The Town of Webb Board grappled back and forth Tuesday, before finally agreeing to amend the Town of Webb Zoning Ordinance to allow a planned district for Adirondack Homes, a company of local businessman Mike Mitchell, which will allow Mitchell to seek Planning Board approval for a residential subdivision in Old Forge.

A public hearing had already been held regarding the proposed ordinance change with little discernible resistance, according to Supervisor Ted Riehle.

The public hearing was held on August 29th.

Riehle questioned Mitchell, who was on hand for Tuesday night’s town board meeting, as to the status of issues that had cropped up that involved the Adirondack Park Agency (APA).

Mitchell explained the concern.

“If there is wetland on a parcel, that parcel cannot be subdivided. Two of the lots in this subdivision fell on the parcel which is adjacent to the river, which constitutes a subdivision of a parcel with wetlands,” Mitchell said.

This meant Mitchell would have to go through the entire APA process, which could take two years and involve hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional studies, according to Mitchell.

“As an alternate means of advancing this project, I asked if we could simply do a lot line adjustment. In effect [this would] move the boundary line between the two lots 27 feet closer to the river. It wouldn’t impact the wetlands. It wouldn’t change the project in any way,” Mitchell said.

The APA agree that a lot line adjustment would be acceptable, Mitchell said. Continue reading →

The McCauley improvement committee has been working toward updating the chalet and making the mountain a better spot for a range of year-round events and activities. But nothing of quality will take place at the mountain without a quality operational team, said Councilwoman Russell, a committee member.

And McCauley is demonstrating that it has one.

“Recently a memorial service was held at McCauley Mountain and Steve Uzdavinis and his crew were amazing,” Russell said.

That event followed another, which was held earlier in the day, according to Russell.

The crew made sure the facility was ready for the service and the hundreds of people that attended.

“It’s pretty amazing what McCauley can do for our community and be for our community,” Russell said, referring the wide range of happenings that are equally at home on the mountain.

“[People] come there to laugh, they come there to cry. I think there were close to 800 people, not necessarily at one time, that came to that mountain on that day. So it is a very important part of our community. We really are blessed to have McCauley, not only for visitors but for the children in our community,” she said.

And the crew is vital.

“They did great,” Russell said.

Town of Webb resident Michelle Soltes told the Town Board Tuesday that she’s had too many run-ins with aggressive dogs in the past several months—one of which resulted in bites requiring medical treatment—and she would like the town to act in curtailing what she describes as a potentially dangerous problem.

The bites resulted from incidents with a neighbor’s pitbull that was not adequately controlled, she said.

A local court proceeding ensued with Justice Graham dictating restraint measures to the dog’s owner, according to Soltes.

“The dog has to be muzzled if he’s out, he has to be in a pen, he has to get a fence, he has to be on a leash with someone over 21, he has to have an insurance policy,” Soltes said.

Soltes said a more recent incident involving a neighbor dog has her consulting a lawyer.

But beyond those concerns, Soltes said she has experienced unpleasant and sometimes scary encounters on Old Forge streets. Continue reading →

Webb balances taxpayer, commerce concerns in pavilion pricing

The Town of Webb Board reached a resolution on Tuesday to update the usage fees for groups wanting to rent the North Street pavilion.

Earlier this year the board examined the existing fees and decided they should be increased to better cover town expenses relating to the facility.

The board decided to implement a new “for-profit” rate of $600 a day, up from $250.

Several in the business community balked, saying the profit margins of many events are not sufficient currently to cover the additional cost.

The Central Adirondack Association (CAA), which represents area businesses and seeks to entice economic activity, urged the board to take a more incremental approach.

This would allow existing events to adjust operations to keep profitability.

And it would prevent smaller-margin events from being priced out completely.

The Town of Webb Board agreed to revisit the issue. Continue reading →