Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media residents, environmental advocates and politicians rallied April 22, at Ernest R. Lasher Memorial Park in Germantown in opposition to the Amtrak proposal to build 8,600 feet of fencing in Columbia and Duchess counties, thereby preventing access to the Hudson River. The towns of Germantown, Stockport and Stuyvesant in Columbia County, and Rhinebeck and Tivoli in Dutchess County, would be impacted by the plan. Protesters carried signs at the rally with messages such as “Stop the fence” and “No fences, no gates, no wall.” The Germantown Waterfront Advisory Committee has found that Amtrak’s proposal is not consistent with the state’s Coastal Management Plan and the gates are unnecessary. The committee chair, Jennifer Crawford said, “I want the train to be here, but I want the train to let me be here as well. CSX tried to block us from this land as recently as 2001, but we rallied and the gates came down.” Republican state Sen. Kathy Marchione attended the rally and called the proposal misguided and ill-conceived. The project will impede first responders from doing their jobs in a timely manner, she added. Marchione also said she will express her opposition directly to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Assembly member Didi Barrett, a Democrat, said local voices deserve to be heard, and a public meeting between residents and Amtrak representatives should be held. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.