SARANAC LAKE – From Sunmount to a rail-trail debate to outdoor recreation, Adirondack issues were among the questions two Assembly candidates answered in separate interviews at the Enterprise office.

Democrat Billy Jones and Republican Kevin Mulverhill are running to succeed Janet Duprey in representing Assembly District 115, which includes Franklin and Clinton counties as well as four towns in eastern St. Lawrence County.

Mulverhill is the Franklin County sheriff, a retired state trooper and a Malone resident. Jones is chairman of the Franklin County Board of Legislators, a former mayor of Chateaugay and a Chateaugay resident.

This is the second installment of the Enterprise’s report on the candidates’ statements on myriad issues.

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Sunmount

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Mulverhill said he believes problems of abuse between residents and employees at the state center for people with developmental disabilities are related to mental health issues seen across the nation. At the Franklin County Jail, which he runs, he said they see a half-dozen inmates per year with mental illnesses who have no place to go due to a lack of bed space, who therefore end up jailed long-term on petty crime charges.

“As a society, we can not do business this way,” he said.

He said care for people with mental health issues and developmental disabilities would be a high budget priority for him.

As for resolving the issues at Sunmount, he said parties on all sides need to meet together in person so they couldn’t “point the finger at someone who isn’t there.

“And I think the other part of it is a lot of people are scared to death that Sunmount is going to close,” Mulverhill said, “and they are going to take all those jobs and stuff with them, and that comes up every so often.” He said Tupper Lake is “a Sunmount town.”

Jones said he does not have hands-on insight into the dynamics at Sunmount and said he’d want to look into it more, explaining how dealing with the situation would need to be done carefully considering the different kind of mental health issues residents of the center have.

“I’d find out what the problems were, you have to sit down and talk,” he said. “A lot of these (decisions) are coming out of Albany, and if I’m so lucky to be elected, I would certainly sit down and speak with the commissioners to see what we can do to improve the situation.”

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Rail-trail plan

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Mulverhill said that since he started his campaign in the spring, he has realized how “explosive” of an issue the rail-trail debate is in Tupper Lake. In May, the governor signed off on a proposal for the state to replace 34 miles of its railroad tracks with a multi-use trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake, and to upgrade 45 miles of tracks tracks south of Tupper Lake for train rides all the way to Utica. The Adirondack Railway Preservation Society is suing the state over the decision to remove tracks.

Mulverhill said the trail is a good experiment, but he has doubts about whether an active train line between Utica and Tupper Lake is worth the money. On the other hand, he said, people in Chateaugay told him, “The day businesses left Chateaugay was the day they pulled up the railroad tracks.

“In my most common-sense mind, do I believe a train system between Utica and Tupper Lake is going to be viable in itself? I’d have to say no,” Mulverhill said. “Should the day come where we provide ATV, UTV and maybe even a bicycle path? I do.”

Jones didn’t say much about the state’s plan.

“It’s been decided, hasn’t it?” he said. “At the county level, we’ve thrown our two cents into it, and I think, like I said, it’s going to move forward.”

The Franklin County Board of Legislators passed a resolution in February calling for the railroad to be retained with a trail beside it, but state officials have decided that is not feasible.

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Outdoor activity

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Both Jones and Mulverhill said they would try to increase staffing at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, especially in light of recent crowding on Adirondack hiking trails.

Mulverhill said a priority of his would be to increase part-time and seasonal state staffing for hiking trails throughout the High Peaks area.

“Can we find a couple of million dollars to help us out here in the Adirondacks? I would hope so,” he said.

“I think it’s important to get high school and college aged kids to help,” he added. “It means more from an individual than a sign that was posted there.”

Jones said it’s great to see the increased amount of hikers and visitors coming to the Adirondacks, but he said he doesn’t feel the area is properly equipped for the number of people coming.

“We can push the tourism all we want, but if we don’t have the resources to take care of them, then it just doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Personally, both men said they have snowmobiled and hiked in the past, but haven’t had time for it recently.

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New Forest Preserve

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In light of the state’s latest Forest Preserve addition, the Boreas Ponds tract in the central Adirondacks, both candidates said they want to see a balance between preserving nature and allowing people to access it, but Mulverhill leaned more toward access. The state Adirondack Park Agency is currently in the process of classifying how the land may be used, including whether motor vehicles should be allowed to drive all the way to the ponds via a logging road.

With the amount of recent land added to the Forest Preserve, Mulverhill said recreation should be a priority for new additions, especially access for people with disabilities.

“There’s a logging road that is there, and it doesn’t have to be a four-lane highway – just accessible,” he said.

Jones did not specify which plan for Boreas Ponds he favors.

“I’m interested to see what comes out of those hearings,” he said. “This land, however it’s classified, I think it’s good we are going to get to use it for recreation purposes. But you always have to have the balance.”

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REDCs

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Mulverhill said he had a change of heart on the state’s Regional Economic Development Council process after speaking with one of the North Country REDC’s representatives, John Ettling, the president of SUNY Plattsburgh.

“I always felt local government should get that money back to do whatever they want with it,” Mulverhill said, “but without this system, whether you like it or you don’t, there would be little to no money coming back to the North Country, until we can come up with a better system.”

Jones said he thinks the REDC process works well. He’s been a member of the North Country REDC for four years.

“It’s a bottom-up approach to projects that come forth that we need,” he said, “but there is always going to be, in any process, (comments like), ‘It didn’t work because we didn’t get funded.’ You have to have good projects to put into it, well vetted.

“I honestly know that it is a fair process,” he added, “that there is no advantage to anybody that submits a project.”