The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

East Nassau

New Accessible Trail and Sensory Nature Trail

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at Albert Family Community Forest

Hudson Taconic Lands, formerly Rensselaer Plateau Alliance and Rensselaer Land Trust, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, Nov 15th in celebration of a new accessible trail and sensory nature trail at Albert Family Community Forest in East Nassau. On a sunny, crisp morning, elected officials, community members, and those who made the project possible gathered at the head of the trails. Following short speeches and cutting a "ribbon" made of hemlock boughs, the group took a walk on the new trails. 

 The Pileated Pathway Equal Access Trail is a 4,000 ft round-trip Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant trail. It features two wheelchair-accessible picnic tables and a wetland overlook. The adjacent Sensory Nature Trail was designed for people of all ages with sensory differences such as autism. It includes interactive stations to help people connect with nature through their senses. 

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East Nassau Board Highlights

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by Denise Wright
The November 13th East Nassau Board meeting focused primarily on a community event and Climate Smart Committee issues.

Approval of the minutes was tabled but after the treasurer's report was approved, code enforcement reported that two new permits and one inspection were completed for the month. Mayor Martin reported to the Department of Public Works that she received a call that a tree had fallen and was partially blocking Hayes Road. Superintendent Doug Dobert was going to check it out after the meeting. He did report that speed bumps on Hayes Road were going to be removed for the season in the next week.

The annual cookie contest was discussed. The contest was held on November 17th. Trustee and Historian Tom Kernan reported that he was very appreciative of the gift giving that community members have provided for the event.

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East Nassau Board of Trustees Highlights

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by Denise Wright
The October 9th East Nassau Board meeting was busy and productive. After the treasurer's report and minutes were approved, Mayor Elisa Martin informed the board that the price for the village's website has increased to $1,525 this year and will be $1,275 next year. The difference this year was attributed to a website outage that necessitated the provider adding some updates to get the website functional again.

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East Nassau Town Board Highlights

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by Denise Wright
The September 11th meeting for the East Nassau Board was relatively brief, but business was still occurring. The meeting opened with the approval of the treasurer's report and August minutes. According to the building department's report, a property on Webster Hill Road has a sale pending. A permit and a site inspection were issued for a property on State Route 66 after a new owner's renovation was completed. A permit was issued for the roof on a property on Route 20, and two other permits on Dunham Hollow Road and also on Route 20 are pending. The building inspector also held a consult on a property on Tayer Road.

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Repair Cafe

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Submitted by Cara Humphrey
On Saturday, September 14th, the Columbia NE Repair Cafe will hold its next event at the Columbia County Climate Carnival in the Fairgrounds, 182 Hudson Ave, from 11 am to 3 pm. Community members are invited to bring their broken items to be repaired by skilled neighbors at no cost.

Expert repair coaches will be on hand to demonstrate how to fix a variety of items, including clocks, lamps, lawn mowers, other small motors, clothing, textiles, jewelry, small wood furniture, and more. Please note, all clothing or textiles must be clean, and one item per person.

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Beyond Plastics Course Educates Residents

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Written and Submitted by Susie Laier
These are the reportings from an interview with three people who took the Beyond Plastics course via Zoom this spring. Two of these individuals are Climate Smart volunteers from the Village of East Nassau, Lydia Davis and Judith Rusch. The third is a concerned citizen from Stephentown, Janet Ivory. The course consisted of seven two-hour classes taught by Judith Enck, a long-time environmental activist and head of Beyond Plastics, an organization based in Bennington, Vermont. The first hour of each class presented different topics concerning plastics and pollution. The second hour was open to questions.

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East Nassau Board of Trustees Highlights

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by Denise Wright
The August 14th meeting of the East Nassau Board of Trustees was busy. It discussed a recurring problem in the village: speeding on Tayer Road.

After approving the treasurer's report and the July minutes, a discussion about a speeding problem on Tayer Road occurred. A resident attended the meeting and requested that the village consider placing speed bumps on the road because speeding has become frequent and dangerous.

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Battling Invasive Plants

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Written and Submitted by Lydia Davis
Recently, the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance and the Village of East Nassau's Climate Smart Committee co-hosted a work session to remove invasive plant species from the Village's Albert Family Community Forest, a peaceful 353-acre preserve established six years ago and extending over parts of East Nassau and Stephentown. After a land acknowledgment led by RPA's Volunteer Coordinator Kim Murdick, volunteers watched closely as Stewardship Manager and invasive plants expert Andrew Schwitzgebel showed us how to identify by leaf shape, growth pattern, and texture three of the worst: Japanese Barberry, Japanese Honeysuckle, and Multiflora Rose. These invasive plants, all imported to the U.S. at different times for then-laudable reasons—screening, erosion control, horticultural assets—have spread aggressively in our native woods to crowd out more beneficial native plants.

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Solar Project for Village

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Submitted by Susie Laier
The Climate Smart Committee of East Nassau hosted a very informative talk about solar energy on Thursday, July 18th, at the Hoags Corners Ambulance Hall. The speaker, Bill Jennings from Stephentown, shared with those in attendance the story of the success of the Community Solar Project in Stephentown, which he managed. Bill explained how the program works by partnering with any one of several solar farms to provide energy customers with discounts on their energy costs. The program requires

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East Nassau Village Board Highlights

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by Denise Wright
On July 10th, the Village of East Nassau held a brief board meeting and efficiently completed its monthly business.

The treasurer reported that she has received approximately $30,000 in property taxes so far this year. She asked the board to submit any requests by the Monday before the monthly meetings so she would be able to prepare invoices in a timely manner. The board also approved the treasurer's purchase of return envelopes to improve communications with residents.

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