Our water isn’t the worst, although that’s a low bar for a mountain village that could have the best water anywhere. We should have no salt, and when Franklin County Public Health officials, Peg Cantwell and D.J. Fowler, met with the Saranac Lake Central School District Board of Education on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017, Fowler said, “Our message is that no amount of lead is safe.” Our water tests show a consistent presence of lead. The AL (Action Level) for lead was last breached in 2014, as far as I’m aware, requiring immediate replacement of specific pipes. Lead levels severely exceeded the AL at the High School and Petrova School in 202. The school district undertook remediation efforts. The village had to submit an inventory of lead in the water distribution system by Oct. 16, 2024, per NYS mandate. That inventory might be informative, when we’re allowed to see it.

The expense of returning to surface water (McKenzie Pond) for our supply will be high. Drilling additional wells is also big money, but that’s where we’re headed — one or the other. The ongoing replacement of aging piping is expensive but it must be done, not only for water quality but for the multiple thousands of gallons lost yearly to leaks.

The armory is borrowed. I understand that the SLPD is doing well there. Great solution, using the empty armory. What about a 10 or 25 year lease? Buy us some time. Those who reject out-of-hand a Phase I, Phase II approach do us a disservice.

Short Term Rentals figure here significantly. Per the Community Development Department, as of September 2024, there were a total of 116 pre-existing STR units which received permits: 116 units represents 254 bedrooms. That’s not counting the illegal rentals, plus the new approvals, plus many more outside the village. This reduction in housing affects volunteerism. It particularly affects the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department.

At a Feb. 12, 2024 Saranac Lake village board meeting about the proposed new emergency services building, SLVFD Chief Brendan Keough said, “If something doesn’t change very soon in the volunteerism, Saranac Lake is going to need a fully-paid fire department.”

A paid department further increases the tax burden. “It’s the biggest crisis we’re facing right now,” Keough said. “The firehouse isn’t the building, it’s not the shiny red trucks. It’s not even the chief. It’s the volunteers that are the lifeblood of the fire department,” Keough said.

Residents of Saranac Lake may soon need to ante-up for paid firefighters. We certainly need to upgrade our water distribution infrastructure, and there are other projects, including the unknown and unplanned. Therefore, we must be more prudent spending for this building, wherever it goes.

There needs to be a project manager who has our best interests first and foremost. That individual or firm needs to be on-board now (yesterday) to develop this project — well before further contracts are signed with Wendel/Five Bugles Design. Relying solely on an architect or design firm (working on a percentage basis) will cost us dearly, and already has, doubling the size of this project from 35,000 square feet in 2022 to a massive 70,000 square feet. today. Costs must be managed downward to fit affordability. The village board and the mayor have taken a defensive stance regarding costs as opposed to being proactive about managing costs. Regardless of their good intentions, we can’t be hamstrung by such tremendous over-spending on a single initiative.

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Dan Reilly lives in Saranac Lake.