Talking water in Spa City. Renée Fleming is back!
Sides trade barbs in District Attorney lawsuit.
Welcome to the Daily Dispatch, the afternoon Saratoga Springs news email straight to your inbox.
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TOP: Water, water everywhere (we review the latest in water-related stories in the Spa City).
BELOW: Both sides trade barbs in lawsuit over the county District Attorney race.
BOTTOM concert preview: Renée Fleming returns to SPAC for the first time in nearly a decade — find out what to expect from the president of SPAC.
News
Water, water, everywhere
We have the latest on water issues in Spa City, the home of healing waters.
By: Stephen Thurston
Water, water, anywhere?
The engineering consultancy firm C.T. Male is looking around Saratoga Springs for more potable water, Commissioner of Public Works, Charles “Chuck” Marshall tells the Dispatch.
“We have had, when I first got here, moved on a study to identify subsequent water sources,” he said. He joined the city council during a special election in February.
He said on the positive side, the city is growing and adding buildings, but those buildings need the infrastructure, including solid water sources.
[Related: Question of water access threatens this development.]
To bring any water source online requires a myriad of permits, water treatment facilities and other infrastructure, he said, so he thinks it is best to find the water source first and make sure the source can deliver enough water to make the rest of the process palatable.
C.T. Male is looking on property already owned by the city and looking for access to county water systems that might be made available to the city, as well as looking at other sources, Marshall said.
Loughberry Lake
Given the persistence of harmful algal blooms in Saratoga Lake (they have had four this year), blooms brought on by warmer water temperatures, and given the voluntary water restrictions that DPW has announced, the Dispatch asked Marshall about Loughberry Lake and the water quality. No blooms have been reported and no word as yet on how effective the voluntary water restrictions have been. However, the department is expecting a report soon from the consultants Barton & Loguidice that will cover a number of water-related topics.
Lead pipes and Saratoga Springs homes
The city has been awarded $60,000 from a settlement in PFOA-related cases, Marshall said, and he plans to put that money toward the lead pipe remediation process in the city.
Last month, we reported that some homes in Saratoga Springs received letters from the city saying the “service line” — the pipe that runs from the water main under the street to a home or other building — is either made of lead, or the city does not know what it is made of.
The state has mandated that municipalities learn what each of those pipes is made of. Currently, the city is unsure of 2,524 service lines. The money will be used to learn what they are made of, which means sending people out to look, making phone calls or completing similar activities. Changing out the pipes, if necessary, is up to the landowner. He is not sure if the work will be done by a contractor or in-house.
(PFOA is the abbreviation for a class of “forever chemicals,” substances that are known to cause cancer and that do not break down easily, remaining dangerous for years.)
Keep reading!
More on the D.A. nomination lawsuit
Sides trade barbs
By: Stephen Thurston
The Conservative Party and two Democrats have filed suit to remove Robert J. Logan III’s name from the ballot in the race for Saratoga County District Attorney. The suit argues that the Democratic Party did not follow its own bylaws when nominating him. Among the issues: The party should have announced that they would be nominating seven days ahead of their meeting.
Democrats today said they followed the rules.
“Back in February, we approved that the executive committee would bring forward candidates, if appropriate, and nominate them. And that's what, that's what then happened with Bobby Logan's nomination,” said Otis Maxwell. He is the chair of the Saratoga Springs Demcratic Party Committee and sits on the board of the county Democrats. “So it's not true, it's not seven days, it's months.”
It’s exactly that question of the February meeting that Thomas Sartin, the Conservative Party chair, says is part of the issue. No one knew back in February that D.A. Karen Heggen would be stepping down Aug. 1, so no one could have followed protocol back then.
In the court documents, his side contends the Democratic Party “violated its own rules in multiple instances regarding notice, delegation, and quorum. The August 7th meeting is invalid and must be declared void.”
In an interview, Sartin said the process was “a load of crap” and that many in the county’s Democratic Party were disenfranchised, adding that the county committee was required to authorize its executive committee to hold the meeting to nominate Logan. He said the rules in the Democrats by-laws are very specific and the blanket decision in February would not be enough to meet the specific rules.
The County Democratic Chair Martha Devaney said that she would not adjudicate the case in the press, but “They brought it to court…That’s where it will be determined.”
Both Devaney and Logan called the lawsuit “BS.” The case goes to court in Saratoga County on Monday.
This was merely a brief of the full story which has been updated since this morning’s original posting. Click here to read the full story.
Dish Saratoga
Sneak Preview: Renée Fleming’s plans for tonight at SPAC
SPAC President Christopher Shiley: “It’s been too long.”
By: Abby Tegnelia
Opera icon Renée Fleming takes the stage with the Philadelphia Orchestra tonight, for an eagerly-anticipated and diverse performance. The legendary vocalist will connect the arts with nature, sing everything from Lord of the Rings to Björk — and of course bring the house down with the arias and musical theater numbers that made her a world-famous star.
“She's one of the most quintessential sopranos and vocalists of her time,” SPAC President Christopher Shiley tells the Dispatch. “She has not been at the venue since 2016, so it's certainly time to have her back. It's been too long.”
Fleming has five Grammys (from a whopping 18 nominations), a Kennedy Center Honor and National Medal of Arts. She also has an honorary membership in England’s Royal Academy of Music, among many other recognitions.
The first half of tonight’s show will feature
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