Owner of Adirondack Adventures Center has idea to limit access to road in Warrensburg, which would cut off competitor Tubby Tubes’ access to Hudson River
By Wendy Liberatore, Times Union
A town councilman is seeking to shut down the Warrensburg portion of River Road to all commercial traffic, a move he acknowledges would kill his business competitor, but believes would make the road safer.
Town Board member Dane Morton, owner of Adirondack Adventures Center, said the stretch of the one-lane dirt road, used by Tubby Tubes River Co., is too dangerous for buses that drop off hundreds of tubers each day in the summer. He wants the Town Board to press Warrensburg to close it to commercial vehicles, essentially eliminating Tubby Tubes’ access to the Hudson River.
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“I really believe that it’s a matter of time before something really bad happens,” Morton said on Friday. “So I’m just trying to avoid that.”
Will Waldron/Times Union
At a July 16 Town Board meeting, Morton said he wants others on the board to take the lead on the campaign to close the road to commercial traffic in the area known as Buttermilk. He also said he would recuse himself on the matter that Town Board member Tim Hanlon said “would cut the throat” of Tubby Tubes.
“I grew up here, so I understand the frustration of the locals,” Morton said. “There’s a lot of frustration up there with the locals, not only the fact that they can’t access it as easily when the buses are up there. And there (is) exposure that that area gets. … The amount of people that will go up there … Then that brings another safety issue.”
Tubby Tubes owner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty said he hasn’t heard anything from Lake Luzerne Supervisor Gene Merlino.
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“They have never formally reached out to us,” Geraghty said. “But you can’t just close down the road. It’s a whole process. Right now, there have been no formal overtures.”
Morton said he received emails indicating there were multiple incidents at Buttermilk over the July 4th weekend “because the buses were blocking traffic for up to 45 minutes at a time.”
The road leading to the access for tubers along the Hudson River Special Management Area begins in Lake Luzerne but ends in Warrensburg. At the town line, there is a parking lot. But according to Morton, Tubby Tubes drops its customers at the turn-around at the end of River Road in Warrensburg — more than a mile away from the parking lot.
On Friday, Morton also said that closing down that portion of the road would not affect his business as he puts his clientele’s tubes on the other side of the river in Stony Creek.
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“I removed my buses from that side of the river because I thought it was going to be too dangerous,” Morton said. “I spent a good amount of money, a half a million dollars, to move to the other side of the river just so that I could avoid that sort of thing.”
At the meeting, it was unclear if any other council members or Merlino, who could not be immediately reached for comment, would take up the cause for Morton. However, in trying to convince the Town Board, Morton mentioned Hunter Scofield, a 15-year-old Tubby Tubes guide who died in 2014 when one of the business’ buses overturned. At the time, State Police said the rollover was a result of a mechanical malfunction.
Regardless, Morton has an ally in James Sullivan, president of Morgan Duke Conservation Society, a group that volunteers along the river in Warrensburg and Lake Luzerne. He agrees that the road is dangerous.
“We have a good relationship with Tubby Tubes, but I think that when the buses go past the town line parking lot, the road could collapse into the Hudson River,” Sullivan said. “It’s dangerous for cars, too. It’s a safety matter.”
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He launched a petition urging Warrensburg to make changes to the road and to prohibit buses for the safety of not just tubers, but hikers and campers as well as their dogs that run off-leash along the road.
“Dane Morton is not trying to shut down Tubby Tubes,” Sullivan said. “He and other residents are worried about the condition of the road and the safety of everyone.”
Top photo: Customers with Tubby Tubes River Company enjoy a float ride down the Hudson River on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Warrensburg. Photo by Will Waldron/Times Union
Nothing to see here! Just some shady activity!
Sure sounds like it! If they’re that concerned, the town should fix the road, since it gets a wide variety of use, by different groups.
How does the ole saying go, “No honor among, ——“. And I thought this type of behavior only occurs with the dirty, unwashed and evil of the world.
The bus drivers are rude to the locals, they push people out of the way, block traffic. Everyone likes to enjoy the lazy river, but with the bus loads of people coming through it’s hard for anyone to have a good day at the end because tempers are flaring with time constraints on the busses. The drivers really get nasty towards people waiting for their cars to come down or even to move their stuff out of the way.
Tubby Tubes got me on their bus and was the only the only tubing company in the area that allowed me to join in and go tubing with a disability. So, before the pile on begins to shut them down, please think about disability inclusion because Tubby Tubes is all about inclusion. (If TT reads this – hi y’all, you’re Tony the Tiger Great.)
it’s so amusing to me that one of the biggest issues in the park is the fact that too many people want to use it and the solutions always seem to be to shut whatever it is down, instead of making the crowded situation better. Find a better solution!
Ding ding ding. Shut it down I stead of invest in infrastructure. Thanks DEC!
I’ve tubed with Tubby Tubes for about 20 years so I’m pretty sure it’s been time tested and nothing “bad is going to happen.” Locals all know the drill by now. Adirondack Adventure Center needs to stop whining bc honestly this just makes them look like idiots. So “adventerous” they’re afraid of a bus on dirt road.
As a local it’s very true, the road is narrow, the buses take up most of the road and in many places there isn’t even enough room to pass each other safely. The busses also act like they have more right to be there then the general public. However, this was never Danes concern when he needed to use that area for his business. Now that he spent money to have a private launch, he is acting exactly like SOC when he didn’t have access to the Sacandaga River. SOC didn’t mind if he used the river but he wasn’t allowed to use the put in, and he wasn’t allowed to use the non commercial trail. Hypocrisy at its best.
That sounds like to me,a CONFLICT OF INTEREST,WHAT U SAY OUT THERE?
Sounds to me like a business lynching. Somebody in power wants the Tubby tubes to stop.
My boyfriend and I were just on vacation up there the week of July 13th through the 20th. We tubed with tubby. If one didn’t know better, the wording of this article makes it seem like he spent all that money to build an access on the opposite side of the river. Which isn’t true. It could also allude that he stops and uses and acces point further up towards the parking lot, which again, is untrue. We floated past their company’s group as that group was entering the water. Off the dirt road, not as far down as tubby started. If you don’t know better, go look at his reviews vs tubby. Negative reviews for tubby are all 3+ years ago. This guy has enough recent bad reviews, it’s clear to this non local that he just can’t run his business properly and isn’t a good sport about it. Also, if it’s too unsafe for other commercial use, he certainly should not be allowed either. I’m sorry to all you locals that have to deal with such a sore loser as an official.
I was just on this road and went well past the main parking lot and there was absolutely nothing “dangerous” about this road and there were several busses I passed!
This act by the councilman simply doesn’t pass the smell test. It is obviously corrupt self-dealing, trying to use the power of governmental trust to put a competitor out of business. If he’s so concerned about safety on that road, then let his proposed rule apply to his business, too. OR…he could use some of the tax money generated by both businesses to make the road safer and wider.
In Scotland the roads are so narrow they put regular pull offs in either side to accommodate traffic.
It’s worked great for 100s of years.
Work together. The best part of business is competition. It makes business do a better job.
Don’t close the road. Make some modifications.
It doesn’t have to be a new road or close it situation.
The accident that killed Hunter was NOT ON THE SECTION OF ROAD IN QUESTION! There is absolutely no correlation between that tragedy and the proposed ban on commercial traffic. The only reason to mention it is to use Hunter’s name and his family’s pain to further Morton’s own cause. HEARTLESS!