LAKE PLACID – Village and town justices disagree on dissolving the village court system.

A draft resolution for a plan to dissolve the village court system was presented to the Lake Placid village Board of Trustees on Monday. For the second time, village trustees heard an argument for dissolving the village court.

The resolution suggests the village dissolve its court by April 3, 2017. None of the trustees nor the mayor took a firm position on the matter. The board is expected to make a decision at its next regular board meeting on Jan. 20.

Dean Dietrich, a town justice and also chairman of the North Elba-Lake Placid Community Development Commission, is pushing to dissolve the village court system, as Saranac Lake did in 2014 after a three-and-a-half-year process. The commission he chairs has a focus on community and government activities and believes the village court is an unnecessary duplication of services.

Dietrich said the benefits would include a $110,000-a-year savings for the village, and there would be one court session per week in the North Elba Town Hall instead of three. Village lawyer Janet Bliss said those costs would not be eliminated “right off the bat.”

Another factor that may weigh into the trustees’ decision is that dissolving the court is reversible for a two-year period. During those two years, while details are being worked out by the village and town, the village would have one acting justice and one backup justice.

The backup justice would need training and would only fill in for the acting justice, William Hulshoff, if he could not make it to court, according to Bliss. Dietrich said town justices can also lend a hand.

If the village dissolves its court, the costs and workload would be shifted to the town of North Elba court system. The village currently has two judges and one court clerk, and the town also has two judges and one court clerk.

When Saranac Lake village court dissolved, the cases were transferred to three different towns within the village. Dietrich said there were no major problems associated with receiving the cases.

Bliss said she believes dissolving the Lake Placid village court is doable, but she said some municipalities have faced practical problems with dissolving their court systems. One recommendation she made is that the village pay the town to retrieve its court records.

“There may have to be some compensation paid to the town, for example, for that record retention or retrieval process,” she said.

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Judges’ reaction

Hulshoff attended the meeting Monday and said the simplest solution would be to go back to one village justice.

“To some extent, you might just be going back to 1986 and going back to a single justice for a two-year period, but it could go beyond that if the board doesn’t change the resolution,” Hulshoff said. “That’s another option.”

When asked if one justice could handle the job, Hulshoff said the workload “fluctuates day to day.” Some days it’s too much for one justice and others it’s not, he said.

James Rogers III, a town justice for around 20 years, is set to retire before his next election.

“This is my last year, so it won’t be any load for me,” Rogers said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for the town, but I can understand why the village wants to do it.”

Rogers said he respects Dietrich’s role as the chairman of the Community Development Commission, which includes a subcommittee attempting to find new ways to share services between the town and the village governments.

Village Justice Margaret Doran is also expected to retire this year. She could not be reached for comment Monday.

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Parking fines

If the village court does dissolve, the village will still receive all of the parking fines generated by the Lake Placid Police Department. Dietrich said it will be a relatively small tax increase for townspeople to compensate.

Rogers said that was unfair.

“The village will continue to get all the parking (fines), which is a big chunk of change, and it will be a heavier load for the town court,” Rogers said. “It will add expense to the town court and not increase the income.”

Mayor Craig Randall was asked by the Enterprise if sharing some percentage of the fines with the town was an option.

“I’d want to reserve an answer on that,” Randall said.

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Town hears plan today

North Elba town Councilman Jay Rand, who is also the liaison to the Community Development Commission, said the village’s decision will definitely have consequences on the town.

“I think the whole purpose of the committee is to try to find ways of making things more efficient and present the ideas of both boards, and then seeing what the pros and cons are and go from there,” Rand said.

Rand said the full plan to dissolve the village court has not been presented to the town board yet, and he will withhold his comments until that time. The town will be presented the same plan by Dietrich during their organizational meeting at 2:30 p.m. today in the town of North Elba meeting room.

“I think we just have to listen to everybody’s reactions before we make a judgment,” Rand said.