Westerlo is in the process of developing a comprehensive land-use plan and its Comprehensive Plan Committee hopes to make the process as transparent and as open to the public as possible, said chairman David Lendrum.

With the U.S. Census Bureau requesting that citizens complete the 2020 census online, small towns and villages are preparing to help residents who don’t have easy access to computers or don’t have the necessary skills to complete a form online so that every town can be counted as accurately as possible, assuring that each gets the federal, state and county aid it needs.

Nexamp has opened up applications for Hilltown residents, promising them discounts of up to 10 percent on their electricity costs for using energy generated by the controversial solar farms located on the old Shepard Farm resort property in Westerlo. 

The CSEA, which represents non-instructional workers at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District, won raises for its members with a 3-percent increase for the 2019-20 school year and a total increase of 18-percent by 2023. Workers who have been with the district for 15 years or longer get additional compensation. 

Peter Hotaling, who was Westerlo’s assessor for 19 years before the town replaced him with Garth Slocum, has filed an Article 78 proceeding against the town, requesting that he be reinstated with back pay and that the town reimburse him for medical costs he accrued after losing his insurance.

At Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s regular board of education meeting, Yira Matiz, who was hired last summer to teach seventh- and eighth-grade Spanish, accused the school administration of not performing its due diligence when following up on complaints that Matiz was ineffective in the classroom. Matiz was forced to resign, she said.

In its first regular board meeting of the year, the town of Knox announced a renewal of its Multi-use Recreational District proposal and the advent of high speed internet in the town.

Supporters of Emily Vincent, who was illegally demoted as a full member of the Berne planning board to alternate status, have donated more than $5,000 to a GoFundMe page dedicated to her just one day into its existence. She plans to use that money to fund her brain surgery, as well as take legal action against the town.

Esports, or competitive video gaming, is a $1 billion dollar industry that Berne-Knox-Westerlo teacher William Dergosits wants to bring to the school. He says it may open doors for students academically, professionally, and socially — especially for those in what he calls the “hidden demographic.” 

At its reorganizational meeting on Jan. 1, the new town board of Berne removed several long-standing employees from their posts, stoking the ire of residents. Some of the board’s decisions are illegal, The Enterprise has learned.