The Peru Gazette

Trooper revives Columbia County woman – Times Union.

By contrast, more than 12 percent of 700 school districts — with Watervliet leading the way — were flagged last month by DiNapoli as facing some level of stress.

via Villages pass stress test – Times Union.

A New Effort in Albany to Put Lenders in Charge of Abandoned Properties – NYTimes.com.

State silent on reports of disabled abuse – Times Union.

DOT chief throws cold water on rooftop highway | News from North Country Public Radio.

Adirondack Diversity: A Conversation with Carol Cain – The Adirondack Almanack – The Adirondack Almanack.

Stefanik earns District 21 GOP nomination » Breaking News » Press-Republican.

Agenda, Peru Town Board Meeting of February 10, 2014

Stefanik gets GOP nod for NY21 seat « The In Box.

Peru Central’s Board of Education launches its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 6 PM at the school district’s community room, adjacent to the main entrance of Peru Jr/Sr High School.  An executive session associated with particular personnel matters will take place immediately following the 6 PM start.  The School Board is slated to reconvene for public session business at approximately 7:00 PM.  Anticipated topics include:

•             The District’s new website and its features and content

•             Fiscal stress scoring

•             Transportation department overview

Peter Glushko

By John T. Ryan

Peter Glushko has been serving the Town of Peru for over 15 years – the first eight years as a Town Counselor and the last four years as Town Supervisor.  On January 1^st, Glushko began his second four-year term of office. The Peru Gazette interviewed Glushko about the Town’s major accomplishments over the past four years and the issues the Town will face in 2014 and succeeding years.

Discussing accomplishments Glushko stated,  “We’ve got all the town finances straightened out and we’ve got the water filtration system up and running the way it should be. The water quality is where it needs to be. It is excellent.”

Glushko mentioned the Town Board’s working relationship. He said,  “We have a good Board. We lost Sue Polhemus, but Don McBrayer will be a good member. Brandy McDonald, Kregg Bruno and Jim Douglass contribute a lot. They’re very active Board members. We don’t agree on everything 100% of the time, but we can talk our way through it and work out some kind of compromise or convince each other of the way we should go. We get things done.”

Regarding the important challenges facing the Town Glushko said,  “A lot of it is financial, staying below the tax cap even though prices are going up. Now we are going to have a little more pressure because the Governor has told everyone that they’re not going to get any tax increases. We’ve been trying to keep the tax increases down and I think we’ve done a good job. We did have to increase the water taxes because of the $3 million improvement project. We’ll start reducing some of that project’s debt service as we pay off older bonds. One bond should be retired in March and we still have to apply a $500,000 grant. That will reduce our debt service.”

Glushko emphasized the importance of residential and commercial development. He explained, “In order to keep taxes down we need to expand the tax base. We have to get more people living here. We had twenty new homes built last year and hopefully we’ll get a lot more. We’ll also need more new businesses on the Bear Swamp Road.”  Glushko mentioned water-sewage expansion as being very important. The Town Board would like to extend the water and sewer service on the Bear Swamp Road to Interstate 87.  A  $30,000 grant will be used to conduct sewer engineering studies.

Financing New York State mandates is a theme every New York local official finds challenging. Asked what was the most onerous mandate, Glushko quickly responded, “ The NYS Retirement System.  Costs keep increasing. Prior to 2008, stock market gains kept the system healthy. Since then costs have increased.”  Last month the Town of Peru made its 2014 contribution – $210,672. Twenty-five employees participate in the program.

Surprisingly the Town’s health care costs have been kept under control. Glushko said, “The plan we offered in 2013 wasn’t being offered in 2014.  Somehow we worked out a better plan with lower deductibles and it saved the town $2,000 overall.” This year the Town of Peru will incur  $250,747 in health care expenses. Current employees and nine retirees participate in the health insurance program.

Other 2014 Town projects include completion of the Walking Trail from Heyworth/Mason Park to Sullivan Park, repairing the Highway Department garage roof, replacing a Fuller Rd. culvert and replacing the Town Hall entrance stairs. A $250,000 Safe Routes to Schools Program grant will be applied to improvements in the walking pattern on the Peru Central School campus and installation of a street-crossing light at the intersection of Route 22B and Lafleur Lane.

ALBANY, NY Danielle Dayton of Peru, NY, is among 809 students named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2013 semester at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.

Full-time students who complete a minimum of 12 credit hours and achieve a semester grade-point average of at least 3.5 with no grades of D, F, Incomplete or Pass/Fail are eligible for inclusion on the Dean’s List.

The College of Saint Rose is a private, independent, coeducational, liberal arts college located in the heart of New York’s capital city. Saint Rose is a dynamic, progressive college of 4,700 students where teaching is the first priority. With a rigorous liberal education curriculum, 70 undergraduate majors, 53 master’s degrees and 25 graduate certificates, and a mission of service to the community, the Saint Rose experience empowers students to improve themselves and the world around them.

On the Web: http://www.strose.edu

Friday night and Saturday morning between the hours of 10 PM – 6 AM, The Peru Gazette will not be online for 15 to 30 minutes because our website provider is performing a website update. During this time our email and website will not be accessible.

From the Office of Congressman Bill Owens

Congressman helped more than 1,000 constituents navigate red tape, connected with more than 27,000 in town halls and telephone town hall events

PLATTSBURGH—Today, Representative Bill Owens announced he was able to secure nearly $3 million in government funds for his constituents directly because of the constituent service outreach his office provides. The announcement came as part of his annual constituent services report. “Helping New Yorkers navigate bureaucratic red tape and assisting them as they seek the service they deserve from their government is incredibly rewarding work,” Rep. Bill Owens said. “I am proud of what my staff and I accomplished in 2013, and encourage all of my constituents to contact my office if they think we can help.”

Since he was elected to Congress in 2009, Rep. Owens has secured $8,895,163.33 in government funds through his constituent service outreach program. This year, he helped 1194 constituents with individual concerns.  Read more »

Health Comm Claims that Medical Marijuana Ready in One Year Met with Skepticism | WXXI News.

Will Cuomo retreat from the Common Core? | Capital New York.

Report: Some NY bridge, highway money diverted – Times Union.

BROCKPORT, NY — The College at Brockport, State University of New York, recently honored students who excelled academically by naming them to the Dean’s List for the fall 2013 semester.

Keely Dew of Peru, NY was named to the Dean’s List.

Students who earn a GPA of 3.70–3.99 are named to the Dean’s List with Honors, while students who achieve a 3.40–3.69 are named to the Dean’s List.

The College at Brockport is a comprehensive four-year public college, located in Brockport, NY. The College offers 50 undergraduate majors, more than 40 graduate programs as well as 24 teacher certification programs. The College has been rated among the “Best in the Northeast” by The Princeton Review, a “Best Regional University” by US News & World Report, and a “Best Value” by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

Donah not guilty of rape » Breaking News » Press-Republican.

Watertown Daily Times | Canadian oil giant could transport crude oil to Gulf Coast via St. Lawrence Seaway if Keystone XL pipeline rejected.

ALBANY, N.Y. The following students were named to the University at Albany’s fall 2013 Dean’s List for outstanding academic achievement:

Jared McLean of Peru, NY

Katherine Daly of Peru, NY

North Country celebrates Farm Bill » Local News » Press-Republican.

Moody’s downgrades Saratoga County – Times Union.

Methadone a local treatment option for recovery » Local News » Press-Republican.

Port Henry to revitalize downtown with $131K grant » Local News » Press-Republican.