Road resurfacing where it ends near Montague Inn.
View of road work from the Liberty Road.
Another view of road resurfacing from the Liberty Road where Sear's Pond Rd. turns by the Montague Inn.
Where the resurfacing begins on Sear's Pond Road at Gardener's Corners.
Closeup of new resurfacing.What do Lewis County's over emphasis on an ATV "trail system", a short section of resurfaced highway in the Town of Montague, and a study to see if more motels are needed in Lewis County have in common? They all have the potential to directly benefit County Legislator Rick Lucas.
His activities regarding the ATVs are well known (see my first post) and he has yet to recuse himself from the issue as he was advised in a December 2005 letter from Lewis County's ethics board. He was advised this because of his family's ownership of the well known snowmobile/ATV destination known as the Montague Inn. Although he has abstained from many votes on the issue he has remained actively involved in promoting and pushing for ATV trail expansion, often in the form of allowing ATVs on public highways. He has spoken out, in my opinion inappropriately, in a number of public venues promoting the ATV issue.The concept of "recusal" seems to escape him.
This summer a short section of Lewis County highway was resurfaced in the Town of Montague beginning at an intersection known as Gardener's Corners on the Sear's Pond Road and continuing for about 1.4 miles to just past the Montague Inn. Given the sorry condition of other County roads in the Town of Montague one has to wonder what makes this 1.4 miles of highway so important. From Gardener's Corners to the Montague Inn there exists, to the best of my count only 2 domiciles, 3 if you count the house right at Gardener's Corners. So... it seems unlikley that the high number of residents pushed the decision. After a bit of an uproar from Montague residents, other County roads may now receive some attention. Appearance is important, and one cannot escape the the appearance, the feeling, the perception that it may have not been a coincidence that the only road in the Town of Montague to receive major attention by the County this summer led to the Montague Inn.
Now we come to the new County hotel/motel study. Once again, in my humble opinion Mr. Lucas has put his foot in the part of the pasture that should be avoided. Legislator Lucas introduced a resolution to spend $8000.00 of taxpayer dollars to have a consulting firm do a study to see if a proposed hotel/motel in Lewis County is feasible. First, this was just a bad way to spend taxpayer dollars. The hotel/motel owner should fund their own study. Anybody want to fund a study for a gas station, a dairy barn expansion, a Krispy Kreme, etc., etc. ? You get my point. But in my opinion Legislator Lucas with his connections to the Montague Inn with its own motel should not have involved himself with this resolution. Again a self serving perception is created. Could not Mr. Lucas apply the results of the study to the Montague Inn business? Could the results of the study be used to enhance the value of current property if it were to show a need for more motel rooms, including property with connections to Mr.Lucas? With conflicts of interest, the perception is as important as the reality. It is my perception that the reality on this Board of Legislators is to not take conflict of interest issues seriously.
His activities regarding the ATVs are well known (see my first post) and he has yet to recuse himself from the issue as he was advised in a December 2005 letter from Lewis County's ethics board. He was advised this because of his family's ownership of the well known snowmobile/ATV destination known as the Montague Inn. Although he has abstained from many votes on the issue he has remained actively involved in promoting and pushing for ATV trail expansion, often in the form of allowing ATVs on public highways. He has spoken out, in my opinion inappropriately, in a number of public venues promoting the ATV issue.The concept of "recusal" seems to escape him.
This summer a short section of Lewis County highway was resurfaced in the Town of Montague beginning at an intersection known as Gardener's Corners on the Sear's Pond Road and continuing for about 1.4 miles to just past the Montague Inn. Given the sorry condition of other County roads in the Town of Montague one has to wonder what makes this 1.4 miles of highway so important. From Gardener's Corners to the Montague Inn there exists, to the best of my count only 2 domiciles, 3 if you count the house right at Gardener's Corners. So... it seems unlikley that the high number of residents pushed the decision. After a bit of an uproar from Montague residents, other County roads may now receive some attention. Appearance is important, and one cannot escape the the appearance, the feeling, the perception that it may have not been a coincidence that the only road in the Town of Montague to receive major attention by the County this summer led to the Montague Inn.
Now we come to the new County hotel/motel study. Once again, in my humble opinion Mr. Lucas has put his foot in the part of the pasture that should be avoided. Legislator Lucas introduced a resolution to spend $8000.00 of taxpayer dollars to have a consulting firm do a study to see if a proposed hotel/motel in Lewis County is feasible. First, this was just a bad way to spend taxpayer dollars. The hotel/motel owner should fund their own study. Anybody want to fund a study for a gas station, a dairy barn expansion, a Krispy Kreme, etc., etc. ? You get my point. But in my opinion Legislator Lucas with his connections to the Montague Inn with its own motel should not have involved himself with this resolution. Again a self serving perception is created. Could not Mr. Lucas apply the results of the study to the Montague Inn business? Could the results of the study be used to enhance the value of current property if it were to show a need for more motel rooms, including property with connections to Mr.Lucas? With conflicts of interest, the perception is as important as the reality. It is my perception that the reality on this Board of Legislators is to not take conflict of interest issues seriously.
