GUILDERLAND — As commercial development and sprawl continue to threaten the residential character of McKownville, the neighborhood’s association has once again stepped up to the plate in its defense.

A zoning study committee presented its finding on the Western Avenue Corridor to the town board during last Tuesday’s meeting.

Neighborhood studies are part of the town’s comprehensive land-use planning; concepts from them can be incorporated by the board into law.

The committee was made up of five McKownville Neighborhood Association members: President Donald Reeb, board members Alice Porea and Laura Whalen, and members Mark Macomber and Steve Harausz.

Harausz could not attend the meeting because he was out of town on vacation.
The comprehensive study details current zoning along Western Avenue between Schoolhouse Road and the Albany city line, and includes suggestions from the association on some changes in the zoning layout, in order to improve and maintain the "residential quality of life."

The association members who wrote the study met weekly and all agree that the study was a crash course in town zoning law.
"We met quite often, the five of us, with Jan Weston, who was our resource person," said Reeb, referring to the town planner. "We learned an awful lot about zoning"McKownville is a very built-up area."

One of Guilderland’s oldest neighborhoods, McKownville has had two major highways, the Thruway and the Northway, a shopping plaza and a university built in its midst.
"The study’s goal was to keep Western Avenue as residential as possible," Reeb continued. "We realize that Western Avenue is a mixed-use road, but we don’t want to see it go full-blown commercial."

Reeb said he was very pleased to present the town board with the official report.

His colleagues and the board members all agreed.
"I’d like to thank the town board for giving our community an opportunity to do this study," said Porea. "We want to keep it a hamlet instead of a highway".McKownville is a nice old-fashioned residential part of Guilderland."

The town supervisor, Kenneth Runion, along with his fellow board members thanked the association members in return for their hard work.
"I want to thank the committee because I realize the amount of time they spent on the report," Runion said. "I found this report very enlightening"very detailed and oriented at improving the quality of life for residents."
Runion said the report will go far to prevent the "commercial creep that has started to intrude into the residential nature of the community," and that this is "not going to be a report we are going to put on a shelf."

The board will look over the report over the next few weeks, Runion said, and then vote on local laws to enact on behalf of the report’s findings.
Fellow board member David Bosworth, who lives in McKownville, called the report and the other work the association has accomplished a "renaissance for McKownville."
Councilman Michael Ricard added, "I think you did a fantastic job"I’ve seen so many professional studies"This is very detailed."

Other business

In other business, the town board unanimously:

— Appointed Eileen T. Magenis to the Department of Water and Wastewater Management and Susan M. Merkley to the Guilderland Police Department as keyboard specialists off of the Albany County Civil Service list;

— Appointed Stacia Smith-Brigadier as personnel administrator off of the Albany County Civil Service List;

— Awarded a bid to All Industrial Services Inc. for the demolition and removal of the Depot Water Tank based on the recommendation of the Department of Water and Wastewater Management.
All Industrial Services was the lowest of three bidders at $31,868, with the third bid coming in at over $131,000. The second bid, was just under $49,000, and the bidder disputed the winning bid, stating in a letter to the board that the lowest bidder should be disqualified. The town’s attorney, Richard Sherwood, said the allegations against the lowest bidder "has no impact on the bid," and advised the board to award the bid to All Industrial Services Inc.;

— Awarded a bid for the repair and painting of the Westmere Water Tank on the recommendation of the Department of Water and Wastewater Management.
"It won’t take them very long, it will probably take a couple of days," the department’s superintendent, William West, told the board. "You get about 25 years out of a paint job."
The tank will be painted inside and out, with the inside being particularly important, West said, because the rust that occurs there can cause "irreparable damage";

— Waived the building permit fee for premises located at 464 Church Road due to damage by fire; and

— Authorized the submission of a grant request, for the amount of $24,800, to the Capital District Transportation Commission for the Community and Transportation Linkage Planning Program for 2007-08, to create a Guilderland Center neighborhood master plan.