KINDERHOOK–The Village of Kinderhook hosted an information meeting about the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) agreement the village board has signed. Katy Vescio, a representative from the not-for-profit local development corporation Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance (MEGA), explained what a CCA is and what it would do for village residents’ electricity bills at the November 14 meeting.

The Village Board signed an agreement to join the CCA which, as of now, includes the cities of Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs and Watervliet, the towns of Bethlehem, Guilderland, Knox, New Scotland and Niskayuna, and the Village of Voorheesville. According to a press release from MEGA, “through bulk purchasing and competition, CCA can offer better electric rates, price stability and budget certainty. Additionally, it provides access to 100% renewable electricity and helps combat predatory practices of energy telemarketers and door-to-door sales.” MEGA is the administrator of the CCA agreement.

About a dozen people attended the meeting. Read more…

VALATIE–The Kinderhook Town Board heard a proposal last week from residents Tom Barber and Peter Bujanow about offering the YMCA land for a facility at Volunteer Park. At the November 18 meeting Mr. Barber said he had approached the executive director of the East Greenbush YMCA and was told she and her board were very interested in the site.

Mr. Barber said, “The East Greenbush Y is busting at its seams” and the organization either had to expand at its current location or build at a new site. Mr. Bujanow said that he and Mr. Barber were told that almost 25% of the East Greenbush YMCA’s members come from the Kinderhook area.

Mr. Bujanow, who was a town board member and ran for town supervisor this year, said that at forums he held recently he heard from residents interested in having a pool or aquatic center in the area. From his time on the board, he said he knew that using land at the town’s Volunteer Park needs to get approval from the state. Read more…

CRARYVILLE—The public, and the school board for that matter, still don’t know what will be required as acceptable proof of residency for someone to vote in a Taconic Hills Central School District election.

After a long discussion at its November 20 meeting, the nine-member Taconic Hills Board of Education remained divided on what to require as proof and no vote was taken.

Back in June, the board voted to switch to a system of poll registration for voters instead of its prior method of personal registration. The move was prompted, according to the accounts of some board members and School District Superintendent Neil Howard, by the discovery that people who were told they were not eligible to vote in the past May election illegally voted anyway. Read more…