I'm back from vacation!

Hey everybody! I've been absent from this blog for about three weeks — sorry! I had a lot of vacation and personal time to use up before the end of 2011, and I tried my best to use it up. Didn't quite make it, but I got close enough. I thought I was going to have time to post a little bit the week before Christmas, but I got busy on a bunch of non-ACR stories through the two-and-a-half days I worked, so it didn't happen.

But I'm back now and I'm pretty excited. We're getting close to decision time! What do you think is going to happen?

The latest news is that Dan Plumley and David Gibson from Adirondack Wild, along with the help of attorney Bob Glennon, are calling to reopen the adjudicatory hearing. I think Dave had mentioned the idea of reopening the hearing to me when we talked about potential appeals at the beginning of December, and they filed a formal motion with the APA last Friday.

Former Saranac Laker and WNBZ reporter Jon Alexander ran this story in the Glens Falls Post-Star about how the process the APA is using on the ACR makes it difficult for commissioners to get all the information they need to make a decision.

It is a difficult process, and I wonder if it would make sense to reopen the hearing. Gibson and Plumley are saying that the information on wildlife and project design alternatives could be collected if the hearing is reopened, but there was plenty of opportunity to do that during the first three months of hearings, and only a sampling of information was presented. Adirondack Wild's expert presented a day-long study he did on wildlife in the area, and the Adirondack Council presented a series of alternative designs that were purely conceptual and therefore difficult to compare to the fully engineered project plans Preserve Associates has submitted.

Either way, I'm pretty sure that their motion will get at least one vote, and possibly a few more, in favor of sending the project back to hearing. Apparently the agency is still reviewing the motion, so they're not really sure when the board will decide on it, other than at some point during their deliberations as part of the January meeting.

Oh, speaking of the January meeting, APA spokesman Keith McKeever said the January meeting is going to have an extra day. It'll start Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 1 to 5 p.m., then there will be a full day on Thursday and they're hoping to get out by early afternoon that Friday.

Hope everyone had a happy Christmas, New Year's, and whatever other holidays you were recently celebrating!

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