The Rensselaerville Water and Sewer Advisory Committee’s request for proposals is seeking a firm that will evaluate the town’s water system and conduct a preliminary engineering report, which will allow the town to apply for much-needed federal grant money.

Three town board seats are open in Westerlo, including the supervisor’s, resulting in the most contested Hilltown race this year. Seven candidates are running for the seats, and spoke with The Enterprise this week about their views. 

Rensselaerville had not had a contested town board election since 2017, until this year, when Democrats endorsed sociologist Patricia Byrnes against the Republican Party’s Randall Bates, who has previously served on the town board as well as highway superintendent. Both parties endorsed incumbent Brian Wood. 

The proposal from Guilderland to essentially take over Knox’s Section 8 housing slots — many of which are unfilled — failed to get enough support among the Knox Town Board to even make it to a vote.

Several residents at Altamont’s Oct. 3 public hearing for its proposed chicken law were in favor of allowing chickens in the village, advising the board on specific changes they thought would be beneficial. Mayor Kerry Dineen said that the public hearing would remain open, in part because the board learned that a legal notice was not printed in the paper. 

Heavy flooding this weekend washed out a portion of County Route 353 near the Rensselaerville hamlet, damaging a pipe there and causing the county to close the road for repairs, which are expected to be carried out this week, Albany County spokeswoman Mary Rozak told The Enterprise on Monday.  

The dire state of the restaurant industry, with costs and the availability of quality labor going in opposite directions, have led the Voorheesville restaurateur to the difficult decision to close Gracie’s Kitchen. But news of the closure have turned the final days of the eatery into a celebration of the service it brought to the community. 

A jury delivered a guilty verdict Thursday morning in the case of Jacob Klein, who murdered his ex-girlfriend’s husband at the couple’s home in New Scotland last spring. He had been charged with second-degree murder. 

In the span of a few days, the Rensselaerville water district was hit with a broken pipe and two chemical violations. They highlight the need for funding to upgrade the district’s 80-year-old water system, which has been faltering in recent years, and help the town meet eligibility requirements for at least one grant. 

Cover crops aren’t a strong investment through sales alone, but they improve the health of farm soil by, among other things, protecting against erosion and pests, ultimately making farms more resilient to climate change. A study has found that New York’s public funding has been successful in encouraging farmers to grow cover crops on their farms.