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PRINCETOWN
Maura: Comp plan review months from vote
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.


Bishop, the town’s Planning Board chairwoman and a member of the committee that produced the update. “It seems like they don’t understand the value of it.”
    But Supervisor Nick Maura said there are no such plans. He said board’s comments about the plan in August were made upon first review. He said some residents are accustomed to Princetown’s lower threshold of land-use controls.
    “We’re not just going to cut it and not let anybody know what’s going on,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll compromise on it.”
    Princetown hasn’t amended its comprehensive plan since it was adopted in 1988, and town officials feared that could leave them legally powerless against the pressures of big box-store development. The nine-member committee launched its effort to revamp the plan in 2006, but it stalled. In February 2008, board members allocated up to $29,000 to hire Nan Stolzenburg of the Community Planning & Environmental Associates in Berne to help. That re-energized the process and resulted in the town conducting a well-attended public workshop and creating a survey that was mailed out to roughly 760 residences.
    Final comprehensive plan revisions were submitted to the Town Board in July. But since that time, the board hasn’t approached the committee, Chairman Joe Jurczynski said by e-mail.
    “We believe the revision represents the opinions of the citizens of Princetown, but the Town Board has been openly critical of its content,” he said last week. “No one has approached me ... or our consultant ... with questions.” ................>>>>.................................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01001&AppName=1

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PRINCETOWN
Candidates cite need to adopt master plan
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Supervisor Nick Maura Jr. will try for a second term in offi ce, but he’ll be running against a member of the family that has been prevalent in Princetown politics for many years.
    The incumbent Democrat is being challenged by Conservative Town Board member Melanie Whiteley, the daughter of long-time clerk Cathy Hasbrouk and her husband Paul, the former Princetown supervisor. But despite their difference in party preference, both candidates have similar visions for the western Schenectady County town: Keep it free of local taxes and maintain its rural charm. ................>>>>..........>>>>...........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1

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PRINCETOWN
Installation a hopeful sign for diner project
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Opening the Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown has proven to be no easy task for Tom Ketchum.
    Rebuilding the flashy 1950s-era stainless steel diner has taken more than two years and presented several minor hurdles along the way. Now Ketchum is finally seeing a sign that his toil is nearing an end — literally.
    Workers spent three hours Thursday hoisting the Chuck Wagon’s trademark electrified cowboy head sign into place on a pair of 13-foot-tall, 6-inch-wide steel beams cemented into the ground alongside the diner. The 1-ton aluminum and steel neon sign stands in a manner that gives the illusion that it’s resting on the diner’s roof, much like it did when the Chuck Wagon was open in Champaign, Ill., more than four decades ago.
    “We’re getting close,” Ketchum said after the sign was hoisted. “We’re shooting to get it open by the end of the year.”
    Nothing has come easy for Ketchum and his wife, Sally, in their quest to restore the eatery. They started by having the 38-foot-long and 17-foot-wide Mountain View Diner Co. restaurant hauled hundreds of miles from where it was stored in a warehouse in Michigan.
    They had to dig and pour a foundation for the 23-ton structure and then hoist it onto the footings. They had to replace rotted sections of wood behind the stainless steel and replace missing sections. ...................>>>>.........................>>>>........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00901&AppName=1

Has anyone noticed a slowdown in the speed they are getting from Princetown Cable?  

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PRINCETOWN
Neighbors say roaming dogs a threat
German shepherds said to growl, chase
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Kelly Shear claims she had to fence in her backyard to keep a pair of roaming German shepherds from menacing her family.
    The Scotch Ridge Road resident is among at least three homeowners in the area who claim the dogs belonging to the sons of Princetown Justice Michelle Van Woeart and living on her property routinely terrorize their rural neighborhood. They allege the dogs relentlessly wander around their homes, menacingly growl at them and will even run after them; one resident said he had to fend one of the dogs off with a rake.
    “My kids cannot go out and play because it’s not safe,” she told the Town Board during their meeting Tuesday. “[The dogs] are running deer, they’re running turkey, they’re running anything that will run.”
    Others claim that Van Woeart’s shepherds have attacked their animals in the past and aren’t convinced they won’t strike again.
    Neighbor Michael Lopuch said something must be done to ensure the dogs are properly contained on a leash or in a fenced-in yard.
    “We are done being terrorized and victimized by these dogs and their owners,” he said. “We’re drawing a line in the sand.”
    But the Van Woeart family has a very different take on the situation. Matthew Van Woeart claims that Sophie, the shepherd he raised from a puppy, is harmless, and he doesn’t see the aggressive tendencies his neighbors claim to witness in his dog or his brother’s dog, Hannah. ..................>>>>................>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00903&AppName=1

Atleast they have the subsidized REMS to answer in case of dog bites......atleast that is what the side of the ambulance trucks state.....

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Princetown justice in contempt of leash law

    Re Jan. 20 article, “Neighbors say roaming dogs a threat:” I must respond to the article regarding the roaming dogs in Princetown.
    It must be a free-for-all with dogs running wild! If Judge Michelle Van Woeart won’t enforce the leash law with her own family, how can she enforce it with anyone else?
    I can’t believe the arrogance of this family! Whether these dogs are going to “lick you” or bite you is neither here nor there. They do not belong on your neighbors’ property. It doesn’t matter what kind of dog it is, either — whether it’s a toy poodle or a German shepherd, the dog doesn’t belong on your neighbors’ property. Are you getting my drift here?
    Not only can unleashed dogs be a danger to others, they can also hurt themselves if someone decides to take the matter into their own hands. I wouldn’t want to put my animal in that situation. Step up to the plate, judge, and enforce the law that you swore to uphold.

    LORRAINE VANDERWERKEN
    Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00707&AppName=1

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PRINCETOWN
Historic structure ready to collapse
Building must be demolished before it falls onto road
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter



    One of the badly buckled walls of the historic Kelly Station house hangs precariously over the edge of Route 7.
    Some of the building’s windows have been removed, and the center roof of the sprawling post-andbeam structure caved under the weight of a heavy wet snow that covered Princetown last month. The front door is gone, and a piece of plywood is haphazardly nailed across the gaping entrance.
    After years of neglect, the general store and inn once owned by one of the region’s first settlers is ready to collapse. In fact, state and local officials fear Andrew Kelly’s old post office and store could soon topple into the busy state thoroughfare running less than 20 feet away.
    “It’s anybody’s guess when it’s going to come down, but it’s going to come down,” said Dan Marciniak, Princetown’s code enforcer, during an emergency Town Board meeting Friday.
    Building owner Robert Kinneson has been preparing to demolish the structure since mid-January, when Marciniak paid his fi rst visit to the site. But since that time, the center of the structure has developed a substantial lean, suggesting it could collapse and possibly obstruct the roadway.
    The lean was noticed this week by a Plotterkill firefighter, who then alerted the state police of the building’s condition. The town was also contacted by officials from the state Department of Transportation, which were also concerned the structure could soon become a road hazard.
    “We’ve had three or four calls this morning about the condition of the building,” Marciniak told board members.
    Town officials had an engineer look at the structure Friday and then opted to take emergency action to demolish it in short order. The town will contract with an inspector to determine if there is asbestos in the building and will then hire a company to remove it at the expense of Kinneson, who lives in an adjacent home.
    But Kinneson said the town is placing an undue hardship on him. The unemployed mechanic said he can’t afford to pay for the demolition —something he priced at more than $25,000 — because his insurance company will only cover about $17,000 of the cost. .............>>>>...............>>>>...........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1

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PRINCETOWN
Volunteers come to the rescue when ARC facility is in need
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    For years, the makeshift pavilion at the Schenectady ARC’s Princetown Ridge Day Habilitation site has fallen prey to the elements.
    Rainstorms and high winds have destroyed the outdoor tent no fewer than five times over the past decade, the most recent last fall when it was toppled by wind. That left ARC’s sensitive clients with no outdoor shelter at the facility off Becker Drive.
    “We just had extremely bad wind gusts this past October and it was completely destroyed,” said Chrissy Friello, the facility’s director.
    And with a shortage of funding, Friello said ARC had no capital to build a permanent structure. Many of the facility’s more than 100 clients were facing a spring and summer without a shaded area to enjoy the outdoors.
    That was until Leadership Tech Valley took up their cause last winter. The service-oriented group of business leaders is helping to construct an 800-square-foot pavilion at the Princetown facility, giving ARC a permanent, yearround structure.
    The group visited the site in December and resolved to raise funds for the new construction. Since that time they’ve gathered more than $13,000 in funds and supplies.
    But the group is doing more than fundraising — they’re also lending a hand.
    “Our class made a commitment to build it,” said Sarah Bilofsky, the director of public relations for Union College Graduate School and a member of the program.
    Leadership Tech Valley is an initiative between the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber and the Chamber of Schenectady County aimed at grooming leaders through a 10-month program. .................>>>>...............>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1

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PRINCETOWN
Long haul is over, Chuck Wagon diner reopens
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.

    As it turns out, one of the easiest chores in reopening the Chuck Wagon was moving the dilapidated Mountain View Co. diner car halfway across the United States.
    Or at least that’s how it sometimes seems these days for owners Tom and Sally Ketchum. After more than two years of renovations, the diner that spent its fi rst fi ve decades in an urban area of Illinois at last reopened for service on a rural stretch of Western Turnpike in Princetown.
    But the symbolic end of the Ketchums’ tireless effort to restore the stainless steel diner marked the beginning of a new type of work: Feeding customers. Since the diner opened early last week, they’ve had to deal with a bakery delivery that didn’t show up, a malfunctioning air conditioning unit, an iced-up freezer compressor and a ceaseless stream of ravenous customers drawn to the kitschy allure of the 1950s-era diner, the town’s only full-service restaurant. ..............>>>>..............>>>>..........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00603&AppName=1

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PRINCETOWN
Official to get off the hook in dog case
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

    Leash law violations fi led against Princetown Justice Michelle Van Woeart will be dismissed provided her family’s dogs can stay out of trouble in the coming months.
    Attorneys representing Van Woeart and the town met in Scotia Village Court Thursday for a scheduled trial. But before the proceedings began, Judge Jason Frament accepted a plea bargain between the two parties stipulating an adjournment on contemplation of dismissal.
    A court clerk indicated the case will remain closed and its files sealed unless Van Woeart is cited again within six months. Such an adjournment gives the court jurisdiction to revisit the charges, according to state law.
    Van Woeart faced a violation of the town’s leash law for allowing her son’s two German shepherds to roam their rural neighborhood. Princetown’s animal control offi cer issued her several citations in the fall after a number of neighbors claimed the dogs were wandering onto their property, growling menacingly and even chasing them at times.
    The Van Woeart family stridently disagreed with this characterization. While acknowledging the dogs should remain on their property, they denied the animals ever acted threateningly toward their neighbors. ...............>>>>...................>>>>...........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01501&AppName=1

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By Justin Mason
Princetown supervisor denies foot dragging on plannning document

PRINCETOWN — Joe Jurczynski was traveling through Aurelius near the Finger Lakes this summer when he saw first-hand the importance for a small rural community to have a modern comprehensive plan.
Developers bought up vast tracts of farm land in the community, which like Princetown is also located on Route 20 and has a comparable population. But without a modern comprehensive plan in place, Aurelius was unable to provide any guidance to the pace or type of development and large retailers were quick to take advantage of it.
“Now it’s 48 acres of blacktop and big box buildings,” he said Friday. “And if the cards fall a certain way, Princetown could be saddled with a similar monstrosity.”
The frustrating part for Jurczynski, the chairman of Princetown’s Comprehensive Plan Committee, is his belief that the long-awaited update to the town’s guiding document is being stifled. The committee submitted its final draft of the 76-page document to the Town Board more than a year ago and he’s seen little to suggest the plan nearing adoption.
“All the work that we put into it, it just seems like the town board is trying to shuffle it underneath the carpet,” he said. “It just rankles me personally.”
Meanwhile, the town’s Zoning Review Committee has crafted three local law amendments that are scheduled to be addressed by board members during their meeting Tuesday.
Jurczynski and several others in the comprehensive plan committee fear the zoning updates are further evidence of the board’s unwillingness to address the draft document. “It appears as though they don’t like the comprehensive plan and they want to do whatever they want in spite of it,” he said...................>>>>...............>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2010/aug/07/0808_Princetown/