The Trails Committee has been hard at work opening new trails on County owned forestland. Last year, we opened the 1.3 mile Loudon Trail, and have had several hundred residents from all over the region use the trail. We opened the Edie-Bullard trail in the Town of Wilton this year. This trail is over 2.5 miles, and will connect to a larger town trail network. The Trails Committee is currently working on over 5 miles of new trails for residents to enjoy. I hope that City and County residents will use these trails as an outdoor recreational opportunity for themselves and their families. As Chairman of the committee, I am committed to the expansion of trail construction within our County.

Another project I am working on as a member of the County’s Public Safety Committee is finding a new vendor for the County’s Reverse 911 system. Reverse 911 is where the County office of Emergency Services can call your phone if there is an alert that may affect the health, safety, or welfare of a particular neighborhood or community. Right now, we only call land-line telephones. With the increasing number of people using cell phones, e-mail and text messaging, we need expanded coverage to provide this service at a cost that is affordable, but meets the technological needs of County residents. I have been appointed to a subcommittee of Supervisors to work on this important County project and will keep you updated on our progress.

As Chairman of the County’s Racing Committee, I have been following closely the issues surrounding the VLT facility at Aqueduct. I commend the State leaders for recently agreeing to a vendor, and look forward to the construction of the gaming facility, but will continue to remain a bit skeptical that this will get done until the VLTs are fully running. The County Board of Supervisors has passed three resolutions pushing the state to get on with naming a vendor. We need to keep watching this issue closely, with the hope that we have finally cleared the final hurdle of getting VLTs at Aqueduct.

These are a few of the things that I have been attending to in my role as your Supervisor. I am constantly re-evaluating what I do to make sure it is the right thing for City and County residents. You elected me to do a job for you, and I do not take the responsibilities that come with this job lightly. I will continue to listen to your concerns, and look forward to your suggestions on how to best serve your needs as Supervisor of Saratoga Springs.