LLC
ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS
• HEATING FUEL • KEROSENE • LP GAS
PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron
214164
CROWN POINT, NEW YORK • (518) 597-3444 • WILL DEYO - FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED
Published By Denton Publications Inc.
DIRECTLY MAILED TO OVER
71,354
MYCAPTURE PHOTO GALLERIES
See photos from all the game action last weekend.
HOMES EVERY WEEK! Valley News
April 20, 2019
suncommunitynews.com
• EDITION •
A gavel for longtime school official
Proposed AVCS budget under 2.69 percent tax levy cap School facing
Hand-carved gift honors Alice LaRock’s dedication to Westport Central School
13%
health-care insurance hike By Kim Dedam STA FF W RITER
By Kim Dedam STA FF W RITER
Westport Central School Board of Education will complete their tenure this year, in August, wrapping up final business decisions as the district merges with Elizabethtown and Lewis to create a new school program. Back, left to right, Dr. Suzanne Russell, Jason Welch; in front, from left are Jim Carroll, Alice LaRock and Tom Kohler.
WESTPORT | As the last few meetings of Westport Central School’s Board of Education approach, President Alice LaRock brought a gavel down, for the first time. It was something she hasn’t done in nearly 20 years on the board, where she has served as president since 2004. Hand-carved and polished by board member Tom Kohler, this gavel was a parting gift to honor LaRock for many decades of service to the board plus the 47 years she worked as school secretary, a job she started Sept. 4, 1951. Kohler made the gavel from a large, old sugar maple tree that blew down in his yard during Tropical Storm Irene. He presented it with just a few words last week. “I feel very honored,” LaRock said as the meeting got underway. “I hope I’ve done a good job. I appreciate this more than you’ll ever know.” » Gavel Cont. on pg. 2
CLINTONVILLE | The proposed 2019-20 school budget for AuSable Valley Central School (AVCS) is below the tax levy cap allowance. Projected at $14,168,500, the total tax levy — revenue raised by property taxes — represents a 2.62 percent increase from current spending. The levy cap was set by the state at 2.69 percent. School Superintendent Paul Savage said that at $33,860,944, the total proposed budget is up 2.37 percent. The largest cost increase came with a 13 percent hike in health care insurance, he said. Coupled with a reduction in state aid, budget planning proved challenging this year. “The cost of health care to the district is up over $1,000,000,” Savage said of the health care coverage purchased through the Cooperative Health Insurance Plan, coordinated through Champlain Valley Educational Services (CVES) across 17 school districts.
RETIRING :TIRINGPERSONNEL PERSO
To below the the tax cap, Savage fo stay stay below said, district is d, the the district is not • planning to replace ve teaching •lace fi five teachin~ personnel who are retiring year. ; ring this thi s yea 1 The school will will also alsc apply $680,000 of fund balance to" the th< budget, leaving about $500,000 in reserve. “We are hoping to do better with a few final budget adjustments,” Savage said. But the School Board adopted the proposed spending plan last week. As for AVCS’s approximately $1 million share of the CVES capital project, Savage said the district will address the cost with a bond note next year. “We support the CVES Capital Project wholeheartedly,” he said. “But we were unable to fund it
this year. The BOCES project does not affect this year’s school budget. We will have to secure a bond note by June 2020 to begin payments in June 2021.” CVES budget numbers for the project suggest AVCS taxpayers would see an annual tax impact in a 15-year bond note of $13.43 per year for every $100,000 worth of real property value. But the bond can go out 30 years if the district opts to do so. Estimated tax rates in the proposed 2019-20 spending plan for AVCS would coup about 45 cents per thousand dollars of real property value. Savage estimates the tax rate would be $17.57 per thousand.
» Budget Cont. on pg. 3
•
Grange volunteers begin Drug take-back restoration at Whitcomb day set yset Ideas ready for launch in new makers’ bay spaces Renovation and repairs at Whitcomb’s Garage, a makers’ space purchased by Whallonsburg Grange Association, got well underway last week with a volunteer work crew of about 30 people. Various rooms were cleared of old equipment, swept and made ready for new drywall and paint. Repairs to secure the roof were completed along with removal of wet wood from the ceilings and walls.
SAFE ROOM
By Kim Dedam STA FF W RITER
WHALLONSBURG | A large work crew from the Whallonsburg Grange volunteer pool began renovating the Whitcomb Garage for use by area crafts persons as reclaimed maker space. The official renovation launch began on the first warm day of spring. And it ended with four
large workshop areas cleared of old wet drywall, floors rebuilt, swept and orderly with the roof secured. Whallonsburg Grange Association purchased the building in December intent to renovate for small-business start-ups. And all hands provided a big push forward.
An icon of the hamlet community in Essex, Whitcomb’s operated for decades as a car repair shop and used car sales lot. Many of the old gadgets, shelves, a bag of unused coal for an old potbellied coal stove and one huge Victor combination safe remain in place, marking both a sense of bustling business bygone days and promise for new industry.
» Grange Cont. on pg. 3
Willsboro Fire House rd 3 Annual Spring Show
Willsboro Fire House - 17 Farrell Rd. Willsboro, NY
April 27 , 2019 • 9am-2pm th
Vendors
Signature Home Style Thirty One Scentsy Mary Kay Rada Cutlery
Perfectly Posh Toccara Rodan and Fields Paparazzi And much more!!!
Crafters
Quilts Bird Feeders Homemade bears Homemade jewelry Aprons & table runners
Assorted at home necessities Chocolate Covered Pretzels Jams Marshmallow-Shooters and Much More! 214868
Essex: County County Sheriffff's ’s Offi ce Office to host ;t event event By Elizabeth Izzo Izzo STA FF W RITER
ELIZABETHTOWN ETHTOWNI | The Essex County ::::ount y SherSheriff ’s Office will l'ill host host aa local local drug take-back Jack day day next next Saturday. The biannual event, held in tandem with other law enforcement agencies nationwide as part of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Drug Take Back Day, is slated for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kinney Drugs on Court Street in Elizabethtown. Essex County Sheriff David Reynolds told The Sun that the event offers an opportunity for residents to remove unused medication from
their homes, eliminating the possibility of misuse. “In the past we’ve taken tons and tons of unwanted prescription medications off the street,” he said. According to a national survey on drug use, approximately 6 million people misused controlled prescription drugs in 2017, the latest year » Take-back Cont. on pg. 2
3609 Essex Road, Willsboro, NY • (518) 963-8612 • Fax: (518) 963-4583
APRIL 18 TH - APRIL 24 TH
MEAT SPECIALS
PRODUCE
Boneless Chicken Thighs ............................................ $1.99 lb. Brown Sugar Maple Breakfast Sausage .................. $2.99 lb. Extra Lean Cube Steaks................................................ $4.59 lb. Boneless Ribeye Steaks............................................. $10.79 lb. Bonless Pork Chops ...................................................... $2.19 lb.
Fresh Spring Mix ................................................. $3.49/gal. bag Fresh Limes ...................................................................... 2/$1.00 Lemons...............................................................................59¢ ea. Granny Smith Apples .......................................................59¢ ea.
FROM OUR DELI
Mozzarella Cheese .................................. $3.49 lb. In-Store Meatloaf ........................................$5.29 lb. HOURS: MON. - FRI. 6AM-8PM • SAT. 7AM-8PM • SUN. 7AM-7PM
214908