L.G. officials mull major upgrades to local sledding/skiing hill

LAKE GEORGE | The children and young-at-heart residents of Lake George Village will enjoy vastly expanded wintertime recreational opportunities if proposals by Mayor Ray Perry are brought to fruition. At the June 5 special meeting of the Lake George Village Board, Perry suggested that the village partner with the town of Lake George in enhancing the village's sledding/tubing hill with a tow rope and snowmaking capabilities. Perry said he envisioned the sledding hill at the Lake George Recreation Center to be as well-equipped as the town of Chester's Dynamite Hill, a formidable skiing and sledding venue in Chestertown, enjoyed by generations of residents and visitors. Perry said that the Tubby Tubes enterprise of Lake Luzerne has a tow rope and three snow guns that are not being used, and are available for acquisition. He said that Jamie Johnson, who owns the river tubing company and Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course, offered to donate the tow rope device and snow guns to the village. Perry said he and Lake George Town Supervisor Vinnie Crocitto had inspected the equipment, and it was in good condition. He said the town board was "100 percent behind" the idea of acquiring the equipment, noting that the Lake George sledding hill was steep, and a tow rope would reduce the effort that children and their parents had to expend getting up the hill for multiple trips down the slope. "There's been a lot of talk lately between myself and the town about revitalizing the Recreation Center and the Youth Commission," he said. "This is something we're looking forward to." He said that another change under consideration was moving the new all-weather skating rink — now situated in the Beach Road parking lot — to the village Recreation Center, to create a wintertime recreational destination. The rink is jointly owned by the town and village. Perry said that he planned on having someone qualified to inspect the tow rope and snow guns before acquiring them. "There are a lot of good things coming to the Recreation Center — There's the potential to make that area a lot more useful and greater than it is now," he said of the proposed improvements, which would boost skiing, sledding, and snow tubing at the venue. Already, the Recreation Center has four miles of cross-country skiing trails on the venue's vast acreage off Transfer Road. He also noted that the town board had suggested naming the improved sledding and skiing slope "Warrior Hill." In other business conducted at the June 5 meeting, the village board voted to have new motor drives installed in three sewer pumps at the village wastewater pumping station in Shepard Park for a cost of $22,257. Although only one of the three motor drives was failing, the board voted to replace all three as they were installed years ago at the same time. The two motor drives still functioning adequately are to be kept as backups to the ones in service. Also, a village board member suggested that metered parking spaces on Ottawa Street behind the Lake George High School be designated for overnight parking, for which a charge of $15 or $20 could be levied. The board member said he had heard from several owners or managers of the half-dozen motels and hotels at the northern end of the village that their guests needed more parking spaces than were available on the individual properties. Perry reminded the board members that the village now prohibits overnight parking. He also said that overnight parking would conflict with the village's routine early-morning street sweeping, which was pledged by village officials years ago when they received a $2 million state grant to install underground stormwater management devices. Regardless of these two issues, Perry said he'd explore the proposal. Board members said that the sale of overnight parking privileges would provide additional revenue for the village. Among other actions taken at the June 5 village meeting, the village trustees: • voted to appoint Dan Wolfield as a member of the village Zoning Board of Appeals, and John Ferrone as an alternate member of the panel. • approved hiring Sam Burns for part-time seasonal parking meter enforcement at a rate of $18 per hour. • voted to pay the Eastern States Towing & Recovery Association $7,500 drawn from village Occupancy Tax revenue for the organization's expenses in promoting their 2025 Lake George Tow Show held June 6 through June 8 in the village. Perry said he appreciated that this convention of towing professionals has been held in the village since 1984. "It's been a great event," he said.

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L.G. officials mull major upgrades to local sledding/skiing hill

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