The Peru Gazette

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By Donald McBrayer

The joke is we had to get away from politics for a bit so we went to Washington, D.C. The nation’s capitol is a great city to visit, and I highly recommend it to anyone with vacation time that needs filling. The Smithsonian is a series of museums that feature a huge selection of displays that can be enjoyed by the entire family. And the best part is they are all free. On this trip we visited the Natural History Museum http://www.mnh.si.edu/, the National Museum of America History http://americanhistory.si.edu/, and the National Gallery of Art http://www.nga.gov/.
We also visited the memorials and monuments along the Mall spending extra time at the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, and the WWII Memorial – all very inspirational places.
We also had a chance to visit the 911 Memorial at the Pentagon, a somber reminder of our shared challenges as we approach the 8th anniversary.
Toss in some great dinners out, quality time with the family, and a few laughs along the way and it can be said we had a fantastic week. We’re back home now with a renewed sense of patriotism and a nice set of memories.

Dave Brown photos

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Librarian Becky Pace

By John T. Ryan

In a few days visitors to the Peru Free Library will be able to see just how much electrical power the library’s solar energy system has generated that day, week and year. Librarian Becky Pace will undoubtedly receive satisfaction every time she looks at the digital display knowing that the solar system is generating enough electricity to pay the library’s entire electricity bill.

The solar system was installed over the past days by SolarNovar (formerlyTriangle Electric) of Plattsburgh. The company’s sales manager Tom Hollingsworth said the 10,535 watt system consists of forty-nine 31”x61” photovoltaic panels installed on the library’s south-facing roof. Each panel weighs about thirty-two pounds and can generate 215 watts of electricity.  The direct current produced by the panels travels to an inverter in the library basement where it is converted into alternating current. If the panels are producing more electricity than the library needs, the excess goes into the NYSEG grid system.

SolarNovar has installed about 70 solar systems in the Clinton, Essex and Franklin County region over the past several years. Tom Hollingsworth is especially excited about SolarNovar’s new solar trackers. They allow solar panels to be precisely aligned with the angle of the sun throughout the day providing much greater efficiency. He believes the business community will see great potential for these systems. SolarNovar is manufacturing the tracker systems at its 158 Quarry Rd. location in Plattsburgh. Five trackers have been installed and eight more have been ordered. Both the stationary and tracker systems qualify for New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) grants. The Peru Free Library received a $52,675 NYSERDA grant for its solar system.

Along with the solar system our local library has undergone several recent improvements including installation of a beautiful front sidewalk and replacement of a portion of its roof.  In the not too distant future, a natural gas powered furnace should be installed.

By John T. Ryan

The Peru Town Board take one step forward at its August 24, 2009 meeting. They voted to reestablish the position of Deputy Town Supervisor. If this position is filled by a sitting counselor or by an appointed individual the Board would in a position to move forward with a town budget. It was not indicated now soon the position would be filled. The Board failed to reach agreement on the appointment of a person to fill the open counselor position.  Counselor Peter Glushko nominated George Coon to fill the position. Counselor Brandy MacDonald seconded the nomination. Glushko and MacDonald voted “yes.” Counselor Tom Powers voted “no” and declined to state why he voted against Coon’s appointment. Counselor MacDonald nominated Jim Douglass to the counselor position and Counselor Glushko seconded the nomination. Glushko and MacDonald voted “yes.” Powers voted”no” stating that the Board members had previoulsy agreed that anyone running for office would not be appointed to an open position. Counselor MacDonald responded saying that any agreement had been made several months ago and that circumstances have radically changed since then.

The next Town Board meeting will be held on September 17th at 7 p.m.

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August 11th School Board Meeting Item J Highlights

By John T. Ryan

When the August 19^th Zoning Board meeting began members of the of Board of Appeals believed that the Linda Covel was coming before them to request use variances for the sale of certain products associated with her water bottling business. Instead, Covel’s representative, Al Sweenor, indicated to the Board that he believes the products should be approved as under the accessory use provisions of the zoning law. Read more »

By Donald McBrayer

Plans for the 32nd Annual St. Augustine’s Applefest are well underway. It is going to be a great celebration this year with some very exciting attractions. If you want to keep track of all that will be happening, would like to help out, or would like to invite friends from out of town to attend, you can now find out how online. To find information about the 2009 Applefest go to the St. Augustine’s website at www.PeruParish.org <http://www.PeruParish.org> , and click on the Applefest Link. Or bookmark this link http://d1091839.domain.com/Applefest/index.htm

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By John T. Ryan

Peru volunteer firefighters were able to make a good save yesterday morning even though they were short-handed because they had to respond to two calls simultaneously.   Five volunteers were manning the ambulance in response to an ATV accident when the call came from 332 Route 22B, the residence of Norm and Ann Torrance, for a structure fire.

The fire at the Torrance home began in a storage building adjacent to the Torrance’s garage. Ann and Norm were painting in the garage. About 9:30 they took a break and went into the house. Norm happened to look out the window and saw flames and black smoke shooting high from the storage building and toward the garage. He shouted, “Ann, call the fire department.”  Ann Torrance said, “Kathleen Roach was here within two or three minutes.”  Peru Fire Chief Chad Frechette said, “The little building was fully involved when we arrived. We focused on the garage first.”  Frechette explained that with the ambulance call in progress he only had eight to ten personnel to man two trucks, but fortunately they were still able to get the job done.

Thanks to the firefighter’s skilled response the Torrance home is still standing and was a complete save.  The storage building and its contents were destroyed. It housed a gas-powered generator that was timed to come on at 9 a.m. for a fifteen-minute test period every Friday morning. The generator will be investigated as a possible cause of the fire. There was extensive exterior damage to one side of the attached garage and to the soffit area. The interior of the garage was largely undamaged.  

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