To the Editor:

As the Village gears up for a blessedly brief election season, we will have the opportunity to select two village board trustees and one village justice to represent us for the next four years. There are four candidates running for the two trustee positions, and one candidate for the justice position.

As the 2019 slate of candidates plans campaigns and develops platforms, I implore them not to craft their outreach on the “return to old, bucolic Altamont” theme. We should celebrate our history, but our history should not define the village’s future.

Altamont in any one moment in time was and is a place where people live and work and raise families and volunteer and go to church and attend concerts and support the library, etc. — whether it was 1905, 2005, or now, in 2019.

Knowersville/Altamont was born in an era where it took a full day to make a trip to Albany. Much of the commerce was local, and life was challenging, but people survived in the framework of that point in time.

Altamont grew up after the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad developed a route through the farmlands west of Knowersville, and elected to build a train station here. A trip to Albany evolved to a 45-minute train ride, and the village began to rapidly grow.

Again, in that point in time, people adapted to the conditions of those times. In the midst of the new construction, there was mud for streets, wells for water, and private septic systems for waste.

Often those multiple septic systems overflowed and impinged on neighboring wells, and, while our little village may have been historic, and the residents had multiple, local shopping opportunities, and were living what we may consider the bucolic life, there were a few wrinkles, and life could be unpleasant.

The village was finally dragged kicking and screaming by the State Health Department to develop and install a sewage-management system in 1917, maybe a dozen years after the need was established by then-Mayor Jesse Crounse. The infrastructure enhancement sparked many spirited debates between 1907 and 1917.

Over the years, there have been many such polarizing debates and major controversies. For example, in the mid-1950s, a rebuild of Main Street and Maple Avenue required the removal of nearly all of the street trees. The Altamont Business Association, led by pharmacist Gil DeLucia, supported the plan, which resulted in a widening of the streets and more parking for the businesses.

Many residents were aghast at the destruction of the streetscape. In 1969, National Commercial Bank (now KeyBank) wanted to build a new building on Park Street, which required the removal of an older residence, and a rezone of the property from residential to commercial. The village board supported the rezone in December 1969, leading to the demolition of the residence in 1972, and the building of the new bank.

“Polarizing” may be too-gentle of a term for the discussions that raged with regard to the bank issue.

Today, some lament the loss of grocery stores, old buildings, and that old-timey feeling of being insular and self-contained. One of the oldest building in the village, the Wayside Tavern, built in the 1780s, was torn down in 1956 with nary a whimper or protest.

An Esso gas and service station was constructed on the site, which opened in 1958. That same building underwent renovation and opened as a Stewart’s Shop in 1980. After 38 years in a 60-year-old building, perhaps there is opportunity and need for a change.

Since the village’s incorporation in 1890, its growth and development has been facilitated by its elected representatives. Altamont has had a colorful and interesting history, and the events of our past occurred in the historical context of any given point in time.

Since I authored the “Images of America – Altamont” book, which was published in 2014, I return often to the old issues of The Enterprise to read and research, and I enjoy reviewing the detailed chronicling of our past.

Again, we should celebrate that history, but we should not let history solely define our path to the future. Your village board, with its mayor and four trustees, is entrusted with the well being of this village. The board needs to be forward-thinking and ever-adapting to changing conditions.

This village may be historic, but the future is ahead of us, and the board you elect must continue this village’s path forward.

Keith C. Lee

Altamont