Stephentown Town Board Action

“Celebrate Stephentown”, the purchase of the former Cowee lands, and two new local laws were topics of discussions at Tuesday’s Stephentown Town Board meeting.“It went off pretty darn well,” was Town Supervisor Larry Eckhardt’s assessment of the “Celebrate Stephentown” event held this past weekend. Co-organizer and Library President Scott Menhinich reported that they were still trying to tabulate numbers, but he was very happy with the turnout at over 30 events held throughout the Town. The event was featured on Channel 13 and made the front page of the Sunday Troy Record. Menhinich said that numbers were so large that they quickly ran out of programs and most sizes of Stephentown T-shirts, with the exception of extra-large.“Stephentown is thinner than we thought,” reported Library staff. One item people wanted, but couldn’t get, was a “The Only Stephentown on Earth” sign like the one now standing in front of the Town Hall. The original signs, the inspiration of resident Betty Mc Clave, were so popular that they started disappearing from pretty much the moment they went up back in 1984. There was some discussion of maybe one day selling the signs on the Town’ website. “If they can buy it, they won’t steal it,” said Councilman Bill Jennings.

Menhinich also reported that this year’s Summer Youth Program was “the biggest year in recent memory” with a sizable turnout of the areas’ youngsters. “And we came in under budget,” added Menhinich. “What more can you ask for?” replied Councilman Jennings.

One thing one resident asked for in regard to the Library, was that the handicapped ramp be open and accessible for meetings in the community room even if the Library is closed. Janet Atwater stated that she had wanted to use the handicapped ramp over the weekend but Library staff had locked the door there as she was bringing some supplies to the community room. “You can’t keep disabled people from the program,” Atwater says she told the Library Staff, to no avail. Menhinich said that it appeared there had been a communication problem, as the Staff were still cleaning up from the book sale and the event in the meeting room was being held two hours later. The door to the handicapped ramp was then opened for that event. Atwater says she called the Department of Justice and they agreed with her position. Government seems to have moved rather swiftly that day, as Eckhardt reported getting a message before the meeting from the Town’s Code Enforcement Officer, Dean Herrick, which he assumed was in regard to Atwater’s complaint. “It will be addressed,” Eckhardt said. “We will take care of it.” ATV’s in the Town might also soon need to be addressed as some of the spaces traditionally accessible to the vehicles begin to dwindle, forcing riders out into the roads and Town itself.

Jim Bonesteel, Executive director of the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, reported that 15,000 acres of Cowee Forest lands in Rensselaer County—a good portion of it in Stephentown–will soon be open to the public. A total of 23,053 acres in the area was recently purchased by the Conservation Fund. The good news for Stephentown is that the land will remain on the tax rolls and the snowmobile trails already there would be made “permanent”. Bonesteel, however, did not know if any of the land would be open for ATV use. Much of the Cowee land was already being used by local residents for hunting, hiking, and its extensive map of ATV trails. The worry now is that the ATV’s will be pushed out like what was done on the Taconic Crest trail on the Massachusetts side of Town. If that happens, residents can expect more ATVs coming across the corn fields and down the roads. The roads in Town, at least some of them, should be in fine shape for all that extra traffic. Councilman Jennings noted during the paying of the bills that the Highway Department spent over $90,000 of its budget recently, with $58,000 of that in chip sealing. “It’s that time of the year,” said Jennings. “The roads get fixed and the money gets spent.”

The night ended with two new local laws voted in to enforce the keeping and licensing of dogs in Town. While Stephentown already had such laws on the books, they were “inconsistent” with New York State Agriculture and Markets Laws, and as such were costing the Town “big time money,” said Eckhardt. License fees are $7.00 for two years if the animal is spayed or neutered, and $23.00 if they aren’t. Some dogs, including service dogs, therapy dogs, guide dogs and “war dogs” will still require licenses but won’t be charged. Residents with more than four dogs will also be required to get a kennel license. Lost dogs that are found will now be sheltered at Doug Goodermote’s kennel in Berlin. Supervisor Eckhardt, Councilman Jennings, and Councilman Gerald Robinson voted to enact the local laws. Councilmen Chris Demick and Philip Roder were absent. All present also voted in favor of appointing Daniel Sidor to the Board of Assessment Review