A.C.S. Marching Band

Today at the Memorial Day Parade....

BREAK IN at Local Business

Sometime during the late evening or early morning hours Abay International was robbed of Oakely brand sunglasses and an undisclosed amount of cash.  This was not your typical back door robbery.  The thieves used some kind of a blunt instrument to pound through the glass front door.  Looked like they had to hit the glass 4 or 5 times before the glass could be peeled back so the crooks could enter the store.  Pretty ballsy move to break in through the front door.  I am sure the downtown police patrol will be beefed up.  The Jefferson County Sheriff's are handling the investigation.

What About The Dock Fees?

Sorry about my obnoxious voice.  My arm is only so long and the microphone is sensitive at that short distance.

Natural Spring Water

 Grumblings about Now we gotta pay for the water....
Here is my thought.  Take the number of gallons that you have gotten for free over the years.  Now multiply that times 35 cents.  Ouch! Hey, it was good while it lasted.  Everyone is entitled to make a buck.....

Mayor Meets With Santa

.....next item.......Santa Claus. The mayor met with Santa to see if he wants to open a small Santa's Work Shop....gift shop at the Old Chamber Building.  Kris can also do some much needed repairs to the old building.  All it will take is the village to furnish the materials and then he and his elves will fix the place up.  Santa is thinking of bringing in a pen so the kids can pet real reindeer........ 

Ok Ok.....I can not write anymore about this topic.....every time I type a few words I start chuckling......this will no doubt put me on the naughty list.  Oh wait....I am already at the top of that list.  Below is the audio from that portion of the meeting.  About 11 minutes long.....

Facebook Santa Vern

Not sure if this is the other site A Santa Place

I could not find any  links or hits from google for Claus for Freedom.  Maybe you can.  Let me know if you do.

Letter From Budman. Still A Hot Topic?

Evidently, somebody has more to say about the River Hospital.  And evidently this person does not understand that the blogs work in chronological order.....the most recent topic is on "page 1".  Blogger does not allow me to shuffle older topics to the most recent.  But I will put a link up so that you can easily navigate to The Letter From Budman. 

This link will also be available under Current Hot Topics over yonder ---------->

Below is the "request" I received today:

Jim,
You need to please put this back on page 1! Abay will have to save RH by winter. B.M. and friend are plundering what's left. Abay needs to take action now because summer money is coming into RH. If we wait for winter, B.M. and friends will have blown all of that money to. Much more to write, but I will not waste my time if it is buried in your archive section!

Digital Pay Stations

It is 2010 and we are well into the digital age. There might be a solution to our docking fees with one of these Pay Stations.  Maybe this is something to consider for our streets........maybe a long term plan?  Just some food for thought

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Village Dock

Dignitaries from around the county and state were present at today's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the newly reconstructed Upper James Street Dock.

I Hear Music When I Blog

Some people wonder what makes normally sane people go out and blogity blog blog blog. Personally,  it is the music I hear while my fingers tickle the little plastic keys.....enjoy.....or not...

Census Bereau

2010 Redneck Census

VB Meeting 5.11.10

Click Here for a copy of the agenda



 

Controversy Over Charging Boaters To Dock In Alex Bay

For all of you that do not get to see the local TV news....here is a snip of where this issue stands as of today:

Power Corruption and Lies

Your Silent Face.....




Music for a beautiful Sunday night....

Town Board Meeting 5.12.10

The layout of the room has changed.  It has been arranged so that the board members table is in the corner and the concerned citizens chairs are layed out in a dynamic diagonal.  There is a problem, everyone now sits closer to the blower vents of the heating/AC system.  The blowers were running, droning out much of what was being said.  I noticed several people turning their best ear towards the board, trying to catch the content of the conversation.

I will be selling this at the next meeting!

If that was not bad enough....Fourth Coast presented maps/blue prints to the board. Unrolled them out on the table then huddled around them.  Anyone sitting in the audience could not see what they were discussing, nor hear hardly a word.  Some guy from Creek Bend landscaping presented the board with pictures on his laptop of the work he had done at the cemeteries.  From what I could gather, he was making a strong case for not being fired.  Again, we seemed to not be included in this matter.  I know that there was a lot of concern regarding the appearance of the Town cemeteries.  I am pretty sure the board gave him till Saturday at midnight to get things looking better.  

Not sure why I did not pipe up about all the noise of the blowers and I should have raised a point of order regarding the way the board seemed to be conducting their own little meeting as if we were not even there.  Every attempt should be made so that the public can view documents, maps, photos etc.  The public should not have to cup their ear so that they can hear what is being said.  Turn the blowers off, move the chairs closer to the board table and when there is a presentation, get the easel out.

Sorry, but the audio of the meeting is useless.....not even gonna waste my time.

Last Nights Riverwalk Walk Through

 In the past, I have been very critical of this project.  I referred to it as a pearl necklace around a fat ugly chicks neck.  For the record, I am changing my opinion.  In reality I do not believe the board members back then really knew the potential of this project.  It was simply presented as a walking trail with a view of the St. Lawrence River through some properties that are just plain ugly.  After listening to Dan and Rick at last nights Riverwalk work shop "walk through",  I realized that this project is going to be more than what anyone ever expected.  Rick and Dan are part of a team or engineers, architects and landscape wizards that will create this Riverwalk along with our communities input.  I mentioned to a friend of mine that I am pumped up about this project.

For those of you who could not make last nights event, I am making an extra special effort to keep you informed, maybe get you involved and possibly pump you up.  I recorded the audio and took pictures of last nights tour.  Tonight, I present to you part 1.  The first part is 30 minutes long.....I think I got in over my head with trying to synchronize the audio with the pictures.  Photos and text are a little out of synch, but I will do better with the remaining audio.  Either way it works....

Citizens Riverwalk Walk Through

Click to enlarge

Looking for something to do on Thursday night?  At 5:30 pm everyone is invited to meet at Howell Ave [next to the old Thomson Estate].  Take a guided tour of the Riverwalk project with the engineer and or landscape architect.  Descriptions of each part of the project and any of your questions can be answered at this time.

Proposed Dock Fees Public Hearing

Quite the crowd of concerned downtown merchants and frequent users of our village dock at tonight's hearing.  Those that spoke include Pat Simpson, who also read a letter from *Mike Bresnahan, Ron Thomson, Paul Coleman, Bob Peach, Steve Cavallario, Suzie Keeler, and several others. *Pat spoke with great passion regarding the proposed fees.  *Ron approached the fees from a very logical economic view point.  All in all everyone raised some outstanding points. This was a hearing where a lot of ideas were exchanged and as a result, a committee was formed to solve issues that were discussed tonight.  If, in the past you only pretended to listen to one of these audio's, then I strongly suggest that you listen to this one closely.

*most noteworthy....
 There is a slight pause after you hit the play button....please be patient it will start in a few seconds...

 

To Live and Die in ABAY

You should know the drill by now.  I pick a song and you try to figure out what in the hell my point is.......good luck!

$3000 for Benches?

This is not a very interesting story.  But it shows a change in fiscal attitude.  I did not attend the last village board meeting {my doctors orders}.  I grabbed this Dock Bench discussion from this past weeks T.I. Sun.  6 benches at $500 a whack.  The board was told by the clerk that money for this is not available.  I agree with Trustee Jury, "I don't see why we need more" either!

Maybe there is a bench or two along the village streets that might not be missed if they were relocated to the dock.  Possibly a citizen would like to donate money for a bench in memory of a loved one?  Or maybe we need to wait till next year when it can be included in that budget.  Stick to the budget!

If the board thinks that adding benches to the dock will make enforcing the new no chairs on the dock ordinance easier.......it won't. The location of the  Benches will not be convenient to the location of the boat!
Just like all the other ordinances, they will be selectively enforced...



How about the 2 green benches past the Gazebo?  Were they counted?

Budgets $ Furloughs

Several years ago my household felt the pinch of our economy that was swirling like a big turd about to be flushed through that hole at the bottom of the toilet.  In real life, that turd hits the sewer in seconds.  Our economy swirls slowly......for months and years that big turd spins in the bowl.  I am no economic wizard, yet I could see the writing on the wall.  Surely some of you could see this coming too.

Gas prices were going up and up and the water levels were low [as they are again this year].  After much discussion at the dinner table we decided to sell our boat.  The money went to pay off a loan.  Our budget got a little better but the pinch was still there.  Last year one of our vehicle loans was paid off and this past year the other loan was satisfied.  Our budget was back in control.  With a little planning and sacrifice [no shiny new car] our discretionary income increased.  Yes I know, you are saying JC you have over simplified the big government budget process.  Dumbing down the budget process works.  For example look at our village, town, and school budgets.  They all seem to be in line.  Those budgets are set by people just like you and I.  I am sure all their household budgets are inline also.  I hope!

Furloughs are simple.  You have a job, one day a week you get to stay home but you lose a days pay.  Your employer [ the state] gets to keep that money and use it some where else.  In this case that one days pay will save the state about $30 million dollars. The furloughs could last only one week or they could last 8 weeks.  Maybe longer, who knows!  This uncertainty makes most people nervous.  When I get nervous I stop spending my discretionary income.  Instead of going down town and treating my family to some of those tasty cheese burgers,  we will cook burgers on our grill at the fraction of the cost.  Friday night is my night to walk down town and have a few beers and leave tips. Instead,  I stayed home and did yard work and drank beer out of my fridge.  Not to brag, but I tip a buck a beer.  Some look at me and think friggin state worker.  Keep this in mind,  there are over 100 thousand of us friggin state workers facing furloughs and I bet all of them are doing the same thing.  Don't get me wrong, I know the state budget is a mess and I am willing to do my share.  And if my share is a furlough, then so be it.

My father-in-law had a saying....."Everybody has to suffer just a little bit".  And I feel your pain!

Identity Crisis

You are just as tarnished as I am!

Confused and frustrated.  That about sums it up.  Wasn't sure if  I wanted to continue blogging about the local politics and all the other little stuff that goes on in Alex Bay.  Frustrated by the lack of progress or impact my little blog seemed to have.  A friend of mine called it blogger burnout or bloggers block.

I discovered that in general the majority of people do not like to comment on the "internet".  I have received emails, phone calls, and people stopping me on the street saying.....don't quit, your reaching more people than you realize, and the famous "I don't always agree with you, but we love the info your giving us."

I want all you drive by anony commentors to know something.  I realize I am tarnished, scratched, dented, dinged, worn, faded, etc.  If you feel you must pigeon hole me then do it where ever you hang out.  But keep in mind your friends are also labeling you with similar tags. I guess that is what happens in small towns. Comments are on but I will be less liberal with the accept comment button.

I want to equally thank those of you who expressed  encouragement  and the few that tried to discourage.  Both played a large part in my decision to continue what I love to do........Inform and Annoy.