Amid possible changes to zoning laws, the town’s agricultural advisory committee is expected to deliver a report later this year to the Knox Planning Board on the topic of farmland abandonment — a mechanism by which farms that have been grandfathered into a non-agricultural district are stripped of that privilege five years after farming operations have ceased there. 

The fair had higher attendance than previous years, said a fair organizer, who chalked it up to good weather throughout the week. 

At its Aug. 17 meeting, the Berne Town Board voted unanimously to establish a new comprehensive plan committee, headed by planning board Chairman Joe Martin, with the goal of updating the current plan to reflect residents’ current desires for the town.

Following a spate of local drownings, The Enterprise spoke with Sergeant Neil Case, who leads the New York State Police Underwater Recovery Team, about how to avoid drowning and what people should do if they come across someone having difficulty in water. 

Collar City Auction President Randy Passonno told the Berne Town Board what an auction of Switzkill Farm would look like for the town, which is interested in selling the property.

A persistent-felon designation would make it so that Andrew Gibson, who pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, a class B felony, would be sentenced as though it were a class A-I felony, which carries a minimum prison sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life. 

New York State’s first-ever pollinator survey, conducted over a three-year period, found, by conservative standards, that 38 percent of the state’s native pollinators are viable to be wiped out of the state completely, and that it could be as high as 60 percent of species when considering those that are known only by historical records.

Helderberg Lake Community Association President Tom McQuade told The Enterprise this week that, after the association had its tax-district proposal rejected by the Berne Town Board, it’s hoping to secure funding for dam repairs through the New York State Environmental Bond Act, which will be voted on by state residents in November.

The sea lions are trained and cared for by Sea Lion Splash, a Texas-based company. 

New York State is currently involved in a lawsuit filed by telecommunications companies and organizations who argue that a state law mandating low-cost internet services for certain consumers hurts business interests and, by extension, hinders the expansion of rural broadband infrastructure.