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Tupper Lake Press Tupper Lake Press and Tupper Lake Herald Tupper Lake Herald established 1895 Tupper Lake Free Press established 1931 Volume No. 120 Number 40 USPS 644-140 Tupper Lake, New York Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Home delivery price: $1.00 per copy Price: $.75 per copy Free The The by Dan McClelland The village’s new multimodal trail which now connects uptown and downtown neighborhoods and the Wild Center was officially opened by a collection of village and town officials at the western terminus of the trail near the train station. Among the 20 or more in attendance that day were Marcel and June Carrier of Star Lake, and originally from the Catskills. The Carriers said they first saw the trail corridor a number of years ago when they were snowmobiling on the Adirondack Railroad corridor and took a detour on old railroad spur to stay overnight at the Lakeview Motel. “We thought to ourselves wouldn’t it be nice if this was also a walking trail and we promised ourselves we’d return when it was,” Mr. Carriere told the Free Press a few moments before the ribbon-cutting. The trail has been nearly a decade in the making. It began as an idea, based on the need for more outdoor recreational opportunities and Tupper Lakers’ love of walking. The Tupper Lake Free Press endorsed the idea in an editorial and it was picked up by Senator Betty Little, who was able to furnish the village with a small grant to begin the planning in late 2006. It took more than another year for the state to sign off on the project and send the money. More grants followed New walking, biking, sledding trail officially opened Some of the local leaders on hand to cut the ceremonial plaid ribbon at Friday’s official opening ceremony of the new village multimodal trail were (from left): Trustee Leon LeBlanc, Trustee David “Haji” Maroun, Piercefield Town Supervisor Neil Pickering, Village Clerk Mary Casagrain, Mayor Paul Maroun, Trustee Rick Donah, Councilman John Quinn, Councilwoman Kathleen Lefebvre and Town Supervisor Patricia Littlefield. (McClelland photo) and the village was able to hire the engineering firm of Barton and Loguidice to prepare the design. There were several hiccups with the state Department of Transportation that slowed its development. That was alluded to in some brief remarks by Mayor Paul Maroun at the ribbon- cutting Friday at noon. “There were a lot of discussions with the DOT,” but they were eventually all settled after we had some meetings in Watertown, Mayor Maroun told the small crowd that day. There were also a number of complications involving the route which delayed the project. Village attempts to gain an easement along the Sunmount sewer line corridor which connects McLaughlin to Hosley ran into resistance from landowners. “There were problems with land owners along that right of way,” the mayor said that day. The village also considered using the transmission line right of way from McLaughlin behind the Ivy Terrace housing complex to connect to Hosley, but that also didn’t work out. It would have added an additional $200,000 in cost to the million-dollar trail. The original plan involved connecting the train station to the village park, with the terminus there coming out behind McDonald’s with a second leg from the Tupper Lake Civic Center across private land to Hosley, with an eventual connection to the Wild Center. With no access across the private land, the village opted for a sidewalk route from a section of the trail just west of McLaughlin and Pleasant Ave. The trail then follows a new sidewalk built this past summer along Pleasant Ave. to Boyer Ave. by the village DPW as part of some of the village’s in-kind contributions to the project. Two years ago the village built a new sidewalk up Boyer that is now part of the new trail. From Boyer Ave. the trail moves up a repaired sidewalk on Park Street. The trail improvements on Park involved replacement of various pieces of sidewalk all the way from Boyer Ave. to Hosley Ave. and the construction of new handicapped accessible curb cuts at each intersection along that mile-or-more long stretch on the north side of Park Street. From the intersection of Hosley and Park, the new route follows the widened shoulders on Hosley that were installed by Franklin County several years ago as part of improvements to the “four mile square” walking route here. The trail ends at the Wild Center. The contractor on the job was Fuller Construction of Keeseville. “This will be a happy, healthy trail” that many will enjoy in the years ahead, a smiling Paul Maroun said Friday. He invited everyone that day to use the trail to access the Wild Center on foot. The mayor said that the village will look to open other trail legs through private lands so users won’t have to use village sidewalks to reach the Wild Center in upcoming years. “But for now I’m hoping many will use our new trail!” He said he thought the new connection between uptown Tupper Lake and downtown Tupper Lake will be very important to the community from this year forward. For snowmobiling visitors, in particular, the trail represents a new and easy way to exit the main corridor and to reach motels and restaurants on Park Street, which has always been difficult for sledders to do here. “We’re happy today,” the mayor told the crowd as the plaid ribbon was cut. The lumberjack style plaid ribbon was selected, said Village Clerk Mary Casagrain, in observance of the town’s logging heritage and the celebration of “Spirit Day” at the Tupper Lake High School Friday. At each intersection of the trail, large posts and boulders have been placed in an effort to dissuade all terrain vehicle riders from using the trail and digging it up. It was noted that the posts in the center of the trail at various points will be removed before winter, so not to impede the snowmobile users. There are expected to be a number of other improvements to the trail in the spring, like benches and kiosks and such, which will be funded in large part by the village’s waterfront improvement grants, administered by Melissa McManus. Eighty percent of the cost of the 3.3-mile trail came to the village as grants from the federal traffic safety enhancement programs of recent years, which totaled $760,000. As part of those matching fund grants, however, the village’s 20% share represented about $152,000. That sum plus cost overruns of about $250,000 required the village to borrow $400,000 in recent months to pay for the balance of the cost of the new trail. About $50,000 of that money won’t be needed and the bond will be reduced, Mrs. Casagrain noted yesterday. Monday was a landmark-changing day in the Park Street business district when the Kubricky Construction company’s excavator operators demolished the old DiStefano Liquor Store, that was operated so amicably for decades here by the late Mary DiStefano. For years before that Mary and her husband operated a popular bar there. For many residents and visitors through town, a stop to see the always friendly Mary was imperative. The Wilton-based construction company won the bid to demolish the commercial property, which had a spacious apartment on the second floor where Mary lived for years, as part of the state road reconstruction project. The site will be temporary parking for Park Street shoppers and residents while the DOT project continues but is expected to be part of the campus of a new hotel complex planned by Betsy Lowe and her partners in the years ahead. Above and below, these photos by Pat Bedore show some of the drama across from the Free Press office Monday. Tuesday was also a commercial landmark-razing day here. The Kubricky Construction demolition team had moved down the street to the former Tip Top Sports Shop building at the intersection of Wawbeek Ave. and Park St. as seen above. The crew was moving slowly and carefully in its work, trying to dismantle the business landmark a bit at a time. The concern with the project was the common wall with the Belleville and Associates building and the crew’s aim was not to disturb that- obviously easier said than done. For years the building was home of a busy barber shop and sports store, owned and operated by Bert and Roland Richer. It was later operated for a time by Dick Parent and it has seen several operators since that time. The building has been vacant since the state purchased it in recent years to raze it and widen the corner, as part of the DOT road project currently underway. (McClelland photos)

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Page 1: TThehe Tupper LakeTupper Lake PPress - tlfreepress.com · Tupper LakeTupper Lake PPressress and Tupper Lake Herald Tupper Lake Herald established 1895 Tupper Lake Free Press established

Tupper Lake PressTupper Lake Pressand Tupper Lake Herald Tupper Lake Herald established 1895

Tupper Lake Free Press established 1931

Volume No. 120 Number 40 USPS 644-140 Tupper Lake, New York Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Home delivery price: $1.00 per copy Price: $.75 per copy

Free

TheThe

by Dan McClelland The village’s new

multimodal trail which now connects uptown and downtown neighborhoods and the Wild Center was officially opened by a collection of village and town officials at the western terminus of the trail near the train station.

Among the 20 or more in attendance that day were Marcel and June Carrier of Star Lake, and originally from the Catskills.

The Carriers said they first saw the trail corridor a number of years ago when they were snowmobiling on the Adirondack Railroad corridor and took a detour on old railroad spur to stay overnight at the Lakeview Motel.

“We thought to ourselves wouldn’t it be nice if this was also a walking trail and we promised ourselves we’d return when it was,” Mr. Carriere told the Free Press a few moments before the ribbon-cutting.

The trail has been nearly a decade in the making.

It began as an idea, based on the need for more outdoor recreational opportunities and Tupper Lakers’ love of walking. The Tupper Lake Free Press endorsed the idea in an editorial and it was picked up by Senator Betty Little, who was able to furnish the village with a small grant to begin the planning in late 2006.

It took more than another year for the state to sign off on the project and send the money.

More grants followed

New walking, biking, sledding trail officially opened

Some of the local leaders on hand to cut the ceremonial plaid ribbon at Friday’s official opening ceremony of the new village multimodal trail were (from left): Trustee Leon LeBlanc, Trustee David “Haji” Maroun, Piercefield Town Supervisor Neil Pickering, Village Clerk Mary Casagrain, Mayor Paul Maroun, Trustee Rick Donah, Councilman John Quinn, Councilwoman Kathleen Lefebvre and Town Supervisor Patricia Littlefield. (McClelland photo)

and the village was able to hire the engineering firm of Barton and Loguidice to prepare the design.

There were several hiccups with the state Department of Transportation that slowed its development. That was alluded to in some brief remarks by Mayor Paul Maroun at the ribbon-cutting Friday at noon.

“There were a lot of discussions with the DOT,” but they were eventually all settled after we had some meetings in Watertown, Mayor Maroun told the small crowd that day.

There were also a number of complications involving the route which delayed the project. Village attempts to gain an easement along the Sunmount sewer line corridor which connects McLaughlin to Hosley ran into resistance from landowners.

“There were problems with land owners along that right of way,” the mayor said that day.

The village also

considered using the transmission line right of way from McLaughlin behind the Ivy Terrace housing complex to connect to Hosley, but that also didn’t work out. It would have added an additional $200,000 in cost to the million-dollar trail.

The original plan involved connecting the train station to the village park, with the terminus there coming out behind McDonald’s with a second leg from the Tupper Lake Civic Center across private land to Hosley, with an eventual connection to the Wild Center.

With no access across the private land, the village opted for a sidewalk route from a section of the trail just west of McLaughlin and Pleasant Ave.

The trail then follows a new sidewalk built this past summer along Pleasant Ave. to Boyer Ave. by the village DPW as part of some of the village’s in-kind contributions to the project. Two years ago the village built a new

sidewalk up Boyer that is now part of the new trail.

From Boyer Ave. the trail moves up a repaired sidewalk on Park Street. The trail improvements on Park involved replacement of various pieces of sidewalk all the way from Boyer Ave. to Hosley Ave. and the construction of new handicapped accessible curb cuts at each intersection along that mile-or-more long stretch on the north side of Park Street.

From the intersection of Hosley and Park, the new route follows the widened shoulders on Hosley that were installed by Franklin County several years ago as part of improvements to the “four mile square” walking route here. The trail ends at the Wild Center.

The contractor on the job was Fuller Construction of Keeseville.

“This will be a happy, healthy trail” that many will enjoy in the years ahead, a smiling Paul Maroun said Friday.

He invited everyone that day to use the trail to access the Wild Center on foot.

The mayor said that the village will look to open other trail legs through private lands so users won’t have to use village sidewalks to reach the Wild Center in upcoming years.

“But for now I’m hoping many will use our new trail!”

He said he thought the new connection between uptown Tupper Lake and downtown Tupper Lake will be very important to the community from this year forward.

For snowmobiling visitors, in particular, the trail represents a new and easy way to exit the main corridor and to reach motels and restaurants on Park Street, which has always been difficult for sledders to do here.

“We’re happy today,” the mayor told the crowd as the plaid ribbon was cut.

The lumberjack

style plaid ribbon was selected, said Village Clerk Mary Casagrain, in observance of the town’s logging heritage and the celebration of “Spirit Day” at the Tupper Lake High School Friday.

At each intersection of the trail, large posts and boulders have been placed in an effort to dissuade all terrain vehicle riders from using the trail and digging it up.

It was noted that the posts in the center of the trail at various points will be removed before winter, so not to impede the snowmobile users.

There are expected to be a number of other improvements to the trail in the spring, like benches and kiosks and such, which will be funded in large part by the village’s waterfront improvement grants, administered by Melissa McManus.

Eighty percent of the cost of the 3.3-mile trail came to the village as grants from the federal traffic safety enhancement programs of recent years, which totaled $760,000. As part of those matching fund grants, however, the village’s 20% share represented about $152,000. That sum plus cost overruns of about $250,000 required the village to borrow $400,000 in recent months to pay for the balance of the cost of the new trail. About $50,000 of that money won’t be needed and the bond will be reduced, Mrs. Casagrain noted yesterday.

Monday was a landmark-changing day in the Park Street business district when the Kubricky Construction company’s excavator operators demolished the old DiStefano Liquor Store, that was operated so amicably for decades here by the late Mary DiStefano. For years before that Mary and her husband operated a popular bar there. For many residents and visitors through town, a stop to see the always friendly Mary was imperative. The Wilton-based construction company won the bid to demolish the commercial property, which had a spacious apartment on the second floor where Mary lived for years, as part of the state road reconstruction project. The site will be temporary parking for Park Street shoppers and residents while the DOT project continues but is expected to be part of the campus of a new hotel complex planned by Betsy Lowe and her partners in the years ahead. Above and below, these photos by Pat Bedore show some of the drama across from the Free Press office Monday.

Tuesday was also a commercial landmark-razing day here. The Kubricky Construction demolition team had moved down the street to the former Tip Top Sports Shop building at the intersection of Wawbeek Ave. and Park St. as seen above. The crew was moving slowly and carefully in its work, trying to dismantle the business landmark a bit at a time. The concern with the project was the common wall with the Belleville and Associates building and the crew’s aim was not to disturb that- obviously easier said than done. For years the building was home of a busy barber shop and sports store, owned and operated by Bert and Roland Richer. It was later operated for a time by Dick Parent and it has seen several operators since that time. The building has been vacant since the state purchased it in recent years to raze it and widen the corner, as part of the DOT road project currently underway. (McClelland photos)