The race for the District 2 seat in the county legislature, to be vacated by incumbent Joe Maloney, is both complicated and well-populated. The first stage of it takes place this coming Tuesday, June 25, with a number of primaries.
By at 4-0 vote, with one abstention, the Saugerties Town Board voted to replace the deteriorating roof and walls of the Kiwanis Ice Arena, for an estimated $1.3 million. Construction is expected to begin in a month and to be completed in September.
Clad in shorts and helmets, cops on bicycles may seem to be less intimidating than officers strapped into police cars, but apparently that is considered one of the advantages of bike patrols. After watching officers train, learning to quickly navigate stairs and apprehend violent individuals on two wheels, a bystander may rethink their preconceptions.
Four-term incumbent county legislator Mary Wawro will be challenged this November by fresh-faced Aaron Levine, a 30-year-old Blue Mountain resident who is seeking the endorsement of the Democratic and Working Families parties.
Village Planning Board members seemed wary of a proposal for an AutoZone branch at 298 Ulster Ave., questioning developers on how they would design the building to fit into its suburban surroundings and whether the site’s driveway would worsen traffic conditions in its proximity. Whether or not the addition would jeopardize the “harmony of the village” was discussed at length.
Barge concert planned; board decides against request to change zoning for Teetsel St. townhouses; sole bid for sidewalk project received higher than amount budgeted; master plan update funding; new village information booth.
Critics painted the proposal as unnecessary, and likely to have unforeseen impacts on contractors, gun clubs, businesses, schools and other groups.
Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum made the proposal in the waning days of his administration last year. But, despite facing a $900,000 shortfall in projected revenues from fees paid by other agencies to house inmates at the facility, both County Executive-elect Pat Ryan and Sheriff Juan Figueroa said this week that the idea was a non-starter.
While Saugerties organizers continue planning for the third annual Hope Rocks Festival this August, two new Hope Rocks events are planned for early next month: The Hope Rocks Hardball Invitational, a high school baseball tournament on May 4; and the Hope Rocks Grand Gala, a fundraising event on May 10 with a focus on the Hope Rocks mission: To “illuminate the darkness of addiction and suicide.”
Pat Ryan scored a decisive victory — and claimed a mandate for a progressive county government — in Tuesday’s special election to fill the remainder of former county executive Mike Hein’s term.