Found On The Trail: Plattsburgh's Heritage?

No Notice: City Screws Up

Apparently the City of Plattsburgh failed Communications 101 in college.

Many people were caught off guard on Monday morning when a construction crew started to rip up the southern end of Oak Street.

Chris Dominianni, owner of the Adirondack Soup Company, didn't know about the street work until Sunday night after he saw a sign posted. He contacted the city and found out that notices went out a week ago to building owners who were in turn supposed to contact their tenants.

I did a quick survey of five shops in the area where the work is being done. No shop owner had been given advance notification.

June Defrane, owner of June's, didn't know about the construction work until Tuesday morning because her shop is closed on Monday. She tried to park in front of her business to unload some materials but was told by construction workers she had to park elsewhere. She was forced to park temporarily across the street in the Plattsburgh Public Library parking.

The PPL staff was also surprised by the lack of notification. When Brinkerhoff Street was being upgraded earlier in the year, the library had a week's warning. It put up signs to let patrons know about the upcoming work. Police officers had to enter the library on Monday morning to tell patrons who had parked on Oak Street to move their vehicles. Officers also went to the shops across the street, trying to locate car owners.

So what should the city learn from this stupid dust-up?

Communication is key. Contacting the building owner apparently doesn't work, especially if the owner is out of town. Efforts should be made to personally contact people who work in the area. If a shop owner isn't in, a sign could be posted on the front door.

Signs posted along the street shouldn't go up a day before. They should be up a few days before the roadwork is to begin, giving people enough notice.

Time To Haul It

June Defrane, owner of June's on Oak Street, doesn't want rodents to show up in the alleyway behind her shop. For too many days she has been trying to get garbage picked up, refuse left behind by other tenants in the neighborhood. The trashcans for her building are emptied but the rest of it from others just keeps accumulating.

What is it about Plattsburgh and trash? Sometimes you have to invoke the name of the gods to get it properly disposed.

Burton – LeClaire Exhibit

There's an intriguing art exhibit now on display at the Plattsburgh Public Library featuring the works of local artists Gharan Burton and Kim LeClaire. “Three Weeks Revisited” will run until January 4, 2010 in the Helen Wilcox Ianelli Gallery located on the second floor of the PPL. A reception will be held Saturday, October 10th, from 5 – 7 PM. For more information, call (518) 297-2616.

Hey, Man - What's In The Bag?

This plastic bag with unknown contents has been hanging around for over a month, three stories up on a Clinton Street building. I don't know how it got there. How it is attached to the wall is also a mystery.

Library: More Hours, More Service?

In the good old days the Plattsburgh Public Library was open for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. A warm, comfortable place to hang out during the long North Country winter. Another day to use the public access computers, do research or to check out books and other media.

Then whack went the budget ax.

Stan Ransom, PPL Director, has proposed a budget for 2010 that would bring back those Sunday hours. Also, he wants to add another librarian by promoting from within the library staff: one of the clerks will finish her MLS degree in a few months and she could become a Local History/Reference Librarian.

Mayor Donald Kasprzak has proposed a library budget minus these two items. Keep in mind that the library years ago had its budget whacked by 15 percent, $100,000 less than what it had before. It has done its part, keeping costs under control, and should have at least some of its previous budget restored.

For the most part the final say on the budget is in the hands of six people who sit on the Common Council. Competing with other municipal departments, Ransom has to convince the councilors that his proposals are reasonable and needed. Public support on this issue would help. Speak to your ward rep or attend the upcoming hearings on the budget. Email the mayor at mayor@cityofplattsburgh-ny.gov or call 563-7701.

The mayor will still have an opportunity to influence the outcome if the council is evenly split and he has to act as the tiebreaker. Key to approval of the library’s 2010 budget plan is approval by a majority of councilors.

As I’ve detailed before, usage is up at the library across the board. For those councilors who haven’t visited the library lately, they should stop in during “rush hour” or at least talk with patrons for feedback.

Another point: Ransom has done his part to cut costs. For example, the library is surveying its patrons to see what magazines and newspapers are being read to eliminate any titles not being utilized.

The proposed library budget would be money well spent, unlike some of the boondoggles the city has promoted before like the still intangible hotel/conference center by the lake.

In fact, these budget changes beat out anything WIRY radio commentator Ducky Drake has ever proposed on any topic. (Nothing personal, Ducky.)

Narrow Street, Narrow Options

As detailed in a previous post, more people are parking on Miller Street during the weekdays between the intersections of Delord and Lorraine Streets. When large vehicles park on both sides, it creates narrow sections less than two lanes wide.

Apparently the owner of this extra-wide pickup truck came up with a solution.



This isn’t the first time I’m seen someone with a large vehicle do this. A better solution would be restricting parking to one side of the street. Less wear and tear on the curbs, unlike this (illegal) option.

Big Brother Tracking Cough Syrup

Background: I have allergies and sometimes need to take a decongestant, pseudoephedrine, known by the brand name Sudafed.

As part of a Homeland Security bill, Congress made it harder customers to pick up this drug. It’s no longer OTC (over the counter) because it’s one the main ingredients used to manufacture meth. There a different formulation available over the counter (Sudafed PE) but to get the real stuff, you have to ask a pharmacist, show ID, and sign a form stating that the info about your purchase is available to law enforcement officials. Pharmacist as policeman.

Of course, this inconvenience means that there are no more meth labs; the scourge of this horrible drug has been eliminated by making law-abiding customers jump through a hoop.

So the other day I’m at a big box store and asked the pharmacist what he recommended in the way of OTC cough syrup. I had a lingering cold for days and the cough was getting worse. The friendly pharmacist recommended the DM formula.

I picked up a bottle and with some other items went to the front register. The young clerk said she needed to see my driver’s license. I asked why. She said because I was buying the cough syrup. She told me I had to take the ID out of my wallet so that she could scan it.

Once I had my ID scanned, I was allowed to buy the cough syrup.

I doubled back to the pharmacy and asked the druggist if my “processing” at the front counter was some sort of Homeland Security regulation.

He explained that the DM cough syrup could be abused; kids were known for glugging down a whole bottle to get high. The clerk was checking my driver’s license to verify my age. The pharmacist said he wouldn’t have ID’d me if I had purchased it from him. He didn’t have to explain the obvious reasons why he would’ve given me a pass.

If you’ve met me, you know I certainly don’t look younger than 18 years old. Besides my gray sideburns and the gray in the thinning mess on top of my head, I hadn’t shaved that day.

While I’m being hassled over cough syrup, some criminal is selling it by the ton in a back alleyway, bottles that “fell off the truck.”

And with Plattsburgh being one of the main way stations for drugs between New York City and Montreal, the younger-than-eighteen crowd can score better stuff easily on the street than kid stuff cough syrup.

So why am I being ID’d? What difference does it make, besides getting customers annoyed by the meaningless inconvenience?

See what happens when morons enact laws and regulations?

Spider With Time On His 8 Hands

Progress

As mentioned in a previous post, there was a dilapidated building on Millet Street – jut a short walk away from City Hall – that was a home for unsanitary pigeons. Work is being done on the structure; the porch ceiling was torn out, removing the roosting area.

Like I said before, why go all the way out to Lakeside Apartments when there are problems right in the downtown area?

Word on the street: the property-owner was fined by the city, thus motivating him to make overdue repairs.