Hecate cuts solar plan footprint

by DIANE VALDEN

COPAKE—Hecate Energy has now zeroed in on a 360-acre project area to place its 200,000 solar panels.

The panels will physically occupy 280 acres of that total 360-acre fenced-in project area—all located in and around Craryville, a hamlet in the Town of Copake.

During a slide presentation at two virtual open house sessions conducted via Zoom December 9, Hecate Energy Project Developer Alex Campbell and a couple of his “teammates” unveiled exactly where Hecate, a Chicago-based solar farm developer, will put all the solar panels contained in its proposed 60-megawatt photovoltaic solar facility called “Shepherd’s Run.” Read more…

Police on panel see training as ‘key’

by JEANETTE WOLFBERG

HUDSON—Training, overtime, no-knock raids, police conduct, body cameras, mental health and orders to transport received attention at the Columbia County Police Reform Panel sessions December 2 and 3.

The December 2 session consisted of a presentation by Columbia County Sheriff David Bartlett. The December 3 session consisted of presentations by police chiefs James Delaney of Stockport and Kevin Marchetto of Greenport, Officer-in-Charge Vernon Doyle of Philmont, Executive Director Beth Schuster of the Twin Counties Recovery Center, and Acting Director Dan Almasi of the County Department of Human Services.

Training is the “key,” concurred Chief Delaney and Officer Doyle. Read more…

A president’s birthday is noted

by LANCE WHEELER

Kinderhook Village Mayor Dale Leiser holds the umbrella for Megan O’Malley, superintendent of Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, as she speaks at the annual observance of Martin Van Buren’s birthday, December 5. The ceremony was held at the Kinderhook Reformed Church Cemetery, where the nation’s 8th president is buried. The Town of Kinderhook; the Villages of Kinderhook and Valatie; the Kinderhook Garden Club, which maintains the grave site; the National Park Service; and Friends of Lindenwald laid memorial wreaths. The New York National Guard presented a wreath from President Donald Trump. Each year military officers place a wreath from the current occupant of the White House at the grave of each of the nation’s deceased presidents on the anniversary of their birth. This year marks President Van Buren’s 238th birthday. Photo by Lance Wheeler

Partners plan restaurant in 1 of 3 village buildings

by EMILIA TEASDALE

KINDERHOOK—The village Planning Board reviewed the newest plans for the Aviary Restaurant at 8 Hudson Street with building owner Darren Waterston at the board’s regular meeting December 3. The meeting was held on Zoom.

Mr. Waterston announced that he is now the owner of the properties at numbers 2, 4 and 8 Hudson Street. He and his business partner, chef Yen Ngo, are planning to open a restaurant this summer in the space. Mr. Waterston said during the meeting that the restaurant will be using food from local farmers so they do not plan to have big deliveries. He also talked about the hours being 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to start with.

He did say when talking to the board, that the plans did not include a lot of changes to the exterior of the buildings. And he said for now all three buildings will remain separate spaces. Read more…

ICC teachers give remote classes good grade

by EMILIA TEASDALE

KINDERHOOK—The Ichabod Crane school board met this month in-person and on Zoom. Four board members, along with administrators and some audience members met in the primary school on December 1. Another four board members attended the meeting remotely on Zoom, along with, at times, over 40 other people. A ninth board member, Kelly Firmbach, did not attend the meeting.

The board approved moving the district’s banking from Community Bank to the Bank of Greene County. Board President Matthew Nelson reported that the audit committee reviewed the proposals from the banks, which were the only two proposals the district received after announcing a request for bids and reaching out to local banks. Currently the district uses Community Bank, but due to the criteria used by the audit committee when reviewing the proposals, Mr. Nelson said the committee was recommending Bank of Greene County.

The board voted to approve making the Bank of Greene County the district’s bank effective January 1, 2021. Board Vice President John Antalek abstained from the vote since he is employed by the Bank of Greene County. Read more…