By Gwendolyn Craig
Editor’s note: The Adirondack Park Agency will not meet on Friday, staff said during the board’s Thursday meeting. The enforcement committee case originally slated for Friday has been postponed.
When the Adirondack Park Agency meets this week, National Grid project upgrading hundreds of utility poles in Washington and Essex counties and enforcement cases involving Hamilton County properties will be parts of the two-day event.
The board will meet remotely at 1 p.m. on Thursday before splitting off into committee meetings at 1:30 p.m. The full APA board is expected to reconvene at 4:15 p.m.
Then on Friday at 10:15 a.m., the APA will hear an enforcement case.
For instructions on accessing the meeting, go to apa.ny.gov/Mailing/2020/10/FullAgency/AgencyMonthlyAgendaPublicOct2020-sas3.pdf. Public comments should be submitted to agencymeeting.publiccomment@apa.ny.gov.
National Grid rebuild
The APA’s Regulatory Programs Committee will hear about National Grid’s proposal to rebuild two segments of transmission line, according to agenda documents. The infrastructure updates will replace 1930s-era lines, including about “400 utility poles ranging from 39 feet to 133 feet above grade,” according to an APA permit draft.
The project work will take place in the Towns of Moriah, Crown Point, Ticonderoga, Putnam and Dresden.
The APA permit up for approval involves tower structures greater than 40 feet. The draft permit shows 191 existing wooden utility poles between 39 and 66 feet will be replaced or refurbished.
The committee and full board are expected to vote on the permit Thursday.
Hemlock woolly adelgid
The Regulatory Programs Committee may also discuss an application to treat the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid infestation found on the eastern shores of Lake George with pesticides.
A camper reported sick hemlock trees at the Glen Island Campground. State Department of Environmental Conservation staff and partner organizations have found the invasive insect is impacting about 250 acres in Dresden and Fort Ann. It is a particularly concerning outbreak because the Lake George watershed is made up of about 80% hemlock trees.
“The management of terrestrial invasive species in or impacting a wetland in the Adirondack Park is a regulated activity requiring a permit from the Agency because it adversely affects certain wetland functions,” according to the general permit.
The APA board may also adopt a resolution that would allow for the pesticide application throughout the park. Surveys are ongoing to see if the hemlock woolly adelgid has spread beyond the identified 250 acres.
Hamilton County enforcement cases
The APA’s enforcement committee will hold proceedings against Long Lake property owners for alleged improper expansion of a pre-existing commercial use structure. It will take place at 10:15 a.m. on Friday.
APA staff issued owners of Another Paradise Cove in Long Lake a notice of violation for a shoreline structure setback in 2019, records show. Depending on the results of the enforcement case, respondents George and Austin Carrothers may be required to remove a deck and pay a fine “of up to the statutory maximum of $500 per day for each day the violation has continued in an amount to be determined by the Enforcement Committee.”
Records show the APA is also considering an enforcement case in the Town of Wells on the shoreline of Lake Algonquin. Respondents Joseph Cotazino Jr. and Joy Cotazino built a single-family home with a deck attached to the shoreline, which APA staff have said required a variance.
APA staff are recommending that the Cotazinos be ordered to remove their deck. They may also have to pay a fine.
Friday’s enforcement committee agenda does not include proceedings against the Cotazinos.
Leave a Reply