Kenneth Guarino, Berne

Town hall will be closed for a week, from Jan. 10 through 17.

The Shultes-Malcolm Dutch Barn, in Knox, is being dismantled and relocated, as many Dutch barns in the area have been before it. Developers often buy these rare historic structures and turn them into housing, despite efforts by New York state and some municipalities to encourage local owners to preserve them in place.   

Erin Nevins, of EP Nevins Insurance Agency, told the Rensselaerville Town Board last week that it may have an opportunity in 2025 to lower costs associated with reimbursing retirees, thanks to impending changes to the Medicare program that limit out-of-pocket drug expenses to $2,000 per enrollee. 

A fundamental progressivism has been in the undercurrent in most of the Hilltowns this year, as Westerlo, Rensselaerville, and Knox all began or continued to work on difficult, long-term projects that nevertheless promise to benefit residents for decades to come. Berne, however, has been stuck wrestling with its past. 

Joel Willsey, East Berne

As the town of Rensselaerville has begun redoubling its broadband expansion efforts, the Albany County Legislature this week approved the creation of a broadband special project coordinator to help manage broadband-related funding and partner with local municipalities, guiding their own efforts in the difficult work of connecting residents to the internet. 

To help get itself in place for state funding as it attempts to fix severe problems with its water system, the Rensselaerville Water and Sewer Advisory Committee has selected the engineering company C.T. Male to carry out an inspection of the system to reveal the full scope of the work that needs to be done. 

Helen Marie Lounsbury Galicki, Berne

Kevin Crosier filed a legal complaint this week against the town of Berne over his forced removal from a public hearing earlier this year, alleging that they denied him his right to free speech through the federal and state constitutions.