Diane Valden is reporting for The Columbia Paper excessive speed on town roads continues to be a problem in Ancram and town officials are looking for ways to deal with the dilemma. In 2019, the town purchased two Evils radar speed signs while also recruiting help from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and the state police. Those measures worked, and the town recorded an all-time high of 594 traffic-related court cases that year, a 25 percent increase over 2018. However, Supervisor Art Bassin said at the town board's August meeting that speeding remains “a serious problem.” Bassin said he's considered the idea of putting up cautionary signs on county routes 8 and 8A in Ancramdale, but he was not optimistic that any signage would stop the speeding. He has also been talking to county Sheriff David Bartlett about paying deputies to do speed control. Bassin also urged the board to consider buying two more radar signs. Board member David Boice, who is also Ancram fire chief, attributed more accidents to alcohol than speed, but he did acknowledge that since the pandemic started five months ago, local “roadways have been quite a bit busier…. There have been more accidents and congestion.” Bassin promised to present at the next meeting more information on the radar signs and the details of the kind of stakeout deal he could make with the sheriff. The board will next meet September 17. A public hearing on the 2021 tentative town budge will be held via Zoom at 6:45 p.m. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.