This past week I was invited to the Ausable River Association Shindig at AuSable Brewing Company. I learned a lot from Guest Speaker Rich Starr who talked about the river restoration work that has been done in the Adirondacks and most notably the work in the Town of Jay. I was able to get a tour of the location #2 which is in the construction phase right now in Upper Jay. This work includes the construction of a toe wood bench to narrow the channel, help stabilize the bank next to the road, and provide much need habitat for fish, and the food that will help fish grow. Next they will be adding W-weirs and J-hooks in the channel to create deeper pools to help lower the temperature of the water during the summer to help revive the fish population and in the winter help break up the ice as it flows down river. In the attached picture you can see the work that is being done.
Over the weekend I attended the Adirondack Harvest Festival at the Essex County Fairgrounds in Westport. This event has become extremely popular and entertained thousands of visitors. This vendor fair showcases the farms, breweries, distilleries, and more from around the county. It was nice to see several Town of Jay residents in attendance as guests and vendors. I hope we can keep building off the success of this event as Essex County keeps investing in the property.
In my office, we are knee deep in preparing the 2024 Tentative Budget. I am working with all of the departments in the Town of Jay to prepare a well thought out budget to present to the town board. This is going to, once again, be an extremely hard budget to meet all the needs of the town as inflation is around 4% again this year. We must take care of employees, our equipment, and our services. We will do our due diligence in making the difficult decisions to present the best budget for the town.
Hope you have a great week,
Matt.
