WGXC-90.7 FM
Thursday headlines
Apr 07, 2011 6:39 am
Deficient bridges in region on par with state percentage
Mid Hudson News Network has an update of where we stand in terms of our state's crumbling bridge infrastructure. They report that of 17,365 bridges in the State of New York, 12 percent are structurally deficient. Columbia County has the largest number of deficient bridges in the region at 18 percent. Ulster County is at 14 percent, Dutchess has 13 percent, and Greene is at about 12 percent. "Structurally deficient means they are in need of immediate attention. They need to be monitored more closely because they are starting to deteriorate in ways that could become critical,” said Transportation for America organization spokesman David Goldberg. “It doesn’t mean they will fall down tomorrow, but it does mean that if they are not taken care of, then they will be weight restricted, heavy vehicles won’t be allowed to go across them. Then they usually narrow it down to maybe only one lane of traffic at a time can go across and then ultimately they close the bridge.” The average life of a bridge is 50 years; New York’s bridges average 46 years old.
Hannaford unveils sketch plan for market
Doron Tyler Antrim writes in the Daily Mail that Hannaford made its first appearance before the Cairo planning board on Wednesday, April 6, introducing a sketch plan and other details of its proposed new supermarket. Representatives unveiled the company’s plan for a 36,000-square-foot store and pharmacy and 6,000-square-foot retail center to be built in the Great American plaza, whose owner, Ellsworth “Unk” Slater, has agreed to a buyout. The company’s plan calls for subdividing the roughly seven-acre parcel and carrying out a two-phased construction effort, eventually replacing the current Great American plaza.
Ichabod whittles tax hike to 3.9 %
John Mason writes in the Register-Star about the latest development in the budget process at Ichabod Crane School District in Kinderhook, which has already seen a decision to close two elementary schools and trim staff by 32.5 positions. Now the projected tax levy hike for the coming school year is at 3.9 percent and Superintendent Lee Bordick said that's partly because of state aid figures being better than expected, and partly because he originally overestimated expenses. He added, however, that he didn't see rehiring of staff or keeping schools open. Those decisions were based on declining enrollment, he adds, and not budget considerations.
Will a Robin Hood save Nottingham timeshare?
Cathy Woodruff of the Times Union has a piece about the bankruptcy of Catskills's Friar Tuck Resort in terms of its time share owners at Nottingham Village. She focuses on one couple who used their timeshare apartment to trade/rent for vacations they would take elsewhere. For a $300 yearly maintenance fee, plus a $150 exchange fee each year; apartment owners could rent their spaces or trade for use of similar timeshares in other locations. But now that the Friar Tuck is in bankruptcy, it is unclear whether hundreds who bought into Nottingham Village will have anything to show for their money when the Chapter 7 liquidation process is done. Two attempted bankruptcy sales of the resort complex by Ulster Savings Bank, which foreclosed on a $3.5 million Friar Tuck mortgage last September, have failed. In both cases, winning bidders walked away after a closer look at the property.
This Just In
Gossips of Rivertown was the first to have the story that there has been a court decision in favor of the City of Hudson in a lawsuit filed by the "North Dock Tin Boat Association, Inc.," which sought to stop the transfer of the land on which the Furgary Boat Club is located from the State of New York to the City of Hudson. The Register Star goes deeper into the matter, including questions about what happens now to the century-old shacks, many with electricity, located by the city's sewer plant and beloved by many as a funky remembrance of Hudson's older societal structure.
Baseball back at G’port park
Daniel Weissner reports in the Register-Star about a Hudson City School District Board of Education decision this week to rescind its prohibition against having Hudson High School baseball teams from playing home games at Greenport Town Park. "The district has been working to clean up its athletic fields, which were marred by potholes and flooded with water, for four years," Weissner writes of an April 4 meeting that saw more people addressing ballfield issues than funding cuts and rising class sizes. "The district does not pay to use the Greenport park..."
Mid Hudson News Network has an update of where we stand in terms of our state's crumbling bridge infrastructure. They report that of 17,365 bridges in the State of New York, 12 percent are structurally deficient. Columbia County has the largest number of deficient bridges in the region at 18 percent. Ulster County is at 14 percent, Dutchess has 13 percent, and Greene is at about 12 percent. "Structurally deficient means they are in need of immediate attention. They need to be monitored more closely because they are starting to deteriorate in ways that could become critical,” said Transportation for America organization spokesman David Goldberg. “It doesn’t mean they will fall down tomorrow, but it does mean that if they are not taken care of, then they will be weight restricted, heavy vehicles won’t be allowed to go across them. Then they usually narrow it down to maybe only one lane of traffic at a time can go across and then ultimately they close the bridge.” The average life of a bridge is 50 years; New York’s bridges average 46 years old.
Hannaford unveils sketch plan for market
Doron Tyler Antrim writes in the Daily Mail that Hannaford made its first appearance before the Cairo planning board on Wednesday, April 6, introducing a sketch plan and other details of its proposed new supermarket. Representatives unveiled the company’s plan for a 36,000-square-foot store and pharmacy and 6,000-square-foot retail center to be built in the Great American plaza, whose owner, Ellsworth “Unk” Slater, has agreed to a buyout. The company’s plan calls for subdividing the roughly seven-acre parcel and carrying out a two-phased construction effort, eventually replacing the current Great American plaza.
Ichabod whittles tax hike to 3.9 %
John Mason writes in the Register-Star about the latest development in the budget process at Ichabod Crane School District in Kinderhook, which has already seen a decision to close two elementary schools and trim staff by 32.5 positions. Now the projected tax levy hike for the coming school year is at 3.9 percent and Superintendent Lee Bordick said that's partly because of state aid figures being better than expected, and partly because he originally overestimated expenses. He added, however, that he didn't see rehiring of staff or keeping schools open. Those decisions were based on declining enrollment, he adds, and not budget considerations.
Will a Robin Hood save Nottingham timeshare?
Cathy Woodruff of the Times Union has a piece about the bankruptcy of Catskills's Friar Tuck Resort in terms of its time share owners at Nottingham Village. She focuses on one couple who used their timeshare apartment to trade/rent for vacations they would take elsewhere. For a $300 yearly maintenance fee, plus a $150 exchange fee each year; apartment owners could rent their spaces or trade for use of similar timeshares in other locations. But now that the Friar Tuck is in bankruptcy, it is unclear whether hundreds who bought into Nottingham Village will have anything to show for their money when the Chapter 7 liquidation process is done. Two attempted bankruptcy sales of the resort complex by Ulster Savings Bank, which foreclosed on a $3.5 million Friar Tuck mortgage last September, have failed. In both cases, winning bidders walked away after a closer look at the property.
This Just In
Gossips of Rivertown was the first to have the story that there has been a court decision in favor of the City of Hudson in a lawsuit filed by the "North Dock Tin Boat Association, Inc.," which sought to stop the transfer of the land on which the Furgary Boat Club is located from the State of New York to the City of Hudson. The Register Star goes deeper into the matter, including questions about what happens now to the century-old shacks, many with electricity, located by the city's sewer plant and beloved by many as a funky remembrance of Hudson's older societal structure.
Baseball back at G’port park
Daniel Weissner reports in the Register-Star about a Hudson City School District Board of Education decision this week to rescind its prohibition against having Hudson High School baseball teams from playing home games at Greenport Town Park. "The district has been working to clean up its athletic fields, which were marred by potholes and flooded with water, for four years," Weissner writes of an April 4 meeting that saw more people addressing ballfield issues than funding cuts and rising class sizes. "The district does not pay to use the Greenport park..."