Wednesday June 7, 2023 
Town of Schodack School Tax Collections
SCHODACK – My office will collect School Taxes, for Schodack Central Schools and East Greenbush Central Schools, on all properties located in the town of Schodack. We are encouraging all payments be mailed to: Shawn Masters/Receiver of Taxes PO Box 436 East Schodack, NY 12063 or put in the Locked Green Drop-Box located outside of the Town Hall entrance.
Collection periods are:
Schodack Schools: 9/1/21 to 9/30/21 No Penalty
10/1/21 to 10/29/21 2% Penalty
East Greenbush Schools: 9/15/21 to 10/15/21 No Penalty
10/16/21 to 10/29/21 2% Penalty
A receipt will be returned if the complete bill is submitted with payment. No payments can be accepted after the last due date for each school.
Please contact me at 518-477-7935 with any questions or concerns. Office hours will be Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays 9:30am to 4:00pm during the month of September. – The Tax Office will be open on Saturday, September 18th and 25th, between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM, to receive school tax payments. The office is located on the second floor of the Town Hall.
Shawn Masters
Receiver of Taxes, Town of Schodack
North Greenbush Report by Councilwoman Mary Frances Sabo
NORTH GREENBUSH – The town board unanimously approved the appointment of Professor Keith Hirokawa to the town’s Open Space Committee at its September meeting. Professor Hirokawa teaches at Albany Law School where his areas of expertise are environmental law and land use planning. The Open Space Committee is currently collaborating with the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC) on an extensive mapping project of the town’s natural and historic resources which will ultimately culminate in a Natural Resources Inventory. Professor Hirokawa’s talents in research and writing as well as his expertise in natural resources, land use law and environmental impact analysis will contribute greatly to the Open Space Committee. As I have written before, the Climate Smart Communities Committee that I chair is working steadfastly towards certifying the town as a Climate Smart Community. The town is sponsoring an Electronics Recyling day on Saturday, September 18 at town hall from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. which will earn the town points towards its certification. The sweltering temperatures and torrential and damaging rains off this summer are reminders that climate change is real and continues to negatively impact North Greenbush and Rensselaer County. The town and Cornell Cooperative Extension will collaborate on a “Climate Visioning” task force on Thursday, September 23, 2021 at 7:00 p.m at Town Hall, 2 Douglas Street, Wynantskill. The The goal of this task is to establish a vision for what North Greenbush could look like when it is resilient to climate change. This is important for building community cohesion and for providing a goal from which to gauge progress. The meeting will also be livestreamed at the town’s website. The task force will meet several times over the next several months.
Submitted by Councilwoman Mary Frances Sabo
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Coming to North Greenbush Town Hall
NORTH GREENBUSH – Town Supervisor Joe Bott is pleased to announce two EV Charging Stations are planned to be installed at Town Hall as part of our climate smart initiative. Each station will house 2 charging ports for a total of 4 ports. With more residents driving electric vehicles, we felt it was important to keep up with technology and services to our community. The town will receive incentives from National Grid and NYSERDA for this project. We will utilize the JuiceBox software program for EV charging which will be programmed to town specifications so we can track usage as well as setting the price the consumer will pay. The end user will access the software via a cellphone app. The charging stations should be installed behind town hall sometime later this fall. We hope our residents are excited about this new opportunity at town hall should they need it.
North Greenbush Open Space Committee Update
NORTH GREENBUSH – The Town was awarded a Community Planning Technical Assistance Grant from the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) and the Capital District Transportation Commission (CDTC) to map our natural resources and land use as part of a Natural Resources Inventory (NRI). North Greenbush Open Space Committee Chair Town Board member Mary Frances Sabo initiated and was the key organizer of the project to apply for and create an NRI.
A goal is to add the NRI as a support document for the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, to assist town boards, landowners, and prospective developers when considering land use and protection, and guide planners to continue to create an open space network of greenbelts, open space conservation subdivisions, civic spaces, parks, and environmental resources. The NRI will also be a guide to identify conservation easements, coordinate linkages and connections, and design trail systems connecting key areas, including Wynantskill and the Hudson Riverfront. The NRI can be used to identify and acquire appropriate properties to serve as a public access-way to the Wynants Kill, as well as enhance flood protection. Additionally, the NRI will provide a planning tool to support the Town’s pledge as a Climate Smart Community, to support site plan locations and criteria that preserve undisturbed, unfragmented, interconnected natural areas that increase biodiversity and resilience to droughts, floods, heat waves and wildfires, while drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
There will be no cost to the Town. Instead, volunteers will collaborate with the mapping staff. The grant covers the mapping; the NRI will also include descriptions for the maps. The draft and the final NRI will be reviewed and presented to the public. The intention is to present the completed NRI to the Town Board for adoption and inclusion in the Comprehensive Plan.
For more on the NRI and the Open Space Committee, contact Mary Frances Sabo: MSabo@nullNorthGreenbush.org.
Town of Nassau Democratic Committee
NASSAU – If you are a registered Democrat in the Town of Nassau, we’d like to invite you to become part of a dedicated team of civic-minded people who work at the voting polls. Poll workers are needed for the upcoming general election which takes place on Tuesday, November 2. This is not a volunteer position. Workers are paid $200.00 if they work an entire day (5:30am-9pm) or $100 for a half-day (5:30am-1:30pm or 1:30pm-9pm). Training is mandatory and consists of approximately a 1-hour class for which you will receive a free “how-to be a poll worker” manual and a reimbursement of $25. You would be assigned to either one of two polling sites located in the Village of Nassau or to the polling site at the Tsatsawassa Fire House or at the Hoag’s Corner’s Fire House. Training for new poll workers begins in October. If you’re a former worker who needs to brush up on training, your sessions begin now through Sept. 29. For further information, please contact Pat Piniazek, patpen1018@nullgmail.com (518-577-0491) or Judy Ziller, judyz_05262@nullyahoo.com.
What Could a Resilient North Greenbush Look Like? Open Meeting Thurs., Sept. 23
NORTH GREENBUSH – Events of this summer are gentle (or not so gentle) reminders of the drastic weather events that can and have negatively impacted communities in Rensselaer County. The Climate Smart Vision Task Force, a short-term committee, hopes to meet a couple of times over the next three months to carve out a vision for what North Greenbush could look like when it is resilient to climate change. We welcome you to be part of our task force, or to just attend our first meeting to see what it’s all about.
Establishing a vision together is important for building community cohesion and providing a goal to gauge progress. The vision document will be presented to the Town Board to review and consider approving.
Last year the Town completed the Climate Smart Resiliency Planning Tool, which is on the Town website: https://www.townofng.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Final-CSRPT-North-Greenbush.pdf
Reviewing this tool may help you frame where we are with Climate Smart status.
You are invited to join us Thurs., Sept. 23, 7 p.m., at the North Greenbush Town Hall. Please RSVP by Mon., Sept. 20, to Bernie Wiesen at Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension: bw27@nullcornell.edu or 518-272-4210 if you are attending, so she can ensure we’ll have materials and space for all. For more information on the Task Force, contact Bernie.
North Greenbush Update from Supervisor Bott, Deputy Supervisor Hoffman and Councilwoman Merola
NORTH GREENBUSH – September saw our children head back to school and we wish them a safe and happy school year. To kick things off, Supervisor Bott and Kelly Hoffman participated in a School Bus Safety Campaign led by Paul Koniowka, President of the Wynantskill PTA which coincided with the passage of a School Bus Safety Law introduced by County Legislators Hoffman, Fiacco, Bayly and Grant and signed into law by County Executive Steve McLaughlin. Also participating was Dr. Mary Yodis, Superintendent of WUFSD, Head Bus Driver Nancy Ruffinen, Chief Dave Kevern and members of the town Police Department. A local law reducing the speed limit on East Avenue was also introduced by Deputy Supervisor Hoffman and was adopted. The town website will be reimagined with a new vendor being chosen for redesign. Professor Hirokawa was appointed to the town open space committee and Ryan Hannigan was congratulated as being selected a Home Town Hero. The Town Festival was a success with rides, games and performances by local bands and CK Dance Company. Food vendors and our Ladies Auxiliary served up delicious treats. A fun water game was held with our volunteer firefighters, the Rensselaer County Sheriff provided free child safety ID’s and information provided by the town Climate Smart Committee, County Legislature and DMV. Thank you to Mike Miner and camp staff for their work to make the fair a success. Deputy Supervisor Hoffman and Councilwoman Merola led a solemn remembrance for the 20th anniversary of September 11th. The names of first responders from town who participated in the search and recovery efforts were read while several members, including Rich French, Keith Slupski, Kyle Belokopitsky and Bill Miller paused by the section of steel that was brought back to North Greenbush from ground zero. We are grateful to Bill and the volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring the steel back to our town and there will be more to come from Supervisor Bott on a dedication ceremony in the future.