PETE KLEIN

Express News Staff

INDIAN LAKE - It was time to say good-bye and thanks to two long-standing members of the Indian Lake Town Board Monday, Dec. 12.

Current Deputy Town Supervisor / Supervisor-elect Brian Wells first recognized Councilman George Virgil for his 14 years as councilman. Wells read from a plaque noting Virgil “has worked tirelessly over the years along with past and current Councilmen to keep the Town Budget low without cutting services” and “George was instrumental in planning and erecting the Town’s school bus garage, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars.”

After a round of applause Wells asked retiring Supervisor Barry Hutchins to stand and be recognized.

Reading from the plaque presented to Hutchins, Wells said Hutchins started with the town working at its Parks & Recreation Department for 14 years, where he also became a Bti applicator, and how for six of those years he was also a town justice. In 1998 he was elected town supervisor, succeeding Richard “Dick” Purdue, for a total of 14 years as supervisor and a grand total of 28 years of “dedication and service to the community.”

Come January these two familiar faces will not be at town board meetings unless they decide to attend as members of the public.

ALCA PRESCHOOL

Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts Managing Director Erin Barton asked the board for renewed support for “Arts from the Start,” an art-based preschool program for children ages 30 months to 5 years.

The reason: $3,500 for the program was cut in the recently approved 2012 town budget. Barton said this has created a situation where the program might not start up again Jan. 31, after Christmas break.

The $3,500 had been provided basically to cover the cost of bus transportation (fuel and driver) from Indian Lake Central School to ALCA and back twice a week.

“I think this is an important program and we will look for solutions,” Hutchins said. He offered some hope when he suggested there might be someone willing to volunteer as a bus driver and the town van might be an alternative to the school bus.

Defending the 2012 budget that was crafted to come in just under the 2 percent cap on any increase in the tax levy, Virgil said, “We were not looking at just the kids. We also had to think about older people heating and keeping their homes. But I do think we can find a fix.”

OTHER BUSINESS

• Bernadette Treagor was appointed to a five-year term on the library Board of Trustees.

• Edward Graves was appointed to the Board of Assessment Review.

• The Town Board’s 2011 Close-Out Meeting will be Wednesday, Dec. 28, starting at 5 p.m. Its 2012 Organizational Meeting will be Monday, Jan. 2, starting at 7 p.m. Both will be held in Town Hall.

The board’s next regular meeting will be Monday, Jan. 9, starting at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.