BALLSTON SPA — The New York State Sheriffs’ Institute will begin its annual Honorary Membership drive in Saratoga County within the next ten days according to Sheriff Michael H. Zurlo. 

The New York State Sheriffs’ Institute was established in 1979. It is a not-for-profit corporation, tax exempt organization, and contributions to the Institute are tax deductible. 

While the Sheriff’s Office is a unit of county government, many of the concerns of Sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies are best addressed on a statewide level. The Sheriffs’ Institute provides centralized training programs and services for all Sheriffs’ Offices, where those programs and services would be unavailable or impractical on a single county basis. 

The flagship program of the Sheriffs’ Institute is the Sheriffs’ Summer Camp for economically challenged children. The Sheriffs’ Camp, in its 44th year of operation, is located on Keuka Lake and 840 children from across New York State attend each summer. The Sheriffs’ Institute pays the entire cost of the camp stay and transportation. Most children attending wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity for vacation travel or a summer camp experience. 

The Sheriffs’ Camp program combines summer recreation with activities designed to teach an understanding of, and respect for, our laws and the men and women who enforce them. The strong camper to counselor ratio allows for individual attention with an emphasis on the development of self-esteem. 

In addition, the Sheriffs’ Institute operates a scholarship program that provides one scholarship to each of New York State’s Community College’s Criminal Justice Programs. This program is designed to help attract the best and the brightest to the criminal justice vocation. 

For more information about the Sheriffs’ Summer Camp and other Sheriffs’ Institute Programs, visit our website, www.sheriffsinstitute.org or simply Google “Sheriffs’ Institute kids” and it will be your first option. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Henry Street welcomed outdoor tables filled with customers this past weekend as local eateries in Saratoga have expanded their outdoor dining to the streets.

Participating restaurants such as Scallions, Henry Street Taproom, Flatbread Social, Paint and Sip and other businesses can now offer outdoor seating on the street with concrete safety barriers between customers and traffic. The concrete blocks extend down Henry Street and Short Alley between Lake Avenue and Caroline Street. Eateries saw full capacity after beginning the street dining this past Friday.

“It was really exciting to see so many people enjoying it,” said Erin Maciel, Complete Streets Advisory Board committee member. “This is the step we need to take as a city. I think by working with the business association, we have really seen how streets can be flexible. That’s really what we are promoting with Complete Streets. Streets are public space and this is a great example of how streets can keep us safe as a community, allow for social distancing and allow for people to be outdoors and support businesses.”

The Complete Streets Advisory Board was established via the Complete Streets Policy as adopted by City Council on May 1, 2012. 

“Having that outdoor space is pivotal. People do feel safer outdoors and that’s something that we have to acknowledge and support. We want them to come out and feel safe downtown. The outdoor step is essential and necessary to save our local economy,” said Catherine Hover, owner of Paint and Sip.

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Street dining helps to increase revenue for participating businesses and allows for COVID-19 safe dining. To help this initiative, Maciel said she’s happy the city passed a temporary outdoor seating that allows businesses to expand to city property, which streets are included in.

“With the ordinance that is out there right now, each business needs to provide insurance that allows them to go out onto sidewalks and into the street. That’s our next step throughout our community…to expand outdoor dining.”

The Saratoga City Council approved the permit system late June, which allows city restaurants to expand their outdoor seating to sidewalks and other public locations. The permits have no cost.

Henry Street isn’t the only roadway to see outdoor dining. Maciel said she has seen businesses on other streets joining together to take over parking lanes or shift around the cross section of the roadway to accommodate seating in the street. Hover, also owner of Palette Café, expanded her outdoor seating to the sidewalks on Broadway.

“Right now, I think we are seeing a silver lining and I think that’s something we need to talk about…that we can accommodate and support local businesses with new ideas and thinking creatively,” Maciel said. “We on the Complete Streets Board and design professionals here in the city just want to support businesses to keep our city what it is and make sure everyone can weather this storm.”

Maciel is also a Senior Landscape Architect at CLA SITE Landscape Architecture, Engineering & Planning, P.C, which is located at 58 Church St in Saratoga Springs.

Hover added: “We have to keep moving forward and we have to have hope. We have to evolve and we have to adapt. We need people to be vocal and speak up. There is real change coming and it’s exciting.” 

Dining on the road will continue through Labor Day, at which point the Complete Streets Advisory Board and city officials will re-evaluate to determine if the ordinance and permits should be extended. 

 “It really depends on COVID and how safe we can be indoors,” Maciel said. “We have a climate here that does not allow us to be outdoors year-round. Talking with everyone, why can’t we have heaters out there? You look at a lot of cities around the globe and I think there are ways to make accommodations for folks to enjoy it longer. Once we go into winter and if we are not able to be indoors safely, that’s going to be a huge hit for our small businesses. We really need to expand it as far as it can.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Campfire s’moreo. Bourbon truffle maker. Baked placid cheesecake, and mango dragon fruit sherbet.  There are more than 60 different flavors available at Stewart’s Shops, including those four which are part of the summertime limited edition kind. This summer, the company thought it a most appropriate time to re-introduce a limited-edition flavor that first premiered two years ago. It’s called: Civility. 

“Just plain old kindness,” “getting along with people,” “putting out a positive energy to everybody you come across,” sound the endorsements in the company’s 80-second video clip re-introducing the ice cream flavor. 

“It initially launched in 2018, a time when things were similar to how they are today – a country divided,” Stewart’s Shops spokeswoman Erica Komoroske said this week. “Right now, we’re having a big issue with masks. People are really divided on the mask issue. COVID-19 has put people on edge and we see a lot of hostility, customers yelling at each other in our shops about wearing a mask.  What better time to bring back ‘civility,’” she says. 

By definition the practice of extending basic politeness and respect to all citizens of society; by flavor, a vanilla based ice cream with a salty caramel swirl thought up by owner Bill Dake and created at the company manufacturing plant in Greenfield. “It’s a non-nut flavor,” she says.  “We’ve had dozens and dozens of requests from customers to bring Civility back.” 

Stewart’s Shops are deemed essential businesses and as such have remained open for the duration of the COVID period. It counts approximately two dozen shops within 10 miles of Saratoga Springs, 55 shops in Saratoga County and approximately 5,000 employees and 337 stores in New York and Southern Vermont. 

On July 1, the company posted a lengthy statement on its web site detailing its priority to protect the health and safety of customers and employees, its adherence to CDC recommended guidelines and the protocols it was taking: the installation of plexiglass barriers at cash registers, offering hand sanitizer for customer use, regularly sanitizing high-touch areas, and posting signage to enforce customer social distancing, among them. 

All shop employees – across New York and Vermont – are required to wear face coverings. Store signage informs that customers over the age of 2 medically able to do so are also required to cover their face with a mask or cloth face covering. However, it the customers’ responsibility to comply with the mask order. 

“A mask is required, but we can’t put our partners in a position to enforce it,” Komoroske says. We’re trying to offer gentle reminders to customers – ‘hey, did you forget your mask today?’ There have been physical altercations in our parking lot. There have been customers chased with a tire iron. This mask issue has definitely divided people.” 

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The problem, she says, is the wearing of masks is not mandated by law. “If Ag & Markets came out with a law that said masks are mandatory, we would have better backing to enforce it as well,” she says. 

“It’s not a law, it’s an executive order,” says Robin Dalton, public safety commissioner in Saratoga Springs. “There is no enforcement that is available to us as a local municipality to do anything other than remind and strongly encourage people to wear their masks. We are completely hamstrung. Our police department very much wants to follow the rule of law, but they are not going to write a ticket for something they know is not a law and not enforceable,” Dalton says. 

“Personally – I think every single person should be wearing a mask when they step outside. If they aren’t around people, they should have it dangling on their wrist, like I do, so the second they see someone coming into their space, throw it on, or cross the street,” she explains. “There are a lot of people stuck at home, who are terrified to go downtown and terrified to go outside  because other people are not willing to show them the common courtesy and respect of putting on a face mask. I think it has to do with safety, and with respect. We are such a philanthropic and giving community, but when it comes to this one particular issue, for some reason which I will never understand, it’s polarizing.” 

A survey initiated by Saratoga-based tourism agencies conducted in June in which just over 3,200 participated, listed “masks worn by employees” as the top safety precautions businesses and their employees can take that will motivate respondents to visit their businesses. The results of the survey, publicly released July 8, also listed “a lack of trust in venues enforcing proper safety guidelines” as the main reason nearly 1,000 of the respondents are deterred from visiting Saratoga County. 

The survey partnered Mind Genomics the Saratoga County Chamber, Discover Saratoga, the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership and other agencies and was designed to glean information about what will motivate respondents to visit Saratoga County in the next six months.

Absent stronger language from the state regarding  mandatory mask-wearing of customers, Stewart’s Shops is test-marketing different ideas. 

“We’re rolling out a test right now offering complimentary masks in one of our district of 17 shops in Valatie, and we’re trying to learn: are people going to respond? will they take the mask? how will they respond if a partner offers them a mask?” Komoroske says. “if that test goes well, we’ll roll that out company-wide.” 

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SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Hospital is not changing the hospital’s current “No Visitors” policy.

The governor’s recent directive allows each hospital to reconsider its visitation policies and use its best judgment. Following a careful assessment of our current “No Visitors” policy, including consulting with our nursing and physician leadership, we have come to the conclusion that the safeguards provided by restricting visitation is in the best interest of our patients and our staff.

This is particularly important as we witness the volatility of the spread of the virus in other regions across the country and new travel quarantines being implemented.

As of this week, and since June 12, Saratoga Hospital has had no COVID-19 positive inpatients. Since the beginning of this crisis, Saratoga Hospital has also had no hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections. And early on in this crisis, Saratoga Hospital was the first and only hospital in the region to institute an advanced testing protocol for patients to be rapid-tested for COVID-19 before being admitted to the hospital. Knowing every patient’s status allowed the hospital staff to manage a patient’s stay much more efficiently and effectively, increasing patient and staff safety and increasing confidence in our hospital.

When essential elective procedures were allowed to restart in late April after being postponed by NYSDOH directives, all patients were required to be tested before any surgeries or procedures were performed. No COVID-19 positive patient was allowed to undergo a procedure until subsequently testing negative.

In short, every policy and protocol we have enacted has made Saratoga Hospital safer for our patients, our staff, and our community. With that level of success in our safety plan implementation, we feel it is best to continue to enforce a “No Visitor” policy and continue to reduce risk.

We understand and respect the frustration this may place on our patients, their families and friends. We have always made compassionate exceptions, made on a case-by-case basis as directed by our patient care team. When possible, we assist patients with iPad or smartphone virtual visits. And we have made our Inpatient Transition Program team available for personal phone calls to families to provide extra comfort and answer questions they may have. Each of these efforts was part of our visitation policy assessment.

We will continue to monitor and reassess the policy. The current visitation policy is available on the hospital’s website: SaratogaHospital.org/COVID19.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — While City Hall offices remain closed to the public, the Building Department is fully operational, the organization announced this week. 

Permit applications are being reviewed and issued as usual.  Email notifications are automatically sent to inform applicants as their application moves through the review process. 

However, at this time, applications for building permits continue to be accepted via U.S. Mail only.  Until the Building Department has moved into its new location on the 3rd floor of City Hall at 474 Broadway, and City Hall reopens to the public, the department is unable to accept applications and documents in person. 

The Building Departments says it will communicate via email with applicants at the following stages: When an application is received in the mail; When all required information has been received, the application is complete and has been checked into the department’s Review Queue; When a building inspector is assigned to review the application and plans; When permit is approved and ready to issue.

Inspections are being performed in all cases when the state-required “Safety Plan” is in place.

Inspections can be requested three ways: Submit request directly into system (preferred) using the online form from the city’s website at: saratoga-springs.org; Email request to building.office@saratoga-springs.org; Call the inspection line at 518-587-3550, ext. 2511. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — This week, eight states were added to the original list of eight that requires residents of those states traveling to New York to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival.   

The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a Covid-19 positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.

The newly added states are: California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee. Additionally, the travel advisory remains in effect for the initial eight states named on June 24. Those are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North and South Carolina, Utah, Texas. 

“We’re in the middle of a national crisis and we have to be careful. We’ve made tremendous progress, but this is not over,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during his press briefing on July 1. “We’re seeing troubling signs across the country that we should be concerned about,” he said. “Our infection rate is low. How does it go up? People come in from the outside, or when we start to get lack of discipline on the inside.” 

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The advisory alerting domestic travelers coming to New York occurs at a time when European nations are instituting a travel ban related to Americans traveling overseas. All members of the European Union – as well as a handful of non-E.U. nations, are slated this week to begin opening their borders to residents of more than one dozen foreign nations – Canada, Australia, and Japan among them – but not to residents of the United States, where the spread of Covid-19 has not been controlled, according to the N.Y. Times.

The rate of infection in the Capital Region remains low, although there were cautionary messages this week from the state about a COVID cluster at a Washington County/Vermont Slate Quarry. 

Washington County Department of Health subsequently announced it is working with the New York State Health Department and the Vermont Department of Health to assess the potential impacts to the community regarding reports of the cluster of COVID-19 cases. 

Cuomo said visitors to New York found to be violating the quarantine can be subject to judicial order and mandatory quarantine, in addition to being assessed fines. Those fines could be $2,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and up to $10,000 “if you cause harm,” the governor said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga and the greater Capital Region entered Phase 4 of the state’s reopening plan on July 1. 

The industries specifically tagged to reopen in phase four include: professional sports competitions – with no fans, higher education, both indoor and outdoor low-risk arts and entertainment, and media production. 

Regionally, the rate of those testing positive for the COVID-19 virus has remained low and statewide has fallen dramatically compared to where they were earlier this year.

This week, the number of positive test results ranged from 0.7% to 1.5% across the state, with the Capital Region measuring at 1.0% – or 1 of every 100 people who had been tested, testing positive for COVID-19. 

New York State has conducted more diagnostic tests per capita than any nation on earth, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week. 

“New York State is doing great, the numbers are good, the numbers are solid,” Cuomo said regarding New York’s infection rates, hospitalizations and the number of deaths recently caused by the virus.  “But I feel there are storm clouds on the horizon,” he warned.    

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Thirty-five states have seen an increase in infection rates this week. 

“Now they’re all starting to say: we better take this seriously. We better start wearing masks. They’re going backwards on their reopening plan – which is just what we talked about happening,” Cuomo said. “If you reopen too fast, you’re going to have to close. And that’s the worst situation, the worst for the economy and you’re going to lose more people in the meantime.” 

The formula the governor described at his July 1 press briefing includes: testing, tracing, social distancing and wearing a mask. To that last point, a Fox Business report posted July 1 cited a Goldman Sachs study that says a national face mask mandate would slow the spread of COVID-19 and potentially prevent the reinstatement of lockdowns that would wreak havoc on the U.S. economy.  He also cautioned about the slipping of citizen compliance. 

“If you have citizen compliance dropping and you don’t have local governments enforcing, then you’re going to see the virus go up. Period.” Phase 3 indoor dining in New York City was postponed due to a combination of lack of local enforcement, an influx of visitors and lack of public compliance, Cuomo added. 

In Phase 4, social distancing, face-covering and hygiene protocols continue to apply. Arts and entertainment businesses are mandated to limit workforce and patron/visitor presence to no more than 33% of the maximum occupancy for a particular area at any given time outside, and to no more than 25% of maximum occupancy inside. 

Mandatory directives regarding the resuming of professional sports competitions include there be no live audience, fans, or spectators allowed to attend or to enter the venue. Additionally, fans are prohibited from congregating outside the venue. 

The industries which remain closed are amusement parks, video lottery gaming and casino gaming facilities, indoor movie theaters, large gathering concert or event venues, indoor common portions of retail shopping malls greater than 100,000 square feet and gyms and fitness centers. This week more than 200 gym-goers in West Virginia were urged to quarantine after a Planet Fitness client tested positive for Covid-19. 

The history of architecture has often promoted the idea that bigger is better but today, the tiny house movement is challenging this notion.

Offering the styling of larger houses with a lower price tag, minimalist living is an attractive option for environmentally-minded homeowners who want a simpler lifestyle. 

Building a tiny house, however, is no simple task. 

The Best Laid Plans

The 220 sq. ft. tiny house was a big project that involved a lot of work by many people. 

Even before the high school students in the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services (WSWHE BOCES) Residential Construction Course began the tiny house project, work-based learning coordinator, Bruce Hoffman, was helping to organize donations of materials, appliances and expertise from a long list of industry professionals. 

“At BOCES we thrive on that. We always want to show the value of cooperation and building relationships with the community. That all comes together in this project. It showed, very clearly, what you can do in a BOCES program and what can be accomplished,” said BOCES Senior Public Information Specialist Maribeth Macica. 

In seven months students, led by instructor Ian Hamilton, redesigned architectural plans to make the tiny house mobile, built much of it, and worked on electrical and plumbing components within it at the F. Donald Myers Education Center campus in Saratoga.  Welding class students modified the trailer deck, and conservation class students used heavy equipment to tow it once it was completed. 

Showcasing Student Opportunities

The WSWHE BOCES programs provide students with opportunities for hands-on learning and gives them the experience to get well-paid jobs. 

“Each program has a consultant committee that annually reviews the curriculum and gives advice as to what’s happening on the cutting edge of that industry,” said Macica. 

BOCES students are learning things the average high school student is not. You may already know that WSWHE BOCES students build sheds, but did you know that last spring, they cleared a site in Moreau for the Harry J. Betar Recreational Park & Playground or that they design and create the “Tuff eNuff” obstacle course each year in Saratoga Springs?

These activities build a workforce and strengthen the community which is eager to hire skilled people. To help get the word out, the BOCES tiny house was on display at the Washington County Fair, and at three different locations in the fall Showcase of Homes, organized by the Saratoga Builders Association (SBA). 

“The Saratoga Builders Association has 160 members and our mission is very focused – we promote construction and make life in Saratoga County better,” said SBA Executive Director Barry Potoker.

This year will mark the 25th annual Showcase of Homes tour. It attracts between 3,500 – 4,000 visitors each year and has helped to fund the $1.3 million that the SBA has donated  to charitable causes. 

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Designing the Tiny House

The Showcase of Homes demonstrates what area builders can do. These homes show off the latest in building innovations and luxurious living. 

Interior designer Michele Ahl, of 2B Design, LLC. has served on the Showcase planning committee, as a judge, and won awards in 2016 and 2018 for her designs. She volunteered to help make the tiny house into a home. 

“The idea of promoting the youth in the trades got me very excited. They can make an amazing living. It’s a fantastic opportunity because now, if you want someone good, you have to wait a long time. If there were more people in the industry, we could do jobs faster and there would be more competition, which would bring prices down. It would help everything in every way,” said Ahl.

Designing for the Showcase of Homes is a unique challenge.

“In a lot of ways, it wasn’t any different than any Showcase house; there are big plans at the beginning, as time goes on, it all changes, and at the very end, you have to scramble to get it done. It’s very long days and nights, redesigning, rethinking, refiguring, shopping and returning things to make it work,” said Ahl.

Sizing Up Small Spaces

When it came to designing the tiny house, Ahl’s main concern was how to maximize livability in such a small space.  Since the structure is also mobile, she had to consider the weight of materials and furnishings, as well as how to secure them during transport. 

“In each location, the tiny house garnered a lot of attention. There was a line down the sidewalk of people waiting to get in each weekend to see what we did. People would flock to it,” said Ahl.

Features of the tiny house include a small front porch, a 10’x8’ sleeping loft, electric heating and a composting toilet. Vinyl plank flooring stretch the length of the main level with natural pine floors used in the loft space. There is a built-in seating area for up to 7 people, a small workspace, and a kitchen with a 4-burner stove and a wine cooler. A pine sliding barn door divide the living area from the bathroom and a Precision Glass floral-printed glass door cover the utility closet, which had enough room for a stackable washer and dryer.

After the Showcase, the tiny house was sold, fully-furnished, for $21,000 in an online auction.

Living Large in Small Spaces

While your space may not be as small as the tiny house Michele Ahl decorated, you can use her designer tips to get the most life out of your home.

Light Colors: Even when there isn’t sunlight flowing through the windows, small spaces feel bigger and more open when you pair neutrals, like whites and grays, with fresh eucalyptus and mint green colors. 

Clever Storage: Live well in any-sized space with storage that fits your needs. Use your vertical space! Hanging baskets and toiletry holders save on precious surface area. By hanging a mirror over the bathroom window, you create privacy that serves a second function.

Outside-the-Box Solutions: Create unique, inexpensive shelves by mounting books with brackets.  Copper piping in the kitchen makes interesting, usable cabinet hardware, and a wall-mounted sink positioned sideways saves space in the bathroom. 

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