GLENVILLE Residents voice concerns about roundabout plan DOT engineers meet with crowd of 100 BY CARI SCRIBNER Gazette Reporter Contact Gazette reporter Cari Scribner at 383-4451 or cscribner@dailygazette.net
A traffic roundabout is on the horizon for the intersection of Glenridge Road and Maple Avenue, and residents and commuters are apprehensive. More than 100 people crowded the Glenville Municipal Office Wednesday for a meeting with state Department of Transportation engineers. Most acknowledged the road and intersection need work, but worried about a roundabout as part of a major construction project on the popular route between Clifton Park and Glenville. There’s no way around it, offi - cials said. By 2011, drivers on that route will be maneuvering through the frequently-maligned circular intersections. The roundabout is the hub of the DOT’s remedy for traffic snarls, fender-benders, poor drainage and narrow passageways on the heavily trafficked route. “This is the way the project will unfold; what we’re doing is educating people and working to allay their fears,” Peter Van Keuren, Transportation Department spokesman said. “All of our past experience has shown whenever we say ‘roundabout,’ people start to worry. But before the roundabout opens, there will be more information, and then we’ll monitor what’s going on there. We don’t just build it and leave it.” Along with the roundabout, at Glenridge Road and Maple Avenue, the $10 million project to begin in spring 2009 will include replacing and widening the two railroad bridges, reducing the slope of Glenridge Road east of Bruce Drive, improving drainage and leaving room for a future town of Glenville Park. Plans for reconstructing the stretch of road have been idling since the 1980s, when engineers discovered widening the underpasses and raising the railroad bridges would come at a cost of $23 million. Since 2006, transportation officials have been reaching out to residents for their input, which people were happy to provide at Wednesday night’s meeting. “I think roundabouts are being pushed on us, and I don’t believe there will be fewer accidents,” Ed Kritz said; he lives in Clifton Park but travels the route to visit relatives in Glenville. “Roundabouts are too small, the curbing isn’t right, and the yield signs cause everyone confusion. Look at Exit 12 of the Northway; that’s a mess up there with all the roundabouts.” “We’re open-minded,” Sue Vielkind said, who with her husband Bob has been living in the area for 30 years. “We’ve seen traffic progress as Clifton Park has built up, and we’ve seen and heard a lot of accidents from our home. What can you do? It has to be done.” Another longtime resident said she hates to see the tiny singlelane road beneath one of the railroad bridges become a thing of the past. “I know traffic is horrendous there, but coming into town on that one-way bridge road is so quaint and distinctive,” Audrey Hughes of Cedar Road said. “We need to be open to change, but I also do get confused in roundabouts with who has the right-of-way.” Engineers said the inconveniences during the project would be minor, with very short periods of one-lane passage directed by fl ag signalers, and detours lasting no more than a week. Although exact detours won’t be available until the project begins, the plan now calls for rerouting vehicles north to Blue Barns Road and south to Route 146 and Alplaus Avenue. There are some slowdowns ahead for the project, including going through state and federal permit processes for wetlands and minor environmental impacts. However, with increased drainage and road gutters, engineers said they will reduce runoff and future land erosion. The lion’s share of the work, which could take up to one year, will be relocating the dozens of utility poles lining Glenridge Road. Engineers said no residents will have their utility service interrupted during the move. Final design approval for construction will be finalized in Spring 2009, with the project expected to be awarded that summer. Engineers hope to speed along the work to conclude the project by 2011. “The time frame is tentative, but we think this is a very conservative estimate,” Van Keuren said. “With weather variables and work schedules, it could be done sooner. That would be our hope.”
GLENVILLE Officer resigns, another arrested Investigation leads to criminal mischief charges BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
A town police officer is facing a felony after he allegedly shot out a streetlight with a potato gun while on duty, Glenville Police Chief Michael Ranalli said Friday. A second officer has resigned, relating to the same investigation, Ranalli said, though he would not detail the connection. Christopher Charnews, 35, hired by the town as a police officer in 2004, was charged with one count of third-degree criminal mischief, a felony, and two counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief, misdemeanors. Charnews is accused of using the potato gun to shoot out a streetlight behind the Glenridge Road police station in August. He allegedly fi red a gun-like device that propels a plug of raw potato at the light, doing an estimated $630 in damage, according to papers filed in court. Charnews, a former volunteer fire chief, is also accused of lighting two boxes of road flares in February, also in the police parking lot, authorities said. He was suspended, and the department is seeking his termination. The second officer, eight-year veteran Edward Casey, resigned Wednesday. He is not facing charges. “It’s embarrassing for us,” Ranalli said. “But we did what needed to be done. There are certain behaviors that are completely unacceptable for police officers.” Ranalli declined to elaborate on Casey’s involvement. He also declined to say what would have happened had Casey not resigned. The arrest and resignation came after a three-week internal investigation. The investigation began looking into an unrelated incident. Casey and Charnews were placed on paid leave nearly three weeks ago. Police Benevolent Association President Sgt. Stephen Janik did not return a call for comment Friday evening. Janik’s name, however, appears on the court documents as the investigating officer making the formal accusations. The streetlight in the case, one of four on the same pole, remains broken. The pole is located behind the police station in the parking lot. The potato shattered the lens and broke the light. Officials didn’t even realize the light was broken until the recent investigation, Ranalli said. The flares that were allegedly burned were cleaned up. Each box cost the town nearly $65 and contained 72 individual flares of the kind used at accident scenes. Charnews allegedly took them from the police garage in early February, sometime between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., then placed them in the southeast portion of the parking lot and ignited the entire box at once, according to papers. Casey was hired as an officer in 2000. Two years later, he received an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving for making 27 DWI arrests that year. Casey also made sergeant in early 2006, a position he voluntarily relinquished last fall, citing personal reasons, Ranalli said. Charnews has worked for the town since 2001, when he was hired as a dispatcher. Three years later he became a police officer. Also, by 2003 he was volunteer fi re chief with the Glenville Hill Fire Department. He left the company some time ago, officials there said. Disciplinary proceedings against Charnews are to continue alongside the criminal charges, officials said. Charnews remains suspended without pay. If the internal matter is not resolved within 30 days, he would return to the payroll, but not to duty, Ranalli said. Ranalli emphasized that the investigation was department-initiated. “The fact that we discovered this ourselves and acted on it ourselves should be viewed as an indicator that we take our reputation and professionalism as a whole very, very seriously,” Ranalli said. A third officer, Tim Smith, was also suspended without pay in connection with an unrelated incident. Asked about Smith, Ranalli reiterated that Smith’s case was “not even remotely related to this. He should not be associated with this.” The department has staffing of 21 officers.
WOW! Glenville don't put up with nothing! They appear to have a zero tolerance when it comes to their cops. What ever happened to the Schenectady cops that were involved in throwing eggs a few years back?
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
Re April 5 article, “Officer resigns, another arrested — Investigation leads to criminal mischief charges”: So Christopher Charnews gets a felony charge, but Edward Casey doesn’t — what’s with that? If both officers were involved, or covered up, what happened? Both should be charged, not just one. But instead, Casey walks free, to get another job in law enforcement with no black eye, while Charnews loses everything. It stinks of favoritism. Also, Chief Michael Ranalli said there were no complaints about his officers — strange since I tried setting up a meeting with the lieutenant a while back, but he was too busy to be bothered so I got blown off. This is what you get when people get bored, spending long hours at the station instead of being out on road patrols. But we only have Chief Ranalli to blame for this mess. He [claims] there’s more to policing than riding in patrols cars. Now we know why crime has increased in Glenville — no road patrols, bad guys moved right in. It’s a shame; we used to have a darned good department, now we have a waste of taxpayers’ money. Maybe it’s time the state came in and cleaned house. PAULETTE KOLAKOFF Princetown The writer works in Glenville.
Re April 1 article, “Scotia OKs $5.75M prelim budget”: Scotia taxpayers have before them a tentative budget that increases spending $400,000. While this proposal leaves the tax rate nearly unchanged, I don’t believe the budget choices reflect tough choices taxpayers have to make in their personal lives. I believe it should. It’s the obligation of the trustees to make tougher choices that would let you keep more of your money to spend in support of yourself, your family and your business. I’m proposing to reduce that spending increase by $244,000. The spending reductions do not include staffing level changes — something there is no trustee support for. Some reductions include moving some proposed spending from your taxes to a special reserve account that is well funded for such uses. Doing this means these onetime expenses will not be “built in” to next year’s budget for a department to spend in another way. Spending reductions include items such as not purchasing license plate scanners and video cameras for police cars, not painting the interior bays of the fire portion of village hall (the trustees authorized over $50,000 for improvements and safety features this past year) and not constructing a large vehicle wash station (a mandate from state and federal authorities that must be solved jointly between the village, town, school district and perhaps the county). There are many initiatives that have support from individual trustees, park representatives, employee groups and department heads. No one favors reductions in areas they have a personal interest in. No one likes to say no to spending requests for positive projects, but the trustees must act as the brake on the big wheel called government. ARMON BENNY Scotia The writer is a village trustee.
GLENVILLE Revised project receives an OK Panera Bread out; townhouse plans put on hold BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
A project to redevelop the business site on Route 50 across from the Price Chopper plaza may get under way, while a major townhouse development on Maple Avenue remains stalled. The Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday approved a revised site plan by Nigro Companies for business structures. The commission had approved an earlier version of the project a year ago that was to have included a Panera Bread bakery and cafe. However, officials for the franchise said market conditions stalled that. The new plan changes the size of the multi-tenant building to 15,660 square feet. It also replaces the restaurant with a 2,700-square-foot Pioneer Savings Bank, which is the only business announced so far. “We’re talking with several tenants and we’ll be in a position to announce who they are fairly soon,” said Nigro Companies Vice President Steven Powers. Powers said he hopes to start construction on the brick, glass and masonry building as soon as they obtain the building permits and be completed by mid-fall. He would not disclose the cost of the development. YATES FARM In other business, the commission took no action on a project by Concord Development to construct the 44-unit Yates Farm Townhomes on 7 acres on Maple Avenue near its intersection with Alplaus Avenue. Town Planner Michael Burns said about a dozen residents raised concerns about storm water runoff, the architecture of the homes and traffic. Maple Avenue is a busy commuter route, Burns said. “I think one of their concerns is that the additional traffic will make it worse.” There already is a $1 million project in the county’s Transportation Improvement Program to upgrade Maple Avenue and its intersection with Alplaus Avenue. There is a sharp bend on Maple that makes it difficult for drivers to see vehicles waiting to make a left turn onto Alplaus. Burns said residents did not object to the project but wanted these questions answered. The commission postponed action on the project to get some more answers. The town has 72 days by law to act on the application following the public hearing. An earlier version of the project was approved in April 2007 with 50 units and had involved construction on the Yates farmhouse parcel, which was the summer home of Union College founder and New York Gov. Joseph C. Yates. The new proposal does not. Chris Myers, president of Concord Development LLC, said he scaled down the project at the suggestion of the Planning and Zoning Commission members and the public, who said there should be some more open space. He is planning to contribute an amount he would not disclose to the county highway project. “There’s an existing traffic problem there — with or without my project. The county project will alleviate what’s already a problem,” he said. The units will be two-and threebedrooms and sell for between $225,000 and $250,000. He said the target market would be empty nesters. Myers said he would like to obtain his approvals and begin construction later this spring. He has developed townhouse projects in Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga County, as well as the Parker Inn in Schenectady.
SCOTIA County urges McDonald’s to sell former restaurant BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net
County officials are pressuring McDonald’s to sell their dilapidated former building on Mohawk Avenue to a developer. County Legislature Chairwoman Susan Savage, D-Niskayuna, on Thursday sent a letter to Richard Crawford, corporate vice president of government relations for McDonald’s, urging that the fast food giant sell the property. The McDonald’s has been closed since January 2005. Graffiti adorns one window and the remains of an outdoor seating area are visible. In the letter, Savage said county officials understand that McDonald’s has received an offer from a local developer to buy the site and clean up any environmental issues. She asked that McDonald’s sell the site and remove from any sales agreement a condition that the site is not used for another restaurant. Savage would not disclose the name of the interested developer and said there is no specific plan or use for the site. She said Thursday that if McDonald’s no longer has a use for the building, she would like them to talk to others about redeveloping the property. Savage said county officials decided to get involved because she has been fielding complaints from constituents, who said the site detracts from the surrounding beauty of Collins Park and the entrance to the village. “It is a gateway area to Scotia,” she said. “We’re concerned just as you enter the village that you see blight.” She would not elaborate on what other steps the county may take if they are unsuccessful at lobbying McDonald’s officials. “We hope to get their attention. We hope that they will be a responsible corporate citizen,” he said. A McDonald’s representative did not respond to a request for comment. Scotia Trustee Armon Benny said he is excited that the county and Metroplex officials are getting involved. “Hopefully, they’ll work their magic and something good will come of it.” He said he walked Mohawk Avenue a few months ago with Metroplex Chairman Ray Gillen, Chamber of Schenectady County President Chuck Steiner and offi - cials with River Street Planning Associates, which is putting together a facade program for the village. When the program gets rolling — hopefully, by summer — Benny said the businesses may be able to do small projects like painting, updating signs or improving windows. Benny said the Scotia Business Improvement District also got a grant to do decorative flags on the poles and Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna obtained a $40,000 grant for the sidewalk and paver program.
SCOTIA Village to decide on paying chief Official’s research finds no legal requirement for job BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net.
The village is not legally required to have a paid fire chief, according to a civil service official who has researched the issue. The Village Board will likely vote on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. on Mayor Kris Kastberg’s proposal not to fund Fire Chief Richard Kasko’s position. The fire chief issue is part of the overall $5.7 million spending package for 2008-2009. Kathy Heap, personnel administrator for Schenectady County, said Thursday she discussed the issue with officials from the State Offi ce of Fire Prevention and Control and state Municipal Service Divsion. “Between the two of them, nobody could find any legal authority that says you have to have a professional, full-time fire chief,” she said. David Ernst, director of public information for the state Civil Service Commission, also said Schenectady County officials would have a responsibility to make sure that someone is in charge of the department. “He doesn’t have to have a title of fire chief,” he said. Kasko said this week he is searching for jobs. “Obviously, I’ve got to keep my options open. I don’t want to leave the village. It’s an awesome fi re department,” he said. Capt. Ken Almy, president of the Scotia Permanent Firemen’s Association, said the union remains in the dark about what would happen if the proposal goes through. “There has been nothing discussed as of yet. The village obviously doesn’t have any plans that they’ve told us about. We’re going into the unknown,” he said. Almy has said previously that a full-time chief is needed to handle training, code enforcement and overall management of the department. Village officials have not publicly stated any specific plan for how to replace the fire chief’s position. Kastberg said previously that the village sent out requests for proposals to Schenectady to see if it would be interested in taking over the management of the department, which consists of 12 full-time firefighters and about 30 volunteers. Fire Chief Robert Farstad said he had no comment on the ongoing issues in Scotia. The village’s budget must be adopted by the end of the month. The proposed budget would increase spending by about 1 percent and result in a tax rate of $10.45 per $1,000, which is a 2-cent increase from this year. The average household assessed at $124,000 would see their taxes increase about $2.50 to $1,296. The town also proposes a $472,000 bond, which would include new garage doors for the Public Works building, a packer truck, wash station, a leaf sweeper and replacement of the park pavilion. Trustee Armon Benny said Thursday he is in the process of putting together some cuts to the budget but he was not prepared to share them until next week.
SCOTIA County urges McDonald’s to sell former restaurant BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Michael Goot at 395-3105 or mgoot@dailygazette.net
I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is even a county issue. If blight such as a closed store is the reason that the county exists, where has Ms. Savage and the current majority been since they took power with cleaning up blight in Rotterdam, such as the Curry Road Shopping Center? How much is Metroplex going to give to help remove everything there, or to put up the new condos? Why aren't they jumping all over someone about it?
And then there's the Grand Union and a bunch of other areas over on Hamburg Street. Burt I guess it's not on State Street / Rt. 5, so they really couldn't give a bit.
Savage would not disclose the name of the interested developer and said there is no specific plan or use for the site.
Of course she wouldn't. I'd have to believe that it will be one of the cronies that already are in bed with these county legislatures.
Quoted Text
She would not elaborate on what other steps the county may take if they are unsuccessful at lobbying McDonald’s officials.
Eminent Domain?
And although I agree that something should be done about all of these vacant buildings, one must remember that Scotia's mayor is a dem. So the money and the attention will go to Scotia long before it will come to Rotterdam.
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
Re April 13 letter, “Glenville chief to blame for cops running amok,” by Paulette Kolakoff: Ms. Kalakoff blamed Police Chief Michael Ranalli for the recent resignation of Officer Edward Casey and the charges brought against Officer Christopher Charnews. It’s totally absurd to blame Chief Ranalli for the actions of others. The world would be a much better place if everyone took responsibility for their own actions rather than blame others. Ms. Kaloakoff’s charge of favoritism is also unwarranted. Officer Charnews allegedly committed a crime and was charged. Whatever Officer Casey allegedly did was not disclosed, and he resigned. If it was thought that Officer Casey had committed a crime, he also would have been charged. Whatever the allegations against Officer Casey were, they obviously were of a lesser nature than those made against Officer Charnews. Chief Ranalli has done a great deal to improve the Glenville Police Department during his tenure. Police officers must be above reproach, and Chief Ranalli has set, and upholds, high standards for our police officers. I have had the privilege of working with all of the members of the Glenville Police Department over the past 20 years and find them to be professional and diligent in their duties. Chief Ranalli is no exception. He is extremely dedicated to his job and I consider him an important asset to our community. FRANK CLAIR East Glenville The writer is a member of the Public Safety Committee and a former fire chief in Glenville.
I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is even a county issue. If blight such as a closed store is the reason that the county exists, where has Ms. Savage and the current majority been since they took power with cleaning up blight in Rotterdam, such as the Curry Road Shopping Center? How much is Metroplex going to give to help remove everything there, or to put up the new condos? Why aren't they jumping all over someone about it?
And then there's the Grand Union and a bunch of other areas over on Hamburg Street. Burt I guess it's not on State Street / Rt. 5, so they really couldn't give a bit.
Of course it is a county issue......just like us complaining about the 'Marotta dump'-----all the same.......but, you are correct on the assumption(and lightly I use this word) of who is 'bedding' whom.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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