The Great Sacandaga Lake in Edinburg on June 7, 2024.

Operator inexperience was “a major contributing factor” in last week’s personal watercraft crash on the Great Sacandaga Lake that killed the 21-year-old driver, according to authorities.

Fulton County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday its findings from the preliminary investigation into the June 23 incident near the Broadalbin Boat Launch, involving a pontoon boat and a personal watercraft operated by Grace Clark, a graduate of Schalmont High School in Rotterdam.

After speaking to multiple witnesses, reviewing GPS, other tracking devices and video evidence and a preliminary accident reconstruction, law enforcement concluded the personal watercraft, operated by Clark, collided with the boat at more than 25 miles per hour after it “made an abrupt maneuver” at about 6:15 p.m. last Monday. According to the sheriff’s office, the operator of the pontoon boat was “in compliance with all rules required for the safe operation of vessels on the lake.”

Officials said last week that Caleb Cummings, 29, of Schoharie County, who was on the personal watercraft with Clark, was taken to Albany Medical Center for injuries suffered in the crash. He was released to go home on Monday, according to officials. No one on the boat was hurt, according to officials.

As Fourth of July weekend approaches, Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino issued a reminder to all watercraft operators of a new licensing requirement for all users, regardless of age, to have their Safe Boating Certificate prior to operating a motorized vessel. He also urged “people to limit alcohol consumption, limit your speed, don’t be reckless, yield the right of way to other vessels as required by law, get off the lake prior to dusk if you are not familiar with the lake, be sure you have water for hydration and a full tank of gas prior to starting out for the day.” Finally, the sheriff recommended downloading the “Send-It HDRIII” Lake Safety App, which indicates dangerous areas of the Great Sacandaga Lake, including floating debris, sand bars and other obstructions.

The sheriff’s office was assisted in the investigation of last week’s incident by numerous law enforcement, emergency services and fire agencies, including state police and its dive team, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, the state environmental conservation police, the Broadalbin-Kenyetto Fire Department, Tri-County Swift Water Rescue Team, the Mayfield, Northville, Hope, and Edinburg fire departments, Lake Valley Ambulance, Fulton County EMO, Fulton County EMS Coordinator, and the Fulton County Communications Division coordinating the dispatching of multiple agencies for the incident.

Reach Managing Editor Andrew Pugliese at apugliese@dailygazette.net, (518) 915-0499, or on X

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A sign for the city of Johnstown on New York State Route 67 on June 4, 2024.

The City of Johnstown is considering changing the role of city treasurer from an elected position to an appointed one.

Councilman Max Spritzer introduced the resolution, and Johnstown mayor Amy Praught said that there will be a public hearing July 21 at the common council meeting for residents to voice any concerns or opinions regarding the matter.

“It would give the city, the mayor, the council, our HR director oversight to create this position and have certain special requirements,” Spritzer said. “I just think that for future purposes, it will set us up to have better oversight of the operation of the city citizens and any other residents in the community.”

Spritzer said working with the current treasurer, Tom Herr, has been a positive experience.

“I personally have dealt with Tom through the budget process, and we are in the early stages right now of contract negotiations for all three of our unions, the police, fire and the DPW, and Tom has been a part of that,” he said. “So far so good.”

Praught said making the position an appointed one has been a goal since she began her tenure as mayor, citing that she wants to bring more accountability to the job. However, she said that Herr has been doing a good job so far and is supportive of the change. Herr ran alongside Praught when she won the mayorship in 2021, and is running again this year with her on the ballot.

“There was no real [supervision] in the previous administration, no real supervision in the treasurer’s department, so things got slacked,” Herr said. “Since I took over, we’ve had good communication, open-door policy with the department heads, and everything’s been smooth.”

Praught reaffirmed that the potential change is merely a safeguard, and that things are going well in the city.

“In the past, there was not that relationship between the council, mayor and the treasurer,” she said. “This is just a safeguard.”

In 2021, City Hall experienced controversy surrounding the treasurer’s post after the state Comptroller’s Office revealed that former Treasurer Mike Gifford failed to maintain several year’s worth of annual financial records (AUDs) and outsourced internet technology services without any contract or procurement process in........

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