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County Manager Agrees to Request to Provide Financial
Assistance for Lowville’s Summer Recreation Program in Critical Letter to
Village Mayor
Published: June 08, 2022 at
06:45 p.m.
By: Nick Altmire
Lowville, NY- With the annual
cost for the summer recreation program provided jointly by the Town and
Village of Lowville rising significantly over the past few years, Village
mayor Joseph Beagle sent a request to Lewis County Manager Ryan Piche in
early March to see if the County would consider providing any financial
assistance for the program.
The costs of the
program are split between the Town and Village traditionally, with the
Village paying 70 percent and the Town contributing 30 percent. The summer
recreation program is run by Double Play Sports, with the estimated costs
this year coming in at about $60,000 for the six-week program. Last year
the cost of the program was just over $50,000.
Children from
across Lewis County use the program, according to Mr. Beagle, many of which
do not reside in either the town or village of Lowville. No child has ever
been turned away from participating in the program based on residency, Mr.
Beagle said. Over 200 children participate in the program annually, with an
average of at least 50 of those residing outside of Lowville, according to
the mayor.
With the program
facing a $10,000 to $15,000 gap in funding this year, Mr. Beagle said he decided
to send a request asking if the County would be willing to consider a
contribution to assist with costs, instead of having to make cuts to the
program or eliminate it entirely this year.
In Mr. Beagle’s
letter, dated March 9, a brief explanation of the summer and winter
recreation program is provided to Mr. Piche, along with the associated
costs. The letter closes by asking if the county would help the Town and
Village of Lowville “aid these two very important programs to our
community” with a yearly contribution to help offset the rising costs. The
full letter, obtained by linkinglewiscounty.com on Tuesday, can be viewed here.
During the May
26 special meeting of the Village of Lowville Board of Trustees, Mayor Beagle
expressed his frustration to board members that Mr. Piche had not responded
to any of the correspondence he had sent regarding the recreation program.
Mr. Beagle stated to board members that in conversations he had with Town
of Lowville officials, the Town’s position would be to take the year off
from the program and determine how to fund it in the future if the County wasn’t
able to assist with additional funding this year. The mayor said the
Village would need to decide at their June 15 meeting whether to move
forward with the program this year. As with most Village meetings, video of
this meeting was live-streamed and recorded by, and available on, linkinglewiscounty.com.
In a scathing
letter to Mayor Beagle dated May 27 and obtained by linkinglewiscounty.com
on Tuesday, which states is in response to Mr. Beagle’s March 9 letter, Mr.
Piche ultimately states that the County will provide up to $10,000 in
support of the recreation program for this year only, by covering the costs
of the participation of any child that does not reside in Lowville. The
letter, which criticizes Lowville leadership on a variety of topics, speaks
for itself and can be viewed here.
Mr. Piche
provided the following statement by email in response to a request for any
additional context for the letter he sent in response to the funding
request:
“The village’s plan to cancel all summer
recreation programming for an expenditure of only $10,000 was not a
thoughtful plan for the children of Lowville. The County sees the bigger
picture and is stepping-up to ensure the program continues this summer. The
County and the Village routinely work well together on a variety of issues.
I am hopeful this issue will be an opportunity to discuss increased
collaboration regarding recreational services in the future.”
In response to
Mr. Piche’s May 27 letter to Mr. Beagle, Village of Lowville Trustee Dan
Salmon sent a letter to Mr. Piche, dated June 2, taking issue with the
statements made against leadership in the village. Mr. Salmon’s letter was
summarized in the correspondence portion of the June 7 meeting of the Lewis
County Board of Legislators. The full letter was provided to linkinglewiscounty.com
by Mr. Salmon and can be viewed here.
Mayor Beagle
tells us that the Village has invested over $40 million in infrastructure
projects since 2017, by updating water and sewer lines, moving forward
improvement projects at both the water and sewer facilities, upgrading all
the streetlights in the village to LED lighting, in addition to a number of other improvement projects. He said in terms
of supporting the Lowville Cream Cheese Festival and Lewis County Fair, the
Village provides additional police patrols during the events and additional
DPW crews for clean up after the events. Mr. Beagle said he is happy that
the County agreed to provide some assistance to help offset the increased
costs and ensure the summer recreation program can proceed this year for
the full six-week period.
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