For Immediate Release: September 6, 2001
Contact:
Victoria Hristovski | Director Public Information | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
RAY BROOK - The Adirondack Park Agency will conduct its monthly meeting on September 13 and 14, splitting the locations between the APA headquarters in Ray Brook on Thursday, Sept. 13, and the Visitors Interpretive Center (VIC) at Paul Smith’s on Friday, Sept. 14.
This month’s meeting will include an update and discussion of proposed revisions to the Agency’s Rules and Regulations and definitions; an "in-the-field" presentation and discussion of the permit application and the project review process; and the opening of the Boreal Life Trail at the Paul Smith’s VIC.
On Thursday, Sept. 13, Agency members will recognize Justin Taylor, Superintendent of Camp Gabriels, New York State Department of Correctional Services, with a Certificate of Appreciation for the inmate-work study program at the Agency. Agency members will also recognize two APA staff members, John Barge and Sunita Halasz, with Certificates of Appreciation for their work on the Agency’s CD Mapping Project.
During the Regulatory Programs Committee, beginning at approximately 9:20 a.m., Committee members will review two new projects: a structure setback variance for a single-family dwelling in Elizabethtown, Essex County, and an attachment of digital wireless communication antennae to an existing municipal water tank owned by the Town of Queensbury Water District.
During the Legal Affairs Committee, beginning at 10:20 a.m., staff will discuss procedural matters regarding parts 2 (Regulatory definitions) and 3 (Enforcement) of the proposed regulatory revisions. The issues of the discussion are proposed public hearing locations and meeting plans with technical advisors.
At 1 p.m. on Thursday, Local Government Services Committee will meet and discuss the Town of Essex’s planning program. Staff members Ed Snizek, Brian Grisi and George Outcalt will report on a workshop in Inlet, Hamilton County, and Chesterfield, Essex County, respectively. In addition, the Committee will consider program amendments submitted by the Town of Bolton.
An "in-the-field" presentation on the permit application process will begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday during the Ecology/Interpretive Programs Committee meeting. The meeting will begin in the Large Conference Room at APA headquarters, and end with a site visit where Agency members, staff and members of the public will review the process and substance of project review beginning with an inquiry to the jurisdictional office and finishing with a look at site conditions such as slope, wetlands, soil conditions, driveway access, etc. in the field.
On Friday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Paul Smith’s Visitors Interpretive Center, Agency members will meet for the Ecology/Interpretive Programs Committee which will be followed up by a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the Boreal Life Trail. The new trail is a 1.1-mile interpretive trail that winds through mixed second-growth and mature conifer forests, a coniferous wetland and a peatland. Once the trail passes Barnum Pond’s southeast shore, it turns southwest to a 1,600-foot boardwalk, where tamarack and black spruce trees shoot out of the cotton grass. It was designed to teach Adirondack Park visitors and residents about the plants and animals of the boreal forest. An interpretive leaflet, written and illustrated by former VIC naturalist Mike Storey and funded by the Adirondack Park Institute, are available at the VIC’s front desk -- on loan for free or on sale for 25 cents.
The next Agency meeting will be held October 11-12, 2001 at the Adirondack Park Agency headquarters in Ray Brook.