Corkscrew Rail Trail Remains A Highly Debated Subject
By Thaddeus Flint
If the saying “beating a dead horse” were a reality, New Lebanon would be littered with their carcasses.
But first the good news. The parking lot of the Town Hall was chock full of the State Troopers and Sheriff’s Deputies for the last Tuesday, April 10 Town Board meeting. They had arrived early and taken most of the choice parking spots, so residents were out back parking by the snow plows. The reason, it turned out, was for what Town Supervisor Colleen Teal called “a very special event” and not as some probably imagined, a particularly rowdy session re-discussing that flashpoint subject, the Corkscrew Rail Trail.
On February 9 of this year, Deputies and Troopers were called to the residence of Barry Chuck who was in the throes of a heart attack. Deputy Ian Boehme, and Troopers Benjamin Hayes, William Vick and Jason Christie “performed CPR and defibrillated Mr. Chuck until Chatham rescue arrived,” said Teal. For such “dedicated and distinguished service” the Town of New Lebanon was now honoring these men for saving Chuck’s life. And it gets better. As the Supervisor presented each with a Certificate of Appreciation, Barry Chuck–looking healthy and spry—was following along with her. “Thank you for saving my life,” Chuck said as he shook each man’s hand, “thank you for saving my life.”
Idiomatic horses should be so lucky. Councilman Mark Baumli started things off with a return to the rail trail and a property on Lovers Lane. As Baumli missed the March meeting due to a car accident, he later listened to the recording of the meeting and found that his name was brought up quite a few times when the rail trail was discussed. The meeting, which Baumli noted ran to around 3 hours, was “one of the most unorganized, unprofessional meetings I have ever been to or heard” in the forty years of his going to Town Board meetings. Anyone who has regularly attended New Lebanon meetings has probably seen some real doozies over the years, but they tended to at least be shorter in nature. Three hours seems to be the new two-hour meeting, which was already the new hour-and-a-half meeting, which had replaced the usual hour-long meeting a long time ago. Baumli noted that during the rail trail discussion, residents spoke “multiple times” and “commented on other people’s comments,” before the subject came back to the Board. And then there were more comments as the Board tried to discuss it. “I would have put a stop to that,” Baumli said. That this April 10 meeting ran to almost three hours again, with the rail trail and 16 Lovers Lane beaten to a pulp once more, it would be difficult to see how it could have been stopped. However, Baumli went on to say that he would have skipped going to the hospital and come to the April meeting if he knew that the matter was going to be voted on, which it was, but he went to the hospital because, according to him, the Supervisor sent him a text saying nothing would happen.
Something did happen. A vote was taken and it was a tie with Supervisor Teal and Councilman Norman Rasmussen for telling Columbia County that New Lebanon was in favor of 16 Lover’s Lane going to the rail trail people and Councilmen Kevin Smith and Jesse Newton voting against. So that information was sent to the County along with all the comments people made, which were largely in favor of the trail.
Councilman Smith stated that the Board was “ambushed” by the well-organized rail trail supporters who “stacked” the meeting, even though the agenda for the March 13 meeting was sent out and posted publicly March 9 by Tistrya Houghtling, the Town Clerk, for everyone to read.
Never the less, the whole matter is going to happen all over again, again, at a Public Discussion this May.
The tentative date is the 17th, but that might change depending on the venue which will not be in the Town Hall because a large portion of the Town is expected and the Town can’t fit into the Town Hall. Corkscrew Rail Trail member Bruce Shenker wanted to know if everyone had to come again who had already been at the March meeting. Supervisor Teal said that the comments and letters—close to 200—were already forwarded to the County, so, no, in theory they don’t have to come back. However, the minutes of the future meeting will probably show a pretty lopsided discussion if they don’t return. A vote was taken and passed, to once again contact the County and let them know New Lebanon is still mulling things over about mulling things over, and will be mulling it more for months to come. Shenker was flummoxed. “So you are asking the Board of Supervisors to not concur with two unanimous votes of two of its committees?”
“Yes,” replied Councilman Rasmussen in a tone, which highlighted the apparent ridiculousness of that decision, one he voted against.
Things do get accomplished in New Lebanon and sometimes it is for the better that they are discussed over and over again.
A case in point is the basketball court rebuild. This has been going on for years with nothing in the way of construction ever happening. Last August the Town went out to bid and received only one bid for $75,400. The decision was made to wait and go at it again in Spring. Well, its Spring and the Board has saved over $14,000 by doing nothing. New bids were received which ranged from $84,750 to $61,000 from L. Browe Asphalt Services of East Greenbush. Browe’s bid was so low compared to the three others received, that the Town’s Engineer, Paul McCreary contacted them and “asked point blank” is this really the bid you want to bid? Browe said yes, and McCreary said he was “comfortable” hiring them. A vote found all in favor of Browe rebuilding the tennis courts.
New York State Department of Transportation could even learn a thing or two from New Lebanon. Instead, they seem to be waiting for Route 22 in New Lebanon to completely disintegrate before rebuilding. NYSDOT has labelled that piece of highway a “level 6,” said Supervisor Teal, which is the “worst condition possible.” Apparently NYSDOT feels the population of the area is too low to warrant fixing it, seemingly oblivious to the amount of people using it from downstate. The Supervisor says she is contacting US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, State Senator Kathy Marchione, and even Governor Andrew Cuomo to see if something can’t be done. In the meantime, “you’d be crazy to drive a small car to New Lebanon,” says Town Highway Superintendent Jeff Winestock. “You could be killed.”