Melanie laCour, who had been one of the Berne Democratic Committee’s recommended appointees to the governor, is an attorney with experience in municipal law, according to a spokesperson for the governor.

RENSSELAERVILLE — After a couple brought up concerns they had with a neighbor’s property and an official’s response to those, the Rensselaerville Town Board is reviewing the situation to ensure that the town’s code is being properly upheld. 

The Rensselaerville Town Board gave a town attorney the go-ahead to draft an agreement with the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region to create a non-endowed fund from which the town can use up to 90 percent of the interest earned off the $830,000 Kuhar Endowment Fund.

The cooperative, located at 303 Main Street in Schoharie, offers a variety of handcrafted items for sale from more than 20 artisans, each of whom had been selected by a five-person panel. 

Normally, a town’s reorganizational meeting is when it affirms salary schedules and other important town business for the year, but without a quorum on its town board, it’s unclear how the town of Berne has proceeded.

According to the state’s General Municipal Law, every local government must annually file a financial report with the state’s comptroller, which is known as the Annual Update Document or AUD. A town like Knox, with a population under 5,000 has up to 60 days after the close of its fiscal year to file its AUD. Knox, however, is several years behind in filing its AUDs. 

The vagaries of New York State’s ability and willingness to involve itself in local affairs cropped up in many Enterprise stories this year, and revealed the gaps in the patchwork system of agencies that are supposed to keep the machine running. 

Holiday fires in R’ville part of a larger trend

The $830,000 entrusted to the town of Rensselaerville two years ago has been tied up in red tape ever since, but an attorney for the town recently announced that the town has been granted a cy prés to move the funds to another trustee, which he said was the “major hurdle” in the ordeal.  

First responders arrived at 1545 Thompsons Lake Road in Knox early Tuesday morning to find the home there completely engulfed in flames. Two bodies were recovered.