Quoted from Shadow

Sal's problem may be lack of oxygen for way too long.

Sal's "problem" is that he is Brian Quail.

CRAFTS PROGRAM
    QUAKER STREET — The Quaker Street Branch of the Schenectady County Public Library, Bull Street and Route 7, will hold a crafts program at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays, April 8 and April 22.
    Participants can bring knitting and crocheting projects.

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DUANESBURG
Prohibition-era law stricken from books It’s (finally) legal to sell liquor in town
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Quietly and without fanfare, Duanesburg recently was ushered out of the Prohibition era.
    Members of the Town Board unanimously agreed to repeal a law that prevented grocery stores, markets and other businesses from selling booze. The change means the town’s tipplers will no longer be relegated to hotels, restaurants and beer gardens for their libation.
    “Prohibition is lifted in Duanesburg,” proclaimed Supervisor Rene Merrihew last week.
    Not that anyone ever realized there was a town law prohibiting the corner gas station from selling six-packs. Not even the town’s old-timers could recall a time when local businesses adhered to the nearly 77-year-old law that was finally scrapped in February.
    “If there was such an ordinance, people never paid any attention to it,” said Norm Collins, a former Delaware and Hudson worker who has lived in the town since 1942.
    Former councilman and longtime county legislator Dave Vincent said he never heard of the ordinance, despite having sold beer from the Countryside Mart for more than 35 years. He said Gideon Wilbur — the man who converted the old barn into a service station in 1923 — also made it a practice to sell beer from the adjoining general store for as long as he could recall.
    “No one I’ve ever interacted with in any capacity knew about these laws,” he said. “Clearly, the practice in the town has been contrary to them.”
    But the law was prevalent enough at one point that it made its way onto the deed of a swath of farmland at the intersection of Route 20 and Route 30. The land was in the process of being purchased by a private development company looking to build a Hannaford Supermarket at the bustling corner, when the language came into question.
    Hannaford sells alcoholic beverages at most of its supermarkets and wasn’t planning to make an exception in Duanesburg. So when the company’s attorneys read that the property they were developing could not “be used, or any part thereof, for the sale, dispensing, manufacturing or preparation of alcoholic beverages of any name or nature,” they decided to ask what local covenants might prohibit them from having a beer aisle.
    “That sort of led to discovering there was an ordinance from even before the title was issued,” explained Hannaford spokesman Michael Norton. “If that note hadn’t been on the title we wouldn’t have known either.”
    The archaic law sets forth a process by which town officials would grant licenses to wholesalers and retailers for selling alcohol. Under the ordinance, only the owner of a “bona fide hotel, restaurant, beer garden or club” could apply for the permit.
    Wholesale licenses were offered for $10 per month, while businesses selling alcohol for on-premise consumption were billed $5 per month. Special exceptions were made for the sale of alcohol at “picnics and clambakes,” provided the seller paid a fee set “as the [town] board may fix.”
    Former town Justice of the Peace James Drufee offered the ordinance and it was passed unanimously in December 1932. The law took effect just three months before President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen-Harrison Act, which allowed the manufacture and sale of beer with an alcohol content of up to 3.2 percent; Prohibition was officially repealed in December 1933.
    The state Legislature then took up regulating the sale of alcohol by creating the State Liquor Authority in 1934. This change effectively superseded the town’s regulatory authority, thereby making the “ordinance relating to the sale of beer and other alcoholic non-intoxicating beverages” moot, if not unconstitutional.
    Yet the ordinance never seemed to make it off the town’s law books, even though there’s no evidence it was ever enforced. Some suggest this longevity may be testament to Duanesburg’s reputation as being one of the more conservative towns in Schenectady County during the 1930s.
    “The overall character of the town certainly was [conservative],” said Duanesburg Historian Arthur Willis. “In my own memories during the early 1950s, some people were still grateful that Joe McCarthy was serving in the Senate.”
    It’s possible the reserved nature of the town may have prevented them from repealing any laws aimed at keeping raucous elements out of Duanesburg. Merrihew said another town ordinance forbids dancing on Sundays, a legislation that was likely aimed at Duanesburg’s dance halls................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00102

It's curious that this "gentleman" sold beer for 35 years illegally and admits it. Ignorance of the law is never an excuse, unless you are a repub or this guy. he should go to jail over here

oh yeah, well stop wondering - HE IS A DEMOCRAT you fool!

Actually this article brought a smile to my face to think that there was still a municipality that still did have these old historic laws on the books. I thought it was kinda neat. Kind of like finding that old antique in the attic.

Yes, Dave Vincent is a very well respected man of our community who happens to be a Democrat.  No big deal once you reach the western edge of Rotterdam.  The law was a jewel along with the No Dancing on Sunday's law.  It was never discovered because none of the other stores asked the question.  Once Hannaford asked our Code Enforcement Officer checked it out and voila.....prohibition is alive and well!  The reality of it is as Justin reported, the state regulates the sale of alcohol anyway.  I definately got a belly laugh out of the whole thing though.   But please, don't come to Duanesburg and think you can dance on a Sunday afternoon.
PS  Nice to see Sal is his usual moronic self.

Forget jail, perhaps he should be hanged for such a crime against humanity...or not.  

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DUANESBURG
Group hopes to fund school auditorium District uses gym for music performances
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

The Duanesburg High School gymnasium isn’t exactly the best venue for musical or theatrical performances.
Sound doesn’t carry well in the gymnasium-like room and the only seating for concerts are the folding metal chairs the district breaks out for concerts. On some days, the only thing separating rehearsals from the school’s athletic groups is the room’s retractable wall.
    “The kids worked really hard and the audience doesn’t get to appreciate it,” said Polly Benjamin, a second grade teacher at the district who also helps out with the elementary school’s musical performances. “You lose so much of the presentation.”
    So a grass-roots group of parents and faculty have decided to wage a long-range fundraising campaign they hope will one day help the small district build an auditorium they’ve always lacked. Benjamin and Dionne Grygas, a member of Delanson Village Board of Trustees, are among the organizers of an arts festival planned at the district in June aimed at raising funds to one day build a performance place for students.
    Grygas hopes to host the festival each spring and a similar fundraising event during the fall. Eventually, she hopes to raise about $500,000, which could then be used as leverage to fund the full cost of a new auditorium.
    “I just think [the students] deserve something more,” she said.
    Duanesburg’s Board of Education has also identified a need for an auditorium and have offered support of the effort. But like many school districts, Duanesburg doesn’t have the funding to build what would ultimately become a multi-million dollar capital project.
    The district was forced to make a number of cuts last year after voters rejected a $14.8 million spending plan and were planning to make more in the 2009-2010 budget. Superintendent Christine Crowley said the effort to build a new auditorium is certainly long-term in its scope, but something that would be welcomed by a district struggling to fund its core programs.
    “Everyone recognizes it would be a long-term effort and of course we’re appreciative of the support,” she said. “But if you start small, you never know what can happen down the road.”
    Such ambitious communitybased endeavors aren’t unprecedented in Duanesburg. The Duanesburg Area Community Center opened its 26,000-square-foot facility last year after eight years of community effort and ..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01002

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DUANESBURG
Plans in the works to revitalize hamlet, spruce up intersection
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Duanesburg Four Corners has seen better days.
    Once a hub of activity in the town, the small hamlet at the bustling intersection of Western Turnpike and Duanesburg Road is now characterized by shabby buildings and vacant store fronts. But over the next few years, a collaborative effort between business owners, local leaders and county officials could transform the area into a place that will foster growth in an area of Duanesburg that hasn’t flourished for decades.
    “That intersection will be drastically transformed in the up and coming year or two,” said Randy Passonno, president of the resurgent Duanesburg Business Association.
    Changes in the works for the intersection include major facade improvement projects for two Western Turnpike businesses and the demolition of the dilapidated former Check Marks Realty building. Longer term projects include using federal stimulus funding to create an independent sewer district in the hamlet, which has experienced persistent septic problems over the years.
    “That’s another piece of the puzzle,” Supervisor Rene Merrihew said.
    The improvements could coincide with the demolition of the nearby Countryside Mart, which owner Dave Vincent has been planning since last fall. Vincent is in the process of determining the degree of ground contamination he must clear from the lot before razing the vacant building and redeveloping the property for commercial use.
    The most immediate project to reach the hamlet will be the improvement of the Century 21 building and adjacent offices of Dr. Ze’Ev Weitz. Both buildings stand within a recently established corridor designation with the county Metroplex Development Authority.
    The designation allows business owners to seek up to $30,000 of matching grants for facade improvements. Passonno said the owners of both buildings receiving Metroplex funding plan to drastically transform their storefronts.
    “It’s an outstanding opportunity for a business to revitalize the entire appearance of their building for 50 cents on the dollar,” he said.
    Even greater changes are slated for the western edge of the crossroads, where the town is hoping to construct a veteran’s memorial. County officials are in the process of foreclosing on the former Check Marks Realty building so that the derelict building can be demolished and the property can be cleared of environmental contamination.
    The property was owned by the estate of Glen Marks, who hadn’t paid taxes on the property since 1995 before his death in 2006. County records show the property has accrued more than $56,000 of unpaid taxes.
    Merrihew said the county intends to foreclose on the property sometime this summer and transfer it to the town, which would then seek grant funding through the state Department of Environmental Conservation to.............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00904

As part of this redevelopment,, the traffic intersection should be reviewed by NYS DOT and redesigned before anything is constructed.  The intersection is difficult to maneuver if you wish to change directions (E to W and W to E) on alternate routes (7 & 20).  In my opinion, the area where the former Checkmarks Realty building and the building just to the west may make a good location for a traffic rotary.  Though I am generally not a fan of traffic circles, this would be one location where it would make sense IMHO.  It would reduce the wait time at the traffic light and facilitate traffic flow at a busy intersection.

Is that intersection really that busy? I have been through it many times and found it easy driving. Although I don't live in Duanesburg, I may not be going through that intersection during the busiest times.

We did think of that Brad and while the idea has its merits, do we want Duanesburg to be a town you can pass through quickly without looking twice at or be able to enjoy and do business in?  

My idea is proposed to facilitate traffic flow through the intersection.  It is difficult to maneuver large rigs (trucks, motorhomes, ambulances, etc.) through the intersection if one wishes to change directions of travel.  Further, it would reduce the traffic backups during the morning and evening commute.  Not looking to process people through town quickly.  Depending on who you believe w.r.t. traffic circles, some say that it quiets (i.e., slows) the traffic, but allows for continuous travel.  Besides, Duanesburg is more than the few businesses that are currently located at the intersection of Routes 7 and 20.

My thought is, Rene, that thorough consideration should be given to this intersection NOW before any development plans are made.  Duanesburg will not forever be the way that it is today, despite the wishes of some long time residents.  There will be growth over time.  We should plan for that growth now before the area around that intersection is built up and expansion of the traffic lanes is no longer possible.

The solutions doesn't have to be a traffic rotary, though I think that it makes the most sense at that location.  But, NYSDOT should look at available options that will support the increasing flow of traffic while there are vacant parcels (or soon to be) at that location.  Several of the homes are extremely close to the road there also.  We should watch for opportunities to purchase these properties, not seize them from owners through eminent domain proceedings, from the current owners who may be willing to accept a reasonable price to relocate to a more tranquil setting.  

Just my $0.02.  Won't buy you much in today's economy.