Anthony Fiducia reports for Columbia-Greene Media that some Greenville residents have been grumbling about the upcoming property revaluation in the town. Greenville last reevaluated home values in 2003 and 1973. Town Assessor Gordan Bennett sent a letter to residents about the process a few weeks ago, with several residents complaining the process is derogatory and unfair. Bennett said residents do not have to let an inspector inside. “If you don’t allow a data collector in, then the information still needs to be compiled in some form and then it will have to be estimated,” Bennett said. “Estimations are not as good as actual information and there could be errors in those estimations — so from my perspective — from an accuracy perspective, I would like to see everyone comply with the project because then they could ensure that the information that we have is correct.” Now he is waiting for the board to start the process. “When they [the board] tell me ‘OK, let’s do a reval,’ then we’re gonna reappraise everybody, all in one year, just like we did in 2003,” Bennett said. “Same kind of deal, but those changes are gonna be integrated into that new reassessment.” Read the full story in HudsonValley360.com.

Audrey Matott reports in The Greenville Pioneer that Coxsackie, New Baltimore, and Greenville are considering consolidating ambulance services. While the first two attempts to consolidate other town ambulance services failed to garner support, the Greene County Countywide Ambulance Task Force pitched the three towns at an Aug. 1 meeting in Greenville. Coxsackie would save $18,000 under the proposal, and Greenville would pay $11,000 more than it is now. If the towns want to move forward with the plan, they would need to pass a resolution requesting a business plan from the ambulance task force.

Brendan J. Lyons is reporting in the Times Union state and federal law enforcement are looking at the town of Prattsville's use of more than $5 million in government aid awarded to the community following tropical storms Irene and Lee in 2011 and 2012. Investigators last week served subpoenas on the town, the town's bookkeeper and the deputy supervisor, seeking various documents, including records related to the post-storm aid that came from a state-run program, the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Plan. Investigators also seized private computers and other records from the town's supervisor, Kory O'Hara, including from his auto service station on Main Street. The investigation involves several agencies, including the FBI and the state comptroller's office, according to Lyons. Thomas A. Capezza, a former assistant U.S. attorney and former general counsel for the State Police, has been retained to represent the town, its bookkeeper and deputy supervisor. O'Hara has hired William J. Dreyer, an Albany criminal defense attorney. In 2013, accusations surfaced that town officials had misused government aid and refused to release spending records. Much of the decision-making was handled by a 12-member planning committee that included the O'Hara, and deputy supervisor, Bonita Chase. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Here are some stories from the Hudson River this week. Click here to hear an audio version of this report.

• The Stevens Institute reports temperatures this week in the Hudson River at Schodack Island have been between 76 and 79 degrees.

• The Daily Freeman reports that the Hudson River Greenway program has been extended until 2022, according to Assemblyperson Kevin Cahill. First created in 1991, the program is meant to develop a regional strategy for preserving scenic, natural, historic, cultural, and recreational resources while encouraging economic development along the river. New Baltimore is the only local community along the Hudson River now part of the Greenway program. The program also provides grants for communities, and locals in June received $7,500 to complete and implement a comprehensive plan in Chatham and $10,000 for Ghent to hire a consultant to audit its recently revised Commercial Zoning Code. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

• Melanie Lekocevic reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the the Port of Coeymans and the Coeymans Industrial Park turned ten years old with a community celebration Aug. 20. “I am in awe at the fact that this is not the dump they wanted to put here years ago,” said Judy Jeune, a local resident. “It’s a clean business, a good business that brings a lot to our town. We should encourage Mr. Laraway and others to bring more businesses like this to our community.” Instead of a dump, 450 people are employed, with eight tugboats and 40 barges along the Hudson River in Albany County. Coeymans Marine Towing recently purchased two new $2 million cranes for the port. Just weeks ago, an 8-million pound generator was assembled at the port and shipped down the Hudson to a power plant in New Jersey. A second similar generator will be assembled at the Port of Coeymans in the next couple of months. “We would like to thank the local community and its residents for their support over the past 10 years, as the Port of Coeymans and the Coeymans Industrial Park have matured and developed, bringing hundreds of new jobs and business opportunities to the region,” owner Carver Laraway said. “We look forward to building upon this relationship and continuing to be a good neighbor.” Read the full story in HudsonValley360.com.

• Joseph Berger reports in The New York Times that traffic takes over the new Tappan Zee Bridge in Rockland County on Aug. 26. The Hudson River crossing will be called the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and cost $4 billion. The bridge is made up of more than 1,000 cylindrical piles planted into the Hudson riverbed to create 41 pillars to hold up the bridge. Over 330,000 cubic yards of concrete were poured to make the bridge, with 192 cables stretched among eight 419-foot towers. Over 140,000 vehicles are expected to cross the bridge each day.

• On Aug. 22 the City of Hudson Wastewater Treatment Facility released 30,000 gallons of combined sewer overflow into the Hudson River.

DOWNLOAD or PLAY the audio version of the local news headlines for Fri., Aug. 25 (6:44). (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting in The Columbia Paper Columbia County and the city of Hudson are considering the possibility of consolidating and moving into what is now the John L. Edwards Primary School, located on State Street in Hudson. The plan calls for selling county-owned properties to pay for the move. John L. Edwards is now functioning as a K-2 school, but the Hudson school district intends to close the building in 2020, and then sell the site. County officials are thinking about buying the parcel and vacating its buildings at 610 and 401 State Street, as well as the Department of Motor Vehicles building at 560 Warren Street. Officials are weighing the possibility of moving Hudson city offices to the JLE site, as well. The conversation is very preliminary and one county official told the paper the county needs to explore whether it can buy the school property. A panel of 18 town supervisors, three village mayors and Rob Perry, Hudson’s superintendent of public works, is working on a six-point, countywide shared services plan, which includes the office consolidation proposal. The panel will meet and vote on that plan Wed., Sep. 13, at 7 p.m., 30 minutes before the monthly Board of Supervisors meeting at 401 State Street in Hudson. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media a request from Columbia-Greene Community College to establish a mental health clinic on campus met some resistance from the Board of Supervisors Health and Human Services Committee last week. The request to run a satellite mental health center four hours a week on the Greenport campus was presented by county Mental Health Director Michael Cole. College vice president Joseph Watson said the school currently sends students with mental health needs to places off-campus. He said access to these types of services would help with student retention and success. The department has also presented similar requests on behalf of county school districts in the past. Kinderhook Town Supervisor Patrick Grattan said the county should prioritize services at grade schools before putting a clinic at the college. Similar concerns were expressed by other members of the committee and the request was subsequently tabled. Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said this week he had not spoken with college or Columbia County officials about the proposed satellite clinic. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.