K’hook village joins electric power co-op program

by EMILIA TEASDALE

KINDERHOOK–The Village Board approved a resolution and passed a local law to join a CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) program at their January 8 meeting.

As part of the program, the village joins a group of cities, towns and villages in the Capital Region that will bid together on electricity suppliers. About 90,000 households will be in this group that works with MEGA (Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance) to find a price for an energy supplier that will remain stable over a two- or three-year contract.

MEGA will present bids to the village this spring and the board can either agree to participate or can opt-out at that time, depending on the price and energy options. The board can also decide to get the energy from 100% renewable sources or from a supplier who uses a “grid-mix,” with power from renewable and non-renewable sources. Read more…

Hillsdale super, highway chief lock horns

by LORNA CHEROT LITTLEWAY

HILLSDALE–At the Town Board’s regular monthly meeting January 14, Highway Superintendent Richard Briggs and Town Supervisor Peter Cipkowski engaged in a lengthy discussion about the propriety of Mr. Cipkowski meeting privately with residents who have issues with highway employees’ work.

“I am an elected official,” said Mr. Briggs, who noted that the town’s Red Handbook states that the highway superintendent is responsible for “brush removal.”

The disagreement between the two town officials stems from complaints about tree cutting by a Hunt Road resident. Mr. Briggs charged that the resident harassed “his employees” and would not meet with the person to discuss the issue. Mr. Briggs added that the trees in question were cut by NYSEG and that brush was being removed from a property adjacent to the complainant’s. Read more…

New panels aim to extend New Leb Board outreach

by RACHEL WEISMAN

NEW LEBANON–A comprehensive agenda greeted new and returning board members during the town’s 2020 annual organization meeting at Town Hall Thursday, January 2.

Newly-elected town supervisor Tistrya Houghtling, who replaced interim supervisor Meg Robertson, presided. Of the four other board members, Jesse Newton and Norman Rasmussen are returning; Deborah Gordon and John Trainor are newly elected.

Ms. Houghtling thanked outgoing board members Mark Baumli and Kevin Smith, Sr., for their service and presented them with certificates of appreciation. Read more…

Copake seating chart changes, 1 spot vacant

by DIANE VALDEN

COPAKE—It was the first regular Town Board meeting of the new year, January 9, and as with every new administration there’ll be some changes made.

The first change was the seating arrangement with newly-elected Town Supervisor Jeanne Mettler assuming the middle chair behind the court bench from where the meetings are conducted. Ms. Mettler,a Democrat, replaces two-term supervisor Jeff Nayer, an Independence Party member, who decided to call it a day after eight years in the top spot.

With Ms. Mettler’s move to supervisor, her seat on the board (with two years of a four-year term still remaining) was vacant—making the board one member short. Read more…

Berkshire Farm will help child migrants

by PETER FLIERL

CANAAN–Never heard of Sheltered Hearts? Neither had most of the standing-room-only crowd at the first Canaan Town Board meeting of 2020 chaired by Supervisor Brenda Adams January 13.

More than 75 persons attended the meeting at Town Hall to hear a presentation on a new program for “unaccompanied alien children” under federal control coming to the Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth on state Route 22.

Sheltered Hearts is the name of a program at Berkshire Farm Center for unaccompanied alien children whose care is overseen and funded by a federal Department of Health and Human Services agency called Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). It would serve a total of approximately 300 migrant children, primarily teens and boys, annually at the center. Read more…