Wednesday April 24, 2024 
Barnes Road Party Barn
As many residents of the Town of Sand Lake may already know the Supreme Court ruled against the Town Planning Board’s decision to allow a party barn on Barnes Road. The Court’s ruling points out that before granting the permit for the Barnes Road Party Barn various studies should have been done to ensure that it was appropriate to issue the permit. It also cited the impact to the community should have been considered. Go to the Town of Sand Lake Planning Board’s website to view the entire legal document.
Why is the Planning Board appealing the Supreme Court’s ruling? The residents of our town deserve to know the answer. Why are they spending our tax dollars in legal fees to challenge a decision issued by the Court? Why was the Planning Board so quick to grant the permit without conducting the necessary studies to find out what the impact to the community would be? Why did they fail to consider the objections of those who live in the nearby area? The Planning Board failed us. They’ve been instructed by the Supreme Court the reasons why the Party Barn permit should not have been granted and yet they are pursuing an appeal, why? One has to wonder what’s in it for them.
Linda Allen, West Sand Lake
On PFOA in Poestenkill
And as we go from floods in Sand Lake to PFOA in the groundwater serving the Algonquin Middle School in Poestenkill, are we looking at another cover-up or whitewash in the making? And here I am referring specifically to an “Update on Algonquin Middle School Water Tests” from Bob Brunet – Poestenkill Water Manager, on the Poestenkill website, a propaganda channel, where we were first informed thusly: In our last update we quoted numerous NYSDOH statements which reassured us that the school’s water “does not pose a significant health risk” and “Your water continues to be acceptable for all uses”. Speaking as a qualified associate level public health engineer, that right there is the language of a cover-up or whitewash, to tell us that a chemical that does not belong in the groundwater in the first place does not pose a significant health risk. Given that Mr. Brunet is not a public health engineer, or qualified public health official, he has no rational basis to support those assurances when the public health standard says there should be no PFOA at all in that water, and the fact of the existence of the PFOA in the water is proof positive of negligence and dereliction of duty on the part of public officials, which takes us us to this further evidence of a whitewash in the making: During the timeframe since our last update, Supervisor Keith Hammond, Deputy Town Supervisor Eric Wohlleber, and I have been actively working with the RCDOH and the NYSDOH to further insure that the wells nearby the school are providing safe water for our residents. As a result of this activity we have recently received a commitment from Justin Deming, Chief, Regions 4, 5 & 8 -NYSDOH, Bureau Of Environmental Exposure Investigation, that the State, with our involvement and the involvement of the RCDOH, will test at least 12 home wells in the area to reinforce that the water is safe to consume. In other words, reinforce a falsehood, which is the essence of a whitewash, to protect the polluters!
Paul Plante, Poestenkill
Racism By Any Other Name
Yes, Cal Thomas, semantics are important. The “tsunami of humanity” which you call invasion is important because migrants, aka invaders are humans in search of a better life. Probably your ancestors did the same. It is in your mind that humans are illegal. It is in your mind that they are harmful. By using COVID-19 as an excuse for calling humans troublesome and harmful is the epitome of hypocrisy.
Greg Abbott was just diagnosed with COVID-19 right after hosting a 600+ super-spreader event. Oh… He’s rich and white so it wasn’t harmful. Oh! He is now punishing teachers and superintendents of schools for trying to protect children and for trying to stop the spread. As you know, those kids get on buses which can carry the virus to, you know, HUMANS!
Alicia Rodriguez, Troy
North Greenbush needs new streetlights
At the August 2021 North Greenbush (NGB) town meeting, electric vehicle (EV) charging station for town hall was approved. Two of the many reasons for the chargers were the “writing is on the wall (the EVs were becoming common)” and a significant financial incentives from the utility and others. We should apply this logic to street lights in NGB as well. Per the US Department of Energy, 64% of streetlights are now LED. Lighting technology is moving that direction. There are incentives and programs from both NYSERDA and NYPA for towns to convert to LED street lights. However, those programs will end in the next few years. We need to start the switch to LEDs now. LED street lights not only save energy, but last longer. This longer life reduces the maintenance costs and saves money. Some new LED streetlights can offer other benefits like asset management or secondary features. Finally, LED streetlights provide better quality of light. This lighting quality can improve the safety of our streets. The better quality light can also make NGB appear better at night. Less light in windows and other negative effects can be reduced by LED lighting. NGB needs to start the conversion to LED streetlights now before programs that can assist with the transition end.
Michael Myer, North Greenbush