Stephen Hadcock, Beginning Farmer Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension, told The Enterprise that, over the last decade or longer, he’s seen an increase in the number of people who have taken steps to start their own farm. The Enterprise spoke with Hadcock and new Berne farmer Todd Gallup for insight into the process of starting a farm from scratch. 

Todd Schwendeman announced his resignation from the Berne Planning Board, offering the town board a way to appoint convicted felon Tom Spargo back to the board after his short, illegal tenure. 

The town of Berne is being audited by the New York State Comptroller after Councilman Joel Willsey, the board’s lone Democrat, complained about the formulation of the town’s 2020 budget.

Only 55 percent of Hilltown households have self-responded to the 2020 census with less than a month before the United States Census Bureau stops collecting data. 

A recording of an executive session held by the Berne Town Board was made public after Councilman Joel Willsey, a Democrat who claims he was harassed by the GOP-backed board members in the April 29 session, made a motion for its release. 

The Berne Town Board voted, 3 to 2, to approve a new labor union contract that guarantees a 10-percent raise by 2022 for the town’s highway workers, in addition to new longevity pay bonuses. 

The Rensselaerville Presbyterian Church will be featured in the New York Land Conservancy’s Sacred Sites Open House program this year, held virtually on Aug. 27 between 1 and 2 p.m.

HILLTOWNS — Joseph Salzer Jr., who built the home his family lived in and made his mark on the Capital District and beyond as a carpenter, died on Monday, Aug. 24, 2020 at the Springside Nursing and Rehab Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was 82.

Berne Supervisor Sean Lyons announced in a letter posted on the town’s website that, following receipt of the second-quarter sales tax revenues, the town will be able to cover coronavirus losses without sacrificing personnel or town services. Lyons told The Enterprise this week that “the budget cuts I am proposing will give the town another good starting point in 2021.” 

The Westerlo Town Board has extended the town’s solar and wind energy moratorium for one year, dashing the hopes of a solar developer that was planning to build on a Westerlo property.