Thank you, Jack Brown, for your Sept. 12 letter, “Let Duanesburg students pay to graduate in Sch’dy.” You are absolutely correct in suggesting that the seniors earn the money to have their graduation at Proctors. How much do the students and administrators think the taxpayer can bear? Both of my daughters graduated from Duanesburg Central High School in the gym. I am sure they had just as much pride, and maybe more, graduating from the school they attended as the Class of 2010 will have at Proctors. The taxpayer cannot and should not afford extravagant expenses. Our tax bill is very high, and I have no problem paying for programs for the students. But this is not anywhere near a necessity, and should not be funded by the taxpayer. Use your creative imaginations, Class of 2010, and find a way to earn the money if this is important to you.
The Sept. 24 article about the proposed $300,000 sheriff’s substation in Duanesburg points out how dysfunctional the current leadership is in our county government. It also explains why we are 30 years behind the rest of the country in law enforcement and the 12th-highest-taxed county in the United States. There is no need, request or demand for this building — especially since we have a new state police building just up the road to serve this area of the county. Why would Schenectady County management even think of taking possession of this contaminated land? (When cleaned up, it would make an excellent location for a veterans’ park.) The Schenectady County sheriff's patrol costs this county almost $1 million a year. If the southern towns of the county want additional police services, they need to pay for them, just like the towns of Glenville and Niskayuna now do. Are the southern towns willing to split the cost among themselves? Do they just expect the rest of the county to continue to pay $1 million for their services and a new building? [County Legislator Judith] Dagostino seems to think this is all right! The third problem with this plan is that it continues to promote competition among police agencies, instead of cooperation. Rather than duplicating services provided by the state police, the county Sheriff’s Department should be providing support services for all county police agencies. This could include K-9s on all shifts, patrolling the county waterways and bike paths, supporting a countywide scuba team, central booking, central dispatch, warrant teams, court officers and patrolling county buildings and properties. County representatives should be looking toward the future for ways to improve services, improve cooperation, reduce crime and save taxpayers money — not dream up warm and fuzzy projects that serve no legitimate purpose and waste money.
TIM MACFARLANE Scotia The writer is a GOP candidate for county legislator, District 3.
FIRE COMPANY OPEN HOUSE DUANESBURG — Duanesburg Volunteer Fire Company is planning lots of fi refighting activities at its open house from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. There will be brunch and a display of the fire equipment.
Beautiful letter from senior Jack Brown. Please think about political office-we need more people that think costs instead of idiotic feel good exercises. Another attempt to fill the vast empty that is Downtown Schenectady. What about the wasted time and gas for friends and family to shelp Downtown? Can't believe the Duanesburg School Board {which unlike the City is excellent} hasn't overturned this nonsense.
Tim MacFarland hits another home run. He is just what we need to replace horrible Sue Savage on the County Leg. Here is a great law enforcement officer-who didn't get endorsed by the CONS? In Nisky/Glenville vote only for Tim MacFarland to replace Sue Savage.
DUANESBURG Road upgrade plan gets cool reception Perog: Invest now in maintenance or pay more later BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.
Steve Perog has a plan to address Duanesburg’s deteriorating roads, but he said it’s going to take some investment from the town. The supervisor doesn’t like the idea. The first-term highway superintendent unveiled a six-year plan for the 46 miles of roads winding through Duanesburg and insists it will eventually lower his department’s expenses. However, he acknowledges the plan will require a $130,000 increase to his paving budget. Perog said he normally is allotted $50,000 along with another $80,000 provided through the state’s Consolidated Highway Improvement Program. He said the proposed increase in funding would give him the capital to preform immediate repairs on some of the most deteriorated town roads, while leaving enough for preventive maintenance on the roads in better condition. “I could fix every paved road in this town in six years,” he said Wednesday. The plan includes a catalog of the town roads and rates them on repair needs. He said the budget calls for projects on up to six streets next year, including the rough Turnbull Road. When the cost of the plan is broken down across the town, Perog estimates it will cost each resident about 25 cents per day — or about $87 per year. He said this expenditure is a fraction of the vehicle repair costs that loom for residents that drive over some of the town’s most rugged roads. “It’s either pay now or pay later,” he said. Perog presented the plan to the Town Board during their meeting last week and met with board members again Monday. Supervisor Rene Merrihew said Perog’s overall budget calls for more than $1 million and would drive town taxes through the roof. She said Perog’s proposed budget would raise town taxes by roughly 300 percent during a year when residents are already trying to make ends meet. ...............>>>>..................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01201&AppName=1
DUANESBURG Highway workers take beef with boss before Town Board BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Duanesburg highway workers lambasted their elected boss, claiming he is mismanaging the department and creating an unsafe environment for them on the job. Deputy Highway Superintendent Jeff Iveson and worker Henry Kingsland spoke out against Steve Perog’s guidance of the department during Thursday’s Town Board meeting. Both men said their boss frequently makes decisions that either places them or other town residents at risk and creates a poor working environment at the garage. “It’s become a common practice to push things to the limit and then go a little bit further,” Kingsland said during the business portion of the meeting. “And if you don’t do it, you get sent home.” Iveson said Perog ordered him and Kingsland to dig up an area where there was an apparent water or sewer problem near a town paving project off Duane Avenue. When they discovered a broken sewer pipe and raw sewage, they returned to the garage fearing an unsafe working condition. Iveson said Perog assured him “not to worry about it” and that he would handle it with the building inspector. But town officials said the unmarked hole — apparently dug on private property — was left open and a resident was injured after stumbling into it later. “It was open for two weeks too,” board member Phil Carson said of the hole. ..................>>>>.....................>>>>....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01600&AppName=1
DELANSON — The Duanesburg Historical Society will hold their next meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in Bishop Scully Hall. The program will be “Shared Memories of Childhood.” Members and guests are asked to bring an old toy or game with their story. The meeting is open to all.
DUANESBURG Rural qualities, control of taxes focus of races BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net
Duanesburg voters will choose at least one new member to serve on the Town Board next week. Two Democrats and two Republicans are running for two four-year terms on the board. Republican board member Martin White isn’t running, meaning voters will elect at least one newcomer. On the Democratic ticket are incumbent Jean Frisbee and Paul Harris. On the GOP side, Charles Leoni and John Ganther will try for the spots. Frisbee, 70, said she wants to run for another term to continue helping residents of the town. Frisbee helped seek grant funding for a bathroom building at Shafer Park as a liaison with the town’s Parks Committee and is also a member of the new Ethics Committee. If re-elected, Frisbee said she would like to help further progress on creating a sewer district for the Duanesburg hamlet and also help resolve some of the strife the board has experienced with the Highway Department. As a retiree, she said she has plenty of time to devote to town matters. “I put a lot of hours into the job, but I enjoy it,” she said last week. Her running mate, Harris, is also retired. The 70-year-old political newcomer said he decided to run for office to help make the town a better place for all residents. ................>>>>..................>>>>............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01400&AppName=1
DUANESBURG Residents become fans of piebald deer Genetic anomaly has mostly white fur BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Dot Van Appledorn wants visiting hunters to believe it’s extremely unlucky to shoot a piebald white-tailed deer. The Duanesburg resident would like to create a local legend. Maybe something about a 7-year curse that would befall any gun-toting tracker who kills one of the mostly white-furred creatures. But in truth, there’s no discernible lore or anything else that might give hunters pause before taking a shot at the uniquely visible deer when deer hunting season opens next week. That is except for the indignation they might face from a growing number of residents living near the Duanesburg-Esperance border, where the genetic anomaly has been spotted recently. Area residents like Van Appledorn — some of them even hunters — have become enamored with the four-point buck since it started appearing this past summer. Now, they’re hoping against odds the buck will be able to survive the hunting season. “We figure this is an oddity,” she said in an appeal to save the buck Thursday. “Let the poor thing get through the winter.” Van Appledorn has only seen the deer once, but quickly became enamored by its appearance. The creature’s fur is predominantly white, including its head, chest and side, with tan spots. The strange pattern of deer is what is commonly referred to as “piebald.” Among New York’s white-tail population, piebalds are a result of a rare genetic recessive gene and appears in less than one percent of the population. The genetic trait is sometimes confused with albinism, but piebald deer have pigmented eyes and are more prevalent among the herd. ............>>>>...............>>>>...........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01105&AppName=1
DUANESBURG Cuts in budget mean no change to town tax bills Spending plan includes wish list, but no funding BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Duanesburg residents shouldn’t see any appreciable change in their local taxes this year, due to slight reductions in the 2010 budget. Members of the Town Board adopted a $1.75 million spending plan Thursday. The approved budget proposes levying $526,656 in taxes to support the town’s highway and general funds, a decrease of about a 4.24 percent over last year’s figure. Supervisor Rene Merrihew said the budget will actually lower taxes slightly. But she said the amount of the decrease will barely be perceptible in tax bills. “You’re not even going to notice it,” she said. “We just cut here and cut there and looked at things a little bit more wisely.” ...................>>>>............>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01202&AppName=1
DUANESBURG Without counted-upon grants, center seeks help BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
When the new Duanesburg Area Community Center building opened in 2008, its founding members had banked on securing more grant funding for the $6 million project. One of the key components to constructing the 26,000-squarefoot structure was the community center’s ability to pay off nearly half of the $2.5 million construction loan that made the project possible within two years of borrowing the money. But with the state facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, the pool of available grant funding virtually dried up, leaving community center officials seeking alternate sources of financial support. Compounding this shortfall was the dramatic increase in operating expenses, some associated with the new building. Between 2007 and 2008, the community center’s expenses nearly tripled, according to the nonprofit organization’s 2008 tax return. The net result was a $65,148 defi - cit by the end of last year. Now the community center has about three months to prove to its lender that it has enough fundraising ability to make good on its debts. ..............>>>>.....................>>>>...............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00904&AppName=1
When the new Duanesburg Area Community Center building opened in 2008, its founding members had banked on securing more grant funding for the $6 million project.
That was their #1 mistake. You shouldn't spend money you don't have secured or actually in hand.
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
Kinda like building a big new house with a Red Roof and then complaining about the assessment and ensuing taxes eh BT??? HeHeHe
Perhaps there is someone who posts or reads this board, other than myself, who knows 'exactly' what the heck you are talking about. But I assure you that it ain't me! I have a dark green roof and have for 20+ years.
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
Logged
Beautiful letter from senior Jack Brown. Please think about political office-we need more people that think costs instead of idiotic feel good exercises. Another attempt to fill the vast empty that is Downtown Schenectady. What about the wasted time and gas for friends and family to shelp Downtown? Can't believe the Duanesburg School Board {which unlike the City is excellent} hasn't overturned this nonsense. 
