We welcome your contributions for the "Sound Off" viewer opinion column. To submit a contribution, e-mail SoundOff@NorthCountryNow.com, fax 315-268-8701, mail to North Country This Week, PO Box 975, Potsdam, NY 13676, or visit our office, 19 Depot St., Potsdam. Keep submissions to 150 words or fewer; all are subject to editing. We receive more Sound Offs than we have room for; to increase the chances your submission will be posted, offer an opinion on new topics that have not appeared in "Sound Off," present your comments in a tasteful, thoughtful manner, and don’t criticize local people or businesses.

Noisy in Massena, too
I was reading the Sound Off titled "A Noisy Place to Live" (April 30-May 6). I don't live in Norwood, but in Massena. My husband and I moved here four years ago to a (seemingly) quiet neighborhood. Right now, the house next to us is on its fourth set of renters. These people feel the need to not only ride their ATVs up and down the street at all hours, but also their snowmobiles during the winter. I am not talking just one pass down the street to park it either. Sometimes this goes on at 2 or 3 in the morning as well. What happened to the peace of the neighborhood? What happened to being able to sleep with your windows open in warm weather? What happened to peoples' consideration for their neighbors? I have children who are in school and need their sleep at night, as well as us adults who get up early to work. Not that they care. Selfish, selfish, selfish! I am so fed up, and the owners do nothing with our past complaints. What's a peace loving individual to do to get some order and peace back in the neighborhood?

Thank you, Assessor Bisonette
Thank you, Kim Bisonette, Potsdam assessor, for doing a great job in a tough situation. For the last few weeks, every 15 minutes you have compassionately heard the complaints of upset and distraught residents. You have shown fairness and kindness to people who have been less than pleasant about the state mandate to review taxes yearly. When your appointment schedule was all booked up leaving no more room to see you personally, you took our letters to consider. A person has to have tremendous stamina, strength, patience and intelligence to just get through the day in such high stress. Thank you for being our assessor. I want my taxes to go to raise your salary.

Inattention at concert
I have just returned from another wonderful concert presented by the music department at Potsdam High School. As always, I was very impressed with the high quality of the students’ performances. However, I was appalled by the behavior of the audience. Students and adults alike talked through the entire concert, people came and went, several cell phones went off, and a group of unsupervised younger children ran around outside the auditorium screaming, yelling, and repeatedly opening the squeaky front doors. I was also disturbed to see so many people leave after their own child was finished performing. The music staff and students work very hard to provide such quality performances for us to enjoy. We are lucky our children have such skilled and dedicated music teachers. We can show our appreciation by being polite and attentive during all of the performances. Younger children should be encouraged to sit and listen to their older siblings. If they can’t, perhaps they should stay home. Cell phones should be turned off as requested at the beginning of the concert. And to all of you who left before the end of the concert, the orchestra was awesome. You missed an absolutely terrific performance.

What planet are they on?
Before, I was just annoyed that the entire Town of Potsdam government was inept. Now I’m mad. The town board’s folly in finding a new home for the town’s offices, the ongoing feud with Village of Potsdam officials, and now the absurd valuations of our properties by Assessor Bissonette. What planet is he on? Nobody on this board deserves to be re-elected since none seem to have the guts to do what is right over what is expedient. Of course there is no need to raise property tax rates if your assessments are raised high enough. I don’t know about anyone else, but Mr. Bissonette never visited my home before raising my assessment $35,000 over the assessment from four years ago. With the housing market what it is today, I would gladly sell my property to Mr. Bissonette for what he claims it is worth. I expect that I will be actively campaigning against all incumbents on the Town of Potsdam Board as well as other unresponsive elected officials. Perhaps we can look at impeachment for those whose term is not up yet.

Place for a kids’ party
Does anyone know where someone can have an entertaining kids birthday party in all of St. Lawrence County? I don’t think anyone can. The only place that offered entertainment, a place to play, and food was the Colonial Village Fun Park. Now that it is gone I am having a hard time finding somewhere to have my son’s party and it is really ticking me off. The closest to anything fun is at least and hour and a half away!

No sale
Recently, my nephew, who is in a wheelchair and a veteran, was looking for a new car that could be equipped for him. He went first to a local dealer in Potsdam. My nephew, along with his grandfather, waited for quite a while before summoning a passerby to ask if all of the sales persons were busy. After one assured him he was a sales person, my nephew told him what he was looking for. He wanted to know if he could try several vehicles to make sure this was possible before buying. He was told that “not just anyone can try out cars.” Needless to say, my nephew left that dealership and went across the road and bought from a more understanding dealer, one where all persons can try out cars. I wonder when it became appropriate for sales people to stop customers from trying out cars. Any person, in a wheelchair or not, should be able to try before you buy with this large of a purchase.

Town needs debris pickup
What are the residents in Potsdam “town outside” supposed to do with all the broken branches, sand and other debris left from the ravages of this hellacious winter? Cassella Waste Systems won’t pick it up. There is a burn ban in place and even when not, burning can be dangerous. I don’t feel comfortable with dumping it in an empty lot; someone owns that lot. It is discouraging to drive through neighboring communities in the villages of Potsdam, Canton and Massena to see the neatly stacked debris piles waiting to be picked up. The Town of Potsdam would do well to “re-assess” its own service sand help its residents maintain their increasingly expensive property.

Potsdam not alone
To the people in the Town of Potsdam who have had their assessment skyrocket, you aren’t alone. The Town of Pierrepont has done the same thing. Our assessment was raised 50 percent on property that hasn’t been upgraded for over 40 years. No wonder the Colton-Pierrepont school has lost so many students. People can’t afford to live here. We don’t even have a waste disposal area. The rest of the country is in a recession (depression?) and they think this county has so much potential. People just don’t move to an area that has no jobs and has such bad winters. The town and county assessors and officials should all be run out of the area.

Dissolve the village
While listening to North Country Public Radio during Gov. Paterson’s call-in the other day, I heard Jason Rohrer ask the governor what can be done about the duplication of services in the town and village of Potsdam. I have the perfect solution, and it is very simple: dissolve the village.

Assessments mailing
The Potsdam Town Board should be commended for holding the town hall referendum after the assessment notices has been mailed. Since they were the ones that set the date for the vote, they must have considered that this information could have had an adverse effect on the referendum. To achieve a positive outcome, politically their decision was not a wise one, but it certainly was honorable, considering what the reaction could have been if the referendum passed and then the notices were mailed.

Taxes discouraging...
I completely agree with the “Assessments, Town Hall” Sound Off last week (April 23-29). As a potential home buyer, my husband and I are so discouraged by the current tax situation in Potsdam. We have been looking for the last three years. There are so many homes here in the village that would suit us perfectly, but when you figure out what the taxes will be it doubles the payment. And it just keeps increasing every year! We no longer entertain the idea of living in the village for this reason. Something needs to change if you want to draw home buyers back to the village and keep your current home owners from leaving.

...outrageous and unfair
So what exactly are the criteria used in assessing property here in the Village of Potsdam? The reassessments in the village this year are outrageous and unfair. If trends like this continue not only will no one be able to afford to live in the village, there could be other fallout like a class-action lawsuit filed by village residents against the village and the assessor, Mr. Bissonette. Something needs to be done. This is ridiculous.

Lives in N-N district
I am writing because I am disgusted with the school system. Where does the Norwood-Norfolk superintendent and our elementary principal live? When Potsdam hired a superintendent they required him to live in the district. Where do most of the teachers that are picketing for a new contract and for a pay raise live? Who is responsible for their pay? The people who live in the district are. Do we really need three principals? With enrollment down, why is this not one of the cuts that the district is doing? Next time you hear teachers whine about no pay raise and higher insurance rates, ask them what district they live in. And do they really think they are the only ones not receiving a fair deal? The non-instructional staff have been working without a contract for three years, also with no pay raise. But the difference is over half of us do live in the district and pay school taxes to NNCS. I wish to remain anonymous due to the fact that I work at the school, but I also live in the district.

A noisy place to live
Norwood used to be a nice place to live but now you cannot go outside to relax and enjoy yourself with this beautiful weather because of the noise. There are so many vehicles in this village that have improper exhaust systems and it seems that the Village PD just turns a deaf ear to them. Then you have the dirt bikes and 4-wheelers that are running the streets and sometimes racing with each other. They do not have a license plate so I am sure that they are not registered or insured. Sometimes they are not wearing helmets either. Again, a deaf ear and a blind eye is turned for them. Then we come to the skateboarders. I do realize that there is not a place for them to go but the village streets are not the place either. They do not get out of the road for vehicles and they are very noisy in the streets jumping and trying to flip their skateboards. When they do this the boards slam down on the road and it is very disturbing. Again a deaf ear and blind eye has been applied. Something needs to be done to quite this noise so we can once again say “Norwood - A Nice Place To Live.”

Wrong decision?
Thank you again, Mrs. Regan, for providing numbers. This time I see that the Liberal Arts building would cost $300,000 plus $1.2 million for renovations, totaling $1.5 million. Clarkson offered to clean up any asbestos in the building but let’s say they back out of that. Let’s add a $1 million for that. That leaves an additional million to remedy any kind of parking issues that may come up. Every time I look at the numbers you present it makes me think you are making the wrong decision. Please spend our money wisely.

Assessments, town hall
The Town of Potsdam must have been dreaming if they think that I was going to vote “yes” on their referendum. Apparently we, the tax base, are paying for this new town hall with assessments that are way more than our previous assessments. Our house, appraised at $84,000, was just assessed at $124,000. I know of no other place in the county where this happens. My neighbors owns rental properties, vacant lots and his home. They all went sky high, his vacant lot going from $23,000 to $56,000 with no improvements, nothing, his house from $150,000 to over $200,000. We already pay some of the highest school taxes, and if we are unfortunate enough to also pay village taxes, those as well. So what were you thinking? Maybe we should fire the assessor and come back down to reality. We cannot afford this.

Market Street blues
Spring has come to Potsdam and with it the feeling of pride in one’s home and yard. You hope that the work you put into it will be enjoyed and respected by the rest of the townspeople. That is unless you live on Market Street. If you live there, the entire town uses your yard as a trash can. I spend most of my time picking garbage out of my front yard. If you live on Market Street, you can’t have lawn furniture unless it is chained down and locked. If you live on Market Street you have to live near a disgusting display of an infantile idea of art. If you live on Market Street, anything you put outside is instantly thought of as public property. Just yesterday I caught some men taking our property off our yard and when I asked them what they were doing they replied, “We didn’t think anyone was home.” We have lived on this street for almost a year now and almost none of our neighbors have so much as said “Hi.” The friendliest person in this whole “neighborhood,” if you could call it that, is our mailman. So if you are walking down Market Street and you have a drink, please don’t toss it in someone’s yard. Please put it in the trash. If our house wasn’t so affordable we probably would have moved to a nicer part of town a long time ago.

Take your dog’s stuff
Now that warmer weather is finally approaching more people are out enjoying it. This is great but people need to respect the property of others. When walking your dog please scoop the poop. After all it is not your yard they are pooping in. Respect that people want to enjoy their yards without stepping in what your dog leaves behind. I take my baby daughter out; would you want me leaving her dirty diaper for you to pick up? Carrying plastic bags is not that hard to do and there are garbage cans soon to be coming back out (and some are already out) along with gas stations that have garbage cans outside. Be respectful.

Push DOT on Route 345
Regarding “Traffic Light Needed” (April 9-15): A little over a year ago, my husband and I were involved in an accident at the intersection of State Highway 345 and County Route 35 (Burnhams Corners). We were coming from Madrid. A car stopped at the stop sign on the Norwood side, didn’t see us, and pulled out in front of us. All year I have been to therapy for my neck, and doctor visits. The constant pain and tingling will forever be a reminder of that intersection. I am very grateful that I am here with family and friends to tell the tale; others have not been so lucky. Last summer I started a petition to send to the state Department of Transportation. I got 1,300 signatures. I called DOT to complain about the intersection. I got a letter back basically stating it was a safe intersection, passing all testing. A short time after, a second stop sign appeared on the Norwood side of this intersection. Stopping doesn’t seem to be the issue in some of these cases. People stop, but they just can’t see past or through the hill toward Madrid. Please call or e-mail the following person; this can go on no longer: Martin Percy, 785-2321, or e-mail at mpercy@dot.state.ny.us Eventually someone you love will need to cross or go through this intersection. Are you willing to take the gamble?

Walgreens intersection
Someone needs to address the signal light at the Walgreens intersection in Potsdam. Driving north on Market Street I can’t understand why they added the left arrow only while the left lane accommodates both vehicles wishing to turn left and ones that are proceeding straight. The problem is that unless the vehicle wishing to turn left is the first car in the left lane, no vehicles move in any direction while the green arrow is on. What a waste. To add insult to injury, if any vehicle other than the first vehicle in that line is wishing to turn into Walgreens, they have to sit through the green left arrow in growing frustration as no one ahead of them is moving. The first vehicle is growing in frustration because it’s sitting at the head of the line doing nothing while potentially blocking cars that want to turn left. The best solution would be to have both the lanes heading north have a green and the left arrow simultaneously, while all other directions are stopped. Even a delay of 10 to 15 seconds to oncoming traffic should be enough to handle things. A less desirable choice is a turn lane but there is probably not enough room. Making the existing left lane a turn-only lane would be a poor choice given the volume of traffic wishing to make that turn. Short of all that, a no-left-turn sign is probably the answer. Sorry to Walgreens but they should have known this was going to be a difficult situation well before they decided to locate there. I sure hope Walgreens’ locating there was not contingent upon this poorly conceived traffic plan.

Try it yourself
I have served a five year term on a local school board. I guarantee you that it is the hardest volunteer job you will ever undertake. The issues confronting schools are varied and complex, especially the financial ones. What I found particularly surprising and disturbing was the very low percentage of the budget that the school board can actually impact. Most expenses are fixed or mandated. When state aid in all its various forms increases by less than the increase in the Consumer Price Index, or worse yet, decreases, school boards are forced to make some very hard and unpopular decisions. This generally involves cutting equipment expenses, not filling positions lost through attrition, eliminating extracurricular programs including sports, etc. Ultimately these nickel and dime cuts do very little to contain the overall budget increases and the students are hurt in the process. So my feeling is that if you are going to complain and criticize others who are doing the best they can, then you should seek election to your local school board. Pick up a petition and bring your ideas to the table. I assure you it will be an eye opening experience.

Intersection requires care
I frequently drive out of Norwood past Perry’s via Rt. 35 and turn left onto Rt. 345. It is okay at night because I have great visibility to my left and I can see headlights coming over the hill to my right while I am at the stop sign. But making this left turn in daylight is like an exercise in trust, especially if you drive a car that sits low to the ground or a car that does not accelerate like a speeding bullet. I drive a small car that takes time to get up to speed. Every time I turn left at that intersection, I put my faith in the driver of any vehicle heading to Potsdam on 345. I trust that those drivers slow down enough on approaching that intersection so that, if I am making my left turn as they suddenly pop into view, they will have time to slow down even more to allow me to gain speed. I promise you I am accelerating as quickly as I can. In addition, there are three things that I do religiously as I approach that intersection to turn left during daylight: I turn off my radio; I roll down my passenger window; and I turn off the noise of the fan/heater to increase my ability to hear. Thank you to the folks who slow down before this intersection as they head to Potsdam and to those who pay particular attention when it is foggy or dusk. I always send you a happy prayer of thanks when I see you in my rearview mirror. Is there a format for discussing intersections like this one at a town meeting? I would welcome the opportunity to attend any meeting at which this topic was discussed.

N-N board not listening
The community continues to say that Norwood-Norfolk Central School is administration-heavy and they sit there with a straight face saying it is these administrators they can’t do without, but teachers and programs for our students they can. Seems to me the middle school teachers had a hand in bringing up the scores, as did the Title I teachers who provide the early intervention so deeply needed. Special education rules seem to be handled just fine by other districts through a CSE chair and they don’t require an administrator to do so, but our district, which is declining in numbers, can’t do without. And the cut in special ed spending and bringing back of students from BOCES would have to be due to the teachers, yet the administrators stand up and take the bow for this. It sickens me to see these people sit back and take the credit, and our tax paying dollars, when it is the students that need to be thought of.

Go to these meetings
It seems at every Norwood-Norfolk school board meeting the community voices their concerns and the board ignores them. I applaud the return of Mr. Graham who is willing to stand up and question the message the board is sending. I encourage the community to go to these public budget meetings and the board meetings and question what is being done.