Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media petitions in opposition to the construction of a new Greene County Jail and in support of a shared facility with Columbia County are circulating. Greene County Legislator Lori Torgersen, Democrat of Windham, is aware of two petitions in particular, which hundreds of people have signed, she said. Torgersen said she has also received emails from residents who oppose building a new jail in Coxsackie. Jon Phillips, of Catskill, started a petition last week urging legislators to support the authorization to pay $30,000 to fund a feasibility study of the shared jail idea. This can help bring the shared jail concept to fruition, according to Phillips. “The opposition to it spurs a bunch of spurious hooey,” he said. If decisions on the jail were left to a public referendum, things would be different, he said. Phillips was not surprised by the reaction to the petition. He said many residents are interested in the matter — especially those who are wealthy and don’t want to see the county become a jail culture. Mountaintop Progressives member Jonathan Gross has written letters in support of the shared jail concept and also signed the petition supporting a feasibility study. Not doing a feasibility study at the Columbia County Jail site when there’s so much at stake does not make sense, Gross said. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.