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Saturday,ÊD ecemberÊ3,Ê2016

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In News | pg. 7

ECH expansion nearly complete Administration: inpatient care to improve

www.SunCommunityNews.com

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In opinion | pg. 4

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In SportS | pg. 11

Overtime law Our 2016 dead in the water All-Valley Team and it’s a good thing, too

is unveiled in this edition

Essex County Chairman Ferebee signs off Randy Preston tapped as new leader of county supers; Shaun Gillilland to serve as deputy By Pete DeMola

pete@suncommunitynews.com

ELIZABETHTOWN — Essex County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Ferebee formally resigned on Monday after 17 months of leading the county’s legislative body. Ferebee stepped down to take a job with the state Environmental Facilities Corporation, where he has been tapped as a community assistance liaison working out of the agency’s

Warrensburg office. “I believe we’re moving in the right direction for the future success of Essex County,” Ferebee said. Ferebee, who also resigned as Keene supervisor, said he was proud of his record of public service, and looked forward to continuing to work with local officials to navigate funding for clean water projects. The lawmaker’s colleagues hailed Ferebee as a “tireless advocate” for Essex County at the local, state and federal levels, citing his efforts to help the region recover following Hurricane Irene in 2011. “They surprisingly know who Essex County is in Albany

The steep, direct route dates to the 1850s, but forest rangers began keeping watch almost 100 years ago as the Fire Tower will celebrate centennial in 2017

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>> See Ferebee | pg. 9

Snowmobilers mobilize at Boreas hearing

RangerÊ Trail ResurgenceÊ CHESTERFIELD — With one, possibly two, seasons left of construction work, Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine are resurrecting the Ranger Trail up this popular Adirondack peak. It was the straight, steep path taken by forest rangers when the fire tower was first built in 1917. Kim Dedam Poke-O-Moonshine friends spokesWriter man David Thomas-Train said they have accounts of access along the trail that date to the mid 19th century. “It basically is the only walkable route up the east side of the mountain,” Thomas-Train said in an interview. “We have an account of an abolitionist headed to Plattsburgh in the 1850s for an abolitionist meeting. His notes have lots of flowery language about the view from the top. “I don’t know exactly when it became a state hiking trail. The Fire Tower was built in 1917. We are coming on the centennial of its construction,” Thomas-Train said. The steep and direct routes were functional, intended for

because of (former Chairman Randy) Douglas and him,” said Randy Preston (I-Wilmington). Preston recalled an anecdote from a function in Albany when Ferebee sent a governor’s aide a text message about funding for the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway. That text landed an immediate powwow with the governor, Preston recalled. “Ten days later, there was $12 million,” he said. Ferebee thanked his colleagues and county personnel and said there was never a day when he didn’t enjoy coming to work.

The Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine are working on a new route up the mountain that resurrects a trail once used by forest rangers accessing the fire tower at the top, pictured here. Photo by Joanne Kennedy/Friends of Poke-O-Moonshine

ready and hurried access by forest fire rangers. “On Fire Tower mountains, the requirement was to be able to get up the mountain fast. So most had a short, straight, steep trail to the tower. There was no trail design, it was just get up the mountain. This one does happen to be the only route you could walk the entire way, around the rock outcroppings, and it goes up 1,200 feet in 1.2 miles. That tells you how steep it is.” Initially, the state Department of Environmental Conservation had looked to close this east flank Ranger’s Trail, Thomas-Train said. But the Poke-O Friends started their preservation and fundraising effort three years ago So far, crews have spent 15 weeks in total on reconstruction, which will offer a second hiking passage up Poke-O>> See RANGER TRAIL | pg. 9

Access to newly-acquired state lands critical to jumpstarting local economies, say local biz, sportsmen groups at Schroon Lake hearing By Pete DeMola

pete@suncommunitynews.com

SCHROON LAKE — Plaid outweighed green last week at Schroon Lake Central as the Adirondack Park Agency hosted the latest public hearing as part of the classification process for Boreas Ponds, the newly acquired parcel of state land located in the central Adirondacks. Local sporting groups, snowmobilers and business leaders said it is critical to allow as much recreational use as possible on the tract in order to accommodate aging sportsmen and to facilitate recreation that will aid the local economy. Many speakers endorsed Alternative 1, which cleaves the parcel in two, allowing a split between Wild Forest and Wilderness. Three other Adirondack Park Agency proposed alternatives >> See BOREAS HEARING | pg. 10


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