Approximately 17 former riders were in attendance at the Voorheesville firehouse on Wednesday as Carm Basile, chief executive officer of the Capital District Transportation Authority, and some of his senior staff were on hand for the meeting.

Phillip G. Steck, the incumbent Democrat, and Alexandra M. Velella, his GOP rival, are facing off in a newly-drawn state Assembly area that now contains 10 Guilderland Election Districts, which are bounded by the town of Rotterdam to the north, Willow Street and the Albany Pine Preserve to the south, Colonie to the east, and Route 20 to the west. 

 The New Scotland Town Board at its October meeting set Nov. 9 as the date for public hearings on both proposals: 6:30 p.m. for next year’s budget and 6:45 p.m. for the proposed zoning changes to the New Scotland Hamlet.

NEW SCOTLAND — Spurred by a development proposal nearly a year-and-a-half ago, New Scotland is about to update parts of its zoning code.

On the ballot for Voorheesville School District voters on Dec. 6 are two proposals: a $25.2 million “core” capital school project and a $2 million energy performance contract. The district plans to hold an informational meeting on the proposal on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 6:30 p.m.

The ordeal started on social media and spilled into the real world this week.

At its Oct. 12 meeting, the board adopted a negative state Environmental Quality Review Act declaration for the project, meaning it determined the proposal would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. 

New Scotland Senior Outreach Liaison Deb Engel said she was told her application is still in the running, but hasn’t heard anything about a final award. “It should be within the next few weeks,” she said when asked about when a decision would be made. 

“It’s a small grant,” Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy said of the $40,000 that went to the Wyman Osterhout Community Center in New Scotland, “but it carries a serious weight, and makes a serious difference.”

For 2023, the town is proposing a tax rate of $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value for all New Scotland property owners — including those who live in the village of Voorheesville — the same as this year.