Friday April 26, 2024 
Please Stop Your Nonsense!
This letter is one that I have been avoiding writing. While I don’t think Poestenkill residents benefit by members of the Town Council writing negative letters about each other, two of my fellow council people have written several letters spreading alarming misinformation. I feel the need to respond.
First, I’d like to point out that we have not had a public hearing in regards to an Ambulance Service. The public hearing is scheduled for 7:00 PM on September 17, 2020 at the Sullivan-Jones VFW Post.
Secondly, Dave Hass’ and June Butler’s claim that we want to spend a quarter of a million dollars is simply not true. We have not yet asked for proposals from any ambulance services. I assure you that I would never consider spending anything even close to that amount. Before getting to the point of asking for proposals, I want this issue to go to a vote for all residents of Poestenkill to decide if they even want to establish an ambulance district.
In addition, I am working side by side with Rensselaer County to see if we can have a First Responder flight car sponsored by the county ensuring consistent availability.
I have received numerous calls regarding our emergency service including a recent serious horseback riding accident where First Responders weren’t able to respond. In another instance, the ambulance was rerouted from Poestenkill to a call to a city that has a contractual agreement with the ambulance service, demonstrating the need for a contracted ambulance service.
To ignore countless calls from residents concerned about our emergency response system would be irresponsible on my part. Possibly my fellow council people are right. Our current service is as good as it gets. However, I believe that Poestenkill residents deserve the right to voice their opinion and vote whether or not they want to set up an Ambulance District.
As always, anyone is welcome to call me and ask questions.
Keith Hammond, Poestenkill Town Supervisor
518-596-9203
Just another tax!
Dear Poestenkill Resident:
It is time to pay attention to what Town Hall is doing. My school tax bill just showed up and it shows a greater than 6% increase. Now some members of the Town Board are hell bent on adding insult to injury by imposing an ambulance district on town residents adding another tax on to the town tax bill. Granted, this in and of itself is not a lot of money only $100-$200 to your Town Tax. However, added to all the other taxes that are certain to go up in 2021 and 2022 it will hurt. It will hurt those least able to pay the most. This is the wrong move at the wrong time.
And for what? Mohawk Ambulance currently serves the town and does so without a subsidy from the Town. The Fire Company has a corps of First Responders that are usually on the scene and providing aid within minutes? The Town has not done a single study that establishes that paying will improve service.
Those in support say, this will be put up to the voters. When? At a general election or snuck into a special district election that few will know about and even less will participate in?
Speak up at the public hearing scheduled for September 17, 2020 (https://townpoestenkill.digitaltowpath.org:10299/content/ ) @7PM at the VFW.
Dominic Jacangelo, Averill Park
Imagination
Stories, books, poems and pictures
Enjoyed by the fire
In an old rocking chair,
Can make you downright homesick
For places where you’ve never lived,
Nor even ever been!
They can make you miss people
That you never knew,
Never even met!
Why, I’ve been places, done things and met folks
That others might never experience,
Without ever leaving my rocker.
You see, my old chair is a magic transporter,
That can take me anywhere
And through time in either direction.
The only fuel required for the trip,
Is my imagination…stimulated
By a story, a book, a poem or a picture!
Lloyd Barnhart, West Sand Lake
The world’s shortest sermon
A person’s rights come from God not from government
It’s not some empty sentiment
But could be stamped into wet cement
And when the slab is dry and hard,
It could be set up in your yard
And every word will ring true to people passing by
Many slabs are needed for the Constitution
Then the Bill of Rights,
Two documents written by this nation’s acolytes
The Gettysburg Address should stand among the rest
Along with the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer and the Sermon on the Mount.
They teach us what life’s all about.
Then there’s the words of Solomon
If you ain’t read him where have you been?
Now the yard is getting good and full,
Though some decry it as an oddity.
They stop but fail to see because they’re lost
Or cannot read, or fail to learn or can’t discern
What is right or what is wrong
Or what is worse than all – don’t know human history.
God bless America!
Dean Evans, The Outhouse Poet, August 23, 2020
Yearn To Learn
Education is something we take for granted
It’s how the seeds of wisdom are planted
Everyone has the opportunity to make the world better
You need not be rich or a trend setter
Just put your mind to the test
And let your ambition and goals do the rest
Don’t worry about which school or the cost of tuition
What’s important is that your dreams come to fruition
The world should instill complete dedication
To the significance of education
It’s said that the more you learn the more you earn
Great minds took special attention
To develop each and every invention
For without a filament we would be without light
Left to wander around aimlessly into the night
If it wasn’t for the wheel their wouldn’t be a car
And mankind wouldn’t get very far
There would be no planes in the sky
If man didn’t have the courage to fly
Nothing is as impossible as it seems
Great ideas sometimes require elaborate schemes
A wise man uses his brain, for it is better
To discern, than it is to complain
Knowledge frees us from the chains of adversity
And protects us from calamity
Remember to ask for wisdom from the Lord above
And teach everyone the attributes of kindness and love
Donna Masters, Troy
Letter to the Editor
I would like to thank the Sand Lake Town Board for supporting Flag Football. I feel that special crispness to the air. Something about the time of season we are approaching. It is the time of year many of us look forward to… schools back in session & Football is here – Averill Park Jr. Warriors Flag Football program is BACK!!! Opening Day is September 12th, 2020.
Our great community is so fortunate for all the parents and volunteers who are making this possible. The children need this, we all need this. I know there will be proper precautions and procedures in place to make this a safe and exciting year for all. I would like to voice my enthusiastic support for this wonderful program and the people who are getting the kids back on the field – Thank you! These are unprecedented times but this sense of normalcy is much needed and the kids deserve it. Great job to everyone involved and have a Safe and Successful Season…Go Get-em Warriors!
Wayne A. Gendron, Sand Lake
East Greenbush Library: Poor Example of “NY Forward”
The library was a dismal sight during a recent visit. No patrons in sight, restricted access, restricted hours, tables and chairs taken away, computer terminals closed. Despite the apparent adherence to an extensively-devised reopening plan, this is silly; and it is especially disturbing in a time when the library itself could be critical for helping many people deal with the Covid situation.
With some effort and a more realistic plan, the library could have been much farther along on the path to something normal. Common-sense procedures would have allowed full browsing, along with the use of tables and chairs that can be easily and quickly cleaned, as well as the computer terminals. I’ve spoken to patrons who have been very disappointed by the drastic procedures put into place.
With even modest planning, the number of people allowed to use the library at any given time could have easily been increased very significantly. Look at the crowds in Hannaford and Walmart, where physical contact with food, clothes, money, etc., is widespread. No ill effects there from Covid, even though the chances would be much greater than in a library setting.
To the library’s credit, a number of virtual, on-line programs for adults and kids have been developed. But they are no substitute for a normal library visit and library services. East Greenbush seems to be following other local libraries in terms of excessive caution, although some, like Colonie, are clearly permitting more access and convenience for patrons.
Caution is a fine thing sometimes, but tempering it with common sense so that residents and taxpayers can benefit from what they’ve paid for is much better.
Frank Coppa, East Greenbush
Sand Lake’s Missing Minutes
Letter to the Editor of The Advertiser. August 31, 2020.
If you want to know quickly what happened at the Town of Sand Lake’s Planning Board or Board of Zoning Appeals during 2020, you can check the Town’s website and follow the links to where the 2020 meeting minutes are supposed to be.
But, there’s nothing there at all for 2020 for the ZBA, and nothing there after the February 5, 2020 meeting for the Planning Board. Due to Covid19, there were no meetings of the either board in April and May, but meetings were held in June, July and August.
Covid19 has interfered with normal Town Hall operations. But the Planning Board and ZBA since June have continued to hold meetings and take actions. The public should be able to find out what actions were taken without having to sit through hours of low-quality videos which are available on the Town’s website. The videos in no way eliminate the need for minutes.
The Supervisor and Town Board and the chairs of the Planning Board and ZBA need see that draft meeting minutes are posted by the following meeting so they can be reviewed by the relevant Board and others, and then promptly posted in final form when approved to inform the public of important government actions.
Garrett DeGraff, Averill Park
Sunnyside
In the summer of seventy two
I was just twelve years old
Still a little bit shy
But feeling kind of bold
I took off on an adventure
Needing to spread my wings
Hoping I’d find something new
Even learn a few things
I found a little dead end street
It would changed my life that day
My own Garden of Eden
Where I could go to get away
Sunnyside in the morning
Sunnyside into the night
Sunnyside when things go wrong
Sunnyside could make them right
Over the next ten years
I made some life long friends
We did some crazy things
Some I wished would never end
During my sixteenth summer
A freckled faced girl with dark hair
Taught me about life and love
On back porch in her grandma’s rocking chair
We lasted that summer, fall and winter
Then with the scent of spring in the air
My freckled face dark hair girl
Found another to rock her grandma’s chair
Sunnyside in the morning
Sunnyside into the night
Sunnyside when things go wrong
Sunnyside could make them alright
Then one morning you wake up
Everyone is older and nothing is the same
Time has changed all the rules
No one anymore is playing the same game
As quickly as our teens came they leave
The world seems to be turning too fast
School is over but you still have things to learn
You pray to God you don’t finish last
Friends like the seasons start to leave
Wishing they all could stay
You wonder why growing up
Always leads to growing away
Sunnyside in the morning
Sunnyside into the night
Sunnyside when things go wrong
Somethings even Sunnyside can’t make right
Walter De BELL, Troy
Where is Trumpcare?
As a senior citizen living on a fixed income and facing higher and higher costs for the very medicines I need to stay alive, I have a question. Where is Trumpcare? While the administration is fighting in the courts to kill the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) where is Trumpcare?
Facts are facts. One of the promises then-candidate Trump made in 2016 was the dismantling of Obamacare saying its replacement would be so easy and quick! In fact he said the entire switch-over could be completed in “15 minutes.”
Here it is four years later and there appears to be no plan. In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News (July 17) when Wallace asked what the President intended to do about health care, Trump said he would sign a full and complete plan within two weeks. At the end of July reporters again asked when the new health plan would be signed and Trump replied it would be soon and it would be “very big.” In the beginning of August the President said it was just about completed and it was “impressive.”
Here we are in September and again I ask—where is Trumpcare? Promises kept? I don’t think so.
Judy Ziller, Town of Nassau
No more Party Barns
I live on Parker Road. My family has been a part of this town for generations. I have watched the area change and am very unhappy with the most recent changes permitted in our neighborhood. June Farms has been expanding without monitoring. It has created an excessive amount of traffic on our street. A Barnes Road venue would most likely add to that. It poses safety concerns, as well as property damage concerns. The cars travel over the speed limit constantly! We have had to have the Town Highway Transportation Department set up an electronic speed limit check sign on our street to try to control unsafe driving.
I am very opposed to this type of event barn being built again so close to our home.
Please consider all aspects this project would affect. I strongly encourage you to deny a second venue for parties and entertainment in an agricultural area and residential neighborhood.
Please deny this application.
Thank you
Kristine Cipperley
Vote Early Vote Often
It’s a classic political joke leveled at corrupt politicians and fixed elections. Never in my life did I expect to see a President of the United States counsel citizens to follow this advice. It happened on September 2 in North Carolina when President Trump suggested that people vote by mail and then go to the polls to vote in person. Why? To disrupt the upcoming presidential election because he doesn’t like mail-in voting, and so he could claim a rigged election and legitimize staying in office. Make no mistake – the President just counseled people to commit voter fraud, to break the law. It’s criminal activity. This from a President of the United States who professes Law and Order, and from an office which in earlier times represented the rule of law. He is undermining the very foundation of our democracy by trying to de-legitimize the election.
In America we’ve always had sharp political differences. Navigating these differences by finding common ground and making compromises is what the Constitution establishes and how our country has worked. But this has required respect for each other and the process of government. It has required trust and civility. Sadly for us and our country, President Trump has brought just the opposite: disrespect, ignorance of fact, division, and self-interest. Those of you who support him may try to deny it, but the evidence is all around us. America is divided like at no time since the Civil War, and if President Trump is re-elected this division will grow.
You may not like Vice President Biden’s policies (more likely, you have been misled into thinking they would be bad for America), and you may feel you couldn’t vote for a Democrat. But right now it’s most important that we restore civility and trust so we can get on with forming a more perfect union. Joe Biden’s main virtue is one of mutual respect and the ability to work with, not against, those with different views. I’ll ask, has anything improved during
Michael Roland, Nassau
To all voters:
Here is a way to become involved this presidential election season:
WHO: a registered Democrat at least 18 years old
WHAT: become a poll inspector
WHERE: at one of the four polling sites in the Town of Nassau
WHEN: Tues., Nov. 3rd plus training session (approx. 2 hours)
WHY: paid $200 for Nov.3rd and pro rata for training time
HOW: contact Pat Piniazek, chair of the Town of Nassau’s Democrats, at 518 577-0491 or patpen1018@nullgmail.com for answers to your questions , and schedule re training sessions.
See you at the Polls,
Judi Markessinis, Town of Nassau
Voting in the Time of Covid-19
Many will agree voting this year is more important than ever, but quite possibly more confusing than ever. Basically, in New York State, there are three ways to exercise your civic duty – in person, early voting and voting by absentee ballot.
Voting in person on Election Day remains an option. Here in Nassau, I understand all four usual town voting sites will be staffed and operational on Tuesday, November 3rd from 6 am – 9 pm.
Early voting will also be available Saturday, October 24 through Sunday, November 1. The closest location for Nassau voters will be the Schodack Town Hall on Columbia Turnpike (US Rt.20,) opposite Tractor Supply. Early voting results will be included in Election Day totals.
Finally, absentee voting will be available. You must request an Absentee Ballot from the Rensselaer County Board of Elections. This can be done by calling the Board at 518-270-2990. Note – Tuesday, October 27th is the last day you may submit your request to receive a ballot. The Board of Elections notes they have been notified by the Post Office delivery cannot be guaranteed unless your ballot request is mailed 15 days in advance of October 27th.
One final note – in New York State you must be registered in advance to vote – Applications must be postmarked no later than October 9, 2020 and received by a board of elections no later than October 14, 2020 to be eligible to vote in the General Election. These votes will be tallied after Election Day.
I urge everyone to vote.
Kurt Vincent, Nassau