Happy New Year

John O'Neill

When I think about skiing at Dry Hill, I have a lot of fond memories of the people that I used to ski with. Some were my age and some older. During the 60's and the early 70's we seemed to be one big family. I will miss you John O'Neill....

Local Girl has a Beautiful Voice

I would have recorded more, but at first I was caught off guard by this beautiful voice. I was then aware that people were looking at me as if I was committing some kind of mortal sin. So I cut the video short. At least I was not texting during mass like some people.....

Satellite TV

Just think about the $40 to $60[plus] monthly access fees you have been paying to Castle Cable over the years?  Access fees for what?  Substandard signals!  Blacked out Events!  Remember the Superbowl, with no American commercials.

Yet, some say that they can not afford the somewhat pricey cost of satellite TV.  Can you afford to pay for cable service that does not meet your expectations?  I have talked to several people over the past few days.  Some are still contemplating Dish vs Direct.  Others are impatiently awaiting their satellite  installation date while frothing at the mouth to make that phone call to CC ..... please cancel my cable service!

Wrong Turn!

This guy is in the documentary {Not an Actor}

...ever see that movie?  If you have not, then put it at the top of your movie queue. Guaranteed to scare the be-jeezus out of ya.  Fellow blogger Mr C. has found a documentary called the "Hollow" about the people who live in a small hamlet called Allentown located just south west of Lake George NY.  You need to click that link and read the background on this small community.  It is a tale about decades of inbreeding, right in our back yard... so to speak.  Here is the quick link to the hour long documentary.  The clip streams rather quickly so you can easily skip around.  This clip gives a whole new meaning to "my daddy says that I french kiss the best..."  So why am I posting this?  Because I can.... that's why!

Tight Budget

Massena Mayor shows responsibility when he slashes a $60,000 line item!  "I'm through spending money for an agency that does absolutely nothing for the community," Mr. Hidy said" I can think of a couple of departments that do nothing for our community. Can You?

Merry Christmas

Potsdam Judge Resigns

Justice Facing No Charges Yet?

Bumper Cars Open 12.24.10

Wanna have some fun?  The long awaited and somewhat criticized bumper cars have arrived.  I took a test drive last Sunday with some of my "political" friends.  I am not sure who had more fun..... Me slamming into Doug Williams, Dale Hunneyman, and Martha Millett.  Or if they lavished in slamming, creaming, and sandwiching yours truly?  The Bumper Cars will be open to the public this Friday at noon.  The official Open House will be Monday the 27th @ 9:AM till 11:AM.  Local media and Political dignitaries have been invited.

Below is my video version of the Bumper Cars.  The Old Guy reference is Me!  I don't have all the mounting equipment that Abay.Com has.  So I was limited to shooting from the ice and not in the car....


Bumper Cars Old Guy Version from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Pissing Match: Cop in the Court Room

Trustee Jury tells me that placing a cop in the court room was discussed at the 9/28 and 10/26 VB meetings. Based on what I found, there is no mention of placing one of our village police officers in our village night court. The only thing that was briefly discussed regarding security is the possibility of a walk through metal detector based on the states security assessment [which the board never elaborated on]. So....just how did we end up with a Cop in the court room?

9.28 and 10.26 vb meeting from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

I stand Corrected

I received this email today regarding my last post about Night court:

Actually Jim, that was during the meeting and on the record. Officer on duty is the regular scheduled officer, same as when they do church duty or school crossing duty. 

Kelly

Either way, it is a new duty -JC

Night court in Alex-Bay

Night court Bailiff Bull Shannon

The VB meeting on 12.14.10 was adjourned and as I have always done, I shut off my voice recorder.  There is usually a lot of meaningless chatter after the meeting.  But, on that night I wished I left it on.  Our acting village Justice Butcher made a comment about how pleased she was with the new law enforcement presence in her court.  She went on to add that the officer keeps everyone on their best behavior while in her court, or something like that.  So who is the officer and who is paying his wage while on duty in the court while acting as a bailiff?  If we could consolidate our justice system with the Town, then we would not be footing the bill with the added expense of a village justice and a "bailiff"!

Speed Zone Change in A-bay

 

School Speed Zones from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Christmas Spirit in Alex Bay

 I spent the evening driving around the village to video tape your Christmas Spirit.  I waited, hoping everyone would have their lights on..... enjoy the show.  See if you can spot your house.  I video taped over 70 houses....



Christmas in Alexandria Bay from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Castle Cable Bill

CC mascot "Snowy Channel"

I just got another bill in the mail from them.  Apparently they did not receive the payment I sent them on 11.22.10 via HSBC online bill pay.  I have been paying all my bills online for several years and never had a problem before.  Castle Cable simply says they never received it and please get off my dead beat ass and just pay them the $38.45.  Here is what I think happened..... the owner read my post about how I was dumping them for DirecTV.  He probably also listened to the recording of the message his billing department left on my answering machine.  And when CC received the corporate check issued from HSBC......it went right into the paper shredder.... take that Mr. Blogger...... Or maybe the dog ate it?

20 minutes and 15 seconds

... that was the duration of the VB meeting held on Tuesday night.  The mayor was absent and most of the items were tabled till he returns.  Why?  The trustees were unsure what his plans or decisions were regarding those items.  Only 4 chairs were set up for the public instead of the usual dozen or so.  Who ever was in charge must have figured that since the "lead" was not present at the meeting, the audience would be sparse.   The good news... Christmas cookies were passed......and they were oh-so-good!  Some things to look forward to next year:  the purchase of a new police car!  The 2009 is plagued with a wild cancerous rust.  Also, contract negotiations with the DPW workers.

Addie's Books For Christmas

 Ted Ford wrote:
I was very pleased to be involved with the delivery of about 500 of 'Addie's Books for Christmas' to Sherri Wilcox's Church and Community Organization in Canton. More went to Toys for Tots in Ogdensburg. The Watertown/Jefferson County pickup is tomorrow. Addie Russell's goal was to put a book in every kid's hand this holiday.

Downsizing

The little township of Pamelia is looking for ways to trim their budget

Are we in a different position?

Support Our Local Merchants

Christmas At Treasure Island from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Violin

Took a walk Down Town Village tonight..... doesn't sound right does it?  There is something about a violin.... I mean like Jean-Luc Ponty.. not like orchestra violin.... give it a listen.....


Black Water Dancing Dog from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

The Rest of the Appointments

that were made by the mayor at Monday nights organizational meeting...


The rest of the appointments from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Village Political Appointments

appointments from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Town Tax Rate?

Town Tax Rate Shared Equally from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

2 Village Trustees Sworn in this evening

Williams, Jury sworn in as Village Trustees from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Slide Show Christmas in Clayton

Some pictures of floats that did not make the video...


Slide Show Clayton Christmas Parade from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Clayton Christmas Parade

Community spirit!  Not just because Clayton was mobbed with families that came out on a cold night to watch.  It is more than that.  The number [80 or so] and the quality of the floats shows community pride along with spirit.  I also found it interesting that the Town and the Village officials managed to judge the floats together under the same tent!


Clayton Christmas Parade 2010 from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Slide show of some floats that were not shown in the video. 


Minus Mike music video River Christmas

River Christmas by Minus Mike

Here is a little gem from tonight's Christmas parade in Clayton:

Link to the video of the rest of the parade.


Minus Mike River Christmas from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Name that Dock

Disclaimer:

This conversation never took place.

HIS Dock Not Yours

Some refer to it as the "Village" Dock and others call it the "Town" Dock. Either way  it is meant as a description and not meant to show possession or ownership. However, let me warn you..... if you are at a "Village" board meeting and you refer to it as the Town Dock..... plan on being corrected by the Mayor of Hickory Dickory Dock.....How friggin petty can you be......

Ladies Night @ Treasure Island

Annual Ladies Night
Don't miss this annual event on Thursday, December 2nd!
5:30 - 9:00 pm
DOOR PRIZES!!!!
Enjoy wine, cheese and chocolates as you browse our selection of fine jewelry, our new selection of Pashmina shawls, books and home deco items.  Create your wish list as you browse and leave it with us.  If you can't make it to our Ladies Night event then click here, print out the wish list and send it to us. We will make sure Santa knows exactly what you want!



Treasure Island Jewelers
Alex and BJ Mosher
40 James Street
Alexandria Bay, NY  13607
315-482-2294

John Kiechel meets Senator Schumer

The holidays kept me a little busy, so I just got around to posting this video I took at the Crystal Restaurant.  John is our former Democrat County Chairman and an amazing resource for all things political.


John Kiechle meets Senator Schumer from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

The Big IF

I got  feedback from a reader regarding the $5,000 gift the Town gave the Village for the dock.  A gift that was met with whining......not enough the village said.  This person said that IF they were the TS, things would be different.  Here is a snippet of that email:

I would have given them the $50 000 because it not only benefits the village but it also helps town residents that use the dock and the people who come here to the parks for the summer.  Also it helps downtown businesses that make it a nice place to come to.  I wouldn't let one person dictate how I would treat the rest of the village board.

Sounds Iffy to me.....

Riverwalk is a GO AGAIN

The clip below is a composite of  3 VB meetings; October 12th, November 9th, and November 23rd.  Between the October 12th and November 9th meetings, several articles appeared in the TI Sun and WDT reporting that the VB has given up on the project. As of the November 23rd meeting the project is a GO, unless the mayor changes his mind AGAIN....which is costing the taxpayers money!


Riverwalk Roll Call Votes from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Link to the WDT follow up to last weeks VB meeting 

Grow UP

When I was a child [some think I still am], I learned to graciously say thank you for the gifts that did not meet my expectations.  Why can't some of our VB members grow up and act like politicians and bite their lips [Yes Lie] and just say Thank You and then move on....


Town NOT Generous?? from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Castle Cable wants their Money

This is what you can expect when you ditch Castle Cable.  We canceled and asked for a prorated bill.  We get the new bill which is due no later than December 1st, after that it is delinquent.  They call today and leave a message wanting payment or threaten to turn it over to a collection agency.  Do you need any more reasons to dump their BS service?


castle collection from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Trustee-Elect Gary Williams meets Senator Schumer

Dissolving the Village Board in Potsdam

Another village plagued with dual layer of government.

The Tail Wags The Dog!

I can sum up the Riverwalk Project Fiasco with this small illustration:  The Dog is the Riverwalk Project.  The tail is the mayor.  That was EASY!

Dock Money

Tax Payers [aka voters] have debts of their own that they would like to just go away. I can not blame them for being concerned that the Town is going to help bail out the village with the dock debt.  Local politicians will be judged on one criteria.....MONEY!


dock MONEY from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Town Contributes to Village Dock

At tonight's budget workshop the Town Board unanimously agreed to give the village $5000 this year to be used to pay down the dock debt.  There might be another 5 grand contributed next year, pending Town Board review.  The Village Board originally requested strongly suggested that the Town hand over $50,000 to help with the dock bills.  I am guessing that the village might get there 50G wish, but it might take 10 years.  Or....maybe not.  Time will literally tell.....

117% Surcharge?

Prudent Engineers, who are in charge of the Riverwalk project apparently added what amounts to be a 117% surcharge onto their bill.  The audio below is another portion of the Riverwalk discussion that was held at the 11.09.10 VB meeting.


117% Surcharge from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

In case some of you did not listen to the audio/slide show of the May 13th Riverwalk "walk through" with the engineers..... You can watch it by clicking this link.  It is a 30 minute video, but if you watch the first couple of minutes you will get the gist of it.

Bay May Abandon Riverwalk

That is the headline in this weeks TI Sun.  The story is a pretty accurate account of what has recently transpired.  However, there are some details missing.  Several years ago the Riverwalk project was managed by  Trustee Sweet, later it was handed over to Trustee Chaltain, and then Trustee Drake was overseeing it.  Finally,  without any discussion, the mayor took charge of the project.

The article goes on to say that months of negotiations [with River Hospital] were fruitless and village trustees decided to bypass the hospital property and reroute it on Fuller St.  There were no negotiations with the hospital officials.  They [the hospital] learned of the change in the routing via the news papers.  You can not have negotiations when the other party [the hospital]  is not aware there is a problem.  Not all the board members were in favor of rerouting this project, actually only one board member was in favor of it, and that was the mayor.

The project with kiosks, planters, benches, and interpretive signs could have taken on many variations.  There are many engineer firms out there with as many different ideas for our Riverwalk project.  Had the board chosen another firm, then the results we see today most likely would be very different.

FREE FIRE WOOD

National Grid cut trees along the Carnegie Bay Road, to prepare for a project.  At the 11.09.10 meeting Trustee's discussed what to do with the tree limbs that are now along the road.  One of the suggestions was to allow Village Residents to pick up the wood for burning.  This discussion was left "up in the air" and a final decision on what to do with the wood was not made.  If you want some free fire wood, call one of your local elected officials, or the Village barn and let them know you are interested.

Riverwalk: On the Water or On the ROCKS?

Until last night the Riverwalk project was FUBAR.  Is it back on track AGAIN?  This was almost a 40 minute discussion/debate.  I took some teaser highlights and made a shorter video.  Knowing that most of you do not want to listen to the whole thing.


Another Riverwalk Debate from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Paying attention to our Village Bills

At least one trustee was paying attention!  Do any of you pay a bill even if you noticed an unknown charge on it?  Of course you don't.

A View of Mayor Graham

Mayor Graham  took a spot behind me today while waiting  in line at the Best Buy Geek Squad counter.  I acknowledged him with a "hello Jeff".  Jeff nodded and said hi.  Apparently he had some more memory added to his computer and was waiting for a pick up.  I was trying to drop my x box off which is a whole "nuther" story.  The geek behind the counter needed to see some ID from "Jeffrey".  Jeff handed the geek his drivers license and off he went to make a photo copy.  I guess they do that to prove that you actually picked your stuff up and not somebody else.  As the geek wandered over to the copier, Jeff mumbled something about "you would think I would be known after all these years of controversy".  I chuckled and said, hey, not everyone knows the politicians or even votes, or even cares.  Jeff  excused himself to the older lady in front of me as he picked up his computer.  A split second later she realized who Jeff was and said ohhhhh it's you and she blushed a little bit.  Jeff,  being recognized by 2 out of 3 people ain't half bad.  Me on the other hand..... I love it when people don't even notice me.  I wanna be like a shadow.....mystical vapor.... a phantom like my friend Grover.

I am bored as I wait for the Direct TV guy to show up......

Riverwalk Update

Alex Bay backs off trail plan at River Hospital  is the article in today's WDT.  The audio below is from the 10.26.10 VB meeting.  Over the past few years, this project has been overseen by several village trustee's.  It appeared to be going along nicely.... that is....until the mayor took charge of it.  Right now the taxpayers owe project designers, Prudent Engineers...... $34,000.00.  I am guessing that if the project gets scrapped, that bill will probably double.  I would like to stress that this chaos was not created by the River Hospital....



Riverwalk Update from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

He wants it his way!

This discussion is priceless.  It is about the difference of opinion between the mayor and a trustee as to how the property at #1 Market St should be marketed...... some funny stuff....

Village Trustee Voter Results

Danielle Jury                             219

Gary "critter" Williams           178

Roger Jobson                              147

Stephen "bubba" Derrigo             138

Steven Jarvis                                12 [write in votes]


WDT article.

Vote ROW A 26 and 27

Sample Ballot

Click the ballot to see a larger version

Addie Russell Drops the Puck for the Privateers

Addie at the Alex Bay BCRC from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Sign Ordinance Hearing WWNY

In case you missed the WWNY coverage of the public hearing held on 10.25.10



Link to the story on WWNY

WDT: Sign Law Could Use Tweaking     Jefferson County's Planning Board advised Alexandria Bay to continue refining its proposed zoning law for signs. 

Refine?  Tweak?  The Planning Board is being very generous in their assessments.....

Election Day 11.02.10

Will be an exciting day for the Village of Alexandria Bay.  The NY 23 race between incumbent Bill Owens and challenger Matt Doheny will no doubt keep many locals up all night.  On the local level, there are 2 Democrats running: Gary "Critter" Williams and Roger Jobson.  The Republican party is supporting incumbent trustee Danielle Jury and Bubba Stephen Derrigo.

If you recall, Bubba Derrigo was a village trustee but he resigned in 2008 for reasons that are vague.  I am sure the majority of you can see through the vagueness.  I read in this weeks TI Sun, that Derrigo has a letter of support from another former trustee who also resigned.  Imagine.... a quitter writing a letter trying to get the voters to support someone who resigned.

Also in this weeks Sun is a letter from  Democrat Stevie Jarvis begging the tax payers to support him through write-in votes.  Jarvis did not receive the Democrat party nod during this years Caucus which was chaired  by Richard Drake. Democrats Gary "Critter" Williams and Roger Jobson are the only ones that have the Democrat Party Support.

It is encouraging to see a race where the trustee positions are not being run unopposed.

"Laissez-faire" Sign Ordinance

Laissez-faire translation to English: Let Do, Let it Be, or  Leave it Alone!  It implies freedom from restrictive regulations from the government.  This ordinance is way to restrictive.  It even controls what you can put on the inside of your store windows [home windows? This ordinance is for the whole village, not just the downtown district.]  Over the next few days,  I will be putting up some audio from last nights public hearing.  If the Village Board gets their way, these might be the last signs the board need approve:

Till then, just say Laissez-faire

Change in Sign Ordinance and Speed Limits

By now, most of you have read about the New sign ordinance, and I hope that all of you drivers have noticed the new village speed limit.  It was recently changed from 30 mph to 25 . Change can be good, especially if the ordinance or law that has been on the books do not currently satisfy the needs of the residents and/or  business owners.

We have had a sign ordinance in place since the early 90's. For the most part it has sat dormant for many years, only occasionally being used. Recently, the sign ordinance has been dusted off and used  as a reminder to business owners, just who is in charge of this village.  So the sign ordinance that was seldom used had to be modified and made more strict.  A very restrictive ordinance that only benefits the lawyer that got paid to put his legalease on it.  And the elected officials that want to bully the business owners into bankruptcy [not really, but it sounds good].

The speed limit that used to be 30mph and not enforced is now 25 and will probably be treated just like it was before the change.  All these little changes [including the waiving of the open container law for events]  are strangling our little Honky Tonk Town.  Like it or not.... that is what we are, that is what keeps our taxes lower than most villages our size or smaller.  The only real change we need will be on November 2nd.  Oh! Start making plans for change in November 2011.






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Addie Russell Meet and Greet in A-Bay

 Laid back with friendly chat.  Some serious questions were asked too.


Meet and Greet with Assemblywoman Addie Russell from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Sign Ordinance Revised! Again!

Here is the link to the final revision of the "Sign Ordinance".  The Public Hearing is set for Oct 25, 2010 at 5:30pm at the village community rooms.  A hard copy has been given to the Chamber and the Library.  Any questions can be directed to any of the village board members or committee members  Ron Thomson or Brad Millett.

Who is behind Patty Ritchie?

From tonight's gathering of local democrats at the Sand Bay Inn...

Darrel on Skelos Espada Monserrate Ritchie from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Beer in the BAY

Good Plan? from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Fender Bender?

NOPE!  Follow up to the story I did a couple of days ago...


Crash Hit and Run from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

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It is one thing to blog about news or public information but when you start posting about someones personal situation it speaks VOLUMES about your scruples!

Once you are elected/appointed as a public official, your life becomes an open book
notice how many walk away scott free. And how many more incidents are NEVER reported, because of the position or who they are

Everyone should be treated the same and it should not matter who they are or where they work. If you take on the job as a public official you should pay even more attention about what you do

Riverwalk Status 10.13.10

Finally the Riverwalk Project is back in safe waters....


Riverwalk Back on Course? from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Mayor Interviewed: Everybody Talks Nobody Listens

For what it is worth... the mayor was interviewed by a reporter from YNN after tonight's meeting.  Of course you can not hear much because nobody seemed to care that the mayor was being interviewed.  Any guesses who the loudest person[s] in the background is/was/are/were?


Mayor interviewed at Meeting from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.




Another interview by Jessica Shaw from Channel 7

Poor Judgment and Bad Timing?

News usually streams at a steady pace.  Usually!  I am not really interested in all the "hear say" about marital problems, domestic squabbles, or even acts of canine cruelty.  What makes me more curious is the timing of all the events and the anti- climatic Breaking News Head Line on the Watertown Daily Times:  Alex Bay acting judge charged with leaving scene of accident

Lets look at this chronologically, starting with the most recent event.  The Breaking News Headline hit the online edition of the WDT at:

First published: October 11, 2010 at 5:42 pm

Last modified: October 11, 2010 at 6:28 pm

I am going to intentionally skip over all the events that may or may not have occurred on Sunday October 10th on Co. Rt. 1.

Saturday morning I was made aware that this hit and run took place.


The WDT reports that the Clayton Police finally got around to making formal  charges sometime on Saturday October 9th.

According to reliable sources...formal charges were issued at the Clayton Court @ 4:45pm on Friday October 8th.

The Hit and Run happened on Thursday October 7th  7:45pm.


It takes 4 days for the story to make it to the online edition of the WDT?   Will this story sink into obscurity?  Why does it appear that the Clayton Police and the WDT were stalling? What is the main reason for leaving the scene of an accident?  Judging from all that happened I would say it is poor judgment by all those involved.

River Hospital Foundation Festive Evening

Back in July, the River Hospital Foundation sponsored a fund raising  event ..... Festive Evening.  One of the events was a Live Auction.  Watch the slide show to see why 12 people played bidding wars to win this prize.


Dinner on the St. Lawrence River from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

Dear Town Board of Alexandria

The Village Board of Alex Bay is asking you for a "cash support" to help recover from the Upper James St Dock reconstruction project.  I have heard that the mayor "thinks" that a 50 to 60 Thousand dollar contribution would be the least you could do....  For the last several years the village has ignored that the revenues from the docks have not been what they should have been.  It was not till this past summer that the board implemented accountability safe guards to insure that all dock fees were collected and accounted for [this only happened because of the dock crisis.]  This year dock revenues have at least tripled from previous years.  Same number of boaters as the previous years, except this year the dock fees  are fairly and accurately collected from all boaters.  I see no reason that the Town of Alexandria should contribute any amount of money for the Upper James St. Dock.  This would be frivolous spending and  unfair to the taxpayers of Plessis, Redwood, and surrounding Township areas.  Furthermore, village residents pay both village and town taxes.  I URGE Councilmen Williams, Beaudin, Durand, and Hunneyman, as well as Town Supervisor Millett to vote NO for a contribution of any amount to the Village to offset the Upper James St. Dock project.

Riverwalk Update

 The audio is from the 9.28.10 VB meeting:

Riverwalk Update from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.

From the VB meeting held on 9.28.10

Thousand island Winery Oktoberfest

Random video from 10.02.10 Oktoberfest

Senator Aubertine Campaign HQ

This video is the full version of Senator Aubertine's speech at the October 2nd opening of his campaign HQ.


Official opening of campaign headquarters 10.02.10

Proposed Sign Ordinance?

Here is the latest news regarding the Proposed Sign Ordinance, via email that I received yesterday:

Jim

Here is what the committee came up with and is recommending to the Board.  The meeting for Monday (10/5/10) has been canceled as you are aware and was rescheduled for the 19th of Oct.  That date is not do-able for Attorney Gebo and the Board wants him to attend.  On Monday 10/5, Attorney Gebo, Trustee Jury, Trustee Roy, Ron Thomson, Kay Doheny and Brad Millett will meet and review the attached sign recommendation line by line.  It is considered a work session.  Attorney Gebo’s office will notify County Zoning of the Village’s proposal and the Public Hearing will be set for Oct 25, 2010 at 5:30 pm.  That date is likely to be approved at the Oct 12^th Village Board meeting.

The Proposed Sign Ordinance can be viewed by clicking HERE 

The link above does not include a cover letter from the committee  that was attached to the proposal.  That letter can be seen below:

From blog photos 2010

In Memory of Cindy Chaltain

plaque presentation tonight at the Village board meeting

More From the Riverwalk Meeting

 Order Order.... Who Has The Floor?????


another clip from the Riverwalk meeting held on 9.13.10

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Darrel Aubertine Visits Alex Bay

Friends of Darrel gathered at the Captain Visger on 9/22/10.  Always nice to see Darrel.

Riverwalk Project RUINED

The map below is the latest "version" of the Riverwalk project.  Created 

by the outstanding "vision" of the mayor and the engineers.  There is a 

Riverwalk committee but they were never consulted for input.  Nice mess!

From spec meeting RW 9.13.10 Follow on Facebook

A Night With Sheriff Burns And Friends

2010 Wine Festival and Farmers Market

Was held at Boldt Castle this past Saturday.  I recently bought a new Flip pocket  HD video camcorder and thought I would test it out.  I produced the following video using only the software that came with it.  Enjoy.....make sure your sound is on!

Errors in Proposed Sign Ordinance

Yesterday, I was advised by a village official that the proposed sign ordinance that was sent to me [and others]  is missing some key items.  This is not the ordinance that the committee worked so hard  to generate.  Hopefully I will be receiving an updated accurate ordinance in the near future.

Mayor Back Pedals

(bkpdl)  To retreat or withdraw from a position or attitude: The mayor later backpedaled on the issue.

This is a short audio from the August 24th meeting when the topic of the block dances first came up.... followed by .... the Sept 24th meeting when the topic surfaced again.  Listen closely for the change in how the fiddle plays....


 


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A Solution to Beer at the Block Dances?

Not sure what that solution will be.  Ron Thomson spoke cryptically last night regarding a meeting  he had with 2 village board members, and the COP.  Some of the VB members seem to have changed their  hard line positions that were originally expressed at the Aug. 24th meeting when the board declared war on drinking at the music events.  Click here for the audio from the Aug. 24th meeting.




I will be posting public and merchant comments from last nights meeting over the next few days...

Meetings

Last night, the Village Board met with the Board of Directors from the River Hospital and the Riverwalk project planners.  Article in today's WDT

Tonight is the regular village board meeting.  I will be blogging about both meetings over the next few days...

Trustees Challenge Mayor

I have been going to village board meetings for several years.  Every meeting, it is the same thing.....no opposition, no questions, and no dissent from the trustees.  The board has been playing follow the leader for years.  The game that the mayor has played is coming to a close.  At the last VB meeting, it appeared to be business as usual.....for instance paying the bills.  Except the mayor was faced with opposition from "his" trustees.  Well there was a chirp and a peep from 2 of the trustees.  However,  Trustees Roy and Jury stopped the momentum of the meeting with some rather hard questions that the mayor really did not have a satisfactory answer.  Enjoy the show.....

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Man Assaulted During Pirate Days

Here is the story in today's WDT

Several things to take note of regarding this story.  Rumors of this incident have been spreading since that August 7th incident.  Why did it take so long for the story to make the paper?  There is also no time of the evening that the assault took place.  I think this incident is what tripped the triggers of the Village Board when they made their announcement at last Tuesdays VB meeting regarding drinking at block dances.  Board Bickers Bout Beer at Block dances

The Plot Thickens..... if it was not for someone giving a tip to the WDT about this story.....it might have been successfully buried deep in the police blotter........  who knows.

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Rockin' the Bay with the Beatles

 Make sure your sound is on!




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"There appear to be adults drinking beer openly in the streets of your village...what's up with that...in any event they look happy to be there, and I bet they spent some money, and maybe they'll bring friends the next time...before you know it you'll have thousands of them, being happy and spending money...better shut that down now!"

Classic Car Rally Alex Bay

As part of Rockin' The Bay......Over 50 classic cars traveled to Alex Bay for a rally that was held from 9am till 1pm today.  All the merchants were ecstatic with the large turn out of cars and all the people that came to see them.......

Make sure your sound is on!

Board Bickers Bout Beer at Block Dance

Audio from last Tuesday's Village Board Meeting

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"....It stands to reason that when you invite THOUSANDS of additional people in the village you are going to have a rise in  complaints and calls. Sounds as if part of your plan for security and enforcement does not include funds or a plan  to deploy  the appropriate amount of extra staff from Jefferson County Sheriffs and the State Police....."

"......This country has gone insane regarding alcohol.  Land of the free...NOT."

Results of the Caucus

Donkey's have been known to KICK

The Democrats gave the "nod" to Gary "Critter" Williams and Roger Jobson at tonight's Caucus.  27  Village Democrats attended and voted.  Thanks to those that came out and represented the party.














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"Great choices. I know Roger as a guy who teaches honesty, team work, and fair play to children. I know Gary as a guy with great business accumen. Both of them have high sense of duty and responsibility to their neighbors. Good luck to both of them bringing their great traits to the village board."


...If we had CNN, MSNBC or FOX they would be going on how it is a indicator on the Mayor's race next election cycle."

River Hospital Supports Riverwalk Project

Members of the River Hospital Board of Directors attended last night's village board meeting.  Those addressing the board were: Joe Russell, Ben Moore, and Craig Garlock.  I was amazed at how supportive the RH BOD is for this project.  Compared to the Doom and Gloom picture the mayor painted about the situation at the last meeting .  I think that the RH would be a powerful ally that would help the village make the Riverwalk more than anyone had hoped.  Craig Garlock took the time to draw up some very creative concepts that would incorporate a walk ON THE RIVER.  I have included those drawings in the audio/slideshow and will also include them separately for better viewing.  The mayor ended the meeting with the hospital saying,  thanks for coming and we will "look" at your proposal.  Personally.....the mayor better do more than look.......he better hug the RH BOD and their proposal.  Maybe the vb trustees can help him along so he makes the right decision.....Maybe you can help the mayor too.....

Conceptual drawing by Craig Garlock

From RH RW proposal

From RH RW proposal

From RH RW proposal

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Politics 101

I wonder what the local Republican Party thinks about one of their "own" choosing to display this group of signs.  Actually under normal circumstances this would be no big deal.  Except that Mr Derrigo is a Republican running for Village Trustee.  What next?  Changing political parties after the election?   Is there any loyalty or respect to the Party that is backing you?  Take note of the poor Matt Doheny sign.......

Do The Amish Wash Their Hands After Taking A Crap?

I got thinking about this after reading the article in this weeks T.I. Sun.  Ya know the one where Ron Thomson lets the Amish sell their baked goods within the "foot print" of his property.  What Ever!  But here are a couple of thoughts.  Remember Bake Sales in schools?  Most schools do not allow them anymore.  They can still have bake sales but the baked goods have to be store bought and hermetically sealed.  Hmmmmm....what in the world could be the reason for doing that?  Hello!!!!!!  MacFly!!!!!!!  It is called Hygiene and people are also afraid of tainted food.  Remember the days gone by .....trick or treating......razor blade in your apples and the poisoned candy scare in the 70's and 80's.  I remember when one Halloween was canceled because of all that Halloween Terrorism. 

I have gone off track.....  Oh, now I remember....Hygiene!  When was the last time you saw a sink and liquid hand soap or hand sanitizer on the side of an Amish Outhouse?  How about NEVER!  Ever had diarrhea or stomach cramps on the way home from a vacation?  I bet that is a real hoot.  Would you buy an Amish Tuna fish Sandwich?  Buy your baked goods from a business that promotes Hygiene and has a clean kitchen that you can see from the counter....that is my advice.  If you want to support the Amish....buy a basket, chair, or a gazebo.....

Something else you will not see in the Amish Bakery

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I dont have any Amish food in my house and never will......I work in a lab and have seen all those germs and bacteria that can't be seen with the naked eye.........EEEWWWWWW !!!!!!

Ick!

When I was on a safari in Kenya I would see cases of soda in the knee high refillable bottles sharing a ride on the back of an open truck with a variety of livestock . It then became apparent to me why the Kenyans drank out of these bottles with straws...

The ORIGINAL Riverwalk Plan

Cement beams were donated  for the section in front of RH

The following picture was the key element to the agreement between the River Hospital and the Village Board regarding the Riverwalk traversing hospital property.  The cement supports mysteriously vanished from the most recently developed plans for the Riverwalk Project.  And as quick as those cement supports disappeared.....so did any agreement between the Hospital and the Village.

I have more pictures that tell the real story of why the River Hospital was surprised  to find out that the original plans for the project had been changed.  Not just by a little......A LOT!  Listen to the audio and watch the slide show.....all the way to the end.




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Village Caucus

Registered Village Democrats are invited to participate in our Caucus to be held on:

August 26th 2010

7:00 PM

Village Community Room

110 Walton St.  Alexandria Bay NY

All others are invited to attend and observe only...

Resource: NYS Election Law {PDF file}

Rockin' The Bay

 














Morris & The Hepcats
Suns of the Empire
Magical Mystery Tour
The Honeybush Brothers
Dr Boogie

Sheriff John Burns

The following is an audio clip of Sheriff John Burns during a question and answer session.  This was part of the meet the Democrat Candidates night held at the Clayton Knights of Columbus on August 11th.  This event was sponsored by the River Town Democrats. Senator Darrel Aubertine and Assemblywoman Addie Russell also participated in the Q and A. I will be posting the audio of  Darrel and Addie answering questions from the crowd  later......

Tired

A friend sent this to me.  I thought it was an interesting essay....it should provoke some thoughts.  If it doesn't, then you better check your pulse....



A reply from email:

Before I forget, the "Tired" piece you had on the Circus was excellent. Dead nuts right on. Now to move on. I was up in A-Bay August 1,2, and 3rd and had a great time as usual. Stayed at the Rockledge, very nice people. I like going up to the Islands because it is a nice little get away and not that far. I tell everyone to go up when they ask about an idea of where to go.

But its always great to get away from the Buffalo area. You write about the parking issue. In Buffalo, the city has paid nearly $2 million in health insurance premiums for 152 deceased employees, some have been dead for up to four years, talk about idiots. And then this morning I put the 6:00 AM news on and hear about 8 people getting shot and 4 dead. This happened in the Downtown area, luckily this didn't happen in the afternoon, it happened at 2:30 am outside a bar/restuarant.

So thats why I like coming up to A-Bay. A nice little get a way , where the residents treat you nice. Proves to me that there are actually civilized people left in New York State. Never had a bad word to say about the north country.

You've Got NO Mail!

Mr. Lampman addressed the Alexandria Town Board last night.  Here is the audio of what he had to say.....





Channel 7 interview with Mr Lampman after the meeting.




 Kris Rusho from WWNY has more on this story.

Did you know?
"U.S. Postal Service® will continue to deliver mail addressed to a deceased person until we are notified of a change in delivery preference......"

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"I delivered mail down there for several months during the late winter and early spring. I do not see what the issue is at all. I could turn a school bus around down there (although we didn't go down into there) I see no problem turning a vehicle around, which we used to drive to deliver mail, or the noisey little mail truck. Maybe the Postmaster should concentrate more on getting the rural mail out on a more timely basis rather than worrying about something that is more the Town Supervisor's problem, IF, there really is a problem."

Village Dock Security Resigns

I have been going to the VB meetings for 3 years [+]  and the agenda format of the meetings has always been Pledge, roll call, public concerns, correspondence, minutes, payroll, trustee reports, old, then new business.  Last night a letter of correspondence was intentionally not read when it should have been.  It is an embarrassing letter and was saved to be read at the end of the meeting when there was just a couple of people to hear it.  If it was read when it should have been, there would have been more than a dozen people to hear it and I would have recorded the content of the letter.  But never fear.....I managed to get a copy of the letter ......

Enlarge the Vimeo video so that you can read the letter.....





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From Facebook:
Don't they just realize that by not reading the letter and saying there is no correspondence until people leave embarrasses them more than actually having read the letter to begin with?