The Columbia Paper

GERMANTOWN–Comments on the draft update of the town’s 2011 Comprehensive Plan addressed issues from lot size to language. And every person commenting at the June 1 public hearing thanked the volunteer committee for their months of work.

The meeting began with a bit of a kerfuffle from audience members who found it impractical to read on screen or print out the 109-page document or didn’t have a home computer. One copy had been provided to the Germantown Library June 1.

The committee extended the comment period to Thursday, June 8 and left five more copies of the draft at the library Friday, June 2.

Patricia Hinkein, proprietor of the real estate agency that bears her name, expressed concern that the draft update suggested an increase in some of the minimum lot acreages. “Don’t make parcels so large that people can’t afford them,” she said.

In response, committee co-chair Jason Shelton said that minimum acreage had not been a topic of discussion in committee meetings, and it was his understanding the minimums had not changed. He referred the group to Section 12, where the only suggested minimums are Rural Residential, two acres; Environmental Resource, five acres; and Agricultural Resource, 10 acres. Read more…

CHATHAM–Local resident Eric Suquet told the Town Board last week that someone has mailed a flier to his neighbors accusing his farm of polluting the East Chatham water supply. Mr. Suquet said the charges are untrue.

“All of this is false,” Mr. Suquet told the board at the June 1 workshop meeting. He said that he and his wife, Martha, own Graylight Farm in the Town of Canaan, though they are in the East Chatham ZIP code. They raise pigs and grow some vegetables. He said he came to the Chatham Town Board to tell the board about the flier, since the writer mentioned the East Chatham water supply specifically.

“We are happy to talk to anybody about our practices,” he said. He added that he and his wife are sensitive to environmental issues and that fencing that is going on up on the farm is to keep the pigs away from any shared water sources. Read more…

CHATHAM–The Village Board has approved fees for the use of municipal properties, including a $1,000 fee for closing Main Street for events and $550 fee for closing Park Row. At the meeting last week where the charges were adopted, several trustees said that they might revisit the fees in the future.

“The fees should be set to encourage the use of village property, to encourage businesses [and] organizations to come to the village to hold events,” Mayor Tom Curran said in statement at the May 25 meeting before voting to set the fees. He proposed a one-day use cost for the second floor of the Tracy Memorial/Village Hall at $30 and the full building for $60. Use of the gazebo and the green space around it would cost $30, and to use the parking lot at Depot Square would cost $75. Using the parking lot near the Tracy Memorial would cost $75. The Village and the Town of Chatham jointly own the lot at the north end of Main Street. Read more…