On July 26, 2011, the Pulaski Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce hosted another Business After Hours event at the Rainbow Shores Restaurant. With almost 60 people in attendance this was one of the most heavily attended events that the Chamber has had in some time. The weather was spectacular in that the temperatures were relatively cool and the wind blew Lake Ontario into a dramatic backdrop of high curling waves. It turned out to be the perfect evening to enjoy this magnificent venue.

If you have not had the pleasure of visiting Rainbow Shores Restaurant and Hotel, you should make the effort. The food that was provided for our evening was fantastic! An abundance of hors d'oeuvres ranging from stuffed cherry tomatoes to an exquisite roast beef, fresh asparagus and so much more. To top it all off, a dessert buffet that could only be described as terrific. Plates were filled and refilled and it seemed that there was an endless supply from which to choose. The Chamber owes a debt of gratitude to the Alfords, owners of Rainbow Shores, for making this simply one of the finest evenings we have enjoyed in a great, long while!

While everyone feasted on the food and the view, there was an element of business to be enjoyed as well. Attending this event were key members of our State, County and town government. Notably, Senator Patty Ritchie, Assemblymen Will Barclay and Ken Blankenbush, a representative from Congressman Bill Owen's office - Madeline Donovan, County Legislators Margaret Kastler, Milferd Potter and Shawn Doyle, Mayor Ernie Wheeler of Pulaski and Mayor Grant Rohrmoser of the Village of Sandy Creek and Dr. Marshall - Superintendent of the Pulaski School District.

A discussion concerning four topics began at 6:45 pm and questions were posed to Senator Ritchie and Assemblymen Barclay and Blankenbush. A brief moment was spent on the Property Tax Cap recently passed in Albany which will attempt to hold property taxes to a 2% increase per year. Moving from this apparent victory, a discussion followed concerning unfunded mandates. All three of our speakers talked at length about this very touchy subject. All agreed that the number of mandates coming out of Albany must be reduced and that they were actively working to try to minimize the damage being done to our local economies with the intstitution of these dreaded mandates. The general consensus among the listeners was that mandates drive property tax issues, that mandates are an easy way to pass off the cost of programs and that mandates imposed upon very large communities are a tremendous burden on our rural small communities. While the issue was discussed, there would appear to be no end in sight for near future.

The discussion then moved on to Online Snowmobile registration. This is a subject that goes to the heart of tourism in our area. To register a sled at a lower cost, if you live outside of New York State, you must first become a member of a snowmobile club ($25.00 or so) then you must go to the DMV office and register with the State ($45.00) and wait 3 weeks for your registration to come in the mail. Planning a trip in the winter leaves plenty of time for all of this and is relatively easy to do. Deciding Friday night to go to the Tug and ride Saturday leaves the options for out-of-state registration fairly simple - you can't. Consequently, a number of riders simply hope not to get caught, or to pay the fine which is roughly the same, almost, as the registration fee. To streamline this process, this Chamber would like to see an online process whereby the snowmobile clubs voucher system may be slaved to the DMV registration system for a practically seamless process which nets a temporary registration off your home printer that may be shown as proof of registration. Our legislators were quick to point out that the County Clerk's office would be bypassed and revenues to the county would be greatly reduced. The Chamber is certain that everyone can get their piece of the pie with the technology currently available, it is merely a question of configuring the process to suit the needs of all parties concerned. Anything we can do to bring in the almighty tourist dollar needs to be considered!

Finally, the discussions closed with some exposition concerning the Oswego County Bed Tax. The tax collected by the County goes to the operational funding of the Oswego County Tourism office. 2010 saw approximately $304,000 raised through this tax. 2% goes to the County for administrative costs. The remainder is spent by an office dedicated to bringing tourism into Oswego County and they do an excellent job. Some of our members would like to see the monies returned to the municipalities from which the tax was collected. If, however, the tax was created specifically to help drive tourism, then the resources available to a single office may be more efficiently spent by that office as opposed to multiple Chambers and business councils whose buying power for advertising becomes limited with lesser funds. The need for money is acute in all sectors of our communities today. Spending what we have as efficiently as possible to maximum effect is crucial. The Pulaski Eastern Shore Chamber recognizes the importance of the Oswego County Tourism Office and ask only that they continue to provide the County with the same standard of service as they have to date.

All in all, the evening was a huge success. Chamber members had a tremendous opportunity to meet with their legislators and a productive discussion was held that can only help to foster an understanding of where we stand and what we might expect over time. The wind and the waves were truly inspiring, and as the sun set over that glorious body of water, as the last of the edible delicacies were consumed, the crowd slowly thinned to mark the end of another outstanding Business After Hours event.

Be sure to join us on Tuesday, September 20 at the Crossroads Inn and Cottages in Redfield for our next Business after Hours event. Please give our office a call at 298-2213 to pre-register or send us an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . we look forward to seeing you there!!