The law will make it easier for residents to build accessory-dwelling units that are up to 1,200 square feet of living space, in what is at least partly an effort to keep senior citizens in the town. 

An internal investigation into Westerlo Town Clerk Karla Weaver found she had bullied and intimidated other town employees, falsified documents, and orchestrated a Freedom of Information Law campaign designed to bog down the town supervisor’s office. 

The Rensselaerville Water and Sewer Advisory Committee is holding a community meeting on Thursday, May 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hilltown Commons Guggenheim Theater to get input on preferred well sites for a new public water system. 

Berne Councilwoman Melanie laCour voiced her concerns at the board’s May meeting about the fact that the town’s ambulance expense was left out of the 2025 budget, making it unclear how the town will pay for a $225,000 expense at the end of the year when all revenue is already attached to other expenses and there’s little left in savings. 

The Knox candidates are in, with town Clerk Traci Delaney (formerly Schanz) running for town supervisor on the Republican line, and former Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education member Chasity McGivern challenging her on the Democratic line. 

Albany County, in one of its first acts as owner of the property, has fixed up the road leading up to Switzkill Farm as it prepares for more improvements down the line. 

Although an old agreement is still in place and would remain so indefinitely, the town of Berne is considering signing a new contract with the cable company, Spectrum, that would keep the franchise fee the town receives from the company the same but would remove an obligation for Spectrum to build new infrastructure in areas that meet a household-density threshold. 

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education unanimously adopted Superintendent Bonnie Kane’s $24.7 million budget for the 2025-26 school year, which will go to a public vote on May 20.