Nora Mishanec is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Paula Van Meter, one of two Stuyvesant justices, has asked the town board to dissolve her judgeship due to lack of court activity. “We are blessed living in a community without too much crime and there is not enough work to justify a second justice position,” Van Meter told the board at its March 12 meeting. She asked the board to take action to save taxpayer dollars. Each Stuyvesant justice earns $8,744 a year. The town court costs Stuyvesant about $30,000 a year, but it generates only $4,000 in revenue, said Stuyvesant Town Supervisor Ron Knott. The board budgets $17,500 for two judge salaries, $4,500 for the court clerk’s salary and $8,000 for equipment and security. Stuyvesant town justices have the smallest caseload in the county, Van Meter said. State police officers give fewer tickets on Route 9J because the road is too narrow to pull over speeding vehicles. “I’ve been in public service my whole life. I always felt I was doing enough to justify public money. I don’t feel that way now,” she said. Van Meter suggested Stuyvesant consider consolidating court services with Stockport or Kinderhook, calling the town “the poster child for consolidation.” The board has taken no action to date, and it is unlikely it will pursue any changes until the current COVID-19 shutdown ends. Van Meter was appointed to serve as an interim justice in December 2018. She began serving her own four-year term in January. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.