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The Altamont Enterprise mid AUmiy County foM . ESTABLISHED ISM Published each Thursday at 123 Maple Ave., Altamont, N.Y. 12009. Second-cfaus postage paid at Altamont, N.Y. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Altamont Enterprise, P;0. Box E, Altamont, . N.Y. 12009. OFFICE PHONE 861-6641 HOURS: 9 a.m. to S p.m. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: For Albany County residents, one year, $9,00; six months, S7.S0; three months, $6.50. For out-of-county subscribers, one year, $9.75; six months, $8.25; three months, $7.25. Any postal charges incurred by a subscriber's failure to notify the newspaper of a change in address will be billed to the subscriber upon renewal. DEADLINE FOR NEWS' ITEMS: Tuesday noon before publication, DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES may be furnished by request. SINGLE COPIES: 25 cents. Viewpoints expressed by staff members, contributing writers, and correspondents do not necessari- ly represent those of the ownership of The Altamont Enterprise. Publisher'and Editor JAMES E, GARDNER News Editor (861-8571) BOB HAGVARD Advertising Representatives: ..JANIS \PASTOR (872-2421) BARBARA VINK (Guilderland — 765-4116) Office Managers MILBRED PLUMMER WANDA GARBNER Production JAMES E. GARTONER, Jr.. MARLENE CHRYSLER MARY SHERMAN DIANA ARNOLD Contributing Writers .'CAROL DuBRIN MAC FULLER DICK MUNROE GEORGE NORTHRUP SHORTY VROMAN KAY WEIDMAN CORRESPONDENTS Altamont ROSEMARY CARUSO Ber \e •*• ALBERTA WRIGHT Doraansville T FRANCES SWART Dunnsville....\ VIOLA 'GRAY Fullers. \• LOLITA AVORMER Gallupville MAGGIE STATON Giffords. ....-.., MY.RffLE BLESSING Guilderland , KUTB RELYEA K \°* .MILBRED NICHOLSON Lake Onderdonk. , f:'... .©AWN S0PER / v BOBSHELFORD McKpwnville. .FRBD ABELE LINDSAY CFHLDS Sharp's Corners . fe EVELYN LEATHER South'Bethlehem. MARIE GRIFFIN Thayer's Comers ,BETTV BLOBGETT Thompson's Lake LORA RICKETTS Voorheesville ,p A T TOTALING Westerlb, GLADYS CORNELL Letters To The Editor MALL TAX'BENEFITS' To the Editor,- Apparently, Kevin Moss, saddled with the 1978 all-Republican Town Board decision to allow Grossgates into Guilderland-by jpezoaing the land, is trying to present the project as a town bonanza. Mr, \ess is still 'singing the tune about lowered taxes (l penny/thousand 1983) in Guilderland. What he and his cronies leave out of that scenario is the fact that the assessor keeps raising assess- ments. Increased assessments equal increased taxes. Do the Republicans think the taxpayers of Guilderland are dull-witted- and unable to see through this political chicanery? As for the monies from \Gross- gates being a pure bonanza for the town government operations (therefore, the taxpayers) I say rot! The school district will definitely have such a direct, no strings benefit, so keep an eye on the school district's budget. But the Town government's \bonanza\ has strings attached: (1) The need to improve the transportation systems, (2) The needier increased police services, (3) Increased water and sewer services demands on the town systems, (4) A critical need for sidewalks along Route 20, Western Ave,, to protect our citizens. All of those have a price tag on them which will reduce, if not altogether, wipe out the so-called bonanza. Virginia M. Horan Councilman, Town of Guilderland WESTERN AVE BIKEiANE A SAFETY HAZARDT To the Editor: When Holly Howe was struck by a truck she didn't see, both vehicles Were travelling eastbound on Western with the truck on the road and the moped in the bike lane. I ride on Western often, and the cars on that road will not move over'before they turn right. One of the first things taught at driving school is that before turning right one signals arid moves over to the curb — and yet they won't move over. They are trying to stay out of the bike Jane* They don't realize how dangerous it is to throw a steel barrier across the lane without any warning. Many driver* are reluctant to cross a solid white line. Most solid lines are painted in accordance with the rule that a solid line is not ordinarily to be crossed and it is hard to believe that you can cross one without invading a pedestrian zone. The \bike lane\ on Western is not a pedestrian zone. It is another traffic lane. It is narrower than the others, hut when you are planning to turn right you are both entitled and required to put as much of your vehicleinto it as will fit. Until we can get rid Of this deadly white line, I implore you to ignore it. Right turns are not the only reason for getting rid of the solid white line, only the most deadly. One good reason is that the white line keeps heavy vehicles out of the lane regardless of whether or not cyclists are using it. As a result every pebble and speck of trash that falls anywhere on Western ends up in the bike lane and most stretches can be used only by vehicles that can ignore gravel and broken glass. The apparent protection of the white line causes some drivers to fail to realize that the bike lane isn't wide enough for a cyclist to clear both the curb and a car that lets its fenders and door handles hang over the line. The apparent protection of the bike lane encourages. untrained cyclists to engage in inappropriate behavior such as staying on the extreme right right up to the middle of ah intersection and then suddenly dashing across all four lanes into a street on the left. In \Cycling Transportation En- gineering,\ John Forester say*: \Some people argue... that bike lanes provide a sense of safety to cyclists , . These feelings encourage car/bike collisions be- cause bike lanes, being more dangerous than normal roadways of equal width, require greater careano;skfll... not less care and skut\ ,* .. The bike Wife on Western has its own peculiar hazards. Take a good look at the westbound section between Stuyvesant Plaza and the Norlhway, andpity the cyclist who is nlwin town and turns out of the shopping center intending to go to Guilderland. Innocently following the bike lane he .first sees a sign saying- \Right lane must turn tight.\ Since the bike, lane is the rightmost lane on the road, the sign seems to say that all bicycles must turn right. If he is still in the bike lane when he reaches the intersec- tion, it is nearly impossible to cross the steady stream of right-turning traffic and go straight. But if he turns onto the Northway he confronts a sign saying that bicycles are prohibited! If the solid white lines on Western Ave. were painted out from Robinson's Hardware to Fuller Road, there would be a nice wide outside lane that cyclists and cars could safely share. JoyBeeson , R.D. 1, Voorheesville FREEZE WALK To the Editor: ©n ©et. a y residents of the New Scotland and Voorheesville area are invited to Join other concerned citizens nation-wide in a local nuclear freeze walk. Staged by the National Nuclear attempt *© strengthen the freeze throughout the country. At the \grass roots\ level, It is the opportunity for local citizens to demonstrate their support of the freeze, raise funds and heighten the consciousness of the commun- ity. Our walk promises to be a colorful, festive event and we urge all those interested to participate as walker anchor sponsor. If you would like to Walk, sponsor or assist with the planning, you may contact Jan Weitzman at 765-4469 orIlSefeakerat-785-4W9y \ l*t& make Oct. la memorable day in the New Scotland and Voor- heesvillearea. Let us proclaim our hope for the future as we work together for-a mutual verifiable freeze of nuclear weapons — the first, .necessary step toward de- creasing the risk of nuclear war. Let us support the freeze walk. Mary McKenna Jackstadt New Scotland Chapter Upper Hudson Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign. Legislator Reports ANNE T, ROSE 32nd District The August meeting of the Albany County Legislature began in an unusual manner, As various members of the Republican minor- ity rose to ask questions, they were greeted with silence. No one answered ..their questions, the county attorney sat and said nothing, committee chairmen pre- tended not to hear questions until finally Mr. Joyce, County Legisla- tor from tte City of Albany and chairman^of the Audit and Control Committee, stood up and rambled on about how hard he works to do \his job\ and gather information about resolutions. Hesuggestd that we all- do \our jobs\ and seek information on the various resolu- tions ourselves. , He neglected to mention that the minority is usually presented with misinformation and hsif-traths, (and I have tapes of meetings of the County Legislature to docu- ment that). In addition, as Mr. Morris points out; we are almost never given backup materials or letters from department heads which would clarify resolution*.. After members of both parties indicated their displeasure with eachotheratsome length, we were finally |Mg tn aft trnfaaw*™ . There were 35 resolutions and The Altamont Enterprise •— Thursday, September 8, 1983 spaces. What'hfixt? Maybe \the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale! The. next meeting of the Albany County Legislature will be Mon- day, Sept. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at 112 State St. Please come and bring a friend. .twolocal laws. All resolutions and local laws sponsored by Republi- cans were sent to Law or Finance Committees. 1 can assure you that they won't be heard from again. Resolutions in August were a mixed bag. There were the usual ones amending the 1963 budget and authorizing agreements. Resolution 175 was one. It authorized an agreement between the county and Reed, Roberts Associates to \undertake to review workers' compensation payments for the past three years in an effort to determine if the county is entitled to refund of Social Security Taxes.\ This was the resolution which results in the blackout on information described at the begin- ning of this article. Mr. Lyman, 'the county attorney, finally said he was willing to answer questions but he made it clear that he would decide, which questions he would answer and how long he would participate. We were told this was money .we -were entitled to, and that Reed Roberts Associates would \only\ get 35 percent of whatever they recovered 1 . Who or why we over paid in the past three years was not made clear and a suggestion that this could be done by our county employees was not even consider- ed. I voted against the resolution which naturally, uassed. , Resolution 1^ authorised the conveyance of real property by the county. The form of this resolution shows up regularly. It reads that the persons listed, below are allowed \to redeem the parcel owned by them (past tense) but foreclosed by the County of Albany.\ In other words, they haven't paid their taxes — some for many years. But after the county forecloses (which means that they no longer own the property) they are allowed to \redeem it\. In the nieantime, you and I go on paying taxes', every year, whether it is a hardship or not and what these people do not pay must be collected from others to pay foe couniy'sbuls, Tften they, come forward w$th the'money to \;fcedeem?' theirproperty, ~ And I am not just sneaking of a couple of hundred dollars worth of back taxes and penalities. One individual paid a total of ^.^SO.^ to \redeem\ three properties while another paid $ll,o?jD31 for one arid a commercial firm paid $18,451.40for theirs. Along roll call vote showed 29 for,, 7 against, 1 Capitol Notes Resolution 185 removed restric- tions placed on homeowners when they bought houses for rehabilita- tion. As Mr, Ryan, County Legisla- tor from Colonic, put it, \it is a poor way to run a program — you are changing the rules as you go along.\ The issue was one of setting a poor precedent for the future since one presumes that the original re-restrictions were plac- ed after careful 1 consideration. Resolution 186 appoints a three- member committee of the County Legislature to act as a hearing committee for the 1983 Sheriffs' Department contract; Despite numerous attempts to amend the resolution to provide for minority representation— three Democrats, constitute the committee — we were unsuccessful in changing it. When we suggested a fourth legislator, Mr. Joyce claimed four persons, would result in a ;\tie'* vote, so we offered two names to insure an odd number and he suggested five would result in \partisanship.\ Somehow he believes three Democrats on one committee are hot partisan. The whole situation is a joke'. The resolution passed 23 yes, 14 no. Finally; we dealt with Resolution 187 which authorized the county to •esse space from the Aibany Housing Authority for $1,700 a month. The. reason the' county needed the spaces is because of ihe closing of a portion of 28-40 Howard St., the brok«HQOwn old building we bought, at the same time we bought 112 Stated. So now everyone is; happy. The City of Albany got M million, the contractors'fl million and now the • Afl-hy ffessing AathCilty *sr. have $20,400 a year for By RICHARD J. CONNERS Assemblyman, 104th District Port of Albany dredging will be completed before this winter sets, in. The American Dredging Co. of Camden, NJ. will clear the turning basin and then Under a separate contract clean along the piers on both the Albany and Rensselaer sides of the river. When Congressman Samuel S. Stratton called my office to tell me the good news, his efforts and the efforts of all the Capital District legislators — both Republican and Democrats — were to be compli- mented for 'their cooperative consider- effort. This cacpsretion resulted in securing funds from both the state and federal .governments £n a prvjeetthat benefits the Northeast. When the National Association of State Directors of Veteran Affairs meiin N§w York on Tuesday, Aug. 30, I was a speaker, addressing their membership on matters of legislative interest, This' conven- tion brought: together experts on veteran affairs from each of the states and their federal counter- parts. I felt very privileged to speak to this particular national conclave. Though the problems of all of us are reflected in the needs of the veteran we find that in varying degrees veterans of our different wars have battle scars that cause special medical and financial obligations. WorkJ.^ar I and World War 4 JI vets are in need pi health care. There is a heed for ^pital care, a -, need for nursing home care. The average World Wat' II veteran is nearing the age of. 65. While the need of nursing home eare for aging America is acute for all, it is becoming a necessity even for some of our Korean War veterans though for some their immediate concern is with retirement and \buy back.\ The Texas delegation headed by Commissioner Doug Brown are better known and much closer titan the 1,800 miles between Austin and Altamont, because of Minette Munson. Mrs. \Munson lives in Altamont and is the aunt of Doug's wife. It makes you feel very much akm to one another when such a meeting takes place. Long ago the chance of meeting someone in New York from Texas with relations in the Town of Guilderland would be about as possible as flying around the world in a space capsule. Distance when measured, in miles has hot changed too much. True, we have burrowed holes through.mountains,.built bridges instead of searching for fords and straightened<wrRjadways. Built is in tiie realm of time and means ' of transportation that our progress has been preeminent. Imagine the galloping horse fleeing from Sche- nectady during the French and Indian Wars carrying a rider who hurried with a warning to Albany that_ they should' he prepared jo defend themselves against fire and murder. I suppose the astronaut can circle the earth in less time than it took bur \Paul Revere\ to pushvhis mount through the sand plains of Guilderland on his way to Fort Orasge. Auxiliary To Meet .The Fuller;Road Fire Depart- ment auxiliary* 1342 Central Aye,, Colonifi, wil} hold its monthly meeting on Monday, Sept. 12, at .8 p.m. Plans will be discussed about a roast beef dinner-dance to be held on Saturday, Oct, 1. Chaplain Rose Claflin will open the meeting; President Fran Rooney 'will pre- side. A social hour will follow-
