Thursday April 25, 2024 
Poestenkill Ambuluance Q & A Session
POESTENKILL – Stan Pettibone, 911 Dispatcher and Chief of the Berlin Fire Department and Marci Ruppert, EMT of the Poestenkill Fire Department will host a question and answer session on March 27, 2021, 6:30 PM at the VFW Post in Poestenkill. They will take you through what happens from the initial 911 coming in, different levels of calls, who responds and why, what vehicles and equipment are available in Poestenkill, how long it takes, and what you should do in an emergency situation. For additional information go to www.poestenkill.org
Rensselaer County DMV Public Service Announcement
RENSSELAER COUNTY – Effective immediately, Rensselaer County DMV will only be processing transactions for County residents. Non-residents are encouraged to make appointments with New York State DMV or their county DMV.
Rensselaer County Clerk Frank J. Merola initiated the policy change in response to long lines and service delays that have arisen due to the tremendous increase in non-resident Troy DMV usage, a result of the continued closure of the State and other Capital region DMVs. While he sympathizes with non-County residents, Mr. Merola emphasizes the needs of County residents and that Troy DMV will only be processing Rensselaer County transactions for the foreseeable future. Mr. Merola urges non-residents to either petition the state and their County DMVs to reopen or to utilize the NYS DMV online system for transactions.
Vote “Yes” on March 30th for You and Your Neighbors
POESTENKILL – As I campaigned throughout the Town of Poestenkill in 2019, it became abundantly clear to me that our citizens are very concerned with the lack of a consistent ambulance service in our town. This failure is putting ourselves at risk. I strongly urge you to vote “YES” on March 30 so that we can begin the process of making sure that you and your loved ones are protected in case of a medical emergency. I respectfully request you consider my reasons for you to vote yes:
• Contrary to what you have read and heard, it is not true that ambulance response times are currently adequate in Poestenkill. In the last year, 911 dispatch records show that response times have increased from an average of 17 minutes to 20 minutes. Most disturbing is that within the last 45 days, a distress call from an 80 year old man on Tymeson Road was never responded to by either Mohawk Ambulance or the Town’s First Responders. Mohawk Ambulance cannot respond to any calls in our town if other calls come to them from local governments who contract directly with their company.
• Mutual Aid is not available to us by our neighboring towns. New York State Department of Health regulations permit mutual aid calls only when there is an actual sharing of services between the localities. Our neighboring towns want to help us but without any service to offer from Poestenkill, they are prohibited from doing so.
• You have read and heard many untrue statements that an ambulance service is an “open checkbook” for the Town Board. The Town Board does not want to spend a million dollars to provide you with ambulance services. When the district is approved, the Town Board will solicit proposals from ambulance providers and select the best one for our town in an open and transparent manner.
• We do not currently receive “free” services from Mohawk Ambulance. You and your insurance companies are billed directly by Mohawk at a much higher rate than our neighboring ambulance companies. Mohawk will take you to court if you do not pay for the services that are provided to you.
• It is important to know the differences between “Advanced Life Support” and “Basic Life Support.” North Greenbush, Sand Lake, and East Greenbush all have Advanced Life Support capabilities. This allows medical personnel to actually begin medical procedures on you prior to and while transporting you to the hospital. In addition, North Greenbush, Sand Lake, and East Greenbush also have mutual aid availability. Their residents know that an ambulance is going to show up when one is called. Don’t we deserve that level of reassurance in Poestenkill?
In conclusion, it is vital that you vote on March 30th. Don’t let scare tactics, half-truths, and turf wars govern whether we have proper ambulance assistance in our town. Our Town Board members are committed to keeping taxes low while providing services that are necessary for your health and safety. hope that none of you ever need an ambulance in an emergency. But please vote “YES” so that all of us can be confident that if you do, one will be there to save your life and/or the lives of your loved ones.
Keith Hammond, Poestenkill Town Supervisor
Voting Info on Upcoming Poestenkill Ambulance Taxing District Referendum to Answer Current Questions
POESTENKILL – The Ambulance District Referendum will be held on Tuesday March 30, 2021 from 12 Noon to 8:00 PM at the Sullivan Jones VFW Post on Main Street.
Poestenkill Property Owners/Property Tax Payers are only being asked if they want to create a dedicated Advanced Life Support Ambulance Taxing District to service our Town. If approved, the Town Board will begin the next step of soliciting bids from existing Ambulance Agencies to provide this Service. The chosen Ambulance Agency proposal would then be brought back most probably for a second vote in November. No action can occur, including any impact on Property Taxes, until after this Second Vote is held. If the proposal to establish a dedicated Ambulance Taxing District is defeated, then no further action will occur.
Only In-Person Voting will be allowed. There are NO Absentee or Early Voting Options available. Only Poestenkill Property Owners whose name or names currently appear on the latest Property Tax Records will be allowed to cast a vote. Proper I.D. is required. Only one vote per Property Owner/Owners will be allowed no matter how many Property Parcels are owned. Corporations, LLC’s and/or Associations who own Property are only allowed to designate one person to vote on their behalf with written authorization.
Thank you for your time & interest, Tom Russell
Town of Schodack 2021 Tax Collection
SCHODACK – NYS mandated second notice reminder letters were mailed on March 5th to all property owners showing an unpaid balance. If your property taxes should have been paid through an escrow account, please contact them immediately. All payments received after March 4th MUST INCLUDE the 2% penalty and $2.00 second notice fee to be processed.
Please mail payments to, Shawn Masters Receiver of Taxes PO Box 436 East Schodack, NY 12063 or place in green drop box located by Town Hall entrance door before March 31st. No payments can be accepted through this office after March 31, 2021. Please put a current phone number on your check so we can contact you if there are any issues with your payment.
Past year Property and School Tax receipts for income tax forms may be printed from the town website Schodack.org.
You can contact me at 518-477-7935 with any questions.
Shawn Masters, Receiver of Taxes
Town of East Greenbush Department of Public Works Spring Cleanup
EAST GREENBUSH – Spring Cleanup will begin Monday, April 12th, 2021, and resume for the next 4 Mondays. The leaves must be in biodegradable bags and brush must be tied up into 4 foot bundles, placed out alongside of the roadway, but not in the road.
The dates are as follows: April 12th, 2021; April 19th, 2021; April 26th, 2021; May 3rd, 2021
Please be advised that these are the “ONLY” dates the Department of Public Works will be performing Spring Cleanup. If you miss these dates, you may bring these items to the Transfer Station, located at 246 Ridge Road, Town of East Greenbush. Residents must provide proof of residency, or a Transfer Station permit, and are allowed to bring these items all year long at no cost.
Please do not place bags of leaves or bundles of brush on the pavement, in front of culverts, or on top of catch basins. Place all items on the edge of the road.
Sincerely, Daniel Fiacco
Town of East Greenbush Commissioner of Public Works – 69 Gilligan Road. 518-477-6103.
Bond Refunding to Save North Greenbush Taxpayers $1.6 Million
NORTH GREENBUSH – Supervisor Joe Bott and Town Board Members are pleased to announce that the Town of North Greenbush received significant savings from the refunding of $7.9 million in Serial Public Improvement Bonds. These bonds were originally issued in 2015 for nine separate municipal water improvement projects and one sewer district extension project at a cost of $10.5 million to be paid thru 2035. Fiscal Advisor’s and Marketing, Inc, who provides financial advice and counseling to Town, calculated the savings on the bond refunding at $1.6 million thru the bond payoff date of 2035. Supervisor Bott said “Town Board leadership, continued strong performance and management of town finances over the last several years and the current low interest rate environment resulted in the town achieving this impressive bond refunding savings of over $100,000 per year for town taxpayers”. Roosevelt and Cross, Inc. was the winning bidder of the bond sale at a net interest rate of 1.153%.
Along with the refunding the Town also sold a $1.44 million Public Improvement Bond for the town portion of construction costs associated with the Route 43 Water transmission line project and for a previously completed water district extension project that will retire a Bank Anticipatory Bond. Green County Commercial Bank was the winning bidder with an interest rate of 1.17% over a 15-year term.
Prior to the refunding, Standards and Poor’s Rating Services reaffirmed its “AA” rating for the town citing its strong budgetary performance achieved through conservative budgeting year after year, the town’s total available fund balance, which includes a $1.7 million “rainy-day” fund that was implemented in 2017, very strong liquidity of available cash and its strong economy.
The Town continues to improve and extend water and sewer infrastructure and currently has over 6,000 municipal water and 4,300 municipal sewer connections. A $3.62 million capital project is underway to install a water transmission line connecting to the water service on Geiser Road at the Town Beach to Route 43 and then to the Route 4 and Route 43 Intersection. The town received a $2.172 million grant from New York State Drinking Water Fund for this important project which will improve water pressure to existing customers and provide for new hookups to municipal water in the future. Construction is expected to begin this spring with project completion by year’s end.
For more information contact Supervisor Joe Bott at 518-283-5313 x 10.
North Greenbush Update from Supervisor Bott, Deputy Supervisor Hoffman and Councilwoman Merola
NORTH GREENBUSH – Supervisor Joe Bott was recently interviewed by Channel 10 regarding the Town of North Greenbush being awarded $1.3m related to the COVID-19 American Rescue Package.
We are pleased to announce the bond refunding of $7.9m in existing debt service and the bond sale of $1.44m which resulted in exceptional results of $1.6m in savings to the taxpayers. With that, Standards and Poor’s reaffirmed the Town’s strong “AA” rating citing strong budget performance and available fund balance. We thank Town Comptroller Tony Germano for his work on this.
We are happy to announce the bid was awarded to move forward with the Route 43 water transmission line project. This has been a commitment and years of work by Joe and Kelly to provide safe and affordable municipal water and improve water service to the Defreestville side of our town.
The board authorized the purchase of (2) new highway department vehicles. This purchase is important so that we continue to provide essential services that many towns are not able to offer related to leaf and debris pick-up services. We also approved the purchase of a new police vehicle to ensure our officers have the safest form of transportation while working.
The Town’s Public Safety Committee, chaired by Deputy Supervisor Hoffman, reviewed the Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan as part of the Governor’s executive order, requiring local governments to adopt this plan. Special thanks to Chief Keevern, the Public Stakeholder Panel, Public Safety Committee and to our police officers.
The Route 4 Corridor Improvement Project will be starting soon; more updates to come on this initiative. Our Summer Concert Series will be announced shortly so stay tuned for this exciting line-up.
The Youth Committee, chaired by Councilwoman Merola, announced an Easter Poster Contest. Drop off your poster in the vestibule of the North Greenbush Library by March 28th. Grades K-1st, 2nd-3rd, 4th-5th are eligible. Visit townofng.com for info.