by Kieron Kramer
At the Rensselaer County Legislative meeting on January 13, District 5 Legislator, and Vice Chairman of the Legislature, Stan Brownell presented Hoosick Falls Central School Head Football Coach Ron Jones with copies of the resolution, suitably engrossed, commending the HFCS Football Team on a Championship Season. In his introduction Chairman of the Legislature Martin Reid emphasized, “Another Championship Season.” The resolution was passed at the December 9 meeting of the Legislature. [private]Jones was the only representative of the team to appear in the well of the Legislature this month. Most of his scholar athlete players are multi-sport athletes and were participating in basketball and wrestling contests on Tuesday, according to Brownell.
Brownell made a series of comments but did not read the resolution. He said that being District 5 Legislators, he and Lester Goodermote “get picked on for honoring Hoosick Falls football all the time, but it’s that important.” He said that the team starts in the spring with weight lifting and training. “Their whole destiny started in the Carrier Dome [referring to a pre-season exhibition game this year] and ended in the Carrier Dome [in the State Championship game]. The guys made that reality.” Brownell went on to say, “Coach Jones, the assistant coaches and the kids have put Hoosick Falls on the map. It’s about the kids, and the kids work hard.”
To Coach Jones Brownell said, “I can’t say enough about your program which has put the Capital District on the map, not just the County or Hoosick Falls. What they [the kids] are going to remember about this experience is unsurmountable. They will be talking to their kids and grandkids about what they accomplished – as a team. We are proud of you and what you have done for our community.”
Brownell ended by saying, “I like your tie.” To which the Coach said, “The kids gave it to me.”
For his part Coach Ron Jones said, “Thank you for recognizing us; it’s quite an honor. It’s a great testament to our players, who work so hard. They started their second sport two weeks late. We are surrounded by great assistant coaches, and we have great support from our school. So many people go into making a good football program. It is humbling to be here.”
The resolution that passed on December 9 says, “It is consistent with the duty of this Legislative Body to recognize the contributions and achievements of the fine youth of Rensselaer County, particularly for scholastic or athletic ability…The Hoosick Falls High School Football team is deserving of such praise and recognition; this team finished its season with an impressive record of twelve wins and one loss.”
According to the resolution the Panthers Team captured the 2014 Section II Class C North Division Championship Title, the Section II Class C Championship Title, the New York State Class C Regional Championship Title and were New York State Class C Finalists this year.
The resolution says, “The members of the Panthers Football team, under the guidance of Head Coach Ron Jones, Assistant Coaches Chris Fleming, Eammon DeGraaf, Jake Colliano, Mark Folgert, Andrew Morin, Craig Burdo and Ted Drew are Evan McCart, Noah Conety-McGhee, Remington Hickey, Alexis Mendez, Brandon Decker, Donald Disorda, Anthony Hurlburt, Adam Mann, Aaron Tomczak, Wyatt Cushman, Wright Garrett, Colby Davendonis, Austin Pitt, Noah LaBarge, Cody Humphrey, Cole Votra, Tristan Hunt, Jonathan McCart, Jacob Restino, Chad Miner, Mark Hackett, Connor McCart, Charles Yavaniski, Jacob Bakaitis, Michael Sprague, Shayne Richard, Evan Hand, Sean Yeung, Michael Bernard, Nicholas Perry, lan Carknard, Logan Hoyt, Alex Hull, Devon Fitzpatrick, Evan Davendonis, Jonathan Bossoni, Jacob Pine, Tegan Wood, Kellan Skott, Robert Richard, Pascal Wilkins, Bryan Thomas, Theodore Brogue, Shane Barss, Stuart McCune, Joshua Wood, Rhyse Cross, Joseph Guerin, Dawson Bevis, Damon Dubois, Drew Hoag and Eric Laki.”
“The Rensselaer County Legislature commends and offers congratulations to the coaches, team members, family and supporters of a team well deserving of praise and recognition.”
Local Snowmobile Clubs Get Money To Maintain Trails
The Legislature passed a resolution on January 13 authorizing the Rensselaer County Executive to execute snowmobile trail grant agreements with the Rensselaer County Snoriders, Inc., Grafton Trail Blazers, Inc., Hoosick Trail Masters, Inc., Black River Raiders Snowmobile Club, Inc. and Stephentown Trail Riders. The clubs will receive contracts in the following amounts:
• Rensselaer County Snoriders, Inc., Schaghticoke – $10,710
• Grafton Trail Blazers, Inc. – $12,600
• Hoosick Trail Masters, Inc. – $3,465
• Black River Raiders Snowmobile Club, Inc., Sand Lake – $3,465
• Stephentown Trail Riders – $2,835.
These amounts are only slightly more than the amended amounts allocated last year.
The resolution says that the State of New York provides Snowmobile Trail Grant funding annually to municipalities and their snowmobile trail clubs to maintain snowmobile trails open to all snowmobilers. The County of Rensselaer, together with its snowmobile trail clubs, has applied for and received funding for the maintenance of snowmobile trails in the towns of Berlin, Grafton, Hoosick, Pittstown and Schaghticoke. This grant is totally State funded and will produce no fiscal impact to the County. The purpose is to provide recreational opportunities for County residents.
Shared Services Agreements
The Legislature approved a resolution at the January 13 legislative meeting to continue a shared services agreement between the County and several municipalities for snow and ice removal. The agreements for plowing and sanding services in 2015 are with the towns of Brunswick, East Greenbush, Petersburgh, Poestenkill, Schaghticoke and Schodack and the City of Troy, all for the period of October 1, 2014, through April 30, 2015.
The County will pay a combined amount of $80,000 to the involved towns. The resolution also enables an agreement with Troy for snow plowing and ice removal, with the County providing road striping services for the city. The shared services agreement for snow and ice removal has been enacted for a number of years.
Zwack A Sole Source For Heavy Equipment Repairs
The County Highway Department has established that various manufacturers of heavy duty equipment have restricted the distribution of parts and authorized factory service through certain vendors within a reasonable geographic area of the County Highway Department thereby eliminating any opportunity to obtain competitive quotes for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts and authorized service. The County Highway Department must maintain its heavy equipment and make repairs, often without delay, in order to keep County highways and bridges in good repair for use. Zwack, Inc. of Stephentown was designated as the sole supplier of Everest and CompuSpread heavy equipment repairs for a limit of estimated expenditures in the amount of $15,000 for each company.
Replacement Of County Route 111 Bridge Over The Hoosic River Approved
The Rensselaer County Legislature approved a series of resolutions in support of a project to replace the County Route 111 bridge over the Hoosic River. The project is anticipated to start this spring. The Legislature has passed a series of resolution in recent months in support of the project.
County Route 111 is also known as the Pittstown-Johnsonville Road, carrying motorists over the Hoosic River. The bridge has been closed for several months after structural issues were discovered during required inspection.
The first resolution deals with the State Marchiselli funding and federal funding for the project. A second resolution authorizes a construction contract with Bette & Cring of Latham for the project, and a third resolution authorizes required construction inspection services to be performed by Greenman-Pedersen Inc. of Albany.[/private]