The Peru Gazette

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Buck Pond viewed from campsites 109 and 111.

By Adele Douglas

It was time for our annual camping trip with my friends and their children but Ausable Point Campground, our destination of choice, was still closed due to the spring floods.  Nancy suggested Buck Pond, not too far away and with a nice beach.  We made a quick visit to check out the sites that were available.  Not bad, 112 and 114 are fairly close to the beach, close to a water tap and close to bathrooms with showers. It’s a much more densely wooded campground than Ausable Point, which proved to be a wonderful environment for deer flies and biting flies. However, once we got there we enjoyed  two features that proved to be big hits with all campers and despite the bugs everyone had a great camping trip.

In addition to the endless supplies needed to camp for a few days we also managed to bring bicycles.  The bigger kids, all around 10, had a blast exploring the campground and the moms felt very comfortable allowing them to go off together on the 15 mph campsite roads, all wearing helmets, except my daughter after I ran hers over with my car!  They got more experience riding and reading maps in four days than they ever had before.

Please click here for a map of the Buck Pond bike routes

The other nice bonus at this campsite was a trail along the eastern shore of Lake Kushaqua.  Our campsites were near the trailhead and we spent about 45 minutes walking until we came to a road and couldn’t see where the trail continued, so turned back.  A swim at the campsite beach was the perfect way to cool off.  I believe the trail used to be part of an old D&H rail line and that there’s a hiking trail that leads off it towards Little Haystack Mountain, but none of us felt the need to do any mountain climbing that day.

Buck Pond Campground is about a 45 minute drive away from Peru. It sits between Buck Pond (no motorboats allowed) and Lake Kushaqua.  It’s beautiful, well maintained and has lots to offer.  Canoe and Kayak rentals are available and I understand the fishing’s great.  There’s a lifeguard, bathhouse and picnic area at the beach.  For more information and to make reservations go to:

http://www.reserveamerica.com/camping/Buck_Pond_Campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NY&parkId=572

Rep. Owens continues program to make office more accessible in large district

Members of Congressman Bill Owens’ staff will hold meetings next with Upstate New Yorkers in Clinton, Essex, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, and St. Lawrence counties in an ongoing effort to increase constituent outreach. Multiple more events planned throughout New York’s 23rd Congressional district in the coming months.  Owens’ office has held more than fifty of these events throughout New York’s 23rd Congressional District this year.

Here is the local meeting schedule:

Clinton / Essex Counties, Thursday July 28th

1:00 p.m.  – 4:00 p.m.

Town of Jay Community Center in Ausable Forks, 11 School Lane, Ausable Forks, NY

5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Keeseville Fire Department, 8 Pleasant Street, Keeseville, NY

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Alden Stevens

By John T. Ryan

Anyone visiting the Peru Town Hall recently may have noticed a man they do not recognize either examining town records or entering data into a laptop.  For the past several weeks Alden Stevens, a records management specialist, has been organizing thousands of town records and preparing thousands of others for disposal. Last year the Town received a $24,961 state grant to identify and organize required town records and to purge obsolete records. The Town Board asked for bids and in December it awarded Stevens a $17,851 contract with the additional $7,000 to be spent on shelving.

Retention requirements for government records are complex. The Town Supervisor, the Town Clerk, the Town Court and the Zoning Enforcement Officer all maintain extensive official records. Towns typically have thousands of documents in storage with varying retention requirements. Alden Stevens explained, “Most people revert to a cautious philosophy, ‘When in doubt, save it!’ Making a decision on what records can be safely destroyed is very time-consuming and destruction is not easy to work into a normal workday. New York State recognized this and created the Local Government Management Fund to provide both fiscal and clerical assistance.” The hope is that towns will correct accumulated problems and develop procedures to carry them into the future. In the past few weeks Stevens has evaluated over 1,600 cubic feet of Peru’s records and has determined that 852 cubic feet can be legally destroyed.

Stevens is organizing Peru’s documents by date and type and entering the information into an Excel database.  The database will direct Town personnel to specific storage containers and specific locations.  Some records have very long retention periods. Peru’s marriage, birth and death certificates date back to the late 1700’s.  Payroll records must be maintained for at least fifty-five years. Other records have shorter retention requirements. Many accounting documents have a six year retention period.  The system Stevens is setting up will encourage timely document destruction.

Reorganizing government records sounds like a tedious job, but Alden Stevens says his interaction with town staff members makes his job enjoyable. He said he appreciates the friendly people and excellent cooperation he has received here in Peru.

AGENDA TOWN BOARD REGULAR MEETING

July 25, 2011 @ 7:00 PM

1. Call Meeting To Order

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Roll Call Read more »

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Read more about the Chicago rail system and the challenges it faces

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Jeff Cochran Photo: PHOTOPIA/Shaun Heffernan

A morning poetry workshop and an evening of poetry in Chazy. Click here