher union contracts require that all teachers keep their jobs in the event of a merger and the professional administrators who run most school districts have shown no ability to cut costs even though enrollment in north country schools is declining significantly. Our own State Senator, Betty Little, seems hesitant on consolidation.

The good news may be that the problem has grown so significantly that it cannot be ignored anymore.

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Interview with Adam Terry, Baltimore Raven


Photo Courtesy of Baltimore Ravens photographer Phil Hoffmann

The Huletts Current recently interviewed local standout, Adam Terry, who is now playing offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. This is a transcript of our interview with him.

What exactly is your affiliation to our area? We know you went to high-school in Queensbury but did you grow up in Whitehall?

“No, but I spent a lot of time up there. That’s where most of my family resided. On my dad’s side, my grandparents lived in Whitehall. On my mom’s side, they lived up in Clemons, which is on the other side of the mountain from Huletts. So I spent a lot of time up there. My aunt and uncle still live up there. I haven’t spent much time up there lately, but when I was in high school and younger – and even in college – I’d go up there quite a bit.”

Do you have any favorite outdoor activities in upstate New York?

“I like being on Lake George. Huletts is right there on Lake George. When I was young, we spent a lot of time up at Ticonderoga camping up there. As we got older, we spent more time on Lake George. It’s about five minutes from my house, so I spent a lot of time up there and I still do. I like being up there.”

What kind of insight can you give about what it’s like playing in the NFL?

“I guess one thing you could say is it’s a glamorous lifestyle, but it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. You know, it’s nice to be recognized, and you get your perks every once in a while – a free meal here and there. As far as it goes, though, there’s a lot of dedication and a lot of perseverance, especially for myself, dealing with injuries. It’s a full-time job, and I think people don’t realize that. They see what you do out on Sunday, but there’s a lot of preparation, a lot of dedication during the week.”

Getting drafted in the 2nd round by the Ravens must have been a dream come true. What advice would you give to young people who want to follow their dreams?

Even for me right now, it’s just continuing to focus on what you want to do and what you want to become. For me, growing up, I really didn’t even want to play football at a professional level. When I was real young, I wanted to play hockey. My dream died on a pond; it didn’t even go to an ice rink. It was baseball from there. But when you have an .087 average and can bunt real well, but you can’t run really fast, I don’t think that’s conducive to being a pro baseball player. But then John Irion, my high school coach, saw something in me that other people didn’t when I was growing up, and I attribute a lot of my success to him giving me an opportunity. There were a lot of people growing up that… There were a lot of doubters. Grow close to the people that have confidence in you. I think that’s the main thing. As a kid, I didn’t know where I wanted to be or what I wanted to do, but I just kept plugging along. This was my niche. So far, I’ve been successful.

Any interesting tidbits from Huletts or Lake George?

“When my father was growing up, they used to run the county beach up there in Huletts. It’s a great area. As far as Whitehall, what is it? The Italian Festival, I want to say. We used to go up there every year and watch the fireworks when they used to be out at Mt. Carmel field, and then they went downtown. But I have a lot of memories up there because, like I said, a lot of my cousins were up there. So we used to run the streets up there. And then Lake George, Thomas Jefferson described it as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. The people that go up there, it’s a nice area. It’s getting a little too expensive to live there, (laughing) but hopefully I can keep playing long enough that I can buy a house on the lake.”

Adam – thank you for your time and best of luck. If you’re ever back up our way, please let us know. (Big Smile)

The Huletts Current appreciates the time Adam spent with us this week. He was busy preparing for the Raven’s last game of the season, which if they win, will put them in the playoffs.

To learn more about Adam, click here to see his official bio with the Ravens.

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The Current Reaches the NFL

With the final week of the football season upon us, the Huletts Current will be rooting for the Baltimore Ravens to reach the playoffs. Why? Because local talent, Adam Terry, who spent alot of time growing up in Clemons, Huletts, and Whitehall, plays offensive tackle for the Ravens.

Adam has a great story, going to school at Syracuse University and getting drafted in the 2nd round of the NFL draft. It is an understatement to tell you he is one big guy. He stands 6 ft 8 inches tall and weighs 330 lbs.

We completed our interview with Adam in anticipation of the playoffs and will be posting it here on Sunday morning. Read about him here – only on the Huletts Current. Go Huletts! Go Ravens!

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Gov’s Proposed School Budget Released – What You Need To Know

Here is the press release from the Governor’s office on next year’s proposed budget and what it will mean to school districts across the state. Some points to note:

There has been a 42 percent or $6.2 billion increase since the 2003-04 year in state aid to school districts. In spite of this, the Whitehall School district has raised property taxes over this period.

Next year state aid will be cut between 3% to 13% per district based on need, BUT “school districts have reported over $1.3 billion of uncommitted reserves for the 2009-10 school year, which have been building up over time. Over 87 percent of districts reported unreserved balances in excess of their proposed year-to-year reduction(s)”. This means that while their aid will be cut, the Whitehall district has much more than the proposed cut in reserve. It is the opinion of the Huletts Current that there should be no need to raise taxes at all next year with careful budgeting this year.

While other districts have been planning for this cut for months, the Whitehall Times reported in their December 11th edition that the Whitehall school district has been waiting until the Governor came out with this proposal. In the same edition, Superintendent Watson was quoted as saying; “We are not aggressively moving ahead until then.”

In the days and weeks ahead, we will be releasing a comprehensive plan on how we can make our voices heard in the school budgeting and taxing process this year.

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Be Careful Going Through Whitehall

“I was heading North on Route 22 with my partner. This creature came from the left. I saw it take 2 steps off the road over the guardrails. … I would not have pulled that revolver unless I was afraid.”

Dan Gordon
Retired Whitehall Village Police Officer

Watch the History Channel as they interview numerous people from Whitehall who claim they’ve seen Bigfoot. On dark nights, after a few drinks in the Casino, you might see it also.

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Tax Report Card

With the 2009 year almost upon us, one of the topics the Huletts Current will be addressing in the weeks ahead will be the taxing policies of the jurisdictions that we find ourselves part of. Today we release our “historical report card” for the tax and spend policies for the Town of Dresden, Washington County and the Whitehall School District.

The Town of Dresden over the last 30 years has established itself as a “low tax” Town that works very hard at keeping expenditures low. For the past two years running, the Town Board has cut the amount of money raised from taxes and Town taxes have actually decreased. A few years ago during a state audit, the Town Board members actually came to the Town Hall and counted certain assets like chairs, etc., themselves! For this the Town of Dresden gets an “A” for their wise stewardship of our tax dollars over the past 30 years.

Washington County has been more of a “mixed bag” with its historic taxing policy. We give it a “C+”. Over the last 30 years spending has continually grown, but much of this is because federal and state mandates have been imposed on the counties with no corresponding state or federal aid. However, Washington County needs to do a lot more in terms of attracting business and “growing the tax base.” Recently computer chip manufacturer, AMD, has announced a major new facility in neighboring Saratoga County. The southern towns of Washington County are poised to grow with this facility located nearby. Hopefully, this will attract businesses and residents to Washington County.

The Whitehall School District’s tax and spend policies over the last 30 years have been an unmitigated disaster for the taxpayers of the District and earn it a solid “F”. They have driven almost all business from Whitehall with their excessive spending. This is part of a “Letter to the Editor” that I wrote to the Whitehall Times a few months ago. “I went back to the 1970’s and looked at the budget for the Whitehall school district and compared it to spending for this current school year. For the 1974-1975 school year, the entire budget was $2,443,937 and the amount raised from property taxes was $704,000. Enrollment was right around 1100 students. For the 2007-2008 year, the entire budget is $12,960,569 and the amount raised from property taxes is $4,805,069. Enrollment is 900 students. That means that over the last 33 years, the total budget increased 430% and the amount raised from property taxes increased 582% while enrollment was falling by 200 students! These increases far outpace both inflation and the Consumer Price index for this period. The amount of the budget raised from property taxes went from 28.08% of the budget to 37.07%. “

The members of the school board are elected for staggered terms in May. We will be informing you this year as we get closer to the election about which candidates are committed to cutting taxes and who is not, because we can no longer sit on the sidelines while our money is spent like this. “F’s” make the Current move.