Thursday April 25, 2024 
Stormwater Management: How can we reduce flooding?
NORTH GREENBUSH – Here is information from the Stormwater Department of North Greenbush website: – With the recent storm that caused substantial flooding in our area of Rensselaer County, many people have asked what can be done to minimize the potential adverse impacts of future storm events. The Town of North Greenbush is in the process of establishing a Stormwater Community Group to discuss not only the larger-scope, longer-term steps that might be taken to minimize stormwater impacts, but also the means and methods that residents, businesses and developers can employ to help manage stormwater on an individualized level. The intent here is to establish a forum for discussion with community volunteers providing input and ideas that can be distributed to interested individuals, with the forum being live-streamed for those who are interested in listening to the discussion. Anyone wanting to get involved in the North Greenbush Stormwater Community Group should contact the Stormwater Management Officer at EWestfall@nullnorthgreenbush.org.
Rensselaer County Office of the Minority – August 2021 Highlights
RENSSELAER COUNTY – Environment – A resolution submitted by the Minority Office was unanimously supported by the legislature urging the United States Senate to pass the Assistance Quality, and Affordability Act (AQUA) of 2021 as part of the infrastructure bill. This bill would provide federal funding for the reconstruction and decontamination of the nation’s waterway systems, prevent water shut-offs for struggling households and ensure access to safe drinking water for all Americans.
Health – The legislature accepted NYS grant funding for a lead poisoning prevention program for the identification and correction of lead based paint hazards in high risk housing and authorized an agreement with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Albany to provide EPA accredited training classes to contractors, landlords and anyone disturbing a painted surface to pre-1978 residences.
Youth – A $ 50,000 “Safe Summer NY 2021” grant was awarded to the Department of Youth for the remainder of the year to provide positive youth engagement activities in neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence. Local, non-traditional partners, deeply rooted in those communities are to receive those funds and offer programs and activities at extended hours and on weekends, when gun violence is most prevalent.
The legislature also amended and increased the funding for the Youth Summer Food Program due to the increased number of participants and food pricing.
NEXT MEETING – Tuesday, September 14, 2021 in the Rensselaer County Chambers located on the 3rd floor of the Ned Pattison Government Center, 1600 7th Avenue, Troy. Residents are welcome to contact our office at 518 270-2890.
North Greenbush Update from Supervisor Bott, Deputy Supervisor Hoffman and Councilwoman Merola
NORTH GREENBUSH – We would like to start by thanking everyone, including our police, fire, ambulance, highway, utilities, building and town employees for all of their work to assist those impacted by the recent flooding in town. Joe and Kelly spent hours on location and through the early morning hours, monitoring the damage and meeting with residents for several days after. We appreciate all of the neighboring towns who came to help our residents. We also wish to acknowledge the help of County Executive Steve McLaughlin, his staff and the county departments who jumped into action to assist with supplies and manpower. Finally, we want to acknowledge our great residents whose resilience in the midst of this flooding was remarkable.
Our summer camp continues to be a great success, even though we have had many rainy days. In the coming months, we will be installing (2) electric vehicle charging stations behind town hall. The Route 4 traffic improvement project is progressing well and we thank residents and businesses for their patience as we work through the temporary traffic patterns. The town adopted an environmentally preferable procurement policy to promote efficiency, durability and sustainability of products and services used. Thank you to the committee and Tony Germano for their work on this. Proposals for our new town website are under review. We are happy to announce the promotion of Keith Hankle to Utility Department Working Supervisor and welcome back Stephen Calicone as part-time Town Court Clerk. The annual Town Celebration is September 10th, 11th and12th at town hall. Food truck Tuesday will end August 24th and we want to thank Town Clerk Janice Kerwin for coordinating this successful event. Our Lakeside Summer Concert series was a big success! Our Town Summer Concert Series continues Sundays 6-8 pm; Aug 22nd with Mike Miner and August 29th with Kyle Bourgeault Band at town hall. Continue having a happy and safe summer and we hope to see you soon.