Our roller coaster winter weather is continuing with cold temperatures and some snow last week, followed by above-freezing weather and rain this week.  It has unfortunately created very poor conditions for sledding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.  It is still early, with our larger snowfalls historically arriving in the next two months.  A reminder that the Town’s new website has a calendar of all meetings of boards and committees for the entire year.  More details are below.   

Town News & Announcements

Last Monday, the Comprehensive Plan Update Committee continued its in-depth review of draft goals and recommendations for the updated Comprehensive Plan.   At times, it was a spirited and overall very productive discussion among members, consultants, and residents.  You can watch the meeting on the Town website and also review the draft document.  Based on feedback at the meeting, the goals and recommendations will be refined by the Town’s consultant in time for the next public workshop on Monday, February 12 from 7pm to 9pm.  The workshop will have six stations for each of the updated plan’s topics, including Agriculture; Business, Employment, and Fiscal Resources; Environment, Climate Change, and Resiliency; Neighborhoods and Housing; Parks, Recreation and Historic Resources; and Transportation and Mobility.   You will be able to share your thoughts and comments on the preliminary goals and recommendations.  

A generous grant sponsored by Senator Neil Breslin has enabled the Town to take possession of two new sidewalk plows, with special attachments, including brushes that can efficiently remove small snow amounts and save money.  This acquisition allows for deploying four sidewalk plows on more than 50 miles of Town-maintained sidewalk.   The new plows also have attachments for maintaining the Town’s expanding hiking trail system.  I thank Assemblyperson Fahy for her unwavering support for our community.  

Parks & Rec is holding its third Annual Snowshoe Clinic on Sunday, February 18 from 9am to 10am at Tawasentha Park.  Please note that day and time are different this year. While there is no charge for the event, please register in advance.  You can bring your own snowshoes or rent a pair for $5.  Albany Running Exchange will have an instructor who will provide tricks for walking or running in snowshoes.  You are welcome to snowshoe around Tawasentha Park.  

At the same time as the snowshoe clinic, the Albany Running Exchange is also sponsoring the Brave the Blizzard 5K Snowshoe Race, which offers participants a low key and fun opportunity to try out snowshoeing.  If there is insufficient snow, the event is held as a trail run.   

Parks & Rec is also offering a February Break Fun-N-Games program for children in grades 1 thru 6 during the upcoming school break from Tuesday, February 20 to Friday, February 23.   The program takes place at Guilderland Elementary School from 9am to 11am, and includes warm-up tag games followed by games such as Jailbreak, Pins Down, Survivor, Basketball, Seven-Base Kickball, Indoor Soccer and more.   You can register online before Friday, February 16.  

Parks & Rec has opened reservations for Tawasentha Parks’ pavilions for the 2024 season.  Walk-in reservations (with payment) will take priority over phone, faxed or emailed reservation requests.  A Request for Use of Facilities/Know the Rules form must be submitted with payment and a signed Know the Rules form. To request booking a pavilion, residents must submit the Request for Use of Facilities/Know the Rules and full payment to the Town. Forms can be dropped off or mailed to the Guilderland Parks & Recreation Department at 181 State Route 146, Altamont, NY 12009, or faxed to 518-456-3156.  

Please remember that dogs must be kept on a leash at all times, including in Town parks, with the exception of the Nott Road dog park and the new dog park behind EMS Station 1 in Westmere.  While you may know that your dog is friendly, the Parks & Rec receives complaints from park patrons who are confronted by unleashed dogs while enjoying Town parks with their family and children. 

Tawasentha, Keenholts, DiCaprio, and Nott Road Parks are open for daytime use for the winter season.  Western Turnpike Golf Course is now also open for walkers on cart paths.  If sufficient snowfall should arrive again this winter, Parks crews are ready to groom cross-country trails at the golf course, and hopefully favorable conditions were soon return for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing at the golf course, Town parks and Vosburgh Open Space trails. Sledding is available at the Winter Recreation Area just past Tawasentha Park.  Please check out the Parks & Rec’s webpage for latest conditions.  You can also rent cross-country skis and snowshoes, and pickleball equipment (paddle and balls), at the Parks & Rec Office during business hours.

The Town has opened the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Hometown Heroes Banner Program that recognizes active duty and veteran service members, both living and deceased.  Each banner will honor a specific current or former Guilderland serviceperson and will include her or his name, branch or service, and photo. The due date for submissions is March 1, 2024.

The Town is accepting letters of interest and resumes from candidates for the position of full-time Building Maintenance Mechanic in the Building Maintenance Department. 

A reminder that Town offices will be closed for Presidents Day on Monday, February 19.  The Transfer Station will also be closed on Tuesday, February 20.

Upcoming Meetings at Town Hall

The following is a list of dates and times for currently scheduled meetings of boards and committees at Town Hall over the next 30 days.  Please check the Town’s calendars for the latest news about public meetings and community events, possible changes in agendas and cancellations, and the latest contents of agenda packets.  Each of the listed meetings start at 7pm, and, except for the CPUC’s February 12 public workshop, are livestreamed on the Town website, Verizon channel 34, and Spectrum channel 1303.  Within days of the meeting, an indexed recording, with links to each listed agenda item, is also posted online.

Conservation Advisory Council

Monday, February 5

Town Board

Tuesday, February 6

Zoning Board of Appeals

Wednesday, February 7

Comprehensive Plan Update Committee -Public Workshop

Monday, February 12

Traffic Safety Committee

Tuesday, February 13

Zoning Board of Appeals

Wednesday, February 21

Industrial Development Agency

Tuesday, February 27

Planning Board

Wednesday, February 28

COVID-19 Update

The CDC reported this week that hospitalizations nationwide decreased over the past week by 9.6% and that the death rate increased by 10.3%.  The CDC’s current map shows that after a week with a “high” rate, Albany County now has a “medium” rate.  A large part of the State, including Long Island and much of the North Country, have “high” rates.      

A reminder that the Federal government has expanded its program under which you can receive by mail free at-home COVID-19 tests.  The program now allows for eight home tests per household which means that if you recently placed an order for four tests, you can now order four additional tests at no cost.  

Community Events & Resources

The Guilderland Center Fire Department is holding a fundraiser, featuring Brooks House of BBQ Chicken Dinner, on Tuesday, January 31, starting at 3pm until the dinners are sold out.  Each dinner, consisting of a half-chicken, potato, coleslaw, and dessert, costs $15, at the firehouse located at 30 School Road in Guilderland Center.  

A reminder that Albany County DPW is holding a public open house on Thursday, February 1 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Celtic Hall, 430 New Karner Rd in Colonie on its New Karner Road (State Route 155) project that includes repaving State Route 155 from Western Avenue in Guilderland to Watervliet-Shaker Road in Colonie.  It also includes a new roundabout at Washington Avenue Extension, adding 300 feet to the left turn lane to Old State Road, and a new sidewalk from Pine Knob Drive to Corporate Circle. Construction is scheduled to take place in Summer 2025, and extend into Fall 2026.  

The Guilderland Public Library’s calendar includes seminars on interesting topics and conversations with well-known authors.  On Tuesday, January 30 at 2pm, Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric neuro-endocrinologist and best-selling author of Fat Chance (2012), The Hacking of the American Mind (2017), and Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine (2021), will provide a virtual talk on the interconnected strands of nutrition, health/disease, medicine, environment, and society.  The Library offers a wide-variety of seminars by authors and prominent persons, including 

The Library offers free weekly gatherings for the community’s benefit including Let’s Talk: Coffee & Conservation for Seniors on every Wednesday from 11am to 12:30pm, with coffee, tea, snacks, and lunch available at the Café’ con Mel, the Library’s café.   The Library’s events calendar also has LEGO Free Play, Teen Drop-In DIY, and other interesting group activities.   

The Albany Pine Bush Preserve’s January calendar is full of activities for children and adults, including Feisty Fishers on Saturday, January 27 at 11am when you can learn more about the history and biology of fishers, and later walk in the Preserve and search for signs of the fisher.   On Wednesday, March 6 at 6:30pm online, the Preserve is offering FrogWatch Volunteer Training for listening and reporting frogs and toads calling in the Preserve from March through August in the Preserve’s study area.  Participants will be trained to become certified FrogWatchers.

The New York State Library’s calendar has upcoming seminars of interest including an online talk tomorrow at 12pm by Professor Nicole Eustace of New York University on her book Covered with Night, about a murder of a Seneca hunter in 1722 by settlers, and the resulting debates about the nature of true justice, and a treaty agreement, the oldest continuously recognized Indigenous treaty in Anglo-American law.  On Tuesday, January 30 at Noon, Eric Snitzer, a park ranger and military historian at Saratoga National Historic Park, will offer an online talk on The Northern Campaign of 1777, the British military operation seeking to split the nascent United States but ended in the first British Army surrender in world history.  

A reminder that on Wednesday, January 31 at 4:30pm, the torch relay for The Empire State Winter Games, the State’s largest sporting event, will stop at Phillips Hardware on its way to Lake Placid.  This stop will honor STRIDE’s Sled Warriors, a local sled hockey team of athletes with disabilities that won a silver medal in last year’s games.  Festivities will start at 4:15 pm, with light refreshments, and brief remarks.

You still have a few days to help the Town’s Community Gardens which will receive $1 for each Bloomin’ 4 Good bouquet purchased at the Hannaford Supermarket in Guilderland.   

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter.

Peter G. Barber

Town Supervisor