DAILY GAZETTE
Schenectady, NY
December 29, 2004

2 Board Members Resign After Audit
Agency Chief: Pataki to Act Quickly

by Jim McGuire, Gazette Reporter

GLOVERSVILLE -- A month after a state audit cited problems with the operation of the agency that regulates the Great Sacandaga Lake, two of the five board members have resigned.

Timothy Noonan and James Conkling, members of the board of the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District, submitted their resignations to Gov. George Pataki. The resignations were disclosed Tuesday.

Conkling said Tuesday his resignation is not connected to the audit findings, which he said he supported. "I was really pleased with the audit results," he said.

He said the issues raised in the audit, which covered the fiscal year March 2002 to March 2003, have been addressed. He said the final measures devised by the board to resolve the audit findings will be implemented in February. "We went right after it; it was very gratifying," he said of the board's work on the findings.

With that effort completed, Conkling said, "I thought it was a good opportunity to reprioritize my life and move on." As chairman of the Northampton Planning Board, he said he is engaged in a two-year comprehensive study of the town's zoning code, which has not been revised since 1974.

Peter Van Avery, an owner of lake property and a frequent critic of the board, hailed the resignations. In a recent letter to the editor of area newspapers, Van Avery called on Pataki to "clean house" at the agency.

"Two down and two to go," he said. Van Avery said the fifth board member, Pamela Beyor, was appointed in the fall and is too new to evaluate. "This is a positive step," he said of the resignations. "When a mess develops on your watch, you're accountable," he said.

James Jankowski, of Broadalbin, one of the three remaining board members, did not return a telephone call Tuesday.

The agency's executive director, Richard Lefebvre, who was appointed by Pataki a year ago after a period of controversy in the regulating district, said he had yet to review the resignation letters because they were submitted to the governor.

Lefebvre said he expects Pataki will move quickly to appoint new board members. He said he doubts that can happen before the agency's annual organizational meeting on Jan. 10 at the Colonie Town Office Building.

Meanwhile, he said, "I'm dutifully going on, building my agenda." With three board members remaining, he said there is a quorum to conduct business at the Jan.10 meeting.

The audit, presented in late November by Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, found the agency had been poorly managed, improperly awarded full-time retirement credits to part-time staffers and had no apparent authority to provide health insurance coverage to board members.

On that same date, Lefebvre, the former chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency, said many of the 15 issues raised in the audit have already been addressed and he said the agency is in the process of complying with all 21 recommendations presented by Hevesi.

Van Avery was vocal after the audit's release, calling it welcome news and stating: "It puts on public record what we have complained about for decades -- that the regulating district has been managed with gross incompetence and arrogance. It is an absolute disgrace that this beautiful lake, one of the jewels in the Adirondack Park, has been under the thumb of a board of directors unable or unwilling to fulfill its responsibilities."

LEADER-HERALD
Gloversville, NY
December 29, 2004

District board members Conkling, Noonan resign

By ANNMARIE MARANO, The Leader-Herald

MAYFIELD -- Hudson River-Black River Regulating District board members James Conkling and Timothy Noonan have submitted their resignations to Governor George E. Pataki's office.

"The governor's office confirms they have received two resignations and are dutifully looking for replacements to name to the board," said the district's executive director, Richard Lefebvre.

Lefebvre, who joined the district in January, said he was unaware of why the two board members resigned.

Board members for the district are appointed by the governor to five-year terms.

Lefebvre, who said he has not spoken with either Noonan or Conkling since learning of their resignations, said the district will not be affected by the two vacancies when the board meets again in January.

Lefebvre said Pataki's appointment office will review potential candidates, and is hopeful both vacancies will be filled in a timely fashion. He said the search is a thorough process.

The regulating district board is made up of two Hudson River board members, two Black River members, and one board member at large.

Conkling, a Northville resident, represented the Hudson River basin, while Noonan represented the Black River Basin. Conkling has been with the district for about four years, according to Lefebvre.

Noonan, who last year served as the board's chairman, is a resident of Old Forge. Lefebvre said he believes Noonan has been with the district for seven years.

"Frankly, I thought my work was done," Conkling said.

He said his work on three major elements satisfied his term. Those issues included the permit study for permit holders on the Great Sacandaga Lake that is taking place, overseeing the hiring of a full-time chief fiscal officer and legal counsel, and the response to state Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi's audit of the district.

That audit found the district was poorly managed and revealed evidence of potential impropriety. The audit results showed the district gave its former counsel and its former secretary-treasurer full-time salaries and benefits for part-time work. Neither employee had submitted time sheets, according to the audit report.

Conkling's resignation is to be effective on Jan. 5. Lefebvre is unsure of when Noonan's resignation may take effect.

Conkling is also a member of the Planning Board for the town of Northampton and the Zoning Board of Appeals for Northville.

The comprehensive plan that the Planning Board has been working on for two years is ready to be handed in, Conkling said.

Pete VanAvery, a permit holder and critic of the district, said he sent a letter to Pataki last month in which he asked the governor to "clean house" by replacing the board members.

With Conkling and Noonan resigning, that leaves long-time board Chairwoman Anne McDonald and board member James Jankowski of Broadalbin.

Jankowski could not be reached this morning for comment.

"When a mess develops on your watch, you're accountable," VanAvery said. "They must bear accountability for the mess spotlighted by the audit."

The other board member, Pamela Beyor, joined the district two months ago.

Conkling and Noonan were part of the board in 2003 when the district proposed increases of up to 1,000 percent to rates for lakefront permits. Each year, the district issues about 5,000 permits, with the cost depending on the amount of lakefront property a home owner has. Following strong public opposition, the district later withdrew the proposal, calling it an error.

The proposal placed the district under the close watch of the public. Despite later efforts to regain public trust, the district still faced a tough battle that worsened last month when the audit results were announced.

It is now the responsibility of the governor to nominate one representative for each.

The board will meet at 9 a.m. Jan. 10 in Latham.

Reporter Omar Aquije contributed to this article.

TIMES UNION
Albany, NY
December 30, 2004

2 quit Great Sacandaga oversight board
The panel has taken much criticism over a hefty increase in fees

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer

ALBANY -- Two members of the board that oversees the Great Sacandaga Lake reservoir resigned this week.

Timothy Noonan, a water-slide park operator from Old Forge, Herkimer County, and James Conkling, chairman of the Northampton Planning Board in Fulton County, had been appointed by Gov. George Pataki to the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District.

The five-member board has been embattled for more than a year after voting to raise access permit fees on the lake in fall 2003 by as much as 1,000 percent. The members later rescinded the vote. The regulating district was the subject of a withering audit by state Comptroller Alan Hevesi's office in November in which it was accused of mismanagement and inappropriate spending under Noonan and Conkling's watch.

Noonan was the first vice chairman of the board. He was appointed in 1997 and again in March 2003 to a second five-year term that would have expired in September 2007. Conkling was serving his first term; he was appointed in December 2000.

Neither could not be reached for comment.

Executive Director Richard Lefebvre said Wednesday he didn't know the resignations were coming and hadn't yet seen the letters sent to the governor.

"We still have a quorum and we will proceed with business as usual," Lefebvre said.

The last vacancy on the board stood for more than a year before Pam Beyor of Black River, Jefferson County, was appointed to fill it.

Lefebvre said he wasn't worried about having a long wait for Noonan and Conkling to be replaced. Earlier this year, the director talked about adding members to the board in order to get more work done. It's a move that would require a legislative amendment to the district bylaws.

"I still at times have some hope for that," Lefebvre said.

Jennifer Meicht, a spokeswoman for the governor, said the positions will be filled "as quickly as possible."

Guy Poulin, a Northville, Fulton County, resident who has owned land on Sacandaga Lake for 18 years, said he wants to know why the men quit and that he wouldn't be surprised if it was a direct result of the audit.

"I don't think the spots will remain open a long time. Dick needs the help, he's doing the best he can," Poulin said.

The regulating district board meets Jan. 10 in Colonie.