MP3's Of Stuyvesant,NY 12173 Town Board Meetings.
Provided as a Public Service.

MONTH OF : March_2011

Summary of meeting by Lee Jamison: These are some things that caught my attention and are not official or comprehensive, by any means. I also welcome spelling corrections :-) Lee

The meeting started with the appointment of Kelly Williams to Roz's vacant seat on the Town Board. She was sworn in with not much introduction. So at the end of the meeting, during the now brief Public Comment period, I offered congratulations and asked if she was Carl William's wife from Wil-Roc Farm on Rt 9? Could she say a bit about herself and why she wanted to be on the Town Board? She said, "Thank you and yes, she was." She said she had a BS in Biology and worked as a Lab Supervisor at Seaton Hall. She talked at length about her sons and their desire to farm and also said she had a daughter who aspired to be a vet. Kelly said she wanted to be on the Board to keep Stuyvesant safe for the future of farming ----to protect farming from the new people moving in.

Jim Besha of Albany Engineering gave a powerpoint presentation on the progress of the resurrection of the Stuyvesant Falls HydroPlant. Impressive slides of demolition and removal of the pressure tower, old turbines and rusty old penstock sections were shown along with the story of the new equipment. Installation of the massive new penstocks and more efficient 15 ton turbine generators proceeds. Jim estimates electricity should start to flow next February. He expects to generate 7 megawatts at peak production. This would power 7,000 homes. In the summer, if there are period of low flow or no water, production stops. The Town of Stuyvesant is a co-holder of the electric generating license along with Albany Engineering. This promises to be a real asset to Town infrastructure for the future. We have Matt Asbornsen and Tod Grenci to thank for the foresight in preserving this resource when NiMo mothballed the plant in 1993. We have Jim to thank for all the work he has done dating back to 2004!

Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin introduced himself, talking about his chagrin at the recent indictments of some of his fellow legislators for corruption. He spoke of his support for property taxcap and mandate relief. He stated he felt the Governor was on the right track with budget cuts. He answered questions after the Board Meeting was over. When asked about mandate relief, he was not specific. He did say he supported Special Ed services. He said he was opposed to laying off state workers---but rather, he would let attrition take the numbers down. He said his wife was a school teacher, so he had sympathy for education. Possibly cuts could be made in Medicaide. He was rather frank in saying that when Medicaide fraud was looked at, they wouldn't be going after the real gangsters but rather the already over-regulated. He told the firemen that there were not going to be "member item moneys" this year but he was hopeful he could raise some funds from the business community to support local projects. Since the Assemblyman supports capping property taxes, Martin grilled him about how he would assure that assessments were fair and accurate. That was a local government issue, was his answer. He said we all have to "feel the pain" on spending cuts but then stated restoring stock transfer taxes or closing loopholes for millionaires to remedy budget shortfalls would never get passed. No pain, it seems, for the elite?

Highway Supervisor Bernie Kowalski has been contending with the wintry weather, more rain and roads. Bernie suddenly blasted Martin Roby, stating Martin had accused him of stealing tools. Martin replied that he'd simply foiled the Highway Dept's Inventory of Hard Assets and asked why some purchases weren't listed.

GE/Greenway Settlement Money: Val said she had been in discussion with DEC General Counsel as to whether or not the money still exists and whether it can be applied to the town garage/salt shed improvement project. She awaits reply.

Hummel Park: Lee and Christian met with some success diplomatically rerouting a few snowmobilers away from the protected, conservation land at the Park. We thank these neighbors for their consideration. Boundary and trail signage is being looked into as is moving forward with kiosk and pavilion construction. It was suggested that an incremental plan for Park and Playground maintenance projects be developed. The Committee will do a walk around as the weather clears to inspect and create this to do list.

RR Station Restoration: Ron Knott reports he continues to await final approval of grant plans from DOT for going out to bid on this $95,000 grant originally obtained during the Grenci regime.

Trails: Sean reported on the Kinderhook-Stuyvesant-Stockport Trail project. More work is needed thought he stated all agree that farming operations come first in figuring the route of the trail along the Grid Right of Way and accommodations are being worked out.