H. Rose Schneider reports in The Altamont Enterprise that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is forcing counties to present plans for municipal consolidation and shared services, and in Albany County that might mean the Berne Highway Department is absorbed by the Albany County Department of Public Works. The municipalities would save at least $151,000 annually under the consolidation. Knox’s highway department, which faced consolidation in an earlier version of the proposal, is spared in the latest draft. Berne Highway Superintendent Randy Bashwinger, a Republican, is campaigning against the consolidation, and Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier, a Democrat, proposed a similar plan in 2006 which was soundly defeated by the town board then. Municipalities in Greene and Columbia counties, and around the state, are considering similar consolidation proposals that Cuomo is mandating. Read the full story in The Altamont Enterprise.