Wednesday April 24, 2024 
A Note to Our Sportsmen and Women from the Nassau Town Clerk’s Office
NASSAU – I am hoping that everyone is well and finding the silver linings in this difficult time. One thing we can all enjoy now is the beautiful outdoors. Fishing season and turkey season will soon be upon us and I am sure that some are wondering about how they can obtain their licenses with some stores and all Town Halls being closed temporarily. If you would like to send me a request by mail I will need either a copy of your hunting/fishing license or your drivers’ license as well as a check made out to Nassau Town Clerk. Be sure to include your phone number in case there are any questions and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
The fees are as follows: Fishing (16-69) $25; Fishing (70+) $5; Turkey permits are $10.
We will process and mail the license back to you as quickly as we receive it.
Please be advised that fishing and hunting licenses are also available to be purchased in the following ways:
1. Call the NYS DEC call center at 866-933-2257, option 2, between the hours of 8am and 4pm Monday through Friday. You will be asked some questions and then will be given a license number to carry with you when you are fishing until your new license is received in the mail.
2. Sporting licenses can be purchased any time on-line at www.dec.ny.gov. Once again you will be given a transaction number to carry with you until your license is received in the mail.
Stay safe and healthy, hope to see you on the water!
Sincerely,
Sandra L. Rings, RMC
Nassau Town Clerk
Troy City Council Acts on Health & Safety Measures During COVID-19
TROY – The Troy City Council acted to prohibit incineration of AFFs and PFAS at its March meeting. The measure, introduced by Council Members Anasha Cummings and Sue Steele supports state legislation to immediately ban the burning and incineration of firefighting foams, introduced by Assemblyman John McDonald and Senator Neil Breslin.
The Norlite Plant in Cohoes burned an unknown amount of AFFs and PSAS since 2018, undisclosed to the general public. These compounds have been found to be persistent, toxic and immunosuppressive.
The Council’s resolution noted the full impact of PFAS incineration is still being evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency. According to Cummings, “This is a regional environmental issue and we appreciate our state representatives showing leadership to put this threat to an end. These are called ‘forever chemicals’ and should be banned before further damage to our air and water occurs.”
“While our citizens are in the grip of this COVID-19 pandemic, we can’t lose sight of environmental protection,” said Steele. “PFAS chemicals and related chemical contamination pose a serious threat to our environment and human health.”
In other action the Council adopted measures to provide Coronavirus protections to vendors and city employees including paid sick leave for city employees quarantined due to COVID-19 and assistance for employees without enough sick time.
Council President Pro-Tempore Ken Zalewski said, “These employee protections are necessary to ensure that our workforce remains safe during the pandemic, to comply with NYS and Federal guidelines and to keep city government functioning without placing employees at risk of exposure to COVID-19.”
Council Member Eileen McDermott noted that the paid sick leave policy mirrors those implemented on the state level by Governor Cuomo. “I applaud Mayor Madden for his leadership during this unprecedented health crisis and his compassion for employees and citizens throughout,”McDermott said.
County Legislature Majority Offers Upddate, Announces Meeting Format Change
RENSSELAER COUNTY – We are all living in different times, but over the last few weeks, your Rensselaer County Legislature Majority has not stopped working for you. Every day, legislators have been checking in with County Health Department officials and the County Executive’s office. Chairman Stammel, Vice-Chair Kelly Hoffman, and Legislator Tom Grant have participated in the popular daily Facebook Live updates from County Executive Steve McLaughlin. These daily updates feature other county officials and provide residents with important information and an opportunity to have their questions answered live on air.
Several legislators have been actively involved in securing and delivering much needed products to their districts. For example, Legislators Bruce Patire and Jeff Wysocki secured protective masks for the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad. Legislator Todd Tesman delivered hand sanitizer to the Melrose Post Office. Chairman Stammel delivered hand sanitizer to public buildings in Rensselaer. The Majority Office also was able to secure three cases of hand sanitizer for the senior citizens in the Troy Housing Authority after a concerned resident called and expressed concerns that they didn’t have sanitizer near their building entrance and elevators.
Working together, we can get through this together. Please follow all of the precautions that have been established because it is critical to flatten the curve and end this outbreak. We have been practicing social distancing in our office and will make special changes for our April meeting.
The April 14th monthly meeting of the Legislature is scheduled to be held without the public present. There will be a reduced number of legislators present, with the remaining legislators participating remotely. The meeting will be recorded and it will also be broadcast on Facebook Live on the “Rensselaer County Legislature” Facebook page.
Please be careful. Protect your families. We are here for you at (518) 270-2880
Tracey Rex Reports to the People of Schodack
SCHODACK – I believe staying in touch with constituents is an important part of serving in elective office. This report, published every month since I took office in 2016, is an example of my commitment to keeping residents informed of the activities of the Schodack Town Board. All Town Board meetings can be viewed live or at a later date at: https://townhallstreams.com/towns/schodack.
First and foremost, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these difficult and unprecedented times. On March 18, the Town of Schodack declared a local state of emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For more information and important updates on how COVID-19 is impacting our essential and non-essential town services, please visit: www.schodack.org. To stay informed on the evolving COVID-19 situation, visit: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov.
We owe a huge thanks to the doctors, nurses and other medical staff who are on the front line of the COVID-19 crisis. Additionally, a big thank you to the everyday heroes in our community who are also working through the pandemic – police officers, firefighters, EMTs, mail carriers, grocery store workers, and so many more. Finally, I wish to thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for demonstrating extraordinary and steady leadership during this public health crisis.
The Town Board recently honored Police Chief Joseph Belardo and Detective Sergeant Dean Thomas, upon their retirements, after 25 and 21 years of service, respectively. Schodack was recently ranked as the safest community in the Capital Region, which is testament to Chief Belardo’s leadership and the outstanding work of our Police Department. Congrats, Joe and Dean.
Owning and operating a small business can be a challenge even in the best of times. Please support our local restaurants that are still accepting takeout or delivery during this period of social distancing.
Stay safe, everyone. Together, we’ll get through this, stronger than ever.
Tracey Rex, Schodack Town Board
Notice To Residents
SCHODACK – NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Fire Commissioners of the South Schodack Fire District, Town of Schodack, Rensselaer County did at a regularly scheduled meeting on March 23rd, 2020 did pass a resolution to transfer a sum of money not to exceed $96,000.00 from its Capital Reserve Fund to its operating fund for the purpose of purchasing 14 SCBA’s with spare bottles. Said resolution being adopted subject to a permissive referendum pursuant to Section 6-g of the General Municipal Law.
What is the Nassau Sunshine Fund
Emergency Loan Program?
NASSAU – Are you a resident of the Town or Villages of Nassau? Has your household budget taken a hit? Got a car repair with nothing to spare? Or, are you having to choose between heat or eat? We know it happens, we’re here, we can help.
Norman Young, a well-known Nassau resident and antique dealer, had a birds eye view of the Great Recession of 2008. As his business involved buying household items from individuals needing to sell such items, he was struck by how hard hit many in the town were by the financial crisis. Norman came across an old cookbook that had been used as a fundraiser by a local organization called Open Porch Sunshine Society, which was around the early 1990s. While that organization had long faded away, he loved its neighbor-helping-neighbor philosophy. He conceived of a new Nassau Sunshine organization in which local residents would provide emergency financial assistance to other town residents dealing with a personal financial crisis.Norman and two friends agreed to reach out to others as well as religious and locally based organizations.
At its first meeting the attendees approved of a simple plan – create a non-profit that would offer interest-free loans to residents of the Town and Villages of Nassau facing a financial crisis that exceeded their resources and for which local agencies, public and private, were unable to offer assistance. As our first chairman, Sam Whaley said, “We decided on no-interest loans instead of just giving money away because it provides dignity, not a handout.
Entering our eleventh year, the Nassau Sunshine Fund has made 54 loans totaling over $21,000. Please contact us to ask about a loan or to make a donation. Nassau Sunshine Fund, PO Box 10, Nassau, NY 12123 (518) 256-2878; Please leave a message. www.nassausunshinefund.org;
info@nullnassausunshinefund.org
We remain faithful to our motto: Neighbors – Helping – Neighbors!
Stephentown Historical Society is creating Welcome To Stephentown package
STEPHENTOWN – Welcome to Stephentown! We can help you with that!
Moving is always stressful, and a hassle, and, let’s face it – a lot of work! And once you’ve moved to your new location, you have a whole new set of situations and obstacles to overcome. You need to find out where to send the kids to school, or where to find someone to fix your plumbing or wiring. Or maybe you want to check out the local organizations and get involved in area groups. So………. in order to help make all of that just a little easier to navigate, the Stephentown Historical Society is creating a “Welcome to Stephentown” package.
We envision this package having lots of informational “stuff”, like names and contacts to help people find just about anything in town. We’d like to provide information from our local organizations, such as the Fire Department, Library, Historical Society, Veterans, Seniors, local churches and synagogues, and any others that exist. We would like to provide a listing (along with business cards where possible) of all local tradespeople and businesses. We want to include any groups in town – for instance, the Heavenly Quilters and Boy & Girl Scouts. We’d love to have menus from restaurants and maybe “new customer” discounts or other coupon-type discounts.
As you can see, this is a formidable task and we do not want to leave anyone out! So, we are asking for your help. If you are a local business or tradesperson and would like to be included in this package, please contact us at shs@nullfairpoint.net. Let us know who you are and what you have to offer – be sure to leave us your contact information so that we can get back to you!
This project has been in the planning stages for quite a while and we’d like to get it off the ground in early 2020, so please act now!
We expect this project to be hugely helpful to new families, but also to our townspeople!