web site about all the hydro dams and power in NY

Just doing research on my fave power supplier NYRI and and noticed another company that is supremely big in NY. It is a Brazilian/Canadian company from toronto (go figure who really owns this?) BRASCAN -- short for Brasil/canada (do they both speak Portuguese?)

Their website is so revealing that I can figure where there control center is for their dams. I might apply for a job as it is not so far from my home town. Do you folks need a systems administrator? I can work for food and rent. What else would I work for?

I just want to know -- are any of the investors from this Company involved in the NYRI powerline thingie?

nyri powerlines

I am not sure just what I am blabbing about. I am a bit confused about the news lately. I read from NYCO that the NIETC designation includes (my backyard) as one of the two high transmission lines for New York City.

I can't really find this in the news for sure.

For sure -- I can't really understand what is going on.


What are we going to do? Is the world screwing around with me because I go on vacation for a week or so?


Something is messed up. My guess is that is not me.

I have been in the Adirondacks and I see powerlines and I see dams. I see hydoelectic dams. I see canadian names on these dams. I see NYRI. I see Toronto. I see Brookfield. I see Brascam.




I see that my backyard is now designated an NIETC.

And what does that mean? Binghamton folks and Chenango Bridge people in particular -- how much do you want to fight and how much are you willing to move.

I am thinking of moving myself. I am afraid the Southern Tier looks pretty uninviting between the floods and the powerlines.

I suspect that is just want NYRI wants us to do -- just move please!!!!


NYRI -- move before we force you all to relocate.


The smartest will just want to get out of Bingo land as quickly as we can. Do we want to live in NIETC designation property?


I personnally think we are losers in the Southern Tier.


Get out.

Here is why:

the source


http://www.oe.energy.gov/DocumentsandMedia/Executive_Summary-Print.pdf

do your homework adirondack council

I just wrote an email to the adirondack council. Email is not dependable -- they do not even have any real email addresses on their website. Must be the administrative staff wants to be anonymous on their web site.

I read this quote in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise out of Saranac Lake and I am extremely disappointed in your organization. Brian Houseal is the Executive Director of the Adirondack Council.

"What happened today was good, Houseal told the Enterprise. He said its significant that the planning board has recommended that rezoning be tied to the APAs review of the project, ensuring that environmental impacts will be thoroughly studied. Houseal also said he's pleased to hear that the developers are negotiating over preserving more open space."

Mr Foxman is talking about selling a piece of 6000 acres to the Open Space folks. The Adirondack council is giving him a pat on the back for making this gesture. Instead of fighting the proposal, it appears the Council is coming to believe they have to give alot of land up for development to keep some preserved. Think about this as a strategy as it is a loser's method of compromising. Give alot away and save a little. The philosophy leads to a developed Adirondacks with some open space preserved for recreation purposes only.

Let me clue you in -- the entire 6,000 acres was offered to be state land years ago when it was first on the market. The DEC went to the Town and asked if it would be ok if the state acquired the entire property being sold by the Oval Wood Dish company. The state assured the town that payments in lieu of taxes would be made to the local governments so that no money would be lost. The town said they wanted no more state land in tupper lake. They wanted private development. They have enough state land.

This was reported in the Tupper Lake Free press. I can't quote the date -- I would have to go over to the Free Press Office and see if they still have this edition of the paper. Possibly the local library has it. The town records must show this in their town meeting. I have never seen this mentioned recently in the debate. Maybe it stings when people remember what could have been.

If the Adirondack Council is really "making nice" with the town and Mr. Foxman, please rethink your position. Take a look at what you are giving away here. Take a look at the precedent it is setting for other towns and other development in the works. If there are 10 more of these developments next year -- let's say 30,000 acres and they want to set aside 10,000 acreas as open space -- is this a triumph or a disaster for the Adirondacks?

another staggering development to watch 400,000 acres of wilderness in Maine

The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations are watching this precedent setting development plan in Moosehead Lake, Maine.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of land that is deemed empty by real estate developers is on the chopping block. One of the many recent articles can be found in a Maine publication .

Here is a quote from another web page. Subsitute Tupper Lake for Plum Creek and this will work for NY, too.

the Moosehead Lake region is a beautiful place. We wish to keep it unspoiled and wild and to keep it as much as we can the way it was when the white man first saw it. That is the way it should be kept. I once spoke to a young lady who was visiting there from Ireland. She spoke about how beautiful the area was and said that it reminded her of Galway Bay. We also want the North Woods to be the North Woods way it is. Plum Creek would or will destroy all of this. It will be gone forever. Moosehead Lake area will be gone from the way it is now. This will mostly benefit Plum Creek. Also I am from Piscataquis County. – Keith Church, Winslow

PUD/PDD for developing 6,000 acres in tupper lake -- all in Mr. Foxman's favor? where is the protection for Tupper Lake?

The definitions of PDD (Planned Developtment District) which is often called PUD:

Planned Unit Development (PUD) - A zoning designation for property developed at the same or slightly greater overall density than conventional development, sometimes with improvements clustered between open, common areas. Uses may be residential, commercial or industrial. The common property is owned and maintained by a homeowners' association for the benefit and use of the individual PUD unit owners.


I have to make some comments about proceedings. One comment is about the PDD (Planned Development District) the Tupper Lake is putting out. I heard that these plans actually protect the land as they provide a stricter zoning code -- but this comes from the folks that want to do the economic development. I am not clear on if they are better for the environment. The towns generally think a PDD is better for their own planning.

So, why is a PDD to be valid for 48 months? According to what I am reading from other towns, the PDD is up for annual review. If the developer has not made any progress, the PDD can be taken back -- rescinded. I see no mention of this in the paper. I have not gone to the meetings and do not know if this has been talked about.

48 months is a long time. I could buy and sell alot of properties in 48 months if I had a few million like Foxman. This is a long investment for Tupper Lake to make. I am not certain why they would want to commit to this deal for 4 years. If the ski lift does not open in two years, do you want to continue to offer Foxman this deal? Shouldn't you review this in mind of when Mt. Morris is reopened? Or do you want him to be allowed to build all his homes first?


Also, I have not read anymore about some of the very good comments made by Mr. Jack Delahanty: (quoted from http://www.wnbz.com/April%202006/042006.htm)

*********
Local attorney Jack Delehanty also spoke during the hearing, praising Storrin and the planning board for their efforts in creating the planned development district.

He also praised the draft amendment, but offered a suggestion. One section of the proposal requires a potential developer to state what their district would offer to the town, village, and community at large.

Delehanty said that portion might be too vague and susceptible to legal interpretation. He recommended the developer be required to give information on what the district would offer the community in terms of open space preservation, public trails and amenities, and affordable housing.

****************

Good comments -- but I see no open space promises from Foxman. He says he is discussing this with the Open Space folks. No legal language to protect Tupper Lake -- just discussion.

And there does not seem to be any legal language on opening the ski lift?

I do not see any of this reported? Is there anything binding Mr. Foxman to opening the ski lift?

Hello Tupper Lakers! Isn't the ski lift of utmost importance?




***************************************
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=3664
Resort deal reached

By JACOB RESNECK, Enterprise Staff Writer


TUPPER LAKE — Following the advice of its consultants, the Tupper Lake Planning Board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend rezoning — with conditions — about 6,400 acres of land for the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort.

The Hudson Group, consultants retained by the town of Tupper Lake, initially advised against rezoning. But at Thursday’s meeting, held at in the town offices, Ron Miller of the Hudson Group told the planning board that his team had met Wednesday with the developers’ consultants and had drawn up a list of conditions both sides could agree on. If added as conditions to the rezoning, Miller said, he could recommend that the town rezone the nine parcels into a single Planned Development District.

The planning board agreed and added the following recommendations:

¯Rezoning the property is now contingent to the granting of a permit by the state Adirondack Park Agency.

¯The developers will rework the fiscal impact analysis information of the project’s effects on the Tupper Lake community.

¯The developers will provide updated information regarding a proposed private wastewater treatment facility.

Lead developer Michael Foxman said he was very pleased with the planning board’s recommendation and is eager to move forward.

“If we’re going to open a ski area for the ’07-’08 season — we’ve already missed out on the ’06-’07 season — we’re going to need the approvals to get the work done,” Foxman told reporters.

Planning board Chairman Jim Larkin said it is important people understand that rezoning the land doesn’t mean the town has completely signed off on the project; a full review before the planning board and town board will still need to be completed.

“It comes back to the planning board (as a formal application), and (then) we’ll go through all of the nuts and bolts of the project,” Larkin said.

After the meeting, Miller told the Enterprise that he agrees with that assessment.

“In my view, the rezoning doesn’t change the oversight of the town board,” he said.

In the planning board’s recommendation, which will now go to the town board for a pubic hearing, it stated that the developer will have 48 months to begin the project or else the parcels will revert to their original zoning.

The project also needs APA approval. Park agency officials in Ray Brook say they are waiting for an updated filing by the developer after rejecting the past two applications as “incomplete.” Foxman said Thursday that an updated filing is weeks away.

The proposed resort would include reopening the Big Tupper Ski Area, closed since 1999, and constructing hundreds of second homes around Mount Morris and on adjacent OWD Trust forestland. The project is widely supported for boosting the local economy, though critics have complained of its scale and potential negative impacts.

Sometimes described by town officials as a “moving target,” the proposal has gone through several significant changes. Until this week, Foxman had sought to finance infrastructure upgrades through town bonds that would be paid back by residents of his development. That’s now off the table, Foxman said.

“We do not plan to have any municipal financing whatsoever,” Foxman told the Enterprise.

Earlier this week, Foxman also announced that he’s negotiating with the nonprofit Open Space Institute over the future of acreage on the northeast side of the project along the Raquette River and Moody Pond area. Foxman offered no details at the meeting, noting that nothing of substance had been agreed.

“It’s just a discussion at this point,” Foxman said.

Several representatives of environmental groups attended the meeting. Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian Houseal said he was pleased with recent developments.

“What happened today was good,” Houseal told the Enterprise. He said it’s significant that the planning board has recommended that rezoning be tied to the APA’s review of the project, ensuring that environmental impacts will be thoroughly studied.

Houseal also said he’s pleased to hear that the developers are negotiating over preserving more open space.

“Now that Preserve Associates are negotiating with OSI,” Houseal said, “it’s a positive step towards protecting the backcountry.”

Tupper Lake Supervisor Roger Amell, who was present along with the full town board, said his board will set a public hearing over whether to adopt the rezoning at Monday’s regular board meeting.

“It’s going to take time,” Amell said of the regulatory process, “we’re not going to rush it.”

happy birthday bill frenette

I have many favorite people in Tupper Lake -- should I list them all? I probably should. But today I want to say happy birthday to one of them -- Bill Frenette, Racquette River (or Raquette -- let's get Bill to fix the spelling) Drive, Tupper Lake, NY.

Happy Birthday Bill. I see your picture almost everywhere -- you have been featured as a historical expert on the Adirondacks by the Tupper Lake Press.

But most importantly, we all know you work behind the scenes to advocate the Adirondacks for people like me. I am just the everyday New Yorker -- not rich, not extremely talented -- just in love with the Adirondacks. I can't wait for my visits to the Adirondacks in the fall, winter, spring and summer. Thanks Bill, for keeping the place available for me to visit and still beautful.

The residents benefit from your efforts. You do not promote the Adirondacks for an exclusive few. You help family. residents, and folks like me.




Thanks

tupper lake rescues a dog

I was shopping in Tupper Lake and looked out the store window to observe an old pickup truck pumping his brakes as he shimmied to a stop. I said " must be an accident out front". My husband is never one to miss a small town event, and he wandered out the door. A white dog is the cause of the brakes. The pit bull dog female is lost. My husband grabs the dog and brings it to the store. The two store keepers are thrilled to help rescue the dog. They do not want it to to be hurt in the street and they want to return it to the rightful owners. One of them says "Let's call the Tupper Lake Dog Pound Rescue". Myself and the second storekeeper say "No -- they only keep the dogs 5 days and then put them to sleep!".

So, the dog is leashed by these two friendly storekeepers. They will wait until the residents on the street come home from work (5 pm or so) and then canvass the neighbors for the owners. If no result, they will call the Saranac Lake Dog Shelter (ASPCA) for help.

So, Tupper Lake, your dogs will be rescued because the people of Tupper Lake will take care of it themselves -- as they always have.

NY will be getting new NIETC designation ? Looks like I will have to get my house on the market quickly

My house is about 60 feet from the new transmission lines. Ithaca -- here I come. I will happily accept some windmills and a toyota prious !

From NY Times

August 9, 2006
U.S. Lists Places Where It Could Force New Power Lines

By MATTHEW L. WALD
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 — The Energy Department took the first step on Tuesday toward designating parts of the nation’s electric grid as “critical congestion” areas, which could force New York, New Jersey and other states to allow construction of new power lines that they do not want.

The department published a nationwide study listing places where transmission bottlenecks prevent power generation by distant plants with lower costs, and instead require the use of closer, more costly equipment.

These areas include the lower Hudson Valley in New York, where a company based in Albany wants to build a line from Utica to Orange County. Also included are the power-line corridors that link New Jersey to the west and south, and the Delaware River path, connecting Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia to northern New Jersey. More broadly, the report mentions the Northeast corridor between New York City and Washington, and Southern California.

“If appropriate, I am empowered by the Energy Policy Act to designate certain corridors as national corridors,’’ said Samuel W. Bodman, the energy secretary.

If he did so, under law, the state or states involved would have a year to approve a power company’s request for a new line or changes in an existing one. If it did not, the company that wanted to build the line could apply to an independent agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which could itself authorize construction, overriding the state.

The department asked for public comment by Oct. 10, after which it plans to decide whether to intervene. Mr. Bodman said he hoped to decide by the end of the year whether to designate any corridors. The new system that lets the federal government override the states was part of the Energy Policy Act, signed by President Bush on Aug. 8, 2005. Kevin Kolevar, the director of the Energy Department Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, said the congestion report would be updated annually.

The congestion results in part from the restructuring of the electric industry in the last few years.

Formerly, the grid was adequate because an integrated utility would build a power plant and the lines necessary to connect the plant to its customers. The power companies had a profit motive for building the lines, and generally had the expertise to do so, along with the argument that it was needed to keep the lights on.

Now, companies that serve customers buy their power from other companies that own power plants, in transactions managed by independent system operators. As transactions occur over longer distances, the buyers and sellers often find that the transmission is not available. And the responsibility for building lines has become less clear.




Some engineers say that the breakup of the old integrated utilities has reduced the reliability of the system and played a role in the biggest blackout in North American history, in August 2003. The question has not been studied by the government, and Mr. Kolevar said on Tuesday that he did not know when it would be.

Mr. Bodman said the problem was not restructuring, but simple lack of investment in the transmission system.

Lack of power lines will eventually affect reliability, according to the report issued on Tuesday. And new lines will be needed around the country if new wind farms and coal plants are built, it said.

The report also quoted an estimate by P J M Interconnection, which manages power flows in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio and Illinois, that congestion had cost electricity users more than $1.3 billion over the past three years.

It did not include a similar estimate for New York, but noted, “New Yorkers would benefit from improved access to low-cost power.’’ The state is dependent on oil and gas for about 35 percent of power production, which is half again as large as the national average.

china and new york have something in common

China used to send alot of their children to great NY schools. I am sure they still do. The State University of NY and the City Colleges in NYC offer great opportunity for all -- just a short residency required. The problem used to be -- what does the overeducated Chinese student do when they complete their education? At the time, there was no place for a chinese student to get a job in China (let's say for an example) business administration. The chinese students then would try to stay here in this country. Many already had family ties here. Not sure how many left and how many stay. Many are uncounted as they are not citizens.

I am talkng about the 1980 and 1990s in the above. Let's move forward to the year 2000 and above.

NY sends alot of their children to great NY schools. The State University of NY and the City Colleges in NYC offer great opportunity to all. The problem is-- what does the overeducated American student do when they complete their education? There is no place for the NY student to get a job in NY (let's say for example business administration, teaching, computer work, manufacturing of any kind) The NY students then will try to stay here in this state as they have family ties. However, most leave. Not sure how many leave and stay as no one keeps track of where our residents move.

windwills can look as bad a powerlines in adobe photoshop

Let's all use adobe photoshop to see what should be in future horror movies or our backyards.

NYRI or green power. Please give me a break from all the images using nothing but imagination.

Let's all deal with facts -- wind or DC transmission lines -- these images are just plain unbelievable.

NYRI wants to build DC transmission lines - one of the routes is 60 or so feet from my foundation. Maybe I should ask for wind power? No, I don't think I want any tower there -- I already put up with the RR tracks that were supposed to be transformed into a Rail Trail (according to my home builder)


Please, can we start having real pictures? But I will no longer recognize a real picture as I will now doubt every photograph.

little forests

Saturday, August 5th was a busy day at the Wild Museum in Tupper Lake. Many visitors went and walked the trails and exhibit hall. At 11 am there was a slide presentation on mosses (little forests) and at 1 pm there was a walk to see the real thing in the Adirondacks. The museum is a mixture of disturbed land (from building), an abandoned farm, and forest along the river oxbow with marshes. Many different types of mosses are available to study and touch. You must look closely to observe.


Robin Kimmerer, an biological ecologist from SUNY Environmental and Forestry School presented the information, her life's work and research. She has written a book, Gathering Moss which contains many of her ideas, which she presented yesterday with much enthusiasm

My daughter is doing a research project next year with Dr. Kimmerer. I have been hearing alot about mosses and research from her.

I came away from yesterday's lecture and walk with new appreciation for the little forests. I will be making a trip to EMS in Lake Placid very soon for an appropriate magnifying lense to observe the mosses and small creatures living in their world.

best weather for spiedie fest

Hot and muggy with thunderstorms is the usual for August and the Broome County Spiedie Fest. Finally a year with weather good for balloon launching has returned.

The picture is from the Press and Sun Bulletin. I needed something beautiful to dress up this post and was unable to participate in the Fest this year.