News stories tagged with "great-sacandaga"

(08/11/11) The state authority that operates dams and reservoirs across the North Country voted this week to bail itself out with an internal loan worth more than $3 million.

The Hudson River-Black River Regulating District will shift the money from the region around Watertown and the Black River drainage to pay for operations in the Adirondacks and around the Great Sacandaga Reservoir.

The move has sparked anger from some North Country politicians, who say their communities are being forced to subsidize the state's operations in other parts of the state.

Brian Mann spoke with 8 O'clock Hour host Martha Foley to sort through the controversy.

(03/15/10) A lot of attention this winter has focused on the bridge crisis in the Champlain Valley. But locals in the southern Adirondacks are also worried about the rapid deterioration of the span across the Great Sacandaga Reservoir. State officials say construction of a new bridge is expected to get underway this summer. At a meeting last week, the Adirondack Park Agency approved a new design for the project expected to shave roughly $11 million off its cost. Brian Mann has details.

(11/19/09) State officials are still scrambling to help residents in the Champlain Valley stranded by closure of the Crown Point Bridge. Construction is expected to begin soon on a new ferry crossing from Crown Point New York, to Addison, Vermont. Now locals in another Adirondack town fear that they too could find themselves stranded. The Batchellerville Bridge crosses the Great Sacandaga Reservoir - and connects the two halves of the town of Edinburg. This summer the aging half-mile span was reduced to one-lane traffic because of structural problems. DOT officials say they're not sure when a new bridge will be ready for construction. Brian Mann has our story.

(07/14/08) Seventy years after the Great Sacandaga reservoir was built in the southern Adirondacks, state officials are still wrestling with how to manage and regulate its shoreline. Great Sacandaga is the third-largest body of water in the Adirondack Park. Two state agencies are now trying to develop a better system for handling private use, development and commercial activity on state land around the lake. As Brian Mann reports, the process may be raising more questions than answers.

(07/11/08) The Adirondack Park Agency is expected to approve a state plan to build a new $35-million bridge across the Great Sacandaga Reservoir in the southern Adirondacks. Local leaders say the multi-year project will save a crucial link between communities in the region. Brian Mann has our story.

Program note: On Monday, Brian reports on new efforts by state officials to manage Great Sacandaga's controversial shoreline.

(01/26/06) Officials in northern New York, Vermont, and Ontario are urging snowmobile riders to stay off of frozen lakes and rivers. A warmer-than-usual January combined with several rainstorms have left patchy ice conditions in many areas. Two deaths have been reported in Ontario over the last week after sleds went through the ice. In the north country, two men are in critical condition following break-throughs. Brian Mann reports.

(08/31/05) The agency that operates many of the north country's dams and reservoirs is backing away from a plan to change shoreline access rules on Great Sacandaga Lake. The Hudson River-Black River Regulating District had proposed forcing some property owners to give up their beach access permits when they sell their homes. In the past, those permits transferred with the property. As Brian Mann reports, the move to change the permit rule angered some local people.

(04/13/05) The Hudson River Black River Regulating District may be forced to close its Albany office and cut staff. Regulating District officials say their office in Watertown will remain open. The state authority that controls north country dams and reservoirs faces a growing budget shortfall. Brian Mann reports.

(09/02/04) Every year, New York state leases thousands of parcels of land along the shore of Great Sacandaga Lake, in the southern Adirondacks. People pay an average of a hundred dollars a year for exclusive permits. They use the state land for their docks, their patios and even their front lawns. The popular program stretches back more than seventy years to the time when the reservoir was created. But environmentalists worry that rapid development is harming the lake's public shoreline and limiting recreation. Some legal experts also argue that the permit system violates the "forever wild" clause of New York's constitution. As Brian Mann reports, that clause bans the lease of state land inside the Adirondack Park.