The Post-Star from Glens Falls, New York • 13

Thursday, December 2, 1999 The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. B7 OBITUARIES STATENORTHEAST Barbara Gordinier Mary M. Fenton Hospital group says finances of members ailing 'vu, QUEENSBURY Mary M. Fenton, 87; of Queensbury and most recently a resident of Westmount Health Facility, died Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999, after, a long Born on May 12, 1912, in Glens Falls, she was the daughter t)f John and Anna (Daley) Barbara is survived by many friends.

Friends may call from 1 to 3 p.m. today at Carleton Funeral Home, 68 Main St. in Hudson Falls. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. today at the funeral home.

Burial will be at a.m. on Friday at the QUEENSBURY Barbara Gordinier, 69, of McCormack Drive, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 at Glens Falls Hospital, after a brief illness. Born on April 4, 1930, in Rome, she was the daughter of the late Helen Gordinier, formerly of Gloversville. Barbara was a former resident of the Developmental Center.

Gordinier Fenton Wilton She enjoyed crocheting, singing hymns, and visiting with her friends. Joanna A. GLENS FALLS Joanna Church, 57, of Glens Falls, died Wednesday, Dec. 1 1999, after a long illness. Born on March 1 1, 1942, in Albany, she was the daughter of Leon and Mary (Lebo) Attarian.

Joanna was involved with Caritas, was a member of the Church of the Messiah, and loved to sew. She worked for Golub Corp. for 30 years and retired from TCT Federal Credit Union. Joanne was predeceased by her husband Edgar in 1991, to whom she was married for 32 years. Survivors include one son, William Church of Glens Falls; one daughter, Patricia (Church) DeJohn of Niskayuna; three grandchildren, Nicole, Jankowski Decker of Oneonta, Jennifer DeJohn of Niskayuna, and Joseph Church of Glens Falls; one great- Sullivan.

Mary was a graduate of St. Mary's Academy, Class of 1930, and Glens Falls Hospital School of Nursing, Class of 1933. She worked at Glens Falls Hospital as a registered nurse and was the school nurse at Queensbury Elementary School from where she retired in 1982. Mary was a communicant of Our Lady of Annunciation Church in Queensbury and a former member of Catholic Daughters of America. Stanley WHITEHALL Stanley L.

Waters, 82, of Potters Street, died Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999, at Glens Falls Hospital after a long BEVERLEY E. BARDWELL SARATOGA SPRINGS A memorial service will be held for Beverley E. Bardwell at 1 1 a.m. Saturday, Dec.

4, Ballston Spa United Methodist Church. RiCHARD H. BISHOP SARATOGA SPRINGS Funeral services for Richard H. Bishop, 10 a.m. Friday, United Methodist Church, corner of Henning Road and Fifth Avenue.

Calling hours, from 2 to 7 to 9 p.m. today, William J. Burke Sons Funeral Home. 628 North Broadway, Saratoga Springs. BETTY P.

EVERTS COVEV1LLE Memorial services for Betty P. Everts, 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5. 1999, Quaker Springs Methodist Church.

DOROTHY J.FARLEY CORINTH A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for Dorothy J. Prospect Hill Cemetery in Gloversville, It is suggested that memorial donations be made to the charity of one's choice. Church granddaughter, Lindsey Decker; two brothers, Edward Attarian of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Leon Attarian of Glenmonf, five sisters, Sona' Guy of Glens Falls, Mary Delair of St. Cloud, Esther Shappy of Rutland, Leona Swackhamer of Clifton Park and Anna Latter of Selkirk, and many nieces and nephews.

Friends and family may call from 5 to 7 p.m. today, Dec. 2 at Singleton-Healy Funeral Home, 407 Bay Road, Queensbury. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec, 3, at the Church of the Messiah on Glen Street in Glens Falls.

Burial will follow at Glens Falls Cemetery, Bay Street, Glens Falls. Donations in memory of Joanna should be made to Caritas, 28 Sherman Glens Falls, NY 12801. Warrensburg for many years. Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Lorraine Potter of Titusville, one son, Richard Potter. of Fort Lauderdale, one daughter, Stacy Coffey of Dania, two granddaughters, Nicole and Michelle LaCount, and one great-grandson, Dylan.

He will be cremated and returned home to Warrensburg. Knob; three grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. There will be no formal calling hours or services. The family suggests memorials take the form of donations to the American Heart Association, 440 New Karner Road, Albany, NY 12204 or to American Lung Association of New York State, 8 Mountain View Albany, NY 12205. Arrangements are under the direction of Regan Denny Funeral Service, 94 Saratoga South Glens Falls.

Richard Ernest Potter TITUSVILLE, Fla. Richard Ernest Potter, 67, of Titusville, died Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999, at Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orange County, Fla. after a long illness. Born Aug.

24, 1932, in Corinth, he was the son of the late John and Marion (Wheaton) Potter. The family owned and operated Potters Diner and Motel in Charles E. Todenhagen The Post-Star OBITUARY DEPARTMENT Besides her parents, her husband Lewis predeceased her. Survivors include two daughters, Mary Lou Fenton" of Manlius and Debra Fenton of Queensbury; her sister, Anna Mae Barton of Queensbury, and several nieces and nephews. Friends and family may call from 4 to 8 p.m.

on Friday, Dec. 3 at Singleton-Healy Funeral Home, 407 Bay Road, Queensbury. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Our Lady of Annunciation Church on Aviation Road, Queensbury with the Rev. Gary Mercure, officiating.

Burial will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery in South Glens Falls, Donations in Mary's memory should be made to a charity of one's choice. L. Waters illness. Arrangements are pending with Jillson Funeral Home, 46 Williams Whitehall.

Farley, 10 a.m. today, St. Joseph's Church, 3159 Route 9N, Greenfield Center. A Rite of Committal will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton, Long Island.

LAURENCE L. HASKINS BOXBOROUGH, Mass. A memorial service for Laurence L. Haskins, 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

4, United Church of Christ, Massachusetts Avenue, Boxborough, Mass. PAULINE B. SAUNDERS SOUTH GLENS FALLS A private graveside service for Pauline B. Saunders, Friday, Dec. 3, Gansevoort Cemetery, Gansevoort.

CYNTHIA A. WEEKES SARATOGA SPRINGS A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for Cynthia A. Weekes, noon today, Dec. 2, St. Alphonsus Church, Broad Street, Glens Falls.

5 P.M. DAILY! EXT. 3325 792-5882 legislative and decision-making, and those ho actually provide the services. Sheriffs road patrol deputies will be positioned around the building to make the command center secure. Deputies from the 4 p.m.-to-midnight and the midnight-to-8 a.m.

shifts will stay over. The news media will be admitted to a room at the front of the building, which will far an any outsider is allowed," Bowen said. "If you're on the list, or a county official, you'll be allowed in." When Mechanicville Supervisor Christopher Sgambati asked if he would be "in the way" if he was there, or "if it would be better if he was in his own community," Acunto said the decision is up to the individual supervisor. "We don't want to leave anybody out," but the phone lines will be open if supervisors have any questions. The two unpublished lines will be provided to supervisors this week and will stay operational throughout the year.

"We are on top of this," Bowen said, and he continues to communicate ith state and local police and fire and ambulance corps, ho ill also be available if needed. "We're in pretty good shape. We have a good plan," said Bowen, who didn't want to publicly provide more details. Cheryl Norris-Hemandez, director of the county animal shelter, reported Wednesday that there is room at her facility, which is located near the county jail, for any animals operate both facilities, but likely will not be in place before Jan. 1, Remington said.

Staff writer Maria M. Bucciferro may be reached at mariabglboal2000.net SOUTH GLENS FALLS Charles E. Todenhagen, 80, of South Glens Falls, died Tuesday, Nov. 1999, at Glens Falls Hospital. Born on May 16, 1919, in Ludershagen, Germany; he came to the United States in 1924 with his parents, Frank and Erna Todenhagen and a brother and a sister.

Charles is survived by his wife, Arlene Todenhagen of South Glens Falls; one son, Peter Todenhagen of Clarence; one daughter, Sandra Austin of Pilot By Joel Stashenko Associated Press ALBANY Hospitals in New-York were far less profitable in 1 998 than in the previous year, a trade group said Wednesday. In a report designed to influence ongoing negotiations over a new health care system financing method in New state Healthcare Association said the bottom line for hospitals dropped from a positive $789 million in 1 997 to plus $47.5 million last year. "Worse yet, we're seeing evidence that 1999 will prove to be equally (as difficult), if not more difficult," Healthcare Association President Daniel Sisto said. The state Health Department disputed the Healthcare Association's numbers and contended that hospitals actually enjoyed a banner year in 1998. Sisto called for Gov.

George Pataki' and the state Legislature to take, the financial conditions of hospitals into consideration while discussing a successor to the Health Care Reform Act of 1996. That law expires at the end of this month and negotiations are taking place in an effort to hammer out a new system. Under the current system, the state imposes about $2.7 billion in surcharges a year on patients' bills. The money goes toward subsidizing hospitals and other health facilities as well as paying for indigents' health care costs. Hospitals say that in addition to.

facing the prospect of losing subsidies under the Health Care Reform Act, Congress has also harmed their bottom lines by cutting federal Medicare payments. In all. Medicare cuts which began in 1997 were expected to cost New York hospitals more than $4.1 billion over the next five years. Sisto said hospitals also complain that health maintenance organizations and other private insurers have been slow to pay them for services rendered and have sometimes inappropriately denied payments. Some HMOs have failed financially, leaving bills unpaid to hospitals, he said.

John Signor, a spokesman for Pataki's Health Department, said hospitals habitually downplay good financial performances and make pessimistic projections despite years of strong showings. He estimated that hospitals have made $2.2 billion in profits since Pataki became governor in 1995. "No one predicts' fiscal gloom and Prepare From Page B1 The municipal center was equipped with two older emergency generators, a 75-kilowatt generator in the communications department and a 200-kilowatt generator near the jail. But the 200-kilowatt model is almost 40 years old and incapable of running the entire municipal center during outages. During peak times, the municipal center draws about 20,000 amps of electricity.

The new generator will provide about 17,000 amps, Remington said. With 400 employees at the municipal center, each making at least $10 an hour, if employees are sent home during outages, it costs the county up to $5,000 an hour in lost productivity. Remington said. Marvin Lemery, administrator of fire prevention and building codes for the county, said a year 2000 compliance and planning committee of county department heads has been meeting since June to ready the county for the New Year. "I think we are in real good shape," Lemery said.

"As far as county government is concerned, we should continue undisturbed." Lemery said in meetings with utility corporations, area gas, electric, cable and telephone companies are all assuring that there will be no break in service. The only interruption that may occur will come shortly after midnight when telephone service could be temporarily jammed because of residents picking up their handsets at the same instant, he said. "It's called the "Mother's Day and it happens when the lines get overwhelmed by users," Lemery said. "Customers should not get nervous if it takes awhile to get a dial tone shortly after midnight, or if they get a 66 No one predicts -fiscal gloom and doom more than hospitals and no 'one has been so wrong so often. John Signor, spokesman for Gov.

George E. Pataki's Health Department 99 doom more than hospitals and no one has been so wrong so often," he said. "Year after year they predict fiscal disaster and year after year hospitals line their pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars in profits." Health Department analysts say hospitals made more than $400 million in 1998. They attribute the different numbers put forward by the Healthcare Association to the fact that state experts do not count one-time financial events like the transfer of money by hospitals to related entities or the sale of buildings. Signor said hospitals had hundreds of millions of dollars in such transactions in 1998, raising the state's suspicions that institutions are trying to make their operations look less profitable than they actually are.

Geographically, the Healthcare Association said much of the decline in hospitals' bottom line occurred among institutions in New York City. Hospitals in the five boroughs had a positive bottom line of nearly $560 million in 1997, but showed a deficit of $81.7 million at the end of 1998: Negative bottom lines were also recorded in 1998 by western New York hospitals ($85.6 million) and Rochester-area hospitals ($23.5 million). Hospitals in central New York ($60.2 million), northeastern New ($43 million). New, York City's northern suburbs ($63.9 million) and Long Island ($29 million) ended 1998 with positive bottom lines, the Healthcare Association The Healthcare Association represents more than 500 hospitals, nursing homes and other health care organizations in New York state. 66 I think we are in real good shape.

Marvin Lemery, administrator of fire prevention and building codes for Warren County messase that says the lines are full." Lemery said he is alsoconcerned about the huge number of homeowners thaf purchased generators in anticipation of a power outage on New Year's Eve. Many homeowners have stockpiled gasoline in their homes and garages, creating a tremendous fire hazard, and some will likely hook up their generators a scenario that can lead to the backfeeding of electricity into power lines. "An unsuspecting utility worker who thinks the lines are shut off could get the shock of his life from one of these generators," Lemery said, noting that generators should only be installed by licensed electricians. Lemery also said people should also not flock to their local bank and withdraw their deposits. "That just creates the opportunity of a lifetime for some crook," he said.

Warren County has created a flyer of Y2K tips that is being distributed to the county's 1 1 towns and the city of Glens Falls. The flyers will be available to the public at town halls, Lemery said. At the county municipal center, the county operations center and dispatch center will be staffed from 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve until 6 a.m. on New Year's Day, Lemery said.

i Lemery, John Farrell, the county's" disaster preparedness LOCAL Spa County details plans for command center DEADLINE IS 792-3131 FAX NO. to be at the command center can call for updates and infonnation. "We don't expect any problems, and we are ready for any contingencies," Acunto said. The command center is located at a correctional facility, so steps will be taken to ensure that the center is secured. Sheriff James Bowen reported to the committee.

Only authorized personnel who have been approved in advance will be admitted. "Once inside, they'll stay in the building," Bowen said. Those ho plan to be inside include officials from the county Sheriffs Department, the district attorney's office. State Police, the state Department of Transportation, the American Red Cross. Niagara Mohawk Power New York State Gas and Electric and Bell Atlantic phone company.

Corinth Supervisor Richard B. Lucia, the chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, will be in the command center, along with County Attorney Mark Rider and Acunto. "We need the chairman there in case we need to declare an emergency," Acunto said! Other officials to be present include Bowen, county Administrator David A. Wickerham. emergency services Director Albert Dewey, public works Commissioner Joseph Ritchey and his deputy, and public health Director Helen Endres.

Fire Coordinator Edward Trerfiblay will probably working outside the command center, Acunto said. The group will be separated into two different functions: plans to spend about $50,000 to install a 230 kilowatt generator the municipal center annex, which is home to the county's Department of Social Services and the county detention home. The new generator will be able to director and representatives of the State Police, Sheriffs Department, Niagara Mohawk and the state Department of Transportation will all ring in the New Year from the county's operation's center. Lemery said the county has secured the numbers and whereabouts of all town supervisors and town highway superintendents and all will be on emergency standby on the evening of Dec. 31.

Other county public works employees such as 50 foreman and other key personnel will also be asked to- stay near a telephone should their services be needed. Remington said. In the event of a power outage or computer system failure, security systems could fail, doors could lock up, traffic lights could go. black and heating and ventilation systems could shut down. If traffic lights stop working at 12:01 a.m.

on Jan. 1, foremen may be called to direct traffic at intersections, close roads or reroute traffic, Remington said. Glens Falls Mayor Robert A. Regan said he met with Farrell a few weeks ago to coordinate the city's preparedness plan with the county. Regan said the city will use the county's operations center as a fallback position should any extenuating circumstance transpire on New Year's Day.

Fred L. Champagne, Queensbury's town supervisor, said the town's comptroller, Henry H. Hess, is coordinating the town's emergency plan for the evening. He said the town will also use the county for a fallback position, but said the town's Computer technician and all department heads will bs on call for the evening. "Certainly, we will be prepared if something should happen that evening," Champagne said.

Lemery said the county is treating the night just as it would a natural disaster if county officials had a several-day warning prior to the By Maria M. Bucciferro Staff Writer BALLSTON SPA When the Y2K bug hits on New Year's Eve, a large group of Saratoga County officials, police, emergency personnel, and utility representatives will be locked in the county jail complex ready to help citizens until the threat of an emergency has passed, The county Public Safety Committee on Wednesday heard an update on plans for the command center, which will be established at the Sheriff Department headquarters in Milton. In preparing for "the doom and gloom side of Y2K," Public Safety Committee Chairman Fred Acunto of Charlton said all county supervisors are invited to the command center, but he notified -them that the center will be secured and admittance will be restricted to those on the approved list. And once someone is admitted, they can't leave until the potential for an emergency is over. "The starting time for the command center will be 1 1 p.m.

on the 3 1 st, and it will remain open until at least 1 a.m.'or until the threat of the emergency is passed," Acunto said. "The 91 1 emergency system will be operational, but should be kept clear." There are two phone numbers to the command center and two additional unpublished phone lines have been added, so town supervisors, city and village mayors and other personnel who choose not event. "We're not doing anything more than what we might do if we were to get a two- or three-day notice of a severe ice or snowstorm in the region," Lemery said. Remington said the county also.