by Kieron Kramer
Honoring Joan Rogers
In March the Rensselaer County Legislature passed a resolution memorializing Joan Rogers of Hoosick Falls. She died on January 22, 2012. At Tuesday’s session of the Legislature nine members of the extended family of Joan Rogers appeared in the well of the Legislature to receive copies of the resolution honoring her. District Five Legislators Stan Brownell and Lester Goodermote, who represent the towns of Stephentown, Berlin, Petersburgh, Grafton, Hoosick and the Village of Hoosick Falls, made the presentation.
[private]Brownell read the resolution that condensed the accomplishments and meaning of a life well spent. Joan Rogers was born in Troy, worked at the Hoosick Falls Undergarment until the time of her marriage and was a valued member of the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad since its inception. She was the first woman elected to serve on the Hoosick Falls Village Board and also served on the Hoosick Town Council. She was a Past President of the St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) Home School Association, a past member and Grand Regent of the Catholic Daughters, a member of the Elks Auxiliary, a past coach for Hoosick Misses Softball and a past den mother of Boy Scout Troop 64. She volunteered at the SMA Funtastik Fair and was a communicant of the Immaculate Conception Church and a 1948 graduate of St. Mary’s Academy in Hoosick Falls.
To the Rogers family Brownell said, “This has been a tough three years for the Rogers family. You lost your dad in 2009, Joe, your brother Jimmy in January and then mom. We miss them. The family has had a tough go and so has the community. She raised a beautiful family. She was a member of the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad and in her younger days responded to quite a few calls on her moped. She loved her moped.”
Goodermote said, “I’ve known Joanie for as many years as I am able to remember in Hoosick Falls. If you went to anything Joanie was there; she was positive; she was happy; she was fun to be with. I could never think of anything Joanie and I disagreed on, and I don’t even know if she was a Republican or a Democrat.”
Joan Rogers’ daughter, Terri Burdick, spoke on behalf of the family. “She would have been very honored and very humbled tonight. We are very honored and very happy. She loved her town, loved her community and loved her New York State Democrats. We appreciate this. It really is a wonderful thing that our community and our County does.”
Nicole St. Onge
A resolution was passed at the February 14 Legislative session which commended Nicole St. Onge for her work with Project Ignition. Her essay and her leadership resulted in St. Onge representing the Hoosick Falls Central School Project Ignition group on a trip to Washington, DC, in January
where she met and was commended by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. At Tuesday’s session St. Onge appeared in the well of the Legislature with her grandparents, Art and Pat Crandall, to receive a copy of the resolution which Brownell and Goodermote presented.
After reading the resolution Goodermote said, “I’ll let this young lady tell you what this program is all about.” Nicole St. Onge briefly and straightforwardly described Project Ignition, the Hoosick Falls Central School team and her part in it.
“Project Ignition was based on a grant from State Farm which we were lucky enough to receive,” she said. “We have been working for the past two years on a bunch of different campaigns [to urge teenagers to drive safely]. We are the only team from New York State. My essay was chosen out of ten, and I went to Washington and gave a speech to the US DOT and other representatives of the White House.”
At the end of each school year ten teams that can prove the most effort put forth as well as prove the most change in their community are chosen to travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota, during spring break to an international conference. Hoosick Falls Central School’s team was given this prestigious honor and will be with the other top ten schools nationwide.
The Benefit For Lisa Minkler Hendricks
After Tuesday’s meeting Lester Goodermote said he “was really happy with the results” of the benefit turkey dinner held on April 14 at the Petersburgh Veterans Memorial Community Center to help Lisa Minkler Hendricks and her family pay for Lisa’s cancer treatments at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. Goodermote attended the dinner. “They raised over $9,000,” he said. “The people down there really need to be commended. Dianne Mosher was right in the middle of everything,” he added. The dinners started being served in the early afternoon and were all sold out by 6 pm. Luckily, Goodermote had called ahead to reserve a meal.
Public Hearing On The County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
At 5:30 pm before the presentation period a public hearing was held on the Rensselaer County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. Most of the town boards in eastern Rensselaer County are familiar with the Plan having held their own public hearings and adopted the Plan, like Berlin, or, at the very least, discussed it. Legislator Ken Herrington, who represents, Brunswick, Cropseyville and Pittstown, among other towns, presided over the hearing. There were two people who spoke. Both urged the Legislature to pass the resolution adopting the Plan that will be put forward at next month’s meeting.
The first to speak was Kelly Paslow, County Director of Public Safety, who described the history of the development of the plan. In November of 2010, he said, all the representatives of every town, village and city in the County met, including nine governmental stakeholders – Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Red Cross, Questar III Boces, Hudson Valley Community College and NYSEG among others – to discuss the Plan. He said that the Plan may change and that there will be an annual progress report on the changes. At the end of five years the Plan will be reviewed and amended as need be.
The second speaker was Linda von der Heide, County Economic Development Planner, who is familiar to many on the town boards in the Eastwick Press area since she has helped towns here develop their comprehensive plans and has appeared at public hearings on the County Mitigation Plan in several towns. She began her comments by saying that she had received complaints about the flooding of properties along the Woods Brook in Hoosick Falls. She had found a FEMA funding source for fixing the problem, but Hoosick Falls was not eligible for the funds because it had no plan in place. This Plan will help get funds for such projects as the Woods Brook repair. She said that most people think the only natural hazards in the County are flooding and snowstorms but the plan would cover hazards such as hurricane damage, like that done by Hurricane Irene last year, and earthquakes as well. The Plan contains many maps that will be useful in comprehensive planning and the siting of municipal facilities, she added. The County has become the lead agency because “several communities were very nervous because they had problems with their comprehensive plans and wanted the County to lead,” she said. Von der Heide has prepared the resolution that the Legislature will adopt after it has completed the SEQR process at its next meeting on June 12.
Mortgage Tax Distribution
A resolution providing for the distribution of mortgage tax was passed at this session. The Rensselaer County Clerk has paid the Chief Fiscal Officer $1,495,700.25 which represents the local share of mortgage tax collection for the period October 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012. This is a decrease of $174,195.89 from the same period last year. The sum is due and owing to the cities, towns and villages of Rensselaer County. Municipalities in eastern Rensselaer County will receive the following amounts:
current last year
Berlin $12,751.31 $21,308.04
Brunswick $159,886.80 $209,621.97
Grafton $20,901.87 $28,674.50
Hoosick $28,855.92 $36,323.56
Village of Hoosick Falls $5,996.62 $7,505.27
Nassau $37,626.62 $40,960.14
Village of Nassau $4,051.11 $4,876.81
Village of East Nassau $2,526.64 $2,768.71
Petersburgh $5,879.92 $9,053.99
Pittstown $51,311.42 $54,484.70
Poestenkill $61,456.96 $65,218.25
Sand Lake $118,483.59 $141,419
Stephentown $71,553.54 $23,533.27[/private]