by David Flint
Business at the Stephentown Town Board meeting on the evening of Monday, May 18 was pretty routine, but Bev McClave, reporting for the Corkscrew Rail Trail Association, did have some news. After years of meetings, the Association is announcing that a section of the Trail is now open to the public. [private]This section is between 1½ and 2 miles long and runs from Knapp Road to the Columbia County line. There will be an opening ceremony at the Knapp Road entrance on Saturday, June 6 at 10 am.
The opening of this section has been enabled by the approval of landowners Dale Riggs, Don Miles, Mona Berg and Ted Cooke. McClave said some restrictions will apply and parts of the trail will be closed to the public during deer hunting season.
McClave said that a number of volunteers spent three full days recently cleaning up trash, cutting brush and generally tidying up the trail. “We hope the public will appreciate and respect the property owners’ generosity in allowing use of this trail,” she said, “It’s beautiful, it’s serene and it’s just off of Route 22. It’s a beginning!”
“Fantastic, good job!” commented Councilman Bill Jennings.
Welcome To Stephentown
The Welcome To Stephentown signs that the Board has been talking about for four years now are finally about to be purchased. Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt has long lamented that the “Only Stephentown On Earth” signs have all been stolen and there have been no welcoming signs for quite a while. Now the sign posted at the little Town park at the intersection of Routes 22 and 43 has been damaged requiring that it be either repaired or replaced. So Eckhardt will at the same time purchase two more signs to be posted at the north and south ends of Town on Route 22. Kevin Doherty of Montauk Signs advises to keep it simple, so the signs will simply read, “Welcome To Stephentown.” A second line will indicate that the Town was founded, incorporated or established in 1784. Eckhardt is consulting with the Historical Society and the Town Historian to determine which of those three verbs is most appropriate.
Glendouglas Farm Celebration
Eckhardt said another noteworthy sign will be unveiled next month. This is a State historic site marker to be erected at the residence of Isabel and Neil Krebs on Osgood Road. The residence was formerly the Glendouglas Farm founded 250 years ago by Revolutionary War patriot William Douglas. His descendants have lived there ever since. The Krebs’ secured a grant for the purchase of the sign. The 250th Anniversary and the unveiling of the sign will be celebrated at the Farm on Saturday, June 19 from 11 am to 1 pm. A number of local, County, State and federal dignitaries are expected to attend.
Bids For Mowing
The Board passed a resolution last month to advertise seeking bids for mowing grass at the Town Hall and the Transfer Station. Realizing that the advertising did not mention specifications, as is proper in any bid seeking, the Board now passed a resolution extending the request for bids. Specifications will be available upon request at the Town Clerk’s Office and bids will be due at her office by June 12.
In Other Busines:
With Doug Griswold sidelined from the Highway Department due to heart surgery, the Board went into executive session for ten minutes to discuss a temporary replacement.
Councilman Jennings reported that he had gathered information on energy use by the Town and will seek to find a company to install solar equipment in a power purchase agreement. The Board has looked into this before but the company contacted decided that the amount of power used by the Town did not make it worth their investment. In a power purchase agreement, Jennings explained, a solar array is owned and maintained by the installer and the Town would get a lower monthly rate for electricity for a fixed period of time.
Councilman PJ Roder reported that the Comprehensive Plan Committee now has a rough draft of a questionnaire that will be mailed out in early June. The questionnaire seeks to determine the wishes and wants of the community and what residents envision the Town to be in five, ten and twenty years from now. The Committee expects to have a first public hearing on this in July.
The Town Clerk turned over the sum of $1,092.31 to the Supervisor for the month of April. The distribution from the office of the State Comptroller, Justice Court Fund was $2,647 for the month of March and $1,874 for April. The Transfer Station deposited a total $5,371 for April.
The Board audited and approved claims in the amount of $40,852.53 from the General Fund and $19,932.03 from the Highway Account.
The Board set its next workshop meeting for Monday, June 8 and its next regular meeting for Monday, June 15, both meetings to start at 7 pm.[/private]