The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Local News

Little Hoosic Watershed Association Activities Update

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The Little Hoosic Watershed Association is pleased to announce that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will be performing a survey of the river and preparing plans for rehabilitation projects. This design work will be performed as a free service by the agency. Implementation of the USF&W designs will: 1) help alleviate river bank and farmland erosion, 2) provide enhancement of trout habitat, 3) help to reduce the build-up of debris, and 4) slow down the rate of water flow during storms.

With the help of U.S. Fish & Wildlife and other government agencies, the Association is exploring sources for grants to help pay for implementation of the design. For more information or to help support our work, contact a member of the Board of Directors.

Members of the current Board, elected at the July 2008 Annual Meeting, are:

Carl Greene, President

Pat Sweeney, Vice President

Claudia Kavenagh, Secretary

Tim Allen

Derek Burhans

Len Clapp

New York Army National Guard Promotes Petersburgh Man

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Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Taluto, The Adjutant General for the State of New York, announced the promotion of members of the New York Army National Guard in recognition of their capabilities for additional responsibility and leadership.

Jeffrey Hammond from Petersburgh, serving with 206th Military Police Company has been promoted to the rank of Private.

Army National Guard promotions are based on overall performance, attitude, leadership ability, and development potential.

These promotions additionally recognize the best qualified Soldiers and attract and retain the highest caliber Citizen Soldiers for a career in the New York Army National Guard.

For more information about the New York Army National Guard, visit www.dmna.ny.state.us or www1800goguard.com.

Petersburgh Library Ice Cream Party For Readers

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The Petersburgh Public Library celebrated the completion of the summer reading program with an ice cream sundae party for all the readers.  For the first time readers could log in the books they read on the library website.  This was a feature enjoyed by many readers.  A total of 47 children completed the reading requirements with 25 younger children reading or being read to a total of 536 books and 22 independent readers having read a total of 15,247 pages.  All the readers received a certificate, a T-shirt featuring the theme “Catch the Reading Bug,” and books to take home.  Those readers who were unable to attend the party are invited to stop in at the library to pick up their certificates, T-shirts, and books.

 

Other Library News

The book discussion group welcomes new members and begins the fall season on Monday, September 8, at 7:30 pm.  Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh will be the topic of discussion led by Gene Bogucki.  Copies of the book are available at the Library for you to pick up and read before the night of the discussion.

Pre-school story hour will resume at the Library on Tuesday, September 9, at 10 am.  All pre-schoolers are invited to join us for stories, songs, activities and a snack.  Anyone interested in volunteering to help out with story hour please speak to Sharon Hodges who is preparing the fall schedule.

Golden Gladioli Adorn Berlin

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The gladioli planted in front of the Bank of America in Berlin on May 30 are in full bloom now. It is a sea of orange and gold and green. Photo courtesy of Don Calman.
The gladioli planted in front of the Bank of America in Berlin on May 30 are in full bloom now. It is a sea of orange and gold and green. Photo courtesy of Don Calman.

Come one, come all on Friday, August 29, to Glad Fest, a community celebration of the return of the gladioli to Berlin!  There will be music, free refreshments and fun for the entire family at 7 pm at the Bank of America, Berlin.  Bring your lawn chair!  For more information, call Dianne Mosher at 658-2453.

 

 

The success of the gladioli planting and the enthusiasm of the volunteers who planted them have encouraged Don Calman to expand the project. He will soon be asking the Berlin Town Board for funding. 

Informational Meeting On Hoosick’s Draft Land Use Law

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The Zoning Commission of the Town of Hoosick will introduce its first draft of the Land Use Law of the Town of Hoosick on Wednesday, September 3, at 7 pm in the State Armory in Hoosick Falls. The Town of Hoosick Board established the Commission in November of 2006 and appointed local community members John Cooney, Gail Delurey, Wally Sheffer, Sr., Ellen Scott, John Smith and Marianne Zwicklbauer. Supporting the Commission in the development of the Local Law is Linda VonDerHeide, Principal Planner with Rensselaer County Economic Development.  Town of Hoosick Supervisor Marilyn Douglas is the  Town Board liaison to the Commission.

The purpose of this Information Meeting will be to present an overview of the Local Law to the public.  This meeting will then be followed up with a public workshop scheduled for September 11 at 7 pm at the Armory to listen to public recommendations and questions.  After the public workshop, the Commission will assess the recommendations and concerns for inclusion into the Local Law.  Following this, the Commission plans to present the Local Law to the residents of the various hamlets of the Township and ask for their direction in drawing up a zoning district map and further revisions.

The Local Law will complement the Town’s Comprehensive Plan and provide direction for further Town development.  The public is encouraged to attend and participate in these meetings.

Recycling A Road

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Under contract to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), Gorman Brothers began road work last Friday on Route 43  in Stephentown between Route 22 and the Massachusetts line. Alternating, one-way traffic was controlled by flaggers from 7 am to 4 pm. The first step in the resurfacing project, as shown here, is described by a NYSDOT spokesman as a “cold in-place recycling” whereby the top layer of the old surface is ground up, mixed with tar and laid back down as a base. The recycled base will be overlaid with new blacktop. (David Flint photo)

New Wrinkle In The Stephentown Uniforms Story

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by David Flint

The Stephentown Town Board’s decision last week to scrap their contract with a uniform rental company may have been a little too hasty, at least in the eyes of the rental company. The Town Board has now received a letter from an attorney acting on behalf of the Unifirst Corporation threatening legal action unless the Town stays with the contract or coughs up $12,000 to get out of it. 

At the last Town Board meeting on August 18, the Town Board passed a resolution establishing an $800 annual stipend for Highway Department employees for purchasing and maintaining their own work clothing. The Board had decided that continuing the services of a uniform rental company was just too expensive. After it was brought to their attention that they had paid Rus Uniforms over $8,000 for the service in 2007, Town Supervisor Tom Sherman recently switched the contract to Unifirst. But Sherman reported at the last Board meeting that it appeared that with all the extra charges included, the Town would not be getting off much cheaper, if at all. He calculated that either company would have the Town paying between $6,000 and $9,000 for uniforms for five people. The Board concluded that an $800 stipend would be reasonable and would save the Town between $2,000 and $5,000. The resolution they passed provided for a $263 pro-rated portion of the stipend to be paid on September 1.

But Attorney John J. Connor of the Syracuse law firm Craig J. Billinson & Associates says in effect, “Not so fast!” In his letter he pointed out that the rental agreement specifies that if the service is terminated prior to the expiration of the agreement, the customer must pay 50% of the rental charges for the remainder of the term of the contract. That, he said, comes to $8,467.20. Moreover, the customer also agrees to purchase whatever clothing or other merchandise that has already been issued, an amount that Connor calculated to be $3,444.20. Adding an amount of $133.80 for services already rendered, the total comes to $12,045.20. 

Sherman contends that there in fact was no contract. The Town, he said, had only signed up to try the service and the Board decided to cancel after receiving the first invoice. He said he has spoken with Connor and explained that to him. He will discuss the matter further with the attorney in the coming week, but Sherman is confident the Town is not liable for cancellation charges, and he expected that the matter can be resolved without any litigation.

One Business Sold, One Up For Sale On John Street In Hoosick Falls

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by Bea Peterson

 

Signs have been in the windows of Upsy Daisy and Bagels ‘N’ More on John St. in Hoosick Falls stating that the businesses are for sale. Mariea and Brian Rousseau have owned Upsy Daisy for 22 years. Howard and Sue Moxley have owned the bagel shop for seven years. Both owners say the businesses are doing well and they would be unhappy to see them close. The location of the two businesses is also ideal, they say.

For Howard and Sue, with daughters growing up and thoughts of a larger home, it’s time to move

Howard Moxley is filling customer orders for the last time this week. Bagels ‘N’ More has been sold and his last day will be Saturday, August 30. (Bea Peterson photo)
Howard Moxley is filling customer orders for the last time this week. Bagels ‘N’ More has been sold and his last day will be Saturday, August 30. (Bea Peterson photo)

 on. “We’re still trying to recover from the fire, both financially and emotionally.” When Dougherty’s, the restaurant on the corner, burned more than two years ago, both Upsy Daisy and the bagel shop suffered severe smoke and water damage. “After the fire, we started from scratch again,” Howard said. A stove fire last year was another setback. The Village helped the couple out financially then. Howard wanted someone to take over the business. “I’m sure Mike [Church] can make a go of it,” he said. “I’m happy and surprised we’ve lasted this long.” 

 

“It will be hard to leave. Basically, I’ll miss the people. I’m very appreciative of the whole community. They’ve been very supportive.” Howard said that when gas and oil prices first went up, business slumped for a bit but now people have made adjustments and things are running smoothly. “It’s a good spot, right in the center of town,” he said. Howard has no future career plans at the moment.

New Owner

Fortunately Bagels ‘N’ More is sold and will reopen September 8. Mike Church has purchased the business. Howard’s last day will be Saturday, August 30. The little restaurant will be closed for a week during which Mike will change the name and make some changes to the menu and interior.

Still Searching

Upsy Daisy has been for sale since December. “I’ve had a few people interested,” said Mariea. Nothing concrete has materialized to this point. Mariea has been dealing with health issues. “I don’t have the stamina I used to have,” she said. “When you have a respectable established reputation, you hold yourself to a high standard.” It’s hard to maintain the standard without the stamina. 

“People in town have been tremendous. Through the fire and my illness they have been encouraging and supportive. That’s one of the reasons I just haven’t closed up.”

“The business is viable. We’re close to the funeral homes, we have a tremendous customer base, wonderful customers, a good location and our interior is gorgeous!” Mariea feels some design experience is good, but a good business sense is more essential. She would be willing to work with somebody to get things going. “If you have a passion about what you’re doing, you’ll succeed,” she said. The right person hasn’t come by yet, she added. “I owe it back to the community to make this happen. I have to be optimistic. I don’t want to see us lose any more downtown businesses.”

Charter Cable Complaint Group Forms In Petersburgh

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submitted by Barton McLean

 Some of us subscribing to Charter Cable in our Eastwick area have suffered through a series of frustrating intermittent problems over the past month. Due to the inability of Charter Cable to resolve, or apparently to even understand the nature of the problems, an informal group has been formed with the sole purpose of coordinating and facilitating cable complaints and, if necessary, approaching the supervisors of the towns involved to solicit their help.

The Problem

During the past month, cable subscribers in Petersburgh (and perhaps the other towns as well) have had daily problems where the cable signal would be weak, be subject to a pulsing where the signal would go in and out, snow noise, static and the impression that another channel is imposing itself on the selected one. A small group in Petersburgh have gone through the complaint process via the Charter complaint line, to no avail. 

The basic problem is that Charter has a widespread, systemic problem that they fail to recognize as such. This is combined with a trouble reporting approach that treats every call as if the problem is in the individual home, not in the system.

A typical situation will go like this: When having a problem you call the Charter hotline at 1-800-827-8288 and go through the various prompts. Be careful here, because you will be automatically channeled into an auto hell where you will be required to answer dozens of completely irrelevant questions. To bypass that, when you get to the technical help prompt, push “0” and you will be asked if you want to speak to an agent. Say “yes” and an agent will be available 24/7 hours per day. 

When I talk to the agent and tell her that this exact same problem is being experienced by three other people in Petersburgh, she nevertheless insists that if my complaint is to be sent to the problem people, I have to schedule a visit to my house by the service technician. This appointment is typically 1-2 weeks away! 

So, I make the appointment and tell the others to do the same. The Charter people tell me that if at least three people make a complaint like this, they will send someone out to investigate it as a system problem rather than a home problem. A couple of weeks ago, a number of people in Petersburgh did this, and Charter actually did send a system call out. Someone from Charter called to tell me that they had finally found the problem and fixed it and cancelled all the individual appointments. Over the next week, the problem gradually returned.

Charter customers should not have to go through this hell every time the cable goes out, which has been at least once per day recently. Charter needs to revise its system to accommodate situations where the problem is with Charter, and to quickly inform the caller if others have complained recently. As it is now, the phone tech assistants don’t have a clue as to what is going on system-wide. They should take a cue from NYSEG, which has an extremely efficient trouble reporting protocol in this regard.

The Solution

And so, out of complete frustration and a determination to get something done about this, I am offering the formation of an informal complaint group where we can compare notes and coordinate complaints. We need a critical mass of angry subscribers in order to get Charter’s attention. The first action is to find out how widespread this problem is. Communication from those living in the other Eastwick towns via email would be particularly welcome.  My email is mclmix@cisbec.net. My phone is 658-3595. Email is preferred.

The critical information to pass along is where you reside (town and address), problems you are having, steps taken to resolve the problem with Charter and their response. I will coordinate all these and from the responses, suggest steps we can all take together to get this mess cleared up. Unless you say otherwise, I would keep your email address strictly confidential and send all group emails via the blind carbon copy (BCC) protocol to ensure this. Let’s unite to help each other.

Hoosick Fire District Approves Purchase Of Haynes Ford Property

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by Bea Peterson

The anticipation is over for members of the Hoosick Fire Department. On Tuesday evening 116 people voted on whether the Department should purchase the former Haynes Ford property on Route 7.

After November the Hoosick Fire Department won’t have to park a truck outside to make space to hold a meeting. All the trucks will easily fit into the new building on Route 7. (Bea Peterson photo)
After November the Hoosick Fire Department won’t have to park a truck outside to make space to hold a meeting. All the trucks will easily fit into the new building on Route 7. (Bea Peterson photo)

The site consists of 6.5 acres and two buildings. The cost is $625,000. The vote was 70 yes and 46 no. Hoosick Fire Chief Bill Rifenburgh, Jr. said, “It was a good cross section of the community. I’m glad people showed up. Regardless of the vote, it’s good they came out.” It’s the largest voter turnout the District has ever had. Fire Commission Chairman Bob Breese was surprised at the large turnout. “It’s almost double the number we’ve had for previous elections,” he said. Most times the Department feels lucky if 30 people vote on an issue.

 

“The largest turnout we had,” said Breese, “was the public hearing in 2005 when we wanted to expand this fire house. Sixty people attended.”

Breese and Rifenburgh said they anticipate the move to the new building will take place the first part of November. “We have to get the money, have an engineering assessment of the building, and I have to make another trip to the Planning Board,” said Breese.

Referring again to the 2005 public hearing Breese said, “They told us to go look somewhere else and that’s what we did.”