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Town Board Meeting held Aug. 13, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall, Schroon Lake, New York Present: Supervisor: Catherine L. Moses Councilmen: Roger Friedman, Donald Sage, Sharron Tyrrell, and Clara Phibbs Hwy. Super.: Michael Marnell Deputy Town Clerk: Patricia Savarie Also Present: List Attached
The meeting was called to order and Cathy introduced John Mucha who is the Director for Govt.
Relations with Time Warner Cable. John informed the public that the renewal contract was coming up
Aug. 18, 2008. John also discussed that the franchise fee could be up to 5%. John brought a map of the
area Time Warner covers in Schroon Lake. Terms for the contract are between 10 –15 years and the
density is 20 homes per mile. At the present there are 630 customers in the Schroon Lake area. John let
the public knows that the franchise fee would be reflected in their bill and could be used to install more
lines in the Schroon Lake area or how the town felt fit to spend the money. The franchise fee is only on
cable T.V. and not on high speed internet or phone service. He then took comments and questions from
the public. Cathy stated she would like to get a committee together after Labor Day to look at different
possibilities and start working on the renewal agreement.
TIME WARNER CABLE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Tom Erickson stated that the cable company made a mistake on his mileage from Rt. 9 it should be two
miles. John said he would send someone out to look at it again. Fran Filshie wanted to know if there was other
companies in the area that the town could look into and if they counted houses from the road or went by
the tax maps since so many houses sit back from the road. John stated that yes the town could shop
around for a better deal but did not know of one in this area also the houses were counted only by what
they saw from the road. Fran stated this was not a fair way to do it since so many homes sit back where
you can’t see them. Laurie Bruce asked if only two homes want it out of the twenty homes per mile do
they hook up just those two. John stated that yes they were required to do so. Martin Korn had written a
letter to the board proposing that we should shop around and go forward to the latest technology. Martin
would also like to address the state and govt. level to have changes made to all cable co. so more rural
communities could get access. Bunny Surprenant asked the question why old equipment could not be
picked up at there homes like they do in Glens Falls. He had called the main office and had waited one
day for 2 hours and no one showed up to pick it up. John said to give him his name and address and he
would get it straightened out. John suggested to Cathy to call the Public Service Commission and set up
a public meeting so their questions could be answered. John stated that Time Warner was regulated by
the Federal Communication Commission and the cost to put lines in, per mile, was $17,500. Roger
Friedman stated he thought since everyone was here it would be a good time to form a committee and
talk about there options with Time Warner Cable.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Lester Speiser stated he and Marty Korn who were representing the Schroon Lake Association had talked
to Cathy about their concerns with dog problems during the Hobby Fair and wondered if they could put
up signs in the park to leash their dog and curb your dog. Martin Korn stated he had read the leash
ordinance and suggested that they add curb your dog and clean up after it. Clara Phibbs suggested that
next year they could put no dogs allowed in their brochure and in their advertisements for the Hobby Fair
. Shawn Baker suggested putting up bags out in the park to pick up after their dogs. Lester Speiser said that
the Schroon Lake Association could probably buy the bags and advertise their association at the same
time. Cathy stated the board is going to work on getting signs up in the park and thanked them all for there
concern. Cathy applauded the chamber for doing such a great job with organizing the 50th Anniversary of the
filming of Marjorie Morningstar, which was held down at Scaroon Manor. Rosemarie Ritson said special
thanks needed to go to Nancy Bellucio who organized it all.
MINUTES from July 9 2007 Roger said there was a correction on the last page with correct spelling of
Simon. Roger Friedman moved a resolution to accept the minutes as amended, seconded by Don Sage;
carried. Aug. 2, 2007 minutes, no corrections Don Sage moved to accept the minutes, seconded by Clara
Phibbs; carried . BILLS Don Sage made a motion to accept the bills, seconded by Roger Friedman Clara Phibbs abstained
because of H.K. contract and Sharron Tyrrell abstained because she had not had a chance to look at the
bills; carried.
RESIGNATIONS
Mike Marnell said it was with great regret that he had the resignation of Tony Mason, he and his wife are
moving to Texas and his last day would be Sept. 4, 2007. Don Sage made a motion to accept his
resignation seconded by Clara Phibbs; carried. Cathy had a letter of resignation from Garry DeMarsh
from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Don Sage made a motion to accept his resignation, seconded by
Roger Friedman also to advertise for his position; carried. Cathy had a letter of resignation from
Mary Beth Delarosa from the Revolving Loan Committee. Sharron Tyrrell made a motion to accept
Mary Beths resignation and to advertise for it, seconded by Don Sage; carried.
ZONING BOARD APPLICATIONS
Cathy received two applications for Zoning Board, Robert Claus and Shawn Baker. Don Sage moved a
resolution to appoint Robert Claus to the Zoning Board of Appeals seconded by Clara Phibbs; carried.
Don Sage made a motion to appoint Shawn Baker to the Zoning Board of Appeals, seconded by
Roger Friedman; carried.
NORTH COUNTRY PUBLIC RADIO UPDATE
Cathy brought everyone up to date on the North Country Public Radio and how they are looking into another site
By the Water Tower, original site would be at Owls Head, which is a better area for reception. David Clark said it
would be no problem but to make sure they pay for their own power. Cathy stated they needed to come to a
decision soon and could possibly have both sites. Roger Friedman made a motion to table it until he had more
information, seconded by Clara Phibbs; Cathy and Don Sage opposed, carried.
WATER TOWER MEETING REPORT
Cathy, Sharron and Phil Tyrrell and David Clark had a meeting over the problem with the extra over flow at the Water
Tower. Cathy needed to check with legal to see if we need to put the job out for bid to fix the problem.
BAND STAND UPDATE
Cathy stated it had not been easy on the board and that they want to make sure that it is done properly. The board
has put it up for bid twice and the second time got some good responses. There are foundation problems that need
to be addressed.
LIBRARY MINUTES
Clara Phibbs made a motion to accept the Library minutes, seconded by Sharron Tyrrell, carried.
FAIRWAY MOWER
Cathy stated the old fairway mower is worth around $1000. and does not run at the present time. She would like
to make sure that price is right and will call George Keene at John Deere. It needs to be declared surplus and
advertise to sell it. Clara had a concern when she looked the bills over that she thought there were repairs just
done to it. Cathy said she would look into it and see what the bill was. Roger Friedman made a motion
To sell it when a price is decided, seconded by Don Sage but he would like to make sure the bills were not for this
Mowers, if so add the repair cost to the price of the mower; carried.
AIRPORT HANGER UPDATE
The grant will be awarded Aug. 20, 2007 the town would like to purchase it from Helen Wildman .
CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD
Mike Marnell stated he would like to request an in house transfer. He would like to transfer Lance Gould to the
Highway Dept. in mid October. Don Sage made a motion to have Lance transferred from the Transfer Station to the
Highway Dept. with the approval of the Highway Supervisor and the Town Supervisor, seconded by Roger
Friedman; carried. Don Sage had concerns that the Airport had not been mowed this summer and that it would
take a brush hog to do the job now. Cathy said she would make sure it got done. Roger Friedman had done a
physical inspection of the Tennis Courts and said they needed to budget money next year for repairs. There are
many deep cracks in the blacktop. Roger once again mentioned a big need for a Night Watch Person to be hired.
Roger applauded Ellie and Don Searles for being very active in harvesting and taking inventory of all the Purple
Loosestrife in the area. He suggested the town write them a thank-you note in all their hard efforts. Cathy made a
motion to send a letter of thanks to them, seconded by Roger; carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Phyllis Korn said she would like to help the Searles in anyway with the problem of Purple Loosestrife. Vivian Speiser
wanted to know what was being done about the cell towers on the Northway and how it was coming. Cathy stated
It’s in the Legislations hands and they were fighting it. Arnold Paglia said he would like to see more public
awareness on the Purple Loosestrife and would help remove it. Bob Claus said he and Jane had been pulling Purple
Loosestrife for two years in Severance and contacted Lori Kernigan and she informed them there was a beetle that would
take care of it. Cathy made a motion to adjourn at 8:35 P.M., seconded by Sharron Tyrrell: carried.
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