To the Editor:

Over the last few years at Knox Town Board meetings, Amy Pokorny and/or the Octagon Barn have been favorite targets for the Knox supervisor. I’m not sure why; maybe he sees Amy as some kind of a threat or is it that he needs a whipping person (preferably a female), being the bully that he is.

At the Oct. 8, town board meeting, he accused Amy of lying to the Albany County Planning Board, when she said only she was concerned that he may have a real-estate interest in pushing to rezone parcels near the route 156 and 157 intersection.

He also made nonsensical comments concerning the Octagon Barn’s part in having septic waste water somehow flow to the Fox Creek. He based this on the fact that occasionally (perhaps twice a year) the barn may have up to as many as 90 people attending an event held at that site. He must feel that everyone at an event uses the bathroom while a better estimate would be closer to 25 percent of the event attendees.

I note that a map of Knox shows a small stream hundreds of feet from the barn, which does eventually reach Fox Creek, but not before it crosses the Lefkaditis property (in what could be construed as his front yard) on West Road in Knox. That property is several miles closer to Fox Creek than the Octagon Barn.

I believe the Lefkaditis family consists of seven members. If each member uses the toilet facilities in their home once a day for 30 days, that equals 210 uses compared to only 20 to 30 users for 30 days at the Octagon Barn.

One also has to add in septic wastewater generated by showers, baths, dishwashing, and clothes-washing to the Lefkaditis total amount. That could  possibly result in 200 additional uses or more. So, in one month, his household could generate an amount of wastewater equivalent to one year generated by the Octagon Barn.

So, I wonder if our town supervisor would care to explain why he attacked the Octagon Barn when he is obviously the greater possible polluter of the two?

Supporters of Lefkaditis tout how great his annual walk-about, visiting town facilities, is. Four years ago, Dennis Cyr and Ed Ackroyd submitted letters to this paper, expounding on how angry they were over the conditions of the town of Knox facilities.

As the major issues they angrily mentioned in those letters have not been addressed by Lefkaditis after four years, I wonder if those two gentlemen are still so angry, especially if they observe the unchanged conditions of those particular facilities. I have my doubts.

One other item concerns a towing operation which was banned from Altamont, moved to Knox without getting the proper variance, left Knox and moved back to Altamont where again it was in violation of Altamont’s zoning. We actually have people on town-affiliated boards who still grouse about the unfair treatment of that towing operation.

Lefkaditis and candidates running with him, are in favor of a community center.  At a town board meeting several months ago, the issue of a community center was discussed briefly. It seems that the proposed building would be built in the vicinity where the outdoor basketball court and original playground equipment are located.

I don’t know if there is a huge public demand for such a project or if it is just a ploy to get rid of something placed there by the previous administration. In a few years, after the novelty wears off, an unused or under-used community center would just be an albatross on town resources.

Even if the project was funded by obtaining a grant, the money involved would most likely represent our tax dollars in one form or another.

Election signs for Democrat candidates have been disappearing. This makes one wonder if one or more of Lefkaditis’s supporters have a fetish for collecting Democrat signs.

Ain’t our grassroots politics just great?

Ed Nicholson

Knox

Editor’s note: Vasilios Lefkaditis responded, on his family’s water use, “I don’t respond to nonsensical letters to the editor.”

He also responded, “I made no comments regarding the octagon barn. I asked Mrs. Pokorny what measures she took to address ecological features under the barn that the town board could learn from when considering the MRD proposal.”

Lefkaditis’s questioning of Amy Pokorny at the October Knox Town Board meeting can be heard here, along with her responses.

On repairs to town buildings made following the annual tours, Lefkaditis said, “The one main asset worth spending on is the town hall, and it’s had major renovations in the past four years … I’m not inclined to spend money on the transfer station or the highway garage because they’ll need replacing shortly.”