The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Rensselaer County

Make Your New Year’s Resolution Now! Sign Up For A Tutor Training Workshop

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Make your New Year’s resolution now and start making a difference in the life of a learner. Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County’s winter 2015 Tutor Training Workshop will begin at 9:30 am, Saturday, January 10, at the HVCC Viking Child Care Center.  If you would like to be a tutor, please come to a one hour volunteer opportunities information session on Saturday, December 6, at 9:30 am in the HVCC Viking Child Care Center, DCC Room BO5, Williams Road, Troy.

For more information and to register, call Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County at 274-8526 or see our events calendar at www.lvorc.org.

Rensselaer Land Trust Annual Meeting

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Please join Rensselaer Land Trust (RLT) at its annual meeting on Saturday, December 6, from 8:30 to 11:30 am at Brown’s Brewing Co., Revolution Hall, Troy. The keynote speaker will be Tom Lake, presenting “Climate Change: We’ve Been Here Before!”

In the first half of the meeting learn about the RLT’s exciting 2014 accomplishments for land conservation and watershed protection in Rensselaer County. Over 150 community members will also be inducted into RLT’s new Blue Bird Society for their continued loyalty and support to RLT over the last decade.

The second half of the meeting will include a lecture by Tom Lake, NYSDEC Hudson River Estuary Program naturalist. Lake’s talk will bring guests back to earlier times in human history when severe climate change forced life on Earth to either adapt or become extinct. From Ice Ages to severe droughts, climate extremes have long been the catalyst for human change.

The Brown’s Brewing Co. breakfast buffet costs $15 per person. Please RSVP to Julie@renstrust.org or online at www.renstrust.org.

Route 7 At Tibbetts Forest Claims Another Truck

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by Steve Bradley

A Missouri registered tractor trailer lost control negotiating a turn and overturned in Tibbetts State Forest Wednesday morning. The accident happened about one-quarter mile east of the Man of Kent pub.

The driver of the truck, who appeared to be in his forties, was shaken up and had some lacerations to his head but walked a short distance from the truck to waiting Hoosick Falls Rescue Squad personnel.

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NYSDOT Completes Rumble Strips On Route 7

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submitted by Bryan Viggiani, NYSDOT 

New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald announced the completion of a project to install rumble strips on a curving three-mile stretch of Route 7 in the Town of Hoosick.

“Safety is our top priority and these new rumble strips will help keep drivers in their lanes along this rural stretch of Route 7,” Commissioner McDonald said. “Rumble strips in the center of the highway and on its shoulders are providing motorists with an additional measure of safety, audibly warning them if they begin to stray off the side of the road or into the oncoming lane of traffic.”

NYSDOT this summer completed a $2.9 million project to mill and repave segments of Route 7 to smooth the driving surface.

To further increase safety on this major route for local residents and truckers traveling between New York State and Vermont, NYSDOT also installed rumble strips on three miles of Route 7 between Babcock Lake Road and Route 22. The rumble strips – also called audible roadway delineators – were installed down the center yellow line of the highway and along the road’s shoulder.

This stretch of Route 7 curves through mountainous terrain along the Shingle Hollow Creek through Tibbets State Forrest. NYSDOT conducted a traffic safety review there in 2013 and installed additional warning signs to alert motorists of the curving and hilly nature of the road. The new rumble strips complement that by providing another level of safety for travelers.

When a vehicle’s tires roll over rumble strips, an audible warning – a rumbling sound – is emitted to alert the motorist that he or she is leaving the driving lane. Rumble strips also cause the vehicle to vibrate. Centerline rumble strips, which are placed along or near the yellow pavement markings that divide opposite-direction travel lanes, are designed to reduce head-on and sideswipe crashes.

Shoulder rumble strips are designed to warn drivers that they are straying off the road and should correct their course.

Rumble strips also help combat distracted driving and can alert drivers to lane limits when weather conditions reduce driver visibility.

The rumble strips along Route 7 cost approximately $48,000.

Boots And Bridles Elects Officers

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submitted by Allison Acton, Boots & Bridles News Reporter

The Boots and Bridles 4H club held its October meeting on October 18 in Berlin.  Officers for the 2014-2015 club year were elected as follows: President – Emma Woolley, Vice President – Shelly Davis, Secretary – Christina Shupe, Treasurer – Aidan Czub, Club Historian – Molly Czub, News Reporter – Alli Acton.

The Club’s activity for the day was learning about bees, beekeeping and honey extraction.  Club members saw a demonstration of honey extraction, dipped beeswax candles, made beeswax lip balm and bottled raw natural honey.  Many thanks to our presenters!

Many members of Boots and Bridles also attended the Rensselaer County 4H Horse Program end of year banquet held in Poestenkill on October 25.  Several members earned multiple honors and achievements.

The next club meeting will be held on November 22 in Johnsonville, when members will complete a craft project which can be entered in the upcoming 4H Winter Fair.

Rensselaer County Legislature – Eastwick Residents Commended And Memorialized

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by Kieron Kramer

The Rensselaer County Legislature held its November regular meeting on Wednesday evening instead of the usual Tuesday because of the Veterans Day Holiday. Three resolutions commending Eastwick residents for their achievements were presented as was a resolution in memory of Berlin’s Maurice L. “Kipper” Maxon.

Most town supervisors, who are in the throes of developing the 2015 town budgets while paring down the property tax levy increases, will be interested in the resolution providing for the distribution of mortgage tax to the towns.

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Open House Meeting On Rensselaer County’s New Flood Map

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Rensselaer County residents and community officials are invited to attend an informational meeting on Tuesday, November 18, on the new flood maps being developed for portions of the County. New maps have been developed for communities along the Hoosic River, including the Towns of Hoosick, Pittstown and Schaghticoke and the Villages of Hoosick Falls, Valley Falls and Schaghticoke.

The meeting will be hosted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), which are developing the new maps.  State and federal representatives will be on hand at this public meeting from 4 to 8 pm at the HAYC3 Armory, Perry Room, 80 Church Street, Hoosick Falls.

Although there will not be any formal presentations at the  meeting, State and federal representatives will be available to help residents identify flood risks and discuss risk reduction and flood insurance options with property owners.  Residents may stop in at any time during the open house to meet individually with FEMA or State officials.

“We encourage people to attend the open house to learn more about the process of developing new flood maps and how this may affect them,” FEMA’s Regional Mitigation Director Michael Moriarty said.

The new maps are the result of Map Modernization, a five year, $1 billion Congressionally directed program to provide updated, digitized flood maps for 92 percent of the nation’s population.  The mapping project is part of a long term FEMA floodplain mapping process.

Residents of the remapped communities can check their flood plain status on the new, preliminary flood map at their municipal offices or online.  The FEMA website for the new maps and mapping information is http://www.msc.fema.gov.

If a property is located in the high risk flood zone, there is a Congressionally mandated flood insurance requirement for all structures that have a mortgage with a federally regulated lender or have a federally backed mortgage.  In addition, all County and local public buildings located in that flood zone must carry flood insurance to fully qualify for Federal Disaster Assistance.

If you are outside of the high-risk flood zone on your community’s current flood map but are inside the zone on the preliminary map, you may purchase initial flood insurance coverage through a low-cost Preferred Risk Policy (PRP).  Any resident or business within a municipality that participates in the National Flood Insurance Program may purchase a flood insurance policy even if the property is outside of the highest risk flood zone.

Woods Forum Nov. 18 In Stephentown

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Did you know that the Rensselaer Plateau is the fifth largest forest in New York State and that it is 90% forested and that those forests are 90% privately owned?

Whether its 2,200 or 200 acres, do you love your land and value your woods? Then attend a Woods Forum conducted by the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance (RPA) on Tuesday, November 18, at 7 pm at the Stephentown Historical Society, 5 Staples Road, on the corner of Staples Road and Garfield Nassau Road in Stephentown. Join fellow woodland owners and forestry professionals for a discussion on how to maintain the value of your woods for timber harvesting, recreation, wildlife and for future generations. Discuss how to care for your woods today and plan for its future. Talk with and hear about the experiences of other landowners. Attendees will receive a copy of the new Guide for Landowners intended to help landowners find information in the recently published Rensselaer Plateau Regional Conservation Plan that is useful to them. Both of these resources and much more are now on the RPA website at http://rensselaerplateau.org/RensselaerPlateau/ConservationPlan.aspx. Refreshments will be served. Please call Sarah Parks at 302-584-7748 for additional information.

Wesley Edwards Retirement Reception

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by David Flint

“I don’t think there’s another one in the State,” said Dennis Quinn, President of the New York State Magistrates Association when presenting a 50 year service pin to Wesley Edwards. The occasion was a retirement reception held at the Stephentown Fire Hall on Sunday, November 2, to honor Edwards, who at the end of the year will step down from the bench, having completed actually 51 years as judge in Stephentown.

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2014 Eastwick Election Results

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by David Flint

The General Election race for Governor reflected the earlier results of the Democratic Primary in which Governor Cuomo won against Zephyr Teachout statewide but did poorly in the Eastwick area and in upstate generally. In Tuesday’s election Cuomo defeated Republican challenger Rob Astorino taking 54% of the vote. All of the Eastwick towns, however preferred Astorino who won in Grafton with 67% and even squeaked by in New Lebanon with 47%. [Read more…] about 2014 Eastwick Election Results