Still Looking Into The Town Hall Break In
By Thaddeus Flint
The latest news on the break-in at the New Lebanon Town Hall is that there is no new news on the break-in, it was reported at the October 10th Town Board meeting. Security for the building, however, is being beefed up in an effort to prevent such wrongdoings in the future.
While the investigation of the September 21st incident continues, the Town is still not releasing any new information, said Town Supervisor Colleen Teal. The only update was that State Police are looking into a “particular incident that may have similarities,” said Teal, adding that “we will prosecute” those involved.
The Board then voted, with all in favor, of spending a little less than $2,000 to update the alarm system at the Town Hall. Details of the updates will not be provided here in the interest of the Town’s security. Delinquents will have to start putting the time in attending Town Board meetings if they want the inside scoop on such particulars.
There is a theory, called the Broken Window Theory, which more or less states that by remedying areas of blight early on, towns and cities can further reduce future escalation of such problems. While the Town Hall is no longer in the blighted state it was just a few years back, there are other properties in New Lebanon which sit in some disrepair and perhaps attract the sort of nitwits who break into government buildings.
New York State seems to recognize the benefit of getting such properties out of the weeds and back on to the tax rolls, and, with a program called the “Restore New York Communities Initiative”, is offering funding to do just that.
“I encourage local governments to apply for funding, as it supports the demolition and rehabilitation of blighted properties to improve our neighborhoods, entice new investment, and support a stronger, more prosperous New York for all,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in an August press release.
Supervisor Teal told her fellow Board members that she would like to look into that program with the hopes of possibly seeing three properties in the Town (one just southwest of the West Street on Route 20, a garage across from the Elementary School, and a property across Route 20 from the Country Squire hardware store) rehabbed.
The Board agreed that the Supervisor could send a “letter of intent” to the State as the first step in the process of seeing if any or all of these properties might qualify from some kind of aid.
“All this does is open a window,” added Teal. “It in no way obligates us” to follow through with an application, which would be due mid-December.
Increasing civic pride and feelings of community have also been shown to decrease incidents of vandalism and other acts of doltish feeble-mindedness. Supervisor Teal and the Board were already working toward that goal this summer with Music In The Park, which appears to have been a success. With that in mind, Teal is proposing to add “Theatre In The Park” next summer. A non-profit theatre group “with lots of experience” has offered to put on at least two performances at Shatford Park in 2018. There would be no charge to the Town itself, with costs of the performances offset by a “small fee” paid by attendees, said Teal. The idea was readily endorsed by the Board, with Councilman Kevin Smith putting forth the suggestion that vendors be allowed at performances to sell food and beverages. “It will draw more people,” said Smith. Councilman Mark Baumli noted that inviting food trucks to such events has been very successful lately.
Food in the park, at least when it came to the Town’s Little League, has been a bit of a sore subject lately. Councilman Baumli found himself scrubbing out a fryolator at the Little League’s Snack Shack one weekend this Fall, probably wondering how many other elected officials around the State were doing the same as the last drops of political romance (were there any to begin with) disappeared down a grease trap. The Board of the Little League seems to have disbanded before the Fall cleaning took place, and, as the buildings sit on the Town’s land, Baumli was one of several who volunteered to go down and get things back into order.
The sole remaining Little League Board member, Ashley Saviano, was on hand to report that she hoped “to have a new Board in place by February” and that it was the Little League’s intent to now have better communication with the Town. “We just want to know what to do to move forward,” said Saviano.
Teal pointed out that communication between the Little League and the Town had fallen off in the last ten years or so, but that nobody was being blamed. The point is, indeed, to go forward. “We’ll bumble through this together,” said the Supervisor.
“We are here to support you,” added Councilman Smith.
Baumli, however, was still of the opinion that just a few parents like Saviano couldn’t do all the work themselves. “If you can bring your kids to Little League, you can donate some time,” said Baumli, who remembered playing on that team himself as a child and seeing a much larger input from parents then.
The night began with a presentation by Fiona Lally of the Shaker Swamp Conservancy. The Conservancy is moving forward with trail construction into that wetland, as well as signage, parking at the former Lenny’s, and an information kiosk. Bridges, boardwalks, and longer paths, as well as State Funding, are envisioned for the future, said Lally, who noted that a similar type nature area, the Constitution Marsh near Cold Spring, NY, brings in 8,000 visitors a years. A public information meeting on the Shaker Swamp is scheduled for Saturday, November 11th, at 3pm at the Library.
Correction: In the September 28th Eastwick Press article on the September New Lebanon Town Board meeting, it was inaccurately reported that Town’s dump has been closed. According to Councilman Baumli, this isn’t true. While the previous Town Supervisor, Mike Benson, did arrange an agreement with Columbia County for a monetary amount to be used to permanently close the dump in the future, that closure has yet to happen. Baumli, for one, wonders if the amount agreed upon will be enough to actually pay for all the costs. “It could come back to bite us in the future,” Baumli said