The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Local News

Grafton’s Cabin Fever at GLSP 

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by Amy Modesti
Extreme cold? Check. Swimmers in crazy costumes jumping into Long Pond? Check. Petting huskies, Newfoundlands, bloodhounds, exotic animals and horses? Check. What do all these things symbolize? Cabin Fever! 

Single digit temperatures didn’t stop visitors from attending and taking part in this year’s Cabin Fever at Grafton Lakes State Park (GLSP). Gutsy swimmers dressed in costumes, active wear and bathing suits braved the elements to dive into

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Man Charged With Drug and Weapons Possession in Brunswick

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Submitted by the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office

On Tuesday, January 25, the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at 659 Church Street in the Town of Brunswick. The search warrant yielded an amount of methamphetamine, U.S. currency and several firearms. The Deputies report Kenneth R. Lozo, 36, was arrested and charged with:

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Berlin Central School District Board Meeting

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Contradictory Information

by Chris Tergliafera

At the January 18 regular meeting of the Berlin Central School District Board, Superintendent Joseph Dhara discussed some contradictory information the District has received from the State of New York regarding contact tracing for COVID-19. The State is telling schools they no longer need to contact trace, however they also told districts they need to do their due diligence and notify parents when their child has come in close contact with someone who is infected, which would require contact tracing. The District will look to get some clarification on the matter.

In other COVID-19 news, the number of days required to quarantine after being in close contact with someone who’s tested positive has been reduced from ten to five.

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Grafton Town Council and RPA Go Face to Face

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by Doug La Rocque

After several members of the Town Council expressed surprise about the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance’s (RPA) plans to open a Community Forest on land situated between Stuffle Street and Foster Road, the Council invited RPA Executive Director Jim Bonesteel to their Workshop meeting on Monday, January 24 to explain what the Community Forest is and answer their questions. And many questions there were.

School Loses Out

As to whether the Town would lose tax revenue on this land purchase (the RPA is a not-for-profit entity) the answer is yes and no. While the 394-acre parcel would apparently go off the tax roles, the RPA’s governing body has voted to make annual payments to the Town in lieu of taxes. According to Mr. Bonesteel, these would be paid to the Town’s general and highway funds as well as the fire department. Not included in this so-called PILOT program are the Berlin and Brunswick School Districts or Rensselaer County. They would apparently lose their tax revenue on this parcel.

Traffic and Parking

One of the concerns brought forth at the regular Town Council meeting two weeks ago was

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Agriculture Education Is Popular at HFCS

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by Alex Brooks

High School Teacher Brandon Trinkle gave a presentation on new agriculture education programs to the Hoosick Falls School Board at its January 20 meeting. Trinkle was hired as a business teacher, but has also offered agricultural classes this year, and the student response has been enthusiastic. 80 to 100 students are in agriculture classes this year. Trinkle has also revived the Future Farmers of America (FFA) at Hoosick Falls and there are about 30 students involved in that. The District has secured a grant

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Tamarac Boys Basketball #1 in the State

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by Doug La Rocque

A mere three weeks ago, those in the Wasaren League knew the Tamarac Boys Varsity Basketball team was good; now the entire State knows it. In a tournament in Rome, NY, the Bengals defeated what was then the top team in the whole State, Utica Academy of Science. Since then, they have also knocked off one of the perennial basketball powers in the Capital Region, the Class AA Shaker Bison. That and their continued dominance in the league has made people take notice, so much so that in the weekly ratings of all teams in the State (including parochial and New York City schools) the Bengals were labeled

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One New PFOA Sample Found in Residential Property in Poestenkill

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Contributed by Rensselaer County

An eighth round of sampling of properties in Poestenkill for PFOA has been concluded, with one new property found to have above State-permitted levels, County officials announced on Tuesday.

Twelve properties were sampled during the eighth round of testing. Samples were taken from Weatherwax Road and locations that had been previously offered sampling from around the area of the middle school. 

Of the twelve samples, six showed non-detections and five showed detections of PFOA/PFOS below the State maximum contaminant level standards for public drinking water, along with the one over the MCL.

With the conclusion of the eighth round of testing, a source for the contamination has

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Tom Berry Appointed to Petersburgh Town Board 

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by Alex Brooks

At its January meeting, the Petersburgh Town Board took up the question of appointing someone to the vacant Town Board seat that was created when Katie Murray resigned it in order to take the Supervisor position. The position was advertised in The Eastwick Press on December 24, and the Town received two letters of interest from citizens interested in serving on the Town Board. These were Tom Berry and Deidra Michaels. Both have a great deal of experience in Town government, as Berry served two years on the Town Board and Michaels was the Town Clerk for many years.

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No Takers at Solar Construction Public Hearing in Brunswick

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by Doug La Rocque

The Thursday, January 13 Brunswick Town Council meeting opened with a public hearing on a request from CVE North America for a required zoning change to permit the construction of a commercial solar complex at the end of Belair Lane. CVE is asking that two parcels of land involved in the overall plat be changed to include an agricultural overlay, which would then permit a solar installation. No one spoke for or against the idea. The Council must now consider whether to permit the zoning change before the Brunswick Planning Board can move ahead with the site plan consideration.

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