Berne Republican Party Chairman and Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger has been elected chairman of the Albany County GOP following his success in establishing Republican-backed candidates in elected Hilltown positions. Westerlo’s GOP chairwoman, Lisa DeGroff, was elected to serve as the county GOP’s secretary. 

A lawsuit filed by a former Albany County employee who alleges that County Executive Daniel McCoy punished her for not backing the political candidates he favored has been settled for four out of five of the defendants, including Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy.

Vandalism was discovered in Westerlo’s town park this week, with graffiti artwork and crude phrases scrawled around the pavilion. 

At its Sept. 10 regular meeting, the Knox Planning Board decided to wait until next month to weigh in on the Knox Town Board’s re-application to rezone approximately 80 acres of land at the intersection of routes 156 and 157 to a multi-use recreational district.

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.