Closing of Skilled Nursing Unit Informational Meetings

The general public is invited to a meeting with River Hospital officials to be held this Thursday 2/11/10 5 pm at the Village Community Rooms.  A second meeting  with the River Hospital was scheduled at 6:30 pm at the Bonnie Castle Recreation Center, but has been canceled due to a conflict of schedules.


The conflict was with a previously scheduled meeting on the same evening at 6:30 pm at the Town Office.  This meeting is with the group Concerned Citizens.  Mrs. Nellie Taylor and other members of this group will be present to share information and  to rally support for the nursing home.


My plans are to attend both meetings and record them.  Then post the audios for those who can not make the meeting[s].  However, this is not your excuse to avoid going to either meeting.  To be truly informed, both meetings are equally important to attend.  


We all believe that it takes a community to raise our children. Is it not just as important for a community to care for the elderly?

Moratorium on Old Chamber Building

6 months ago the VB extended a moratorium on the Old Chamber Building, at the request of The Alexandria Township Historical Society.  The Historical Society requested the VB to suspend all efforts to sell the building till the ATHS had time to research the potential for grants that would keep the building from being sold and possibly turned into a parking lot.  That moratorium expires this month.  I fear that the VB will not extend the moratorium.  The board is under pressure to raise money for the reconstruction of the Upper James St Dock.  Maybe I am wrong, but I think it has been considered behind closed doors.  I hope that the people that originally rallied to obtain the moratorium 12 months ago, rise again to this worth while cause....

Dock Progress 2/6/10

I have no information to share with you regarding the status of "our" Village Dock.  There is a Village Board meeting this Tuesday, hopefully the board members will have good news on the status....

Big Ol' Johnson

We are almost through winter, the sun is shining and the days are getting longer.  Thoughts of spring and summer are buzzing around in my head.  Why OH WHY do I have an Evinrude??




Thanks to C.F.B.

I'm A Gamer

When I was a kid growing up in the 60's our neighborhood was a war zone.  We played war in the spring, summer and fall.  I had a hand grenade that you could put a cap in, pull the pin and toss the grenade and it would go pop!  Other weapons in my arsenal included  a pump shotgun that made what then seemed to be a loud blast, but now I realize it was more like a whimpering thwop sound.  We had battle helmets and cap pistols, water balloons even made it as a weapon of war.  You could also hear arguments start that went something like,  Your Dead, followed by No I am Not, followed by You Are Now!  Winter time came and we could not wait till we could build snow forts and stock pile them with pre-made snow balls [ice balls were not allowed according to our Geneva Convention].  Some poor kid always went home with a split lip and bloody nose.  War was fun and when we got sick playing war, we would play spies......  Even organized gym activities had a war theme......Dodge Ball became Doctor Ball, and then it was modified into a game called Vietnam that we played on Saturday mornings down at the YMCA.  If you got hit by a ball and killed, you could be rescued and brought back to life.....  War was Hell back then........but it was FUN!

I love X BOX.  Halo was the coolest thing I ever saw.  Then came Call Of Duty.  I would rather kill foreign bad guys than aliens any day.  Modern Warfare, World At War and my newest addiction is Modern War Fare 2.  I love first person shooter games, they are a way for me to relax after attending local board meetings.  I would have loved to have had the realism of these games when I was a kid.  But I guess I would not appreciate them now if we did not have all those plastic guns back then.  Basically the war games have the same rules of engagement, even capture the flag has found it's way into X BOX games.  Some of the terminology has changed.......Re-spawning is another way of saying brought back to life.  Which brings me to the point I want to make.......Ahhhh Yes.......every blogger has to make a point........just can't tell a story without some lesson hiding in all the words.

As I said earlier, I am a gamer, but I am also a blogger, washed up politician but more importantly I am a Parent.  Being a parent this past week has been HELL.  I have had knots in my stomach that rival any stressful situation that I have ever been in before.  I have talked to other parents who have had the same stress, heartache and disbelief that our children's friend and classmate is dead.  The days have passed, the calling hours and the funeral are over.  Steven is gone forever.  That is the reality of life outside of the fake world of being a gamer.  Life is not a game or a match that can be started over.  There is no button in the real world to re-spawn a life.............As adults we understand the difference between what is reality and what is not.  This needs to be stressed to the not so worldly gamers in our homes!

Bond Resolution For Dock Reconstruction

The mayor wanted to set an amount for money allocated  for the work done on the dock NOT TO EXCEED $350,000.00.  Some of the VB members were reluctant to OK this amount for fear of "public perception" [lots of irate phone calls to VB members].  It almost went to a vote but was tabled...........




Dog Training Class at the Village Community room 2/4/10

Bond Resolution for Dock Construction 2min:31sec

IMA Town and Village Hearts for Youth 16min59secs
IMA between the Villages of Alex Bay and Clayton: Sludge Hauling 18min:51secs
Another IMA same as above, sharing WWTP and Water Treatment operators 23min:25secs

27min:30secs   A question was asked about the minutes from the last meeting.  Regarding executive session discussion regarding legal action against Rick Merola and Harbor Villas for his failure to pay water bills.  The mayor was asked how much was owed to the village......his reply....$26,000

Flowchart

I have seen many government, corporate, or organizational flowcharts.......  This one sums it all up.  It must be human nature...

PRAY

Please take a moment and Pray for all the young people in our community.  They have lost one of their own.....

Upper James St. Dock Status

The following audio is from tonight's VB meeting.  I divided the meeting into 3 separate audios.  I figured this is the part of the meeting that everyone is interested in.  The dock status fell under Old Business.  The first 2 minutes of the audio is the Riverwalk status, the dock status starts at 2min:31secs.  Lets all play a little game......and it goes like this:  You hit the play button and listen to the audio!  Get all the facts, and then nobody can say that I am stirring up shit!  There will be no opinions from moi, well....... maybe not until later!

7 WORDS

I am guilty of using 2 of the 7........I was told last night that if I am going to be a politician,  I need to clean up my act [this blog].  The same person[s] also criticized me for not trying hard enough to get elected as Town Council.  The other guy that was running for the other TC seat did not try hard enough either.  Hell, his name could not even be recalled right away.  They said Jim, you have to get out there and talk to people[ tell them what they want to hear].  The conversation went on, critiquing me and what I did wrong . Why couldn't  you get elected to beat out ONLY ONE of the TWO [R] incumbents that they wanted out!

I made up my mind a couple of weeks ago.....I love politics but political office is not for me [Hooray].  I just can not tell people what they want to hear.  I will not put up a false facade to become electable.  I can not pretend to listen intently while conjuring up a concerned look on my face.  I did learn something, while observing political people......they are vicious!  More so than a junk yard dog!  More character assassinations have taken place behind their closed doors than on this blog or in the forums.  I am not a politician and if anything I might just make this blog more gritty.  It is my humor and WHO I AM.   One last thought......I know I can not make you do this.....but you need to start hitting the play button.  The video below is an example of what I think is funny!  Others that I include in this blog are the audio of meetings and therefore facts.  Hit the PLAY button and you will be either entertained or informed.  Remember, anything that I type is my OPINION.

Dock Might Be A Disaster For Abay

If the  repair of  the Upper James St Docks can not avoid the inevitable RED TAPE and IF the docks are not ready for the 2010 summer season.......This would be a disaster for the village of Alex Bay.  Business's will close and may never re-open.  Those are very accurate comments made by the Village Mayor T Robb.  Senator Aubertine and Assemblywoman Russell met with Mayor Robb, Trustee Jarvis, and North Fourth Coast Engineers today at the docks. As I listened to the dialogue, it occurred to me that there is a ton of bureaucratic BS that our village is going to have overcome in order to make sure that the the Upper James St. Docks are open in plenty of time before the beginning of our tourist season. Everyone better hold their breaths and say their prayers [including me]....NO JOKE......we are in deep shit!

I did not have my trusty voice recorder with me today. And I did not take any notes. So I will not even try to tell you all that was discussed at this meeting. Not only that, there was a meeting with the Aubertine and Russell at the Village Offices after everyone met at the dock. I did not attend [nor was I invited], but I am anticipating a more detailed reporting in next weeks TI Sun.

Found Money To Fix Dock

My suggestion is to shift the route of the Riverwalk Project so that it includes the Upper James St Dock [currently the project does not include the docks as part of the riverwalk] .  Funding problem solved!  In case you do not remember, the project has a 1.2 million dollar price tag.  The Village taxpayers were going to have to fork over 20% of that 1.2 million bucks which would be $226,000.  We could pay $200,000 for the repair of the upper James St dock and $226,000 for the Riverwalk project.  Or just shift the route........$200,000 SAVED!  Go ahead all ye naysayers and tell me this won't work......



Here is something else that everyone has forgotten......The past few summers a group of volunteer scuba divers pick up debris around the Upper James Dock.  The divers noticed the deterioration and Village Officials were notified.  Soooooo this should have been no surprise! 

Village Dock

This is an email I received.......

How could this not have been anticipated? If built in the 40's it should have been assumed that it's life span was getting short and money should have been set aside for this fix over the past several years. Now the failure of this section of dock renders the entire docks in the upper bay useless. This dock is vital to the financial viability of Alex Bay. We all walked it as kids and dreamed of boating. It is where families go to walk and money comes in to town. Had power been added and charged for like our Canadian friends have in Kingston and Brockville then more income would have been generated to offset the inevitable deterioration. Time is of the essence in getting this ready for boat traffic prior to May 1st. Hold a fund raiser, beg for money or cancel the taser. ;) Just do whatever it takes.. a community event like a barn raising. This is the focus of A Bay and the point of contact for nearly ALL visitor. With out a "town dock" many of us have talked and we will no longer come to the Bay at all. The tone from the mayor's office the pAST year has seemed to be "screw those boaters" but I can tell you that w/o a dock to come to our impact on the town will be measured quickly by the merchants we love to support in spite of the mentality of those in charge of the Village. What can we who care do to help? Is a fund being set up? Can we donate towards a fix??? Are state funds available? (not too likely) Is it even possible to get this done in 3 months? we all wish for the best for the little river town we love. You can't change the fact that this was not caught until too late. Let's fix it fast and right. See you in the spring? 

Name withheld by request



Bay Seeks Funds To Repair Deteriorating Dock  Article from the WDT

Paterson sez lu·gu·bri·ous

"....this is somewhat of a lugubrious picture we are painting...."  

That was in reference to New York state's economic condition.Who does he think he is talking to?  I had to look that word up....[I admit it].  It means gloomy.  Just say what you mean Gov.........  Edvard Munch is a lugubrious artist!  And it makes me want to SCREAM....

Does Your Government Measure Up?

A summer resident suggested I read this book.  She also strongly urged all of our local officials study it!  Who suggested this reading? Carol Dwyer did, she also co-authored the book.

Synopsis

"Written for candidates, elected and appointed government officials as well as concerned citizens in small cities, towns, and villages, Does Your Government Measure Up? is a tool for improving local government." "This book introduces the bare essentials for good government in areas of finance, public works, parks and recreation, police, assessment, building codes, emergency medical services, personnel and even Web site development. The authors show how to use benchmarking to increase government efficiency and effectiveness." "The tools presented in the book have been developed by the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in close cooperation with more than 100 government officials in Central New York and throughout the United States."--BOOK JACKET.