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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
POLITICS GET IN WAY OF HIRING OUTREACH WORKER wZj^^ltJ:*-}*'.^.;*?*^^ -.--...-^ ,„.„>—„-,.... -... . - _.. .. ... . _ ,._ ... .__.„__ ' „ _ _ • . . T\. . H l<**> mil AN'AuisqiV m®mt Number 38 • Thursday, April 4, 1996 Albany County's Weekly For 111 Years FUNDRAISER In 3-1-1 vote •C, board's support By Andrew Schotz GUILDERLAND — By a 3-1-1 vote, the town board decided Tuesday to end its investigation into charges against Police Chief James R. Murley. At the regular board meeting, close to 20 officers and staff members showed up to support Murley. Two residents spoke in his favor, too, including one who ripped Councilman Rich- ard Murray for calling for the chiefs resignation. The hoard then met in execu- tive session to discuss Murley and two other topics. After two hours, a resolution Three's a charm was announced. Town Clerk Kathy Sickler's notes said, \After a thorough discussion with Chief Murley, the board moved to vote a strong vote of confidence in the police chief and the police department.\ Councilman Timothy Shee- han made the motion. \The whole thing is ridiculous,\ he said. \Certainly it's behind us. To sum up, the town is very lucky to have a chief of police as dedicated as Jim Murley.\ Councilwoman Anne T. Rose and Supervisor William Ayl- ward also voted for the resolu- (Continued on Page 8) The Enterprise — Melissa Hale-Spencer No fbolin': Barbara Westcottt, center, and Molly Pont, right, get some pointers from Ronald McDonald at an April Fool's day fundraiser that netted $464. The two fifth-grade teachers at Pine Bush Elementary School joined their principal, Martha Beck, and colleagues Gerry Dumond and Kim Ferris in serving customers at McDonald's on 1602 Western Avenue. The restaurant's owners, Doug and PatArnott, who haveafifthrgrader, Corey, attheschool, donated 20% of the sales Monday evening to help finance a fifth- grade field trip to Nature's Classroom in Lake George. Historian paid privately Museum at center of turf battle School tax hike cut on $49M plan By Melissa Hale-Spencer ALTAMONT — The village board here has locked horns with museum supporters over the future of Altamont's mu- seum. Both sides referred to last week's Enterprise editorial urging the board to budget the $2,400 requested by the museum supporters for a village histo- rian to supervise and inspire volunteers working 1 at the mu- seum. The board passed the $1.4 million village budget for 1996- 97 unanimously, without mak- ing any changes. The tension in the Village Hall meeting room was palpa- ble Tuesday night as each side accused the other of lack of communication. Two of the half-dozen museum supporters left the meeting in anger as the mayor, with occasional input from other board members, questioned and criticized mu- seum doings, in a session that lasted an hour and a half. Mayor Kenneth Runion maintained, as he has since the proposal to hire an historian was first brought to the board last November, that the mu- seum should be run by volun- teers, or village employees. Harvey Vlahos, who chairs the iriuseum's advisory board, maintained, as . he has all along,' that an experienced (Continued on Page 18) fown approves huge variance for car showroom sign By Melissa Hale-Spencer GUILDERLAND — There was talk of \magic\ numbers at the school board meeting here Monday night — by those who wanted to cut the budget, and by those who wanted to add teach- ers. In the end, by a vote of five to four, those who wanted cuts won. The school board fine-tuned its $49 million budget proposal so that the estimated tax rate in- crease for Guilderland resi- dents will be 2.84 percent. The board is slated to adopt the budget April 9, and it will go to public vote May 15. Last week, board member Thomas Nachod asked district administrators to trim the bud- get. He said he had attended the meetings in March where a cit- izens' budget advisory commit- tee reviewed the budget pro- posal, and further he \went into the community\ to ask what could be changed. \What I heard,\ said Nachod, \was we need to come in with a tax rate [increase] of under 3 percent. What I heard was, re- duce, reduce, reduce....I think it's important for the commu- nity that we come in under 3 percent. Somehow, that's a magical number....I would hope we'd get broad-based sup- (Continued on Page 19) WAKE-UP CALL By Bryce Butler NEW SCOTLAND — In about an hour of discussion, last week, the zoning board of appeals found a way to grant Darryl F. Carl the 235-square- foot sign he has requested for The Enterprise Pastor goes © the distance for Abundant Care $ 1.3M V'ville budget c<Q>inisid©rs infrastructure m Going Out for the kids to get Howdy' ^^ his Saab dealership on Route 85. The zoning law allows 50 feet. Board member Judith Wing voiced the central concern: \It's dangerous to allow a 235-square foot sign,\ she said. \It is a precedent.\ \The precedent puts us in a difficult place,\ said board member Michael Cavanaugh. The problem was that Paul Pedenski, a representative for the Saab Corp., had told the planning board last month that he was in a similar position. Saab has recently sold 50 per- cent of its stock to General Mo- tors, and the company made a requirement that all Saab signs had to be uniform. As required, the sign includes three stripes in different shades of blue, and the design called for them to stretch across the entire front of the building. If Saab waived the requirement, Pedenski told the planning board, dealers would (Continued on Page 16) The Enterprise — Ed McMullen Damage control- Volunteer fire companies from McKownville, Westmere, North Betklehm, and Guilderland at work in the rear of the Miller home on 3 Providence Street in Guilderland. The blaze, which was limited to the side rear of the house, was discovered by the Millers' son, Glenn, who had awakened to the smell of smoke. See story on page 7. i
