Posts Tagged ‘champlain valley’

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Morning Read: Laurentian Aerospace dissolves, accidentally

May 2nd, 2012 by Brian Mann

Yikes.  The big Laurentian Aerospace project, widely seen as the Next Big Thing for Northeastern New York, has been snagged for years as it seeks to lock down private financing.  (New York state has already offered up a generous incentive package.)

The project’s backers hope to use part of the old Plattsburgh Airforce base as a site to refurbish and clean jetliners.

Now the Plattsburgh Press-Republican is reporting that “Laurentian Aerospace Corporation was dissolved for non-payment of franchise taxes in March…”

Company officials tell reporter Dan Heath that the project is still viable and the dissolution was the result of “an oversight.”

“This was a matter that should have been attended to and, unfortunately, was not,” [Laurentian chief financial officer Andrew Edwards] said.

This project has been percolating for six years or so, with several public false starts, so a misstep like this certainly stings.  What do you think?  Is Laurentian still ready to lift off?  Is this one of those projects that will see the light of day once the economy improves a bit more?

Comments welcome.

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Morning Read: Remembering the Flood of 2011

April 13th, 2012 by Brian Mann

The Burlington Free Press notes that a year ago today the waters of Lake Champlain rose above flood stage, launching a battle for survival that gripped the valley for months.  (The lake didn’t drop below flood stage again until June 19th.)

A near record snow pack in the early spring, followed by an April that became the wettest on record contributed to a large part of the flooding.

During the long lake flood, road crews worked for weeks dumping countless tons of rocks along lakeshore roads to prevent them from eroding in the waves. Camp owners also tried to fortify their property, or watched helplessly as waves battered through camp walls and living spaces.

The lake flooding was astonishing.  I remember time and time again standing in places and just being flabbergasted that the high water had reached places that seemed untouchable.

I snapped the picture above while driving through a neighborhood in Plattsburgh.  The good news is that the recovery has been remarkable.  Drive along the shore these days and businesses have reopened, roads are back in place.

The effort to bounce back has been just as astonishing as the flood itself.

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Morning Read: Alien invasion(s) threaten NY, VT

April 18th, 2011 by Brian Mann

The Burlington Free Press has a great, big-picture look at the threat of invasive organisms, as a growing number of non-native plants and animals spread closer to our borders.  Writer Candace Page begins with a what-if:

The emerald ash borer, an invading insect from Asia, spreads into the state from the Midwest. One hundred million ash trees die.

Or chronic wasting disease, a fatal illness, is confirmed in a wild Vermont whitetail deer. To keep the disease from spreading, teams of shooters kill most of the deer in a 300-square-mile area around the sick animal.

Or the Asian longhorned beetle is found in a Green Mountain woodlot. At best, hundreds or thousands of trees are cut down to eradicate the bug. At worst, the state’s maple-dominated forests are in deep peril.

Page points out that Massachusetts has already spent more than $60 million to eradicate Asian beetles.  And she notes that huge policy questions remain as biologists wrestle with the question of how (or if) to fight these invaders.

And just when you thought the list of invaders couldn’t get any more obnoxious, we now have wild hogs pushing into the Empire state.   This from YNN in Syracuse.

“Very smart. Can be very elusive,” said Paul Curtis, Wildlife Specialist at Cornell University.

They’re strong.

“They’ve got four inch razor-sharp tusks,” Curtis said. “They can be very aggressive and knock a person down and gore them.”

And I thought zebra mussels were bad…

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What is it about Plattsburgh and (no) respect?

April 4th, 2011 by Brian Mann

Last winter, Saturday Night Live singled out the city of Plattsburgh in a skit about then-Governor David Paterson.

“Well, I’m going to do a farewell tour of upstate New York, hell-holes like Plattsburgh,” declared the actor portraying Paterson.

“I’m going to go speak at their town halls or whatever abandoned Shoney’s they huddle in. I’m going to give those rock eater something to cheer about.   Those freaks love me up there.”

Ouch. Speedy Arnold down in Keesville was so irritated, that he made a song about it, going so far as to call Derek Jeter a “rock eater.”

And now, in a column in the New York Daily News, writer Kevin Williamson singles out Plattsburgh as one of New York state’s “nowhereville places.”

As in the case of SNL’s barb, Plattsburgh is sort of an innocent bystander in Williamson’s argument.

He is trying to make a point about New York City faring poorly in the state budget, compared with other communities.

But why the heck do people keep singling out Plattsburgh for this kind of slam?

North Country folks know this is nonsense.

Plattsburgh is a fascinating community, with a rich history, a cool location at the pivot point between Lake Champlain and Quebec, and an increasingly vibrant economy.

Unlike some parts of Upstate New York, the city is actually growing, having rebounded from closure of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base.

I don’t want to sound defensive by protesting too much, but really, what’s the deal?

If downstaters really feel the need to pick on an Upstate community, they should sling mud at someone else next time.

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Crown Point bridge underway

March 20th, 2011 by David Sommerstein

This week we’re looking at New York’s infrastructure in a series called State of Disrepair. Today Brian and I (David) and our families are crossing Lake Champlain on the temporary ferry. Later this week Brian will report on the new bridge’s progress (pictured).

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This time, the North Country really is Amazing

March 3rd, 2011 by Brian Mann

If you’re not a college hoops fan, you may not know that the biggest name in the game this year is from Glens Falls.

Jimmer Fredette, the senior guard playing at Brigham Young University, is dominating the game, throwing down thirty- and forty-point games.

Making the story even more remarkable, the soundtrack to Jimmer’s break-out year was produced by his older brother TJ, a talented rapper whose song Amazing has become an anthem for BYU fans.

Here’s the video, complete with home video clips from the Fredettes’ childhood in Glens Falls.

Jimmer and TJ Fredette \”Amazing\”

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Morning Read: Laurentian deal moves forward

March 1st, 2011 by Brian Mann

Officials with Laurentian Aerospace are expected to announce later this morning that they’ve taken another step toward securing the financing they need to begin construction of a massive airliner maintenance facility in Plattsburgh.

This from the Plattsburgh Press-Republican.

Laurentian Aerospace Chief Financial Officer Andrew Edwards said most of the company’s Board of Directors will attend the press conference, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the North Country Chamber of Commerce.

“This is good news,” he said Monday.

Last month, Clinton County’s IDA approved a plan to issue $122 million in tax-exempt bonds to help finance the project.

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Big new resort proposed for Westport on Lake Champlain

February 16th, 2011 by Brian Mann

The Valley News is reporting that a Westchester County businessman wants to build a new farm-centered resort in the town of Westport, on property now owned by former state Republican Party chairman Sandy Treadwell.

[David] Mann described the proposed project, which he calls Rolling Hills Farm, as a private club centered around “a full-scale working farm,” a retreat where members could leave behind their cell phones and laptops and immerse themselves in the simplicity of an earlier era.

Cars would be parked in an underground parking area at the entrance, and members would walk or use solar-powered carts inside the property.

Local officials praised the proposal, though it will require a state environmental review and changes to local zoning rules.

The Valley News has a preliminary design for how the 1,000-acre resort would be laid out.

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New development planned for Treadwell property in Essex County?

January 25th, 2011 by Brian Mann

Former state Republican chair Sandy Treadwell left the North Country after losing the 2008 congressional race to Kirsten Gillibrand.

His “several hundred acres of land” in Westport have been on the market for more than a year.

Now the Valley News is reporting that someone may have big plans for the land.  The article by Keith Lobdell notes that the town has contracted with an attorney to handle planning and zoning issues for the property.

Town supervisor Dan Connell told the paper that the project — he declined to disclose details –would be beneficial for the town as a whole.

“I believe that this would be a fantastic project for the town of Westport,” Connell said. “We are working with them through normal channels to make it so we can hopefully help this sale go through.”

Read the full article here.

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Morning Read: EPA rejects Lake Champlain clean-up plan

January 25th, 2011 by Brian Mann

The Burlington Free Press is reporting this morning that the Federal EPA wants a fresh look at plans to cut phosphorous pollution pouring into Lake Champlain.

The decision was announced on Monday.   This from the Free Press.

Phosphorus, which feeds noxious weed and algae growth, is considered the lake’s primary pollutant. Despite nine years of work and $100 million in spending, there has been no significant decrease in phosphorus anywhere in Lake Champlain since adoption of the plan.

But the decision Monday by EPA Region 1 Administrator Curt Spalding was not based on the lack of measurable improvement. Instead, he found that the 2002 plan was inadequate when it was written and — despite EPA approval that year — failed to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.

According to the Free Press, the EPA will now rewrite the plan, adopting some provisions of the plan created by Vermont.

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