As for the DVAC article, and yes I will yell this........ALL RESIDENTS IN ROTTERDAM SHOULD DROP TO THEIR KNEES AND THANK EMT AND PARAMEDIC SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN IN THEIR TOWN. Imagine for just one brief minute what it would be like if you were having a heart attack, stroke, or in a car accident. Think for one more minute about what it would be like if you had NO ONE to call to help you, no one to literally save your life and no one to hold your hand and instill confidence in you that you are going to be ok and you will be at the hospital soon. WE DO NOT HAVE TO IMAGINE THAT, WE KNOW. If it wasn't for REMS we would have known it even more often. Thanks also to Mohawk and Western Turnpike for the times they had to cover Rotterdam when REMS was helping us. Remember, I've said it before and I'll say it again....we can live without town boards and local government, we can not survive without our emergency service providers, whether they be police, fire or ambulance. When you live in an area far removed from where these services are taken for granted this concept REALLY hits home. We have picked up momentum at our ambulance corps with many new members and several emts that need to certify. The next class isn't until Sept and they won't be certified until January or so. As the article said DVAC is working closely with our fire depts. who are ready to jump in to help atleast until then. If it all pans out I am confident we are on our way to having a flagship volunteer ambulance corps. Anyone from D'burg who might be reading this......PLEASE JOIN NOW, call me and I will get you in touch with the right people.
DUANESBURG Planning Board member retires after 33 years Dairy farmer represented ag interests in town BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
When Bill Ruther first joined the Planning Board, there were nearly two dozen active farms in Duanesburg, there was no such thing as a Harley Rendezvous and the present-day town supervisor was still in high school. At the time, Ruther was operating the Windy Hill Farm, a sprawling 295-acre dairy operation off Hardin Road, that had been passed down to him from his father. He was approached by the town supervisor and asked to join the recently established board to represent Duanesburg’s agrarian interests. “I just figured I could be of some support to the agricultural part of the town,” he recalled. “Lots of times, we think of housing and all that, but agriculture has concerns, too.” But that was more than three decades ago. Now, the 72-yearold retired farmer and agriculture advocate is ready to conclude his time in offi ce. Duanesburg officials accepted Ruther’s resignation this month, ending his 33 years of overseeing development in the town. In his decision to leave the board, he said he thought it was time to give someone new an opportunity to serve the town. “I think it was time for me to step off and let someone with more energy and time come on board,” he said. Ruther is the second member to leave the Planning Board in less than two months. In May, former chairwoman Laura Silva announced her resignation after 10 years on the board. “He will be missed,” said Supervisor Rene Merrihew, who was just graduating high school when Ruther joined the board. “His commitment to the town is rivaled by no one.” Ruther readily admits that much has changed since he first took a seat on the board. The town that once boasted nearly two dozen farms now has fewer than a halfdozen that are still in operation; Ruther’s is among them. Meanwhile, residential development has grown at a rate that Ruther never witnessed during his first years on the board. During the 1970s, he said, the town seldom received plans for any size of housing development. “It was out of the ordinary to get a subdivision application,” he said. “Now you can get three or four of them each meeting.” Through these development pressures, Ruther was always quick to champion the role of town agriculture. He served many years on the USDA’s Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee — now called the Farm Service Agency —and is still a member of the county’s County Soil & Water Conservation District. Ruther also oversaw the planning for the town’s first Harley Rendezvous, an annual motorcycle rally that draws roughly 6,000 bikers each summer. He recalled the uproar that erupted after founder Kemp O’Connell first approached the town for a mass-gathering permit. “It created a lot of interest to say the least,” he said. “The fi re halls weren’t big enough for the crowds.” But eventually, he said, the board was able to forge a truce between the bikers and concerned residents. He credited the board’s work with creating the framework for the rally, which has allowed the event to continue for 30 years. “The board played a major part to get the applicant to work with the town so that it wasn’t a big controversy like it looked like it was going to be,” he said. Board Chairwoman Sandra Scott said Ruther’s keen insight and vast knowledge of the town would be missed on the board. She said his years of service were marked by his ability to view projects in a careful manner and without prejudice. “He’s always very calm,” she said. “He can listen to everybody and make up his mind.” ANA N. ZANGRONIZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Bill Ruther poses for a portrait at his Duanesburg farm Sunday. Ruther will retire after 33 years on the town Planning Board.
Bill is the best. A gentle man with a common sense approach that is desperately needed on the Planning Board. Anyone interested in a position please let me know.
Ok there Sal....it's time to wash your mouth out with soap!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
School budget trimmed $51K up for a second vote today
DUANESBURG — Residents will go to the polls today to vote on a revised Duanesburg Central School District budget, which includes $51,000 in cuts from the original budget proposal. The revised budget was adopted unanimously by the Board of Education during a special meeting on May 27. If approved, it would increase the tax rate by an estimated 3.2 percent for Duanesburg residents. Polls are open from 1 to 9 p.m. at Duanesburg Elementary School. The original $14.8 million budget proposal was defeated by four votes on May 20. School officials said the budget was revised after they listened to comments from the community and possible cuts compiled by district administrators. “The community has always been very supportive of the school district,” said board President Raymond Hawes in a prepared statement. “We needed to respond to their concerns communicated on May 20 by presenting a revised budget. We do not want to go to contingency if we don’t have to.”
DUANESBURG School budget passes on 2nd try Approval lets district avoid contingency plan BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Residents soundly passed the Duanesburg Central School District’s second 2008-09 budget proposal Tuesday by a vote of 569-355. The 214-vote margin was a reversal of the 312-316 vote that sank the initial $14.8 million budget proposal last month. Superintendent Christine Crowley said the budget approval allows the district to avoid making the devastating cuts that would have been mandated under a contingency budget. “I am ecstatic,” she said after the budget passed. “We are extremely grateful for the community’s support of the revised budget.” The Board of Education trimmed $51,000 from the initial budget proposal, dropping the proposed tax rate increase from 3.98 percent to 3.2 percent. Overall spending will increase by 5.8 percent, according to the revised budget. Among their cuts, board members substantially reduced the district’s field trip budget, trimmed 13 club adviser positions, and lowered teacher conference allotments. They also trimmed one of two late-afternoon buses, travel for sports team scrimmages and eliminated an unfilled boys’ volleyball coach position. District officials would have been required to cut an additional $140,000 from the budget, had the most recent proposal failed. In the days leading up to the vote, some district residents voiced opposition to the board’s cuts, arguing they were cutting the wrong programs. Some were angered over the board’s decision to keep Spanish language teaching at the elementary school level while cutting off funding for New Visions, a program through the Capital District BOCES that allows a select group of students to gain work experience in journalism, law and health. Crowley said the initial budget proposal suffered from low voter turnout and misinformation in the community. She said the board intends to start the budget process in October this year, so there is a greater opportunity for residents to get involved in the planning process. “We’re going to do a better job getting people to come out,” she said.
He shows up everywhere and claims credit for all GOD'S wonders big and small. GOD came to the recent Hamburg street business association even though he is not an official and doesnt own a business on Hamburg st or any other place for that matter. So I wouldn't be too surprised that he was responsible for making the budget pass, with his sidekick Roz Warlick. The hand of GOD at work. GOD does good things for all and when GOD speaks all who have wisdom listen (or are forced to for hours and hours and hours)
I know whatcha mean. I have been to meetings when Bob 'no change' Godlewski speaks. He goes on and on and on with no answers or ideas on anything. He appears to just knock the ideas of the other political party. He would be a perfect fit for the county legislature. He just does what he is told. He would be a great puppet for the democratic dictatorship. But no help for the town residents.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Rendezvous traffic jam in hills Thursday, June 19, 2008 By Justin Mason (Contact) Gazette Reporter
DUANESBURG — Amanda Gardiner sighed as she gazed out at the collection of RVs and trucks idling by her Batter Street home early Thursday evening. In 11 years living out on Mariaville Lake, she had never seen such traffic snarls for the annual Harley Rendezvous. Heavy rains during the week muddied a field near the event entrance and forced organizers to slow the procession of motorcyclists and campers filing through the security check at the Indian Lookout Country Club. "From 5 a.m., on there's been traffic," she said from her front porch, as she tapped on a laptop. The carnival-like atmosphere slowly passing in front of Gardiner didn't bother her. Aside from the occasional vehicle blocking her driveway, she had no problem with the colorful brigade of Harley Davidson aficionados winding into the event. They remained spirited throughout the wait, even though many had idled for hours. Some drank beer along side the road, while others grabbed a few minutes of shut-eye on the seats of their bikes. Deputies with the Schenectady County Sheriff's Department said traffic backed up nearly two miles along Mariaville Road. Yet they said traffic seemed to be orderly and they hadn't experienced many problems. Organizer Frank Potter was apologetic for the traffic disturbance, which he said was the worst in more than a decade. Though his neighbors and authorities had grumbled about the congestion, he said there was little he could do to speed things up without compromising safety at the event, which is now in it's 30th year. "Unfortunately, it causes a traffic jam," he said from the country club. Potter said the field had dried significantly throughout the day and that most of the traffic snarls would be contained by nightfall. The rendezvous is expected to draw more than 6,000 people this year.
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