The Altamont Enterprise & Albany County Post

11/24/2025

Guilderland’s updated comprehensive plan recommends a Conservation Overlay District to shield the steep slopes of the Helderberg Escarpment and Settles Hill, effectively disallowing non-farm construction in these visually important areas.

The town began to update its two-decade-old plan just before the pandemic, but decided not to proceed until November 2022 because public participation was at the core of the process.

11/22/2025

Town of Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow used the November town board meeting to skewer longtime critic Joel Willsey, a Democrat who had served on the board.

Willsey, a former town board member, had raised concerns about this year’s budget process since, by law, a town board member is not supposed to draft a town budget, and about the suspension and firing of Shawn Duncan, who had worked at the town’s transfer station for six years.

The Enterprise learned this week that Berne had never entered Duncan into the Civil Service system as it should have; the county has no record of his employment.

Two emails that Willsey had sent to board members Melanie laCour and Joseph Giebelhaus were printed out for the public to read and then read out loud at the meeting.

“We’re really tired of it and getting attacked by him,” said Palow, who did not seek re-election. He called Willsey’s emails “totally disrespectful” and said, “It needs to stop.”

Willsey, a former town board member, had raised concerns about this year’s budget process and about the suspension and firing of Shawn Duncan, who had worked at the town’s transfer station for six years.

11/22/2025

New firehouse: Lifting golden shovels while wearing matching sweatshirts, McKownville’s volunteer firefighters, above, ceremoniously break ground on Nov. 21 for their new firehouse.

“Duty to community” is how Jim White described the work of McKownville’s volunteer firefighters.

White, who chairs the board for the McKownville Fire District, spoke on Friday morning at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new firehouse.

The $10 million firehouse will be built in the footprint of the old station at 1250 Western Ave. Residents had supported the project in April 2024 with 80 percent of the vote.

White recalled being grateful, when he joined the company, to those who had built the 58-year-old station that was recently demolished as he anticipated the latest generation of volunteers appreciating the new station for the next half-century. [Enterprise photo by Melissa Hale-Spencer]

11/21/2025

Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber opened the Nov. 18 town board meeting by addressing “the quandary” of a steep tax hike for Altamont residents in the 2026 town budget.

The state comptroller had determined that the town's budget could not use any sales-tax revenues to fund “any department activities in the village of Altamont,” Barber said. “That’s because the village of Altamont gets its own sales tax … They basically said, ‘If you use sales tax in the village, they’re getting a double benefit.”

Barber went over the arithmetic for Altamont residents to calculate their tax hike: “Basically you take the last year’s tax rate and this year’s tax rate — the difference is about 86 cents per $1,000 [of assessed valuation] … and you multiply it by roughly 86 cents and divide that by 1,000. That’s third-grade math, maybe fourth-grade math.”

Altamont's mayor Kerry Dineen commended Enterprise coverage and said the news story was how she and board members learned of the tax hike, calling for changes going forward. “I don’t think this increase should stand,” Dineen said.

Dineen asked that Guilderland's "financial folks" attend the village December board meeting and concluded, “There’s going to be a fallout down the road if something isn’t changed how it’s calculated. And I don’t mean not doing what the comptroller is saying, but working within those parameters.”

Read the full article at https://altamontenterprise.com/11202025/mayor-i-dont-think-increase-should-stand

11/20/2025

William “Bill” F. Aylward taught his five children that, with perseverance, they could succeed in accomplishing whatever they set their minds to.

“He made us believe that we could do anything we wanted to do,” said his daughter, Sharon. “That’s basically how we’ve all lived our lives.”

Mr. Aylward applied the same principle to his own life.

A charismatic social studies teacher, he devoted himself to public service with a decade as Altamont’s mayor and another 17 years as a village trustee. He was the first Democratic supervisor in Guilderland at a time when the town was largely Republican and he also served as an Albany County legislator.

He died peacefully on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, surrounded by his family. He was 91.

Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber opened Tuesday’s town board meeting by calling for a moment of silence to honor Mr. Aylward. In his 32 years as a social studies teacher, Mr. Barber said, “he touched thousands of students and families.”

He also said that Mr. Aylward was the first Democrat elected to the Guilderland Town Board “almost since the time of the Civil War.”

Calling hours will be held on Friday, Nov. 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Cannon Funeral Home at 2020 Central Ave. in Colonie. A Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 10 a.m. at St. Madeleine Sophie’s Roman Catholic Church at 3500 Carman Road in Guilderland. Following the funeral Mass, burial will take place at the Fairview Cemetery in Altamont in accordance with Catholic tradition.

11/18/2025

From a museum to a maker space, Voorheesville residents recently offered a number of ideas for what they’d like to see happen to the village-owned late 19th-Century building at 18 South Main Street.

On Nov. 12, some three dozen residents packed the village fire department’s firehouse on Altamont Road for a meeting on the fate of the home of Voorheesville’s first mayor.

Generally speaking, residents favored a multi-use space that serves the community while honoring the village’s heritage. More specifically, ideas offered included the creation of a community hub for events and services, an artisan maker space or co-op gallery, and various retail concepts like a general store or ice-cream shop. [Photo from the Village of Voorheesville]

Read the full article at https://altamontenterprise.com/11172025/retail-arts-hub-pitched-18-south-main

11/17/2025

The trio of large-scale battery energy storage systems proposed for Wormer Road has become a duo following feedback from National Grid.

New Leaf Energy’s latest proposal is for the installation of two five-megawatt, 20,000-kilowatt-hour systems at 37 and 128 Wormer Road, properties owned by Councilman Adam Greenberg.

The reduction from three systems to two was necessitated by constraints identified during coordination with National Grid, which determined the capacity of its lines could not accommodate 10 megawatts of power from the 128 Wormer Road site.

Read more at https://altamontenterprise.com/11142025/proposed-wormer-road-bess-project-shrinks

11/15/2025

The New York State Department of Transportation has had to design and install a steel sheet pile wall along the hillside of Route 146 near the entrance to Tawasentha Park after it was discovered “existing soil conditions were insufficient” to support the installation of a walkway along the state road. The 10-foot-wide path for walkers and cyclists is due to run for nearly 1,800 feet along Route 146, connecting the town’s Winter Recreation Area, east of the bridge, to the Tawasentha Park entrance, 700 feet west of the bridge. Read the article at https://altamontenterprise.com/11072025/1m-added-tab-89m-normans-kill-bridge

11/14/2025

The village recently installed this replacement historical marker in Altamont’s Orsini Park. When Keith Lee was working on his book, “Images of America — Altamont,” he realized that the original Old Hellebergh marker was missing and started working on a way to get the marker replaced. He wrote this well-researched piece about its significance: https://altamontenterprise.com/11062025/land-bitter-conflict-revival-century-old-marker-casts-light-local-revolutionary-divisions

11/14/2025

On Thursday, the Guilderland Town Board unanimously adopted a $47.7 million budget for next year that will decrease the average property tax bill in town by $16 but will increase the tax bill for Altamont village residents by about $240.

“I think it’s unfair,” said Supervisor Peter Barber in announcing the 162-percent increase for village residents at a public hearing on the budget.

Following a state audit, Barber said, Guilderland has to comply with the comptroller’s recommendations on how the town uses the sales-tax revenues it receives through Albany County. That money is allocated to municipalities across the county based on population. Read more at https://altamontenterprise.com/11072025/town-taxes-jump-162-altamont-residents

11/14/2025

A poignant recognition of ceremony was held at the First Baptist Church of Westerlo, with service members from a World War II veteran to a local policeman presented with honors, medals, and “Hometown Heroes” banners on Nov. 1.

“This gathering is a lot different than what I met when I came home ...” Richard Filkins, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, told the assembled crowd with tears in his eyes. “And I know I’m more appreciated now than I was at that time.”

Anthony Falese, who served in the Navy during Vietnam, was also recognized for the many medals he earned years ago, pinned to his uniform by his daughter, Clara Falese.

A black motorcycle once owned by Falese was parked inside the hall. "I invite you to take a look at it because it is a statement of a veteran who was in the Vietnam War," said Falese.

Tom Mullins was named by several speakers giving their thanks during Westerlo’s Hometown Heroes closing ceremony. He was credited with navigating the process of obtaining the certificates and medals that had been earned decades ago. As a volunteer, Mullins helps veterans earn diplomas through the State Education Department’s Operation Recognition. Filkins’s wife, Betty, spoke during the ceremony about her father Charles H Peck Jr., a World War II veteran who, with the help of Mullins, was posthumously awarded a Voorheesville high school diploma and a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States. Peck’s medal was awarded because he served on Merchant Marine ships during World War II.

Among the first responders and service members honored with Hometown Heroes banners were:

Sergeant James Alverson (Coxsackie Police)
Assistant Chief Chris Dutton (Westerlo Volunteer Fire Co.)
Lt. Joe Ragone (Westerlo Volunteer Fire Co.)
Corporal DeWitt Bates (Civil War)
Seaman First Class Albert Bichteman Jr. (U.S. Navy, WWII)
Specialist Norman Brush (U.S. Army, Vietnam)
Sergeant William Caldwell (U.S. Army, Desert Storm)
Staff Sergeant Amos Hallenbeck (U.S. Army, WWII)
Airman Kenneth Joslyn (U.S. Air Force, Korea)
Sergeant Theodore S. Lounsbury Sr. (U.S. Army, WWII & Korea)
Staff Sergeant Barney Reilly (U.S. Army)
Corporal Robert Schampier (U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam)
Petty Officer 3rd Class William Scott Jr. (U.S. Navy, WWII)
Specialist Jarrod Staubach (U.S. Army, Korea)
Staff Sergeant Chad Staubach (U.S. Army)
Ensign Joseph Staubach (U.S. Navy)
Captain Justin Staubach (U.S. Army Reserve National Guard, Operation Enduring Freedom)
Eugene Swarthout (U.S. Marine Corps, WWII)
Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Winne (U.S. Navy, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom)
Private First Class Clark Zeh Jr. (U.S. Marine Corps)

11/13/2025

The Voorheesville Central School District is being made whole following the cyber theft of $1 million from the district’s capital construction fund last month. The restitution comes just in time as Voorheesville was recently made aware of a much-needed costly water main repair. Read the article at https://altamontenterprise.com/11072025/voorheesville-receives-250k-insurance-payout-after-cyber-theft