by Bea Peterson
At the Hoosick Town Board meeting on Monday, August 9, Hoosick Town Clerk Sue Stradinger told the Board she had received word from NYS Agriculture and Marketing that that department would no longer be doing the billing for dog licenses. She gave copies of the lengthy document she took off the internet containing the NYS guidelines which must be followed for Towns to bill for the licenses and how they are to establish a budget line for fees collected and how to set up fees for sheltering strays. Stradinger said they annually collect licensing fees for about 330 dogs, but she knows Ag and Markets has sent bills to over 600 Hoosick dog owners. Another change will be that the Town will bill on an annual basis only and will probably start doing so in the spring of 2011. In the past individuals have been billed in different months, depending on when they applied for a dog license. The Town can also establish new licensing fees to cover the additional expenses incurred by this change. However, Ag and Market will still receive one dollar per licensed spayed/neutered dog and three dollars per licensed unsprayed/unneutered dog from the Town. Town Attorney David Gruenberg will review the document and make recommendations to the Board about the changes.
Stradinger also mentioned that DEC is going to reduce the number of hunting and fishing regulation books it publishes, so there will not be the extras there usually are outside her office.
Primary Election
Primary elections will be held in all seven Town districts on Tuesday, September 14, from noon to 9 pm. Town Supervisor Keith Cipperly had a copy of the new voting forms that will be used. In Rensselaer County an oval will have to be filled in with a special pen for each candidate or proposition voted for. That form is then slid into a machine and registered. If the form is not correctly marked the machine will indicate incomplete and the form will be returned to be completed properly. Cipperly said that the new voting machines and procedures will be demonstrated in the County booth at the Schaghticoke Fair.
Revolutionary Soldiers
Town Historian Phil Leonard displayed his latest history board which commemorates Revolutionary War soldiers. He used copies of paintings to show the various military personnel that fought
and what they wore. It was prepared for the 233rd celebration of the Battle For Bennington. The Visitor’s Center on Caretaker’s Road will be open Sunday, August 15, from 1 to 4 pm, and there will be ceremonies on the top of the hill on Monday, August 16, at 6 pm to commemorate the actual day of the Battle.
Vietnam Vet Names Needed
Leonard also reported that funds for the Veterans Memorial Wall in Wood Park are still coming in, fortunately. His biggest concern is that he is not receiving the names of veterans who served in Vietnam who should have their names on the bronze plaques that will be installed on the commemorative wall. He hopes family members will encourage their veterans to complete the forms available at the Village and Town halls and send them in.
Ken Marbot of the Hoosick Youth Football League requested the League be allowed to paint white lines on the grass on the Town fields so the players can become accustomed to a football-type field. His request was approved.
A member of the State Line Motorcycle Club sought and received approval for a Club Rally on Skip North’s Potter Hill property on September 4 and 5. The not-for-profit organization will be offering safety programs and training as well as kid’s races on Saturday and adult racing on Sunday. Racing will end by 3 pm, and there will also be a chicken barbecue on Saturday.
Wood Brook
Pam Benkoski and Winnie Restino asked if any progress had been made in resolving the problems on Wood Brook. Supervisor Cipperly said they are still trying for a study grant from NYS Senator Roy McDonald’s office. Benkoski said she had called the Village about two trees that had rotted and fallen from the railroad tie cribbing above the brook. She said the Village had removed the trees from the brook and taken them away. She also reported that during the last heavy rain the brook was about a foot from flooding again. She said they had talked with someone from US Congressman Murphy’s office as a result of Restino’s talking to him when he was last in the Village. They have been advised to send the same packet they had previously put together to the Washington office. Cipperly said he had toured the area again recently and he hopes a grant application can be written for a study of the entire brook.
Farmland Protection Board
The Board approved the appointment of Barona Powers to the Farmland Protection Board and approved Karen Jennings as that Board’s secretary at an annual salary of $900.
Fire Department Budget Meetings
The Board tentatively set Tuesday, October 19, as the date for the public hearings on the budgets of the Buskirk, West Hoosick and North Hoosick Fire Departments.
The October Town Board meeting will be on Tuesday, October 12, because of the Monday Columbus Day holiday.
Thank You
Supervisor Cipperly thanked Mike Lilac for conducting a successful basketball camp with 25 youngsters participating. He also thanked the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department and Paul Davendonis for bringing their dogs to the Town’s summer camp and demonstrating what these specially trained dogs can do. “I hope they will come back next year,” said Cipperly.
Cell Phone Problems
The Supervisor noted that he frequently has trouble with callers fading away when he is trying to talk to them on his cell phone. He wondered if others in Town were having this problem. “If you are,” he said, “be sure to complain and then maybe something can be done.”
Upcoming Events
The Board noted that the Farmers Market on Route 7 is open on Fridays from 2 to 6:30 pm. Amyland Amusements is building a 22 acre corn maze at Tammy’s Candy Kettle that will open in the fall. It’s the largest maze on the east coast.
The second annual Pumpkinpalooza will be September 25.
Correction: added 8/20/2010: It says above that Amyland Amusements is building a 22 acre corn maze at Tammy’s Candy Kettle. That is incorrect. Amyland Amusements is not involved. Tammy Morgan and Charlie Bowers have been solely responsible for the mazes on Route 7 since the first one they constructed three years ago.