In order for a cable company to qualify for a grant to fund expanding its internet service in Westerlo, the town must go through a multi-step process to approve a contract before Aug. 15. But last week at a board meeting, town officials were wary of being locked into a contract.

Voorheesville and Altamont share a building inspector. Their newly extended agreement has Altamont paying 14 percent since it uses just five of the 35 weekly hours. Voorheesville is roughly twice the size of Altamont with a bit less than twice the population.

"We are fortunate to have them," said the superintendent of the team members she works with.

Unanimous votes on both sides ushered in three-year pact for six Guilderland administrators with a raise the district's negotiator called "modest" — 1.5 percent each year.

Perhaps feeling the pressure of several years of budget cuts, the formerly cohesive Guilderland School board, functioning under new leadership, has been deeply divided on small issues of pay.

After two years of sometimes difficult negotiations, the Guilderland Employees' Association and the school district cleared the hurdle of an impasse to agree on a four-year contract.