RAY BROOK — The state Adirondack Park Agency released its annual report on Earth Day, Thursday, reflecting on last year and saying its staff and board transitioned well to telework during 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press release about the annual report, APA staff highlighted several projects approved last year: modernization of the Lake Placid Olympic Center; issuing 39 telecommunication permits, including a permit for the installation of a 150-foot-tall telecommunication tower in the town of Newcomb; the rebuild of two major segments of an existing 115kV electrical transmission line from the town of Moriah to the town of Whitehall; aquatic herbicide in Minerva Lake for management of Eurasian watermilfoil; and a 5 MW solar generating energy system in the town of Ticonderoga.

The agency also noted that it issued Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance decisions for the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan and amendments to the Essex Chain Lakes Management Complex, and that it approved an amendment to the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan to reclassify 32 acres of land classified for moderate intensity use to the more lenient hamlet use in the town of North Elba for a housing development outside the village of Lake Placid.

In 2020, the agency says, it issued more than 300 permits for private land projects, processed 1,088 jurisdictional inquires, reviewed 69 local government local land use variances, responded to 152 inquiries from local government officials related to local planning and zoning issues, fulfilled 331 Freedom of Information Law requests, evaluated 372 on-site wastewater treatment systems, looked at 352 stormwater management proposals and 225 deep-hole soil test pits, conducted 180 wetland site visits, made 251 wetland air photo interpretations, opened 200 enforcement cases and conducted 69 enforcement site visits.

To review the 2020 Annual Report, go to www.apa.ny.gov.